Hey Josh, My Teacher Called me a Failure
Hey Josh,
I need to ask you something. My English teacher called my whole class (of advanced students) failures. She said that all but maybe 3 of us will flunk out or drop out of college! This kind of enraged me because it reminded me of my third grade teacher who almost shattered my dreams of becoming a pro skateboarder (which I’m still going for).
How do I take this? Do I just sit back and let it happen? Or should I tell her off? Oh, and by the way, this is probably the third time she has said this.
Thanks,
R.J.
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Hey RJ dot com,
Dude. Not cool.
I can understand why you’d want to tell her off!!!??!?!??!!! Like in front of the whole class.
Embarrass her!
Shut her down!
Show her what’s up!
Yeah, it would feel good for a few minutes….but it wouldn’t solve your problem.
My advice? Stay after class someday and mention it to her in a really calm and cool manner. It’s happened three times, so you’re pretty tweaked, but this is the first time you’re bringing it up to her. Stay calm. Breathe deep.
Tell her how you feel and see how she responds. She might not even be aware that she is being a dream crusher.
In your face, but on your side,
// josh
8 Comments
Dude RJ,
Pretty lame for a teacher to do that. Their roles are to teach and support us, and what your english teacher did was basically the opposite of that.
But I’m with Josh on this one: don’t try to rip into her in front of the class – it will not end well. I guarantee it.
Either stay after class and talk to her, or if you don’t want to do that for one reason or another, try sending her an email explaining that her calling all of you guys failures is not helping, and that the class would do a lot better through positive, no negative, feedback.
And, in reality, if this is an advanced class (AP, honors, accelerated, whatever fits), then you guys should all be on the smarter end of things. There’s no way all but 3 of you guys are going to flunk out of college (unless you have a class size of 3). Don’t let the teacher get you down, or discourage you. You know that you aren’t a failure – don’t let anybody convince you otherwise.
Dude. I agree, NOT COOL.
I use people like that to fuel my fire, If they say I can’t do something, then I am darn sure determined to prove them wrong, by working hard and practicing like MAD! It`s a lot of work But it`s SUPER satisfying at the end to say, I worked hard to be able to do what i did, I suceeded AND I proved you wrong. It may not be the Best advice ever given, but it is so so satisfying.
Here’s something a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE once said to be:
“Teachers are some of the most UNsuccessful people on Earth. Why listen to THIER advice about success and life??”
Ignore that crap. Ignore people who try to rain on your parade. They just do it because they have no parade of their own. Prove them wrong.
I used to have a teacher that told me there was no hope for me. She also laughed at me whenever I was bullied. She told me it was my fault that I had/have everything thats coming to me. She was mean. Horrible.
I yelled at her a couple times and all that got me is detention. So I went over her head. Told the principal and she helped shut her up.
Tell the principal, superintendant, or if things get really bad go to the school board. I’m sure they would help with the situation. And if you have friends that can back you up. Thats Better!
I agree with Benjamin, you should just work hard to prove them wrong. It really doesn’t matter what they say, what matters is that you know you can do it. Their comments don’t have to affect your future.
All the greats were told they would fail. They never listened thats what makes them “crazy,” they stood out. In the end the greats save the world and your teacher is just a teacher. I would love to know if she was talking in terms of statistics or just the individual classes learning curve. Either way I promise you that when you get to were you want to be in life you won’t be thinking about your teacher.
Some teachers are bitter failures themselves, biding their time till retirement. But a lot of teachers are people who aren’t necessarily failures, they have one of the suckiest paying jobs on earth because they want to make a difference. I used to really take it to heart when my teachers said critical things of my whole class, and I still think it’s out of line. but i think sometimes teachers are trying to make kids do exactly what Benjamin and Emily were talking about– prove them wrong. I don’t know your teacher at all but it’s possible she was just trying to shake kids up a little bit. and if that’s not the case, it’s probably just frustration. Teachers have low-paying jobs and many of them get so little respect. They’re viewed as failures. kids text while they’re trying to teach them. Pity your teacher. Then ignore her.
Benjamin, Erin, et al.: I agree with the spirit of what you’re saying and this woman clearly has no idea whether her students will be successful in college or not, and probably should find a new job. But there’s no need to insult all teachers because of their low salary. I am an English teacher and while I know I’ll never be a millionaire, I don’t stick with my job because I’m unsuccessful or a “failure”; I do it because I love it and care about helping my students, and some of these comments are really offensive. Once R.J. graduates, he’ll be done with this teacher; there’s no need for him to carry around pity and resentment for ALL teachers as a result of this experience.