Repost #3: Old School Rant
You're right, Nancy. Revere does deserve better. That's why so many "amateurs" are running for public office.
On a side note - I don't think I can even write like this any more. I reached my writing prime at age 17 and have been on the decline ever since. I used to write every day. Now the only writing I do is for class. I suck...
--------FLASHBACK-----------------
"As a certain mediocre, zero-credibility newspaper
recently decided to shower more unnecessary praise upon one of the most egotistical people I have ever met in my entire life, I feel it is necessary to re-post this classic rant from my LJ on January 24, 2006. It remains one of my most popular posts to date.
(By the way, note the horribly offensive descriptions of Revere on there. 'She does such a great job teaching in an impoverished area!' WOW! I was not aware that I grew up in Sub-Saharan Africa; thanks USA TODAY! Also, Nancy braves 'gang-ridden streets' each day... gimme a friggin' break.)
------FLASHBACK: 1/24/06--------
It seems like a certain English teacher at Revere High School views him or herself in a rather high esteem. I, for one, am sick of it.
Oh, sure, it gives her a great power trip to try to act like she's the queen of everything. Like yelling at Ada because she was late showing up to our insignificant homeroom-type period during finals because she was FINISHNG A FINAL. That was nice. And then, just to prove how Strong and Bold she is in her unfair reprimanding of the 2006 Valedictorian and all around wonderful person who would never do anything wrong ever, she has to come up with a new Rules & Procedures sheet that specifically says "You may not enter my class late under any circumstances because you have a pass from another teacher." Granted, it's a legitimate policy to have, but the whole entire thing was just a power trip from her and a way to further make herself feel good about her putting someone down. Okay, Nancy, we know, you're a Strong Woman who won't be Bossed Around by our Patriarchal Society. Give it up.
Speaking of which, that act is old, too. Any time there's any sort of reference to anything at all that either does or does not have a penis, the whole entire lesson, if there ever actually is a lesson, is centered around the subject of gender. This elicits three responses from clear-thinking people: 1) There are more important lessons to discern from, for example, Hemingway's work, than how he wrote about women; 2) No, a piece of literature, for example "Things Fall Apart," is not automatically trash because it's "mysoginistic" (I don't care how you spell it)- NEWS FLASH, in African tribes, dudes have seven wives and the women are subverted and don't have any rights. That's the way it is over there, Achebe isn't making up some sexist fantasy world. It's called portraying the truth. "Things Fall Apart" is a masterpiece of our time illuminating an issue that is overlooked in our culture, but because the guys have seven wives, it's trash. 3) No, it's NOT okay for someone to kill her husband because he killed her pet bird, or Subverted Her in Some Way.
Of course, I lament the overcooking of the feminist theme during lessons, altohugh I should probably appreciate it because at least it's an actual lesson, the concept of which seems to be lost on Barille. Our AP class goes as follows each day: occasionally write down word-for-word previously written notes regarding her opinion on certain novels that we read without questioning them at all; these notes always follow this structure:
1. The novel has some sort of historical context.
2. The novel is considered great because of its theme of overcoming societal circumstances.
3. The novel was considered risque and thus was hated by certain critics because of its a) language b) sexuality c) controversial political views d) nonconformist structure.
4. But everyone wound up liking it anyways.
5. This is why you, too, must like it.
6. And it must be for these reasons.
7. Ha ha ha, you are incapable of independent thought.
And on it goes, minute after mind-deadening minute, until finally we change it up and go to.... answering mundane multiple choice questions on said novel and listening to her read off her opinion on what the answer is and not listening to any sort of discourse about it. Granted, the multiple choice is good practice for the AP test and we have to do it but 1) we don't have to do it every single god damn class period 2) we should have intelligent discussion about the novel and our interpretation of its context.
This problem is even worse with poetry, a subject notorious for its vagueness of theme/plot/interpretation/whatever. But no, you can't get a word in edgewise, especially if you're a man, because then you're only degrading her opinion because she's a woman.
