Was what the teacher said fair? (1 Viewer)

[curiouscat98]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some unbiased opinions on what happened a few weeks ago, and thought this would be a good place to ask. I know it's a bit of a read, but please at least skim it, I really need to know if I was wrong in what I did or if she overreacted a bit.

So my maths teacher has a thing where in the summer holidays she holds one 'class' kind of thing for year 12s in her class who are wanting help with any homework she's set. She asks us to bring specific questions because she says she's strictly "not re-teaching an entire topic", but rather just helping with specific strategies for answering a question. But, rarely anyone has gone to these in the past few years according to past students who have had her for year 12, and I can see why. The homework she sets us is extremely easy, especially compared to the exams the school sets. 3/4 of our class is failing because of this, and the other 1/4 have tutors that give them harder questions or help them with past papers (I'm one of those with a tutor, but can only afford an hour every two weeks, and a lot of that is reteaching content I didn't understand rather than doing specific questions). Our teacher, however, refuses to use class time to teach questions/examples from other, harder textbooks she has, or from past papers as other teachers in our school constantly do.

Anyway, I thought it would be good to attend, and I brought a few questions from some past papers that I had trouble with that didn't have worked solutions to them (I've never had trouble with doing the homework she gives us because it's pretty simple). When I got there, there were two other students with about 3-4 questions each from the homework she sets. I let them ask first, and when she was done explaining (and had about 1/2 hour of the session left) I asked the following:

"Miss, could you please help me with some past paper questions?"
"Past papers?"
"Yeah, my tutor said - " (at which point I was going to say that my tutor said it would be good to practice some past paper questions)
"No, I don't care what you do during your tutoring time. I'm here to help with homework, and if you have a tutor you can waste their time with questions that aren't homework. I don't care what you do outside this class, I'm not helping you unless you have specific questions."
"I do have some specific ones, I did a past paper and had some difficulty with - "
"Did you not hear me? I already told you I'm not wasting my own time with these stupid, irrelevant questions. Now, do you have any homework questions?"
"No, I didn't have trouble with - "
"Then don't waste my time and show up for no reason. It's your own responsibility to work out how to do the hard questions, especially if you're paying someone to do your maths for you."

At this point I was pretty upset and didn't know what to say :/ Everything got really quiet and she then dismissed us 1/2 hour early (reminding me to "never waste [her] time again with stupid questions"), even though I'd told her over email that I wouldn't be able to be picked up until a certain time because my parents weren't home and she (over email) said that it was okay because the session wouldn't end until after that time, and if it did she would wait with me until they got there (not that she waited). Not relevant, but hey, I was still pissed over this.

So, having read that, honest opinions please (don't worry about "hurting my feelings" or whatever, I just want to know if I overreacted or not to what she said/did and if I was wrong in going there with questions that weren't from the homework she set).

Thank you BOSers!
- CuriousCat98

 

[photastic]

You hurt her feelings when you said "my tutor." Some of my teachers were like that, they hate it when their students go to tutor rather then cooperating with them. Is she old or young?

 

[futuremidwife]

The teacher was wrong to say that It was a past paper, its not like your tutour made it up. Dont be too disheartened, my teacher called me a bitch once, and many teachers get pissed when checking my work.


Its rude of them, but oh well.

 

[dirty_ink]

Cheer up! I don't think it's your fault, so don't beat yourself up over it. As others have stated, teachers can be sensitive and dismissive sometimes, although her words seemed unnecessarily harsh still.

Two years ago, my peers signed a petition that stated they did not want a particular science teacher to teach seniors because she's (apparently) rather incompetent and doesn't teach in a way that pushes students academically, similar to your maths teacher. It went over pretty well to be honest. Take what you will from this.

 

[nerdasdasd]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some unbiased opinions on what happened a few weeks ago, and thought this would be a good place to ask. I know it's a bit of a read, but please at least skim it, I really need to know if I was wrong in what I did or if she overreacted a bit.

So my maths teacher has a thing where in the summer holidays she holds one 'class' kind of thing for year 12s in her class who are wanting help with any homework she's set. She asks us to bring specific questions because she says she's strictly "not re-teaching an entire topic", but rather just helping with specific strategies for answering a question. But, rarely anyone has gone to these in the past few years according to past students who have had her for year 12, and I can see why. The homework she sets us is extremely easy, especially compared to the exams the school sets. 3/4 of our class is failing because of this, and the other 1/4 have tutors that give them harder questions or help them with past papers (I'm one of those with a tutor, but can only afford an hour every two weeks, and a lot of that is reteaching content I didn't understand rather than doing specific questions). Our teacher, however, refuses to use class time to teach questions/examples from other, harder textbooks she has, or from past papers as other teachers in our school constantly do.

