Stringing me along
I know there are at least two people on my friends' list that have had recent struggles with school. They reminded me of something that put a damper on my college career.
One of my final classes in college was a string techniques class. The supposed goal of the class was to learn how to play and teach the violin, viola, and cello. As my college did not have an orchestra, and virtually everyone was either in band or in choir and not a string player, this was our only chance to really learn strings.
The class turned out to be a total disaster. We didn't realize it right away, but considering most of us didn't even switch instruments (as should have been the goal), something didn't seem right. Then came the final. We performed, everything seemed okay...and then the "professor" talked to me outside of class about how everyone did--and showed me everyone's grades as he did so. I saw my final; I got an 86 or 87. Considering I worked my ass off on the violin and did lots better than most people in the class, I thought I deserved an A- at least. Well, I was in for a shock. When I got my report card, my "prof" had changed my grade--to a C. He'd supposedly gotten me confused with some other girl in my class (his excuse), which was complete and utter bull. If I remember correctly, that girl was my friend Leah, who had taken private violin lessons with him the whole year. While we both play flute and wear glasses, she had down-to-her-butt brown hair and was slimmer and shorter than I was. And considering he'd known her for nine months, there shouldn't have been any confusion.
I kept in touch with Leah and a few other people over the summer to basically protest the class and our grades. Our protests went for naught. But tonight, while looking for something else, I came across the rebuttal I'd written in response to my school's pansy-ass reply that, essentially, we'd gotten what we'd paid for.
It's six years later, but this still pisses me off. Now, for your reading pleasure, the rebuttal.
(Names have been removed, because I'm fearful of libel.)
I would like to thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. However, I do not believe that enough time and consideration went into this. Did you speak with JM [choir director] or RW [music department chair]? Did you speak with any of my classmates on a personal level, either on the phone or in an office? I repeatedly offered to come in and speak with Dr. L [arts chair? Can't recall] over this past summer, and I believe I left that option open to Dr. E [former adviser] as well. No attempt to set up an appointment was made.
I am disgusted by the whole of this--the outcome of the class and the outcome of your response.
I can imagine if perhaps one or two students complained about the class or the professor, but when all of the students involved agree that there was a major problem then you must have realized that something was seriously wrong.
I have had more personal contact with KL [the "professor"] that I would like. He teaches lessons at [the music store] in Naperville, where I work. For someone who claims to be a teacher, he certainly does not care about his students, only about his bottom line. I invite and encourage you to stop by [the music store] on a Tuesday or Saturday to witness what he does on a twice-weekly basis. He will leave his lessons in the middle of the lesson to make phone calls, go to the bathroom, chit-chat with other teachers, and the like. The phone calls I could understand if they were of a personal nature--calling to check on a sick child, for example--but his phone calls consist of him setting up either playing gigs or new students. He is consistently late for his first student, a young girl about four years old. I have witnessed an adult student fire him because he asked for a great deal of money up front and essentially he did not teach her. The man is not to be trusted in any way, shape, or form. I feel that he has also taken my money and not given me anything in return. If North Central had a money-back guarantee, I would certainly ask for my $353 back. It is obvious to me that my time and my money were wasted. I did not need to take this class. Indeed, I did not need to be at school at all last year, but I came back to further my knowledge in music, and for this class I wished to further my knowledge of the orchestra. North Central does not have an orchestra, and neither did my grade school; I was not involved in orchestra in high school, so as a musician I felt I needed to learn more about the string instruments. However, the class was more like a master class in which the master stood in front of us and did not care how we played. K did not set goals for the class, and the goals stated in the catalogue description of the string techniques class were not met. We have determined that the only person to receive an A in the class was a person who has played violin for more than a decade. To say that she is a better violin player than the rest of the class is to say that a college student is smarter than a grade school student: There is no comparison. She brought to the class a wealth of knowledge about the violin that the rest of us could not know. The class consisted of vocalists, pianists, flutists, clarinetists, percussionists--most of whom had not played a string instrument or even been in an orchestra before.
