We are writing on behalf of our daughter
"Muriel." Muriel wants very much to take the Advanced Shakespeare course, and
registered last year for it. We have been informed by her counselor that the
class is being cancelled because only two other students signed up for it.
Muriel is extremely let down and we feel that it is unfair to cancel a class
due to low enrollment. As tax payers in this county, we expect the highest
level of education available for our children. The class is offered at her
school and is listed in the course catalog as available this semester, so
Muriel should be allowed to take it. If the class does not take place this
semester, we will be involving our lawyer on the grounds that our daughter is
being robbed of her right to a fair and equal education.
How dare you give our son “Rolf” a B in your
journalism class? Obviously you cannot recognize the makings of a brilliant
writer. When re-calculating Rolf’s grade, we came to realize that most of the
weight of his grade rested upon a single writing assignment. We read this
assignment carefully and were impressed with what we saw. Clearly his work,
which you gave a C, merited an A. We took it to a friend of ours who is a
Global Distinguished Professor of Journalism at "Some Fancy University" and who
formerly worked for a very prestigious newspaper. He agreed that Rolf’s paper
merited an A.
With this in mind, we request that you complete
a grade change form for Rolf as soon as possible to give him the grade that he
undoubtedly deserves.
Just like an adult, kids have a very public forum online to express their
opinions about whatever they choose. Yet unlike many adults, they lack the tact
and ability to think critically about the impact their comments can have. Take
for example the website called ratemyteachers.com. This is a very popular
website where anyone in the world can look up a teacher by name or by school
and see what people have posted anonymously about them. It not only rates their
performance but it rates their popularity. Until recently it actually rated
their “hotness” as well. The site also gives anyone the chance to comment on a
teacher’s performance with absolutely no filter. You are not required to log in
or enter your name or email address to post a comment. As of 2012, ratemyteachers.com
has over 15 million ratings for more than 11 million teachers.
According to the site,
all comments are reviewed and approved by volunteer moderators to ensure they
are consistent with the site's rules or guidelines before they are posted on
the website. I’m not sure who is moderating and what they are removing, because
it seems that you can pretty much write whatever you like and it will appear
shortly after. This and websites like it give young people, who lack the
maturity to be able to properly rate their educators, a place to be angry and
inappropriate. Thankfully, I have only been rated a few times and they are
mostly positive comments. But I have coworkers who work very hard and are quite
dedicated and they have been decimated on this website.
For example, a very
devoted teacher who typically stays at school until 8 o’clock at night grading
papers and working on lesson plans has gotten several nasty comments because
she is a “hard grader.” Kids have written the following comments: “She is rude
and picks on students just to satisfy her horrible heart; she is useless as a
teacher; worst teacher I've ever had, our whole class hates her; she manages to
say nothing understandable in an hour; I have no respect for her; the work is
stupid and she is stupid; a terrible teacher and a terrible person; should be
in a mental asylum.” Whether or not these statements are true, it is unfair for
students to be able to say such abusive things and have it stay on the internet
forever. When you Google a teacher’s name you are almost sure to find quotes
from ratemyteachers.com on the front page, which can affect a person’s career
and life endlessly. Many students write absolutely nothing productive and
merely express their emotions towards the teacher as a person such as, “I
dislike you highly; I hate her with a fiery passion; total female dog;” or just
“I hate you.” Some teachers are called morons, idiots, senile or simply told to
shut up.
But what can be even
more hurtful are the comments you receive when you are an attractive teacher. A
coworker of mine happens to be very beautiful. Her ratings include comments
such as, “She’s like really pretty; she’s the bait (slang for sexy); so hawt
(hot) etc.” This really embarrasses her. Her online ratings aren’t the only
inappropriate things she encounters. She gets disgusting anonymous emails from
students that describe what they want to do to her. She even had students throw
condoms at her every time she turned around to write on the board. Sadly, yet
not surprisingly, she is one of the 50% of teachers that will be leaving the
profession.
But before she does,
will she create ratemystudents.com or ratemyadministrators.com or
ratemyhorriblyabusiveworkplace.com? I doubt it. Most parents, administrators
and school boards wouldn’t stand for that kind of public platform for abuse and
slander.
Florida teacher faces firing for placing ‘cone of shame’ on students
PHILIP CAULFIELD
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Pasco County school officials caught Zephyrhills High teacher Laurie
Bailey-Cutkomp using a cone-shaped dog collar dubbed “the cone of
shame” to punish misbehaving students after some teens posted photos on
Facebook last month. Parents saw the embarassing pics and complained, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Ninth-graders at the west Florida school said the 47-year-old science
teacher and former veterinarian fastened the "cone of shame" on
students who arrived late or acted up in class. "I was in second period. I was drinking soda, and she said, 'Do I
have to put the cone on you?'" one unidentified girl said in a
statement to the school board. "I didn't say anything and she put it on me." Bailey-Cutkomp brought the cone to school after showing students the
Pixar movie "Up" during a slow day before spring break, the Times
reported. The 2009 flick featured a dopey dog named Dug who is
forced to wear a "cone of shame" — in reality, a plastic collar that
prevents animals from licking their wounds after surgery — as
punishment. Bailey-Cutkomp was booted from the classroom and is awaiting a school board hearing to determine whether she'll be fired. "I am stunned that you would put dog collars on students for any
reason," Pasco County schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino said in
a letter, according to the newspaper. Students said Bailey-Cutkomp placed“the cone of shame” on students who arrived late or misbehaved. Bailey-Cutkomp, who has been teaching full-time since 2002, told school
officials that the collar was meant to be a joke and she didn't mean to
hurt or embarrass anyone. Some of her students backed her up. "Whatever mistake Ms. Bailey-Cutkomp made, it was a mistake that I
doubt she will make again," ninth-grade teacher James Washington said
in a letter to the school board. "Furthermore, what I have witnessed at ZHS certainly makes me believe that she has much to offer the students." A school board hearing on the matter hasn't been scheduled yet.
The first little assignment I gave to my 12th graders was to bring in a book which changed the way they view the world or impacted them in a significant way. The following titles were brought in:
And several brought in nothing, saying that they have either never read a whole book, or have never been impacted in any way by a book.
Today was fun. One of my students pointed out that his desk had a penis drawn on it and the words, "mastrubate erryday." I'm pretty sure he did it, because I think I would have noticed something like that beforehand.
Another student actually stapled a paper to his forehead in study hall.
I also received an EMAIL from a student asking for my EMAIL ADDRESS.
It is the first week of school. A parent of an Advanced Placement student sent the following email before I even met his child:
To: English teacher
From: Snowflake parent
Subject: Summer Reading
Hello.It is the night before school begins and I am extremely concerned for my son. He just noticed today that he had a summer reading assignment that is due on the first day of class. The assignment was to read a 350 page book in preparation for an in-class essay. Although my son did receive the paper in the mail which explains the AP summer reading assignment, he only read the front of the paper which described the world history assignment. He completely missed the other side which outlined the literature assignment. My son is a hardworking student and should not be penalized on the first day for an honest mistake. I am asking that you make an exception and excuse him from the first assignment.
Thank you so much for your understanding,
Ridiculous parent
A safe place for teachers to anonymously vent about other teachers, administration, low pay, snowflake students, helicopter parents, no respect, no time to pee and anything else that we must endure.