Anyway, I thought it would be good to attend, and I brought a few questions from some past papers that I had trouble with that didn't have worked solutions to them (I've never had trouble with doing the homework she gives us because it's pretty simple). When I got there, there were two other students with about 3-4 questions each from the homework she sets. I let them ask first, and when she was done explaining (and had about 1/2 hour of the session left) I asked the following:

"Miss, could you please help me with some past paper questions?"
"Past papers?"
"Yeah, my tutor said - " (at which point I was going to say that my tutor said it would be good to practice some past paper questions)
"No, I don't care what you do during your tutoring time. I'm here to help with homework, and if you have a tutor you can waste their time with questions that aren't homework. I don't care what you do outside this class, I'm not helping you unless you have specific questions."
"I do have some specific ones, I did a past paper and had some difficulty with - "
"Did you not hear me? I already told you I'm not wasting my own time with these stupid, irrelevant questions. Now, do you have any homework questions?"
"No, I didn't have trouble with - "
"Then don't waste my time and show up for no reason. It's your own responsibility to work out how to do the hard questions, especially if you're paying someone to do your maths for you."

At this point I was pretty upset and didn't know what to say :/ Everything got really quiet and she then dismissed us 1/2 hour early (reminding me to "never waste [her] time again with stupid questions"), even though I'd told her over email that I wouldn't be able to be picked up until a certain time because my parents weren't home and she (over email) said that it was okay because the session wouldn't end until after that time, and if it did she would wait with me until they got there (not that she waited). Not relevant, but hey, I was still pissed over this.

So, having read that, honest opinions please (don't worry about "hurting my feelings" or whatever, I just want to know if I overreacted or not to what she said/did and if I was wrong in going there with questions that weren't from the homework she set).

Thank you BOSers!
- CuriousCat98

The teacher was clearly butthurt that you went to tutor. She may have felt that you don't have faith in her.

 

[Librah]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some unbiased opinions on what happened a few weeks ago, and thought this would be a good place to ask. I know it's a bit of a read, but please at least skim it, I really need to know if I was wrong in what I did or if she overreacted a bit.

So my maths teacher has a thing where in the summer holidays she holds one 'class' kind of thing for year 12s in her class who are wanting help with any homework she's set. She asks us to bring specific questions because she says she's strictly "not re-teaching an entire topic", but rather just helping with specific strategies for answering a question. But, rarely anyone has gone to these in the past few years according to past students who have had her for year 12, and I can see why. The homework she sets us is extremely easy, especially compared to the exams the school sets. 3/4 of our class is failing because of this, and the other 1/4 have tutors that give them harder questions or help them with past papers (I'm one of those with a tutor, but can only afford an hour every two weeks, and a lot of that is reteaching content I didn't understand rather than doing specific questions). Our teacher, however, refuses to use class time to teach questions/examples from other, harder textbooks she has, or from past papers as other teachers in our school constantly do.

Anyway, I thought it would be good to attend, and I brought a few questions from some past papers that I had trouble with that didn't have worked solutions to them (I've never had trouble with doing the homework she gives us because it's pretty simple). When I got there, there were two other students with about 3-4 questions each from the homework she sets. I let them ask first, and when she was done explaining (and had about 1/2 hour of the session left) I asked the following:

"Miss, could you please help me with some past paper questions?"
"Past papers?"
"Yeah, my tutor said - " (at which point I was going to say that my tutor said it would be good to practice some past paper questions)
"No, I don't care what you do during your tutoring time. I'm here to help with homework, and if you have a tutor you can waste their time with questions that aren't homework. I don't care what you do outside this class, I'm not helping you unless you have specific questions."
"I do have some specific ones, I did a past paper and had some difficulty with - "
"Did you not hear me? I already told you I'm not wasting my own time with these stupid, irrelevant questions. Now, do you have any homework questions?"
"No, I didn't have trouble with - "
"Then don't waste my time and show up for no reason. It's your own responsibility to work out how to do the hard questions, especially if you're paying someone to do your maths for you."

At this point I was pretty upset and didn't know what to say :/ Everything got really quiet and she then dismissed us 1/2 hour early (reminding me to "never waste [her] time again with stupid questions"), even though I'd told her over email that I wouldn't be able to be picked up until a certain time because my parents weren't home and she (over email) said that it was okay because the session wouldn't end until after that time, and if it did she would wait with me until they got there (not that she waited). Not relevant, but hey, I was still pissed over this.

So, having read that, honest opinions please (don't worry about "hurting my feelings" or whatever, I just want to know if I overreacted or not to what she said/did and if I was wrong in going there with questions that weren't from the homework she set).

Thank you BOSers!
- CuriousCat98

Damn that must have been pretty devastating. But yer, like nerd said she sounds a bit butt-hurt you went to a tutor. Would just self-learn or stick with tutor TBH. However be warned, she might take that personally, and in my experience, some teachers, no matter the subject will take it out on your school assessments and you'll either have to deal with it or go bring it up with the head teacher.