This was not a good experience. My classmates and I have adverse reactions whenever Mr. L or the class is mentioned. We cannot help but get worked up about it because this was such a horrible experience. Even now, five months after the fact, I still tense up and clench my jaw when discussing this matter in any fashion.
I am completely willing to meet with any and all parties involved in these discussions. I do not consider this class to be over and done. At the very least, I would like to see that Mr. L does not "teach" another class at North Central. If you cannot find another instructor for String Techniques the next time it is offered, then do not offer it. The students at North Central deserve quality and qualified instructors. KL is not a quality or qualified instructor. That is why I feel the class received poor grades from a poor teacher.
As for Dr. E's written response to my grade appeal, I would like to respond to some of your points. Again, I do appreciate you even considering the appeal, and yes I do not agree with what you have to say, but here are my reasons.
In your letter, Dr. E, you state, "Prof. VO [band director, who was on pro term at the time] and I have discussed how Mr. L's expectations for the students' performance were rigorous, not egregriously so, but perhaps more than students anticipated." He may have had high expectations for the class, but at no time did he state verbally or in written form what exactly he wanted from us performance-wise. In his mind he wanted all of us to be Itzhak Perlman. Mr. L in fact stated to me that I could have sounded like Itzhak Perlman the day before the final but he had to go with my performance at the final. This is fine, but to think that any person could sound like any professional player within ten weeks of beginning an instrument involves high hopes, indeed.
Dr. E also wrote, "Your grade appeal...was given the utmost consideration." I am not completely convinced of this, but I do not fault you or Dr. VO. I understand that neither of you were on campus when this class took place, and you were not involved in my grading concerns until Fall Term began. I also understand that you have other duties that are more pressing, such as your classes, advisees, and meetings, not to mention family obligations. However, this class was so subpar to the rest of my experience at North Central that I cannot simply let it go. There is no easy way to solve this problem, and I am not convinced that this is the end.
As for the question of the syllabus, I will agree with what you said: "While his syllabus was not distributed the first day of class, it did explain how students would be tested well before the final exam." He did give us, in writing, what he wanted us to show him on the final several weeks prior to the final. The problem occurs with how masterful he wanted us to be with the techniques. My understanding of "mastery of techniques" in a techniques class means demonstrating the technique and showing an understanding of what you are doing, not proving that you are a true master ready to dazzle an audience at Carnegie Hall.
Some other notes about this class, and more on Mr. L:
It is true that the only person who got an A was somebody who'd played for a decade. Frankly, she probably could have taught the class and done a better job. My classmates were very down on the class while we were taking it--nobody wanted to practice or be there. Me, the music whore that I am, loved it while I was there. I'm convinced that part of Heaven involves a practice room and a bunch of different instruments. (Heck, my previous post was about oboe reeds...what does that tell you?) But this guy...ugh.
I was unfortunate enough to have to keep dealing with him after all of this went down. Prior to the class I hadn't met him but had known he taught lessons at the store. I never worked Saturdays and only worked in the mornings on Tuesdays, so until about June I was never there when he taught lessons. In fact, the day he showed me everyone's grades quite possibly was the first time we were in the store at the same time. He claimed that I rifled through his stuff and found the grades. Bull. BULL. I would never do that. In fact, I didn't even know which studio was his on Tuesdays at the time. Our teachers, particularly the ones that didn't work for the store, got put in whatever room was available. I think he taught in two different rooms, and I didn't know which was his on what day.
The guy was a total prick. The woman I mention in the rebuttal, she made the mistake of bringing in artwork to show him. He basically stole it. I don't know why she gave it to him, but she did, and I don't think she got it back. She railed on his ass about the whole thing. He also had a student, this little blind boy. He was never in the studio with this kid. My coworker Grace Mary and I would just be disgusted, watching Mr. L talk on the phone the entire time this kid sat in the practice room. I think we both tried to get Mr. L "fired," so to speak (Grace Mary is a relative of the owners), but to no avail. The following year we completely revamped the lesson program, including sending the teachers tax forms, which we'd never done. Guess who was the first to leave, before we even instituted the program? The lesson program ended completely by 2002. (However, on the music store's website, they mention something about giving lessons in the new building, so I guess they're bringing them back.)
