"I still finished the class..."

I was in beginning pottery my freshman year of high school, and the task was to make a lidded pot, so I decided to make mine shaped like Yoshi, with his head/back as the lid. I was told it was childish and he wouldn't put it in the kiln. I had to start from scratch and didn't have enough time to finish before it was due, so I got an F. I still finished the class with an A, but I'm also still kinda peeved by the whole interaction.

TheDankKnight

Why are some teachers like this?

Why would you take up the profession if you're only going to put down and discourage students?

Seems counterproductive, does it not?

Let's continue.

"I basically didn't have history class..."

I basically didn't have history class in 10th grade because the teacher was so lazy and apathetic.

The students loved that we had "free days" every other day, and most of the "class", when it wasn't a free day, was him putting a random movie on while he sat on his computer.

SnooFox5

"I was in class with three other seniors..."

Some background information: At the high school where I graduated from, it was mandatory for the seniors to do a senior project. It was half of the final English grade so it was super important. Basically, you choose any topic to do, like be a student teacher, learn how to build things, etc. It's kinda like looking into certain jobs and seeing if you would want to do it in the future. At the end of the year, you do a presentation over the whole year of what you did and the steps you took to get there. Some of the teachers and staff at the school are the "judges" to grade you with how well you did.

I was in class with three other seniors at a table in art class. One of us was working on English homework, since it was the next class coming up. English was a class you HAD to pass in order to graduate, art was just a class that you could fail and it wouldn't matter. Well, the teacher came by and noticed she was working on English instead of art and he told her to put it away. She calmly told him that she had to finish her English homework first and then she would immediately work on her art afterward.

At some point, he just said "Well, it looks like someone isn't going to pass their senior project". (He was usually one of the judges that graded the presentations at the end of the year.) When we all heard that, we went to the principal's office and explained the situation. I'm usually very quiet, but even I spoke up. We all told the principal that, yes she should've done her homework the night before or in the morning before school started.

But we also all agreed that he should've just simply given her detention, not threaten her senior project grade, and in turn threaten her chance to graduate. The principal agreed and the teacher was removed from the judging panel for that year. The teacher had to talk to the principal as well. This Male teacher also had a tendency to flirt with the girls (who were good at art anyway) in his class. If you weren't "good" at art, he wasn't at all interested in what you were doing. You could say he was biased in his teaching.

605need420

"I was nine."

Didn't love him but sure found out he was an ass. I was about 9 and had been at boarding school since my 8th birthday. I have dyslexia but hadn't been diagnosed yet. My maths teacher was also my form teacher. Maths was the only subject I was any good at so I kind of enjoyed his lessons.

At the end of each term, we would be ranked on how we'd done academically across all subjects. Our form teacher would get the whole class to stand up and then our names would be read out from last in the class to first, leaving the top pupil standing to get applause from everyone else. Such an arcane system but that's English boarding schools for you.

Anyway, we're all standing up and my teacher starts reading out names. I was always near the bottom so expected to be called out soon but my name isn't called. 20 kids left I'm still standing, 10 still standing, 5 and I'm still in the game. My friends are looking at me grinning knowing that this would mean the world to me. I'm so excited to be still standing I'm beaming back at the like an idiot.

Finally, everyone is sitting down and it's just me and another kid standing up. Ass teacher congratulates the other kid on coming top of the class... I'm standing there like a lemon not sure what to do. One of my friends asks the teacher "what about Nick sir?". That ass looks me straight in the eye and says "Oh, didn't I read his name out? He was last, he's always last."

I was nine.

It was 37 years ago and it still hurts.

NiMo977

How could it not?

It's understandable.

Let's continue.

"Sad."

When my history teacher cheated on his wife, who was a teacher at the same school, with another teacher and took her and her kids secretly to Disney World before ever taking his original family there. Sad.

campy31

"We were in the third grade..."

When they bullied my friend to the point where she wanted to end her life.

We were in the third grade and she would always yell/taunt students, make fun of people with disabilities and flip out over the smallest of things. However, I assumed that this was how life was supposed to be as I had a similar childhood with my peers and home. I felt miserable, but she always helped me with my schoolwork because I was delayed as a child, so that made me like her more than my classmates. She didn't ignore me like everyone else would, so I really liked that.

But that all changed when I was over at my friend's home one day and she told me in secrecy that she wanted to end her life. She made a detailed plan and tried to give me something valuable of hers (a My Little Pony doll). At the time, she was not in a good home situation either and the teacher made her life miserable since she would specifically target her. My friend told me not to tell anyone, but I got my grandparents involved. They got her the help she needed and she's still alive and my best friend to this day. She doesn't know that I'm the one that told and I don't even know if she remembers. I tried bringing it up once in high school because it was relevant to the topic we were on about anyways, but she seemed totally confused. Not upset, just had no idea what I was talking about.