 

[snowflakeptical]

These comments 100% agree
You are not at fault in any way. SHe just believes she's better than the course or something
She sounds like an old school teacher who thinks she's all that
-she didn't like when you said tutor because she thinks she is capable enough to help you (pretty delusional tbh)
-didn't like doing other work because she thinks she's got it all planned
-maybe she sucks and doesn't know how to answer the q's herself so placing the guilt on someone else

personally, I don't like these teachers but what you do is keep your school work and other work separate. She sounds like someone who doesn't want to be proven wrong and takes anger out on students

 

[DepressedPenguino]

Your conversion with your maths teacher reminds me of my old english teacher that I had the past. Reading from your post, it seems like she a person who is quite stubborn. So, it is not your fault and since you have a teacher like her, you cant really do much unfortunately and it would be pointless fighting back if you are going to have any similar future conversations with her because it just isn't worth it. That being said, from what I have reflected off my old english teacher, if I would reverse time, I would not argue with her and rather pay attention in class because it is ultimately your precious hsc time. Perhaps you can learn something that is worthy of taking into account (that worthy thing may not be directly relevant to your subject but may help you improve your studying methods/time management). You never know what u will learn. Anyways, it is her wrong but instead of fighting over it, try move on and focus in class. (You dont have to like her).

 

[DepressedPenguino]

Good night

 

[youngsky]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some unbiased opinions on what happened a few weeks ago, and thought this would be a good place to ask. I know it's a bit of a read, but please at least skim it, I really need to know if I was wrong in what I did or if she overreacted a bit.

What I see here:

a) Tutoring seems to be quite a touchy topic when it comes to your maths teacher, and it was probably not a wise move to mention it
b) On a secondary note, since you mentioned that she sets easy questions to do, and holds a class only for those questions, maybe she's avoiding harder discussion due to lack of confidence/grasp of content herself? (maybe not but hey it happens)

Either way it seems more like an overreaction on the teacher's part, and I wouldn't get too worked up about it

 

[braintic]

Get a friend in the class to ask her (in front of the class) whether she would be willing to help answer his/her questions from past papers one lunch time. Then tag along with your friend when she visits the teacher. If she helps her and not you, you have a right to complain about unfair treatment.

 

[Alkanes]

Like other have said. The teacher is clearly sensitive on the topic of tutoring. Probably it makes her feel incompetent that students need extra help outside of her class. You can maybe go and ask another teacher for help.

 

[funnytomato]

What I see here:

a) Tutoring seems to be quite a touchy topic when it comes to your maths teacher, and it was probably not a wise move to mention it
b) On a secondary note, since you mentioned that she sets easy questions to do, and holds a class only for those questions, maybe she's avoiding harder discussion due to lack of confidence/grasp of content herself? (maybe not but hey it happens)

Either way it seems more like an overreaction on the teacher's part, and I wouldn't get too worked up about it

+1

@curiouscat, some people are narrow minded (possibly incompetent and/or just dislike teaching,i.e. it's "just a job" for her) , don't "waste time" trying to change them

but still I think it was highly unprofessional of her to say things such as:

It's your own responsibility to work out how to do the hard questions, especially if you're paying someone to do your maths for you

Regardless of whether or not having a tutor, any student should be able to consult their teachers for help.
I think it was inappropriate to make such personal comments.

If you're really disturbed by her language/behaviour, you can talk to the Head Teacher. It that doesn't solve the problem, talk to some one higher up like the Principal or Deputy Principal, or even this : http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about-us/how-we-operate/how-we-handle-complaints/schools (but make sure you talk to the Head teacher and Principal first , in most cases they should be able to help you)

 

[faisalabdul16]

Teachers like yours are often intimidated by the calibre of questions set/given by tutors. I mean at school, dedicated teachers would definitely start off with easy questions and once you've grasped the content firmly, they would approach arduous ones to test your understanding. However there are those who simply do teaching because it was a fall out option for them and they're only in it for the decent pay, easy hours and holidays.

Your teacher seems extremely butt hurt, if i was you i would act like a smart alec and constantly annoy her. Personally, I am a bit of a smartass and whenever i had teachers like that during my high school year, i would put them on the spot. Although it didn't end too well, it was still great seeing them annoyed and unable to do questions.

 

[funnytomato]

@OP, many people are in the same boat(even in selective schools that are "good at maths") and don't feel too upset about it

what you can do in the meantime is try to learn by yourself ( you're gonna need this skill later on in University anyways), or if you have a particular maths question to ask, just post it here http://community.boredofstudies.org/12/mathematics/
and I'm sure many people are more than happy to help you

 

[BLIT2014]

No the teacher wasn't "fair". I'd be extremely gentle when trying to ask for help, as she appears to be intimated by the fact some students go to tutoring.

 

[dan964]

if you can't do a past paper question
ask it on BOS
or look for solutions (depends not all on the web have solutions, most do thankfully)

 

[Kaido]

Not that I know her or you. But at the end of the day, we are humans.
How you interpret what she said is your choice and noone elses.
Likewise for her.

Be arrogant, be sad, be proud, be curious. be "insert anything".

GL curiouscat, hope you can find alternate ways to beat the HSC

(not sure what i was thinking when typing this, haha)

 

[anomalousdecay]

Tbh if you know the teacher well and they seem nice, they could have just been having a horrible day altogether and really didn't want to be there.

 

[yoyo0904]

I think she got really offended when you said "tutor." Many teachers don't like it. But everything apart from that is totally fine and practice papers are really good! Cheer up and don't worry about it, she was just sensitive but tbh she doesn't sound like a very good teacher.