This whole situation still makes me angry. Time has lessened my ire, but it will never go away completely.
One of my final classes in college was a string techniques class. The supposed goal of the class was to learn how to play and teach the violin, viola, and cello. As my college did not have an orchestra, and virtually everyone was either in band or in choir and not a string player, this was our only chance to really learn strings.
The class turned out to be a total disaster. We didn't realize it right away, but considering most of us didn't even switch instruments (as should have been the goal), something didn't seem right. Then came the final. We performed, everything seemed okay...and then the "professor" talked to me outside of class about how everyone did--and showed me everyone's grades as he did so. I saw my final; I got an 86 or 87. Considering I worked my ass off on the violin and did lots better than most people in the class, I thought I deserved an A- at least. Well, I was in for a shock. When I got my report card, my "prof" had changed my grade--to a C. He'd supposedly gotten me confused with some other girl in my class (his excuse), which was complete and utter bull. If I remember correctly, that girl was my friend Leah, who had taken private violin lessons with him the whole year. While we both play flute and wear glasses, she had down-to-her-butt brown hair and was slimmer and shorter than I was. And considering he'd known her for nine months, there shouldn't have been any confusion.
I kept in touch with Leah and a few other people over the summer to basically protest the class and our grades. Our protests went for naught. But tonight, while looking for something else, I came across the rebuttal I'd written in response to my school's pansy-ass reply that, essentially, we'd gotten what we'd paid for.
It's six years later, but this still pisses me off. Now, for your reading pleasure, the rebuttal.
(Names have been removed, because I'm fearful of libel.)
I would like to thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. However, I do not believe that enough time and consideration went into this. Did you speak with JM [choir director] or RW [music department chair]? Did you speak with any of my classmates on a personal level, either on the phone or in an office? I repeatedly offered to come in and speak with Dr. L [arts chair? Can't recall] over this past summer, and I believe I left that option open to Dr. E [former adviser] as well. No attempt to set up an appointment was made.
I am disgusted by the whole of this--the outcome of the class and the outcome of your response.
I can imagine if perhaps one or two students complained about the class or the professor, but when all of the students involved agree that there was a major problem then you must have realized that something was seriously wrong.
I have had more personal contact with KL [the "professor"] that I would like. He teaches lessons at [the music store] in Naperville, where I work. For someone who claims to be a teacher, he certainly does not care about his students, only about his bottom line. I invite and encourage you to stop by [the music store] on a Tuesday or Saturday to witness what he does on a twice-weekly basis. He will leave his lessons in the middle of the lesson to make phone calls, go to the bathroom, chit-chat with other teachers, and the like. The phone calls I could understand if they were of a personal nature--calling to check on a sick child, for example--but his phone calls consist of him setting up either playing gigs or new students. He is consistently late for his first student, a young girl about four years old. I have witnessed an adult student fire him because he asked for a great deal of money up front and essentially he did not teach her. The man is not to be trusted in any way, shape, or form. I feel that he has also taken my money and not given me anything in return. If North Central had a money-back guarantee, I would certainly ask for my $353 back. It is obvious to me that my time and my money were wasted. I did not need to take this class. Indeed, I did not need to be at school at all last year, but I came back to further my knowledge in music, and for this class I wished to further my knowledge of the orchestra. North Central does not have an orchestra, and neither did my grade school; I was not involved in orchestra in high school, so as a musician I felt I needed to learn more about the string instruments. However, the class was more like a master class in which the master stood in front of us and did not care how we played. K did not set goals for the class, and the goals stated in the catalogue description of the string techniques class were not met. We have determined that the only person to receive an A in the class was a person who has played violin for more than a decade. To say that she is a better violin player than the rest of the class is to say that a college student is smarter than a grade school student: There is no comparison. She brought to the class a wealth of knowledge about the violin that the rest of us could not know. The class consisted of vocalists, pianists, flutists, clarinetists, percussionists--most of whom had not played a string instrument or even been in an orchestra before.
This was not a good experience. My classmates and I have adverse reactions whenever Mr. L or the class is mentioned. We cannot help but get worked up about it because this was such a horrible experience. Even now, five months after the fact, I still tense up and clench my jaw when discussing this matter in any fashion.
