The lala-ness of school has worn off. I knew it would, and frankly I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now. It's not for lack of interest, or study fatigue. It's a horrible teacher that's the culprit of my stolen school spirit.
Remember the teacher I told you about? The one who worked for the State Department, Dept. of Defense, and other hoity-toity positions? Well, you know the adage "those who do, do. Those who can't, teach." I GET IT NOW. Funny, every other teacher I know is smart.
I've had 4 classes now. Each class in 1 hour, 20 minutes. And in that time, we have done nothing but learn 35 medical specialties. That is all. Literally. In fact I've taken minutes (well, not really, but this is how it's all gone down). Please, read along. Let me know how you would restrain yourself from jumping over the lip of the two-foot table that separates you from the instructor and smacking her silly for wasting everyone time. Thanks.
Tuesday, Jan. 19th - Roll is taken. Syllabi handed-out. A round-robin of name memorization (total time 30 minutes). Teacher background discussed. End of class.
Thursday, January 21 - The importance of punctuality is addressed as a couple of late stragglers come into class. 35 medical specialties are introduced. These include the two branches of medicine; internal, and surgery. The specialties include common terms such as gynecologist, pediatrician, thoracic surgeon, etc. Ya know , shit everyone has heard before. I mean, if you've ever been to a doctor. The entire class is spent stressing how important it is, as health care professionals, that we correctly spell these terms. David is called out for not having his textbook with him in class. This would probably not be the best time to tell the instructor that I saved money and bought the 1st edition of the textbook, instead of the required 2nd ed. End of class.
Tuesday, January 26- A woman enters the class with a late-add slip. The teacher warns, berates, and admonishes the 30-something aged woman that she has missed two classes already and that if the student feels she cannot make up the missed work in a timely fashion, she will struggle through the entire course. I want to lean over and tell the woman that she hasn't missed a damn thing. The entire class is devoted to writing out, shouting out, and verbally spelling the 35 specialties. I am called on four times to provide the correct term for questions such as "a medical specialist who treats cancer" . After I provide the answer I must also spell the term, aloud, for the class. End of class.
Thursday, January 28 - A test will be given on the 35 specialties. But first, many people are censured for turning their cell phones off when they get into class. It is again brought to our attention (for the umpteenth time) that if anyone is caught texting during class, they will be dropped from the class. Keep in mind that no one has been seen texting or breaking the rules. Before the test, we do another round-robin of the 35 medical specialties. The test is administered. Before class is dismissed, we are told that next week we will discuss professionalism in the health-care workplace. Such points will include correct grammar, the benefits of a diverse vocabulary, and the necessity of wearing deodorant. It is suggested that we read the newspaper to bone-up on our every day verbiage. We are then given homework. End of class.
The syllabus contains no point-scale. There are five exams, two quizzes, and an oral report. Oh, and the occasional homework assignment. I looked it up. Because if it wasn't included in the point scale, I wasn't doing to do it. We are to write-out the 25 medical ethic terms from our book with their accompanying definitions. The homework will be collected on Tuesday. Like my 2nd-grade eight-year-old, I need to write out the word euthanasia and give its definition. Isn't that how all people learn? By constant, redundant repetition?
This is college. Most people on this class are in their mid-to-late 20's. I know I shouldn't complain as the class is easy; an ace in the hole. My course load will get harder. I think?! I hope. My anatomy course was not easy. But I worked at it. And I was entrusted with the information put in front of me, and in the textbook. Ms. Barkley needs to give everyone in that class the benefit of the doubt. Talk to us like we are adults. Trust that we will have respect for her classroom. Let us learn terms at home, in our own time. For God's sake - TEACH US.
Can you tell I'm going to write one hell of an evaluation on this woman? What would you do?
1 comment:
Wow! That lady has issues! Seriously, YOU are PAYING her to TEACH you, not to be treated like a second grader!
I would absolutely include it in your evaluation at the end of the course (and would encourage anyone else who is voicing their concerns with you to do the same). MOST - schools take the evals seriously and will take action.
I was enrolled in an excellerated bachelor's degree program and we had one instructor that had an insane ego, outright told us he was only going to give 1 A, 1 B, however many C's, etc. - AND - he didn't follow they syllabus. We put it in his evaluation and several of the people who didn't get A's met with administration and he ended up getting fired. This was a very extreme case, but we should never put up with blatant subpar performance when' we're footing the bill (and it could also impact our future career!)
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