Quote From: mustbecrazyOur oldest son's 5th grade teacher, and the 5th grade para-pro tie for the "worst teacher" award...the 5th grade teacher singled out our son every day for being the slowest to get his things together and in his backpack at the end of the day, making the whole class wait for him...
And the 5th grade para-pro (not a teacher, but a "helper") was running a program called "Young Astronauts", for the higher achieving students (they didn't have a real program for the kids who were ahead of the rest academically). The program was supposed to be a fun way to learn about astronauts and space...well, she pretty much wanted the high achievers to know what it feels like to "fail"...she said so herself...she would send home impossible worksheets...our son managed to get them done, with a little help...as they were the kind of riddles that a kid wouldn't "get" on their own...he "failed" because he admitted that he got help from his parents...the rest of the kids "failed" that assignment because they couldn't answer the riddle questions...and this is the way the class went, until we pulled our son out...it was totally counter-productive and did NOTHING to build self-confidence and self-esteem...she was there to tear the kids down...
Wow, Becky, you & gwarrior have some pretty compelling "worst" nominees! I don't have anything THAT bad from grade school. The only thing that comes close is the alcoholic who allegedly taught me in 2nd grade. I say "allegedly" b/c she wasn't there much of the time.
However, I present this nominee on behalf of my younger sister. Her 4th-grade teacher was, to put it bluntly, a b***h. My sister, a bright kid, suddenly started failing EVERYTHING, and was ALWAYS bringing home nastygrams from the teacher about how her behavior was AWFUL -- talking in class, making all kinds of trouble, you name it. Now, this was NOT the way to start off one's career in a new Catholic school. Mother was beside herself, we were the new people on the block, etc., etc. We even called up a psychologist, who happened to be a family friend in another state, for ideas. The psychologist sent a report to the school; the teacher behaved as though it never existed.
It took until about 2/3 of the way through the school year, when Mother went in for a conference with the teacher, that the lightbulb came on. Mother was waiting in the hall for the appointment, when one of the other little girls in the class walked up: Aren't you T---'s mom? T--- is just sooo quiet in class, never makes trouble --- a TOTALLY different picture than that of the troublemaker that this woman was sending home!
The nightmare ended when the school year did. interestingly enough, that teacher did not return the next year.
"Best" nominee to follow.
Prof