I am completely willing to meet with any and all parties involved in these discussions. I do not consider this class to be over and done. At the very least, I would like to see that Mr. L does not "teach" another class at North Central. If you cannot find another instructor for String Techniques the next time it is offered, then do not offer it. The students at North Central deserve quality and qualified instructors. KL is not a quality or qualified instructor. That is why I feel the class received poor grades from a poor teacher.
As for Dr. E's written response to my grade appeal, I would like to respond to some of your points. Again, I do appreciate you even considering the appeal, and yes I do not agree with what you have to say, but here are my reasons.
In your letter, Dr. E, you state, "Prof. VO [band director, who was on pro term at the time] and I have discussed how Mr. L's expectations for the students' performance were rigorous, not egregriously so, but perhaps more than students anticipated." He may have had high expectations for the class, but at no time did he state verbally or in written form what exactly he wanted from us performance-wise. In his mind he wanted all of us to be Itzhak Perlman. Mr. L in fact stated to me that I could have sounded like Itzhak Perlman the day before the final but he had to go with my performance at the final. This is fine, but to think that any person could sound like any professional player within ten weeks of beginning an instrument involves high hopes, indeed.
Dr. E also wrote, "Your grade appeal...was given the utmost consideration." I am not completely convinced of this, but I do not fault you or Dr. VO. I understand that neither of you were on campus when this class took place, and you were not involved in my grading concerns until Fall Term began. I also understand that you have other duties that are more pressing, such as your classes, advisees, and meetings, not to mention family obligations. However, this class was so subpar to the rest of my experience at North Central that I cannot simply let it go. There is no easy way to solve this problem, and I am not convinced that this is the end.
As for the question of the syllabus, I will agree with what you said: "While his syllabus was not distributed the first day of class, it did explain how students would be tested well before the final exam." He did give us, in writing, what he wanted us to show him on the final several weeks prior to the final. The problem occurs with how masterful he wanted us to be with the techniques. My understanding of "mastery of techniques" in a techniques class means demonstrating the technique and showing an understanding of what you are doing, not proving that you are a true master ready to dazzle an audience at Carnegie Hall.
Some other notes about this class, and more on Mr. L:
It is true that the only person who got an A was somebody who'd played for a decade. Frankly, she probably could have taught the class and done a better job. My classmates were very down on the class while we were taking it--nobody wanted to practice or be there. Me, the music whore that I am, loved it while I was there. I'm convinced that part of Heaven involves a practice room and a bunch of different instruments. (Heck, my previous post was about oboe reeds...what does that tell you?) But this guy...ugh.
I was unfortunate enough to have to keep dealing with him after all of this went down. Prior to the class I hadn't met him but had known he taught lessons at the store. I never worked Saturdays and only worked in the mornings on Tuesdays, so until about June I was never there when he taught lessons. In fact, the day he showed me everyone's grades quite possibly was the first time we were in the store at the same time. He claimed that I rifled through his stuff and found the grades. Bull. BULL. I would never do that. In fact, I didn't even know which studio was his on Tuesdays at the time. Our teachers, particularly the ones that didn't work for the store, got put in whatever room was available. I think he taught in two different rooms, and I didn't know which was his on what day.
The guy was a total prick. The woman I mention in the rebuttal, she made the mistake of bringing in artwork to show him. He basically stole it. I don't know why she gave it to him, but she did, and I don't think she got it back. She railed on his ass about the whole thing. He also had a student, this little blind boy. He was never in the studio with this kid. My coworker Grace Mary and I would just be disgusted, watching Mr. L talk on the phone the entire time this kid sat in the practice room. I think we both tried to get Mr. L "fired," so to speak (Grace Mary is a relative of the owners), but to no avail. The following year we completely revamped the lesson program, including sending the teachers tax forms, which we'd never done. Guess who was the first to leave, before we even instituted the program? The lesson program ended completely by 2002. (However, on the music store's website, they mention something about giving lessons in the new building, so I guess they're bringing them back.)
This whole situation still makes me angry. Time has lessened my ire, but it will never go away completely.