I am so glad that she's alive though because she's absolutely amazing. I hope that she actually doesn't remember feeling that way. No one should.

TraumatizedChild100

It's safe to say...

...that the author of that last post is a good soul and that that teacher of theirs probably shouldn't be teaching (assuming they still are).

"I was recently talking to my little brother..."

I was recently talking to my little brother about a high school teacher we both had. My brother thought the teacher was an ahole, and the teacher did not like my brother, either.

The teacher and I got on really well. I was trying to figure out why our experiences were so different and the answer was obvious.

I was also an insufferable ahole. The teacher and I both bullied people to assert some kind of dominance. I was an awful teenager. He was a worse adult.

beehiveinvader

"Someone who was vaguely aware..."

Everyone loved one of my high school music teachers. Well...I should say all the students loved him. A lot of the rest of the department would put on a brave face, but then stories started circulating about how he'd f*** over his coworkers without giving it a second thought. But when you're a student, you don't really know the ins and outs of faculty politics. (Or at least students shouldn't.)

Fast forward a number of years. A couple of years after graduating from college, I wind up back in my hometown as a music teacher. The popular high school teacher had gotten his administration degree and was now the principal of the building I was assigned to work in. And he was terrible. TERRIBLE. Completely incompetent. Rude and unpleasant. Tried to use his physical size to intimidate people (in a building mostly staffed by women). I have stories.

Someone who was vaguely aware of the history but not the specifics once said to me, "Oh, isn't it so nice that you're working with one of your favorite teachers now!" I told her the truth - every good memory I had of being one of his students was erased by what a horrible principal he was.

ScarletInTheLounge

"When I had my final English exam..."

My English teacher during my finals. He was always the cool teacher, like "watches with us funny videos of screaming goats during the break" cool. Back then my English was awful, I struggled with holding a conversation but I really tried.

So one day we had to write this essay where we had to compare the relationships in 'The Great Gatsby' with relationships in any other novel (we were allowed to choose). I compared it to the triangle between Harry's parents and Snape. I gave it to him to read and he said it's pretty well and he would like to give me a mark on it. He even underlined the language mistakes I made so he wouldn't have to subtract points for bad grammar! I was excited because I desperately needed a good mark and was proud of my work. I corrected the whole thing, he even approved it and took it with him.

The next week I got it back with a 4+ (1 is the best 6 is the worst. The plus means it was close to a 3) claiming that the content of the essay was awful. The same content that he applauded earlier.

When I had my final English exam he was one of the supervisors, he came to me and whispered that he would be surprised if I would be good enough for a 5.

I passed with a 3 and now I'm somewhat fluent in English.

OverlyShyEnby

"When he yelled at students..."

When he yelled at students during our group finals just to blow off steam. He was leaving at the end of that year. I'm sure he knew he could get away with it.

Funnily enough, though, that wasn't totally what did it for me. He and I made up after those incidents, we stayed in touch, and two months ago, he hit on me after spending years getting close to me and breaking down my boundaries.

Ass is an understatement.

eyeitt

Horrifying.

Utterly horrifying.

We're certainly glad this person is no longer teaching.

Let's continue.

"They wrote a letter..."

They wrote a letter with my report card saying that I talked too much in class. She was kind of quirky and awkward which was what I liked about her in the first place but no one else did. No one would answer her questions in class and I hate uncomfortable silence. Normally I would wait a moment or two after she asked a question to see if ANYONE literally ANYONE would answer before I raised my hand. Also, she said that the university that I go to now (I had no idea I was going there at the time) was "highly overrated" and for "pompous a**holes."

Whowhatwherewhenwhy6

"I looked him up recently..."

He left my high school, happened to land at the school where my mom taught, and she told me how he was let go for having sex with a student. I looked him up recently and he's now teaching college.

socialdeviant620

Okay, it seems like...

...a lot of teachers out there definitely had a thing for their students. It should go without saying that that is not a good idea. Haven't any of these people seen Notes on a Scandal? This stuff never ends well.

That said, it's a shame to hear of how these people were affected by their teachers. In an ideal world, only the best of the best would be teachers, but we have to address the terrible pay teachers receive before we can begin to address that issue!

Have you had a teacher who you lost respect for? Feel free to share with us in the comments below!

It's never easy when our heroes turn out not to live up to the expectations we set in our head -- though it can inspire us to be better when we grow up, no matter how old we are.

Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.