[School Rant] I can't take this much longer...

Think something's terrific? Think something sucks? Rant and rave here. This is a definite "Keep it civil" area, folks. We will be enforcing common courtesy.

Postby Ayeaka » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:40 pm

I haven't particularly kept it a secret that I was promised a year off from school. Nor have I particularly kept it a secret that I was, via a combination of manipulation and threat, forced back into classes early by my mother.
I have, additionally, not kept it a secret that she initially enrolled me as a student behind my back.

But for once, my fuming about classes is not because of that.

Now, true, the classes are putting a lot of stress on me. Most of that, I can handle. Most of my teachers, if strict, are fairly understanding.
So long as I understand the work, and do well on the quizzes, for instance, my college algebra teacher doesn't care if I do the work. He knows that I took, and made A's on, Algebra I and II combined, as well as pre-calculus in the past, and knows that I'm busy, and have been sick.
My art teacher also understands that I have been sick, and additionally, that I suffer from chronic migraines. And know what? She makes special arrangements for students when they are sick, injured, or otherwise. If I have a migraine, and we were supposed to draw with easels, she lets me draw sitting down. If we were supposed to turn in a four hour drawing and I was sick with the flu... she's agreed to let me simply turn in two assignments next week.
Even my history teacher, who is considered by most of the students at my school, one of the strictest teachers, makes arrangements for his students. If a student was sick for a large amount of test preparation time, he lets them arrange for a make up test. His tests are difficult, 100% essay questions, and require you to have paid attention in every class period. But by god if you were incapable of attending, he makes sure you have an opportunity to make that up. He is, additionally, a DOCTOR by title, and keeps track of EIGHT. DIFFERENT. CLASSES. Three of which are in person, and have three class times per day. Five of which, are online. These five, he had to write a completely different curriculum for. Despite this, he can remember each and every student by name, which class they're in, and which period they're in. He can remember exactly what point he's with in their class, and can tell them what they've missed should he catch them in the hall.

Enter, the complaint in question.
My English teacher.
Now, I've been sick twice this year so far. I had food poisoning earlier in the year, and am now just getting over the flu.
I was absent on the day that she gave us a handout for class, but did all of the other work required for today. I am still sick.
She gave us a test today, over the handout. I told her I'd been sick at that time, and didn't have it. I requested a make-up test. She informed me this was no excuse, and that I could have come into her class at any time to get the sheet. She went on to say that it was not her responsibility to make sure that her students were caught up if they were sick, and that there was no way she could be bothered to remember each individual one of her classes, student by student. (She teaches three. Two 1302 classes, which I'm in, and a single period of 1301.) She proceeded, immediately after, to waive another student, and permit him to take a makeup. His reason? ...he was on the soccer team, and had a game.

Today's test was three-part. The first, was the quiz over the handout. This, obviously, I made a 0 on. The next was a two-part test wherein we were given a handout, waited for it to be passed to us, read through, and then circled errors. The first, we were supposed to circle changes in speaking voice; person-view. I had JUST GOTTEN THE SHEET, and read and circled the first error, when she demanded we pass them around to be graded.
"Ma'am, I'm not done yet."
"It was a short paragraph and you should all be done by now. There's no excuse."

Give a repeat of this for the second half of said assignment, which was a page and a half in length.
So, not only did I get a 0 on the first half, but I received a 46 on the second half, because she wouldn't even give us time to COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT.
I am NOT the only student that suffered for this.

Prior in the year, when we were going to write an essay for the first time, we received a delightful little 'pep' talk on how we were expected to be 'journalists' in this class. As "Journalists," she claimed, there was no need to be creative. We shouldn't try to be creative. We should "simply state the facts." The reader, she continued, "does not care."

She proceeded to, on our first essay, mark one of my fragments wrong which she, initially, told me it was acceptable, because it was clearly not a grammatical error, but rather, set aside by itself for emphasis.
Lovely.

I can't take much more of this.
She yells regularly at students that are incapable of going online to get the other parts to her assignments, as well. This does not effect me, but we have two students in the class without internet at home. They're both parents, as well, and are either at work, or caring for their children outside of class.
To our teacher? This is no excuse. They should still have "plenty of time to go to the library and do all of the assignments, irregardless."
Yet a student with a soccer game gets an excuse for a make-up test.


I've learned, by now, not to bother complaining to my grandmother about any of this. Today's response was...delightful. "This is because you still haven't learned to get along with people, you little bitch! Just listen to her and you won't have problems."

Thanks, Grandma, thanks. That really helped my problem. Really. I told my mother, however, and we're going to try and schedule an appointment with my counselor... I just hope something can be arranged.
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Postby Stormcaller3801 » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:51 pm

Definitely talk to the counselor, and start keeping records of what goes on in class. Talk to other students who have problems such as the ones you mentioned who had issues with getting online, and suggest they talk to the counselor as well. Don't tell them what to say, just mention that if they have problems they should talk to the counselor. If the counselor is of no help, I'd take it to the Dean of Students (I'm assuming you have one).

I've had professors pull things like that on me, and it's really best to tell someone, particularly if you have records of what's happening when.
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Postby Helios » Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:00 pm

Well I've only been a college student for about...almost a month now. But from what I gathered, teachers in college are a tad less inclined to offer assistance to their students, because the mindset in college is that you are, or should be, a mature responsible adult who is capable of handling things by yourself. Regardless though, my teachers at UMD can and will go out of their way to help their students. I have a Math exam on Monday, and my teacher said that we could email her with questions over the weekend.

If a student has medical issues, then special consideration is given, after all we are only human and we can only be so healthy, this is apparent now more than ever with things like Swine Flu (we're still doing that bit?!) on the horizon and whatnot.

Definitely talk with your University staff, cause your teacher may or may not be up to that school's standards. I know that college professors can be insane in their own little ways, but it never hurts to have someone from a higher authority check on them.
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Postby Pathia » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:11 pm

Talk to the school councilors, they can help. I've known people who had an entire year wiped from their records due to stress/family issues/depression etc.
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Postby Stormcaller3801 » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:05 pm

Hell I've done more than that. Thanks to depression-related forgiveness, my college career spanned thirteen years but only fifteen semesters. :P
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Postby Ayeaka » Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:14 pm

I'm going to try and get an appointment made with the counselor. It's just.... on one side I have my parents all 'see! We told you you'd suffer for it if you missed school! We told you to go!" (FLU)
On the others...all of my other professors demanded I go home every time my parents forced me to go.
x-x

But I'll see about getting a transfer...


[edit]
My mother, apparently, in her imminent wisdom, decided to go to the counselor alone, instead of bothering to bring me, because clearly she knows what's going on SO much better than I do.
End result? I can't get a transfer. I've been removed from any chance of a transfer. The counselor claims I just need a 'doctor's note' (which I PROVIDED THE FIRST FUCKING TIME,) and claims that my mother's fears are unfounded.
Genius. My mother's just fucked one other thing over for me by being impatient, and thinking she knew better than me. -_-



[edit2]


The counselor expects me to directly confront my teacher. Because that totally ALWAYS WORKS AMIRITE? And TOTALLY doesn't turn the teacher FURTHER against you. No, of COURSE it won't, despite that ALWAYS happening in the past.

Two panic attacks and stress-induced vomiting later, and I'm just going to fucking fail the class. Fuck it. It's not worth fighting for the makeup. If she's set on failing me, she's going to fail me. There's no point in fighting it.
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