And then of course there are the delightful Merzudin updates, which are nice, becuase I have incredible respect for Merzudin and his amazing ability and great story of survival from a difficult situation & going on to make something of himself. But for a woman who screams and yells at someone for being 3 minutes late because they were finishing a final exam because it Takes Time Away from Her Class, it seems a bit hypocritical that she would spend upwards of 20 minutes at a time discussing the various episodes in the life of everyone's favorite Bosnian track star, such as today when she went on and on trying to figure out what the extent was of his scholarship to Wheaton. Nice, I agree, but can we get back to To Kill A Mockingbird?
Answer: Yes, sort of, but it's going to be stupid multiple choice questions again.
Maybe we should just listen to her talk about Merzudin.
Aside from talking about Merzudin and not teaching, her main hobby is snapping at people for no reason other than to go on a power trip. For example, review this scenario:
SCENARIO: Student prints out a paper single-spaced, presuming that a 1-2 page paper would be really short if it were double spaced and thus should probably be single spaced. Innocent mistake.
IDEAL RESPONSE: OK, it's not going to kill me to read this single spaced.
REASONABLE ALTERNATIVE: OK, I don't like things single-spaced, but it was an honest mistake, bring future papers in double-spaced.
REASONABLE ALTERNATIVE #2: I'm sorry, but I need room to put in my editing comments in red pen and I can't do that without the white space from double spacing, so I can't take this until it is double spaced.
BARILLE'S RESPONSE: GRR I DON'T TAKE THINGS THAT ARE SINGLE SPACED, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, GRR I HATE MEN, GRR
I'm not even going to go into how I write essays that are horrible and they get good grades, and good things get poor grades, because I finally just give in and write the only thing she wants to read: Her own opinion, regurgitated; along with the opinion of literary experts, regurgitated. I learned quickly that, for some unknown reason, the student's opinion didn't belong in an AP class. Bizzare. Like, if you don't write about how Edna is justified for being an adulterous slut because she was Oppressed, you're wrong - no questions asked.
We have seen a situation where a teacher's ego really does outpace just about everything else, including, but not limited to: teaching ability, and amount of time actually spent teaching. I'm not saying she's a bad teacher, because she writes good notes and assigns interesting assignments. What I am saying is that an AP class is not suited to be run in an intellectually strangling, Nazi kind of way, and that it's unnecessary to go on a power trip about everything. Also, she needs to realize that she can be wrong some times, or, at least, if she's not wrong, it's possible that at one point, someone other than her can actually be right. Until she realizes that (I'm not banking on it), it's going to be a miserable rest of the year for me. "
On a side note - I don't think I can even write like this any more. I reached my writing prime at age 17 and have been on the decline ever since. I used to write every day. Now the only writing I do is for class. I suck...
--------FLASHBACK-----------------
"As a certain mediocre, zero-credibility newspaper
recently decided to shower more unnecessary praise upon one of the most egotistical people I have ever met in my entire life, I feel it is necessary to re-post this classic rant from my LJ on January 24, 2006. It remains one of my most popular posts to date.
(By the way, note the horribly offensive descriptions of Revere on there. 'She does such a great job teaching in an impoverished area!' WOW! I was not aware that I grew up in Sub-Saharan Africa; thanks USA TODAY! Also, Nancy braves 'gang-ridden streets' each day... gimme a friggin' break.)
------FLASHBACK: 1/24/06--------
It seems like a certain English teacher at Revere High School views him or herself in a rather high esteem. I, for one, am sick of it.
Oh, sure, it gives her a great power trip to try to act like she's the queen of everything. Like yelling at Ada because she was late showing up to our insignificant homeroom-type period during finals because she was FINISHNG A FINAL. That was nice. And then, just to prove how Strong and Bold she is in her unfair reprimanding of the 2006 Valedictorian and all around wonderful person who would never do anything wrong ever, she has to come up with a new Rules & Procedures sheet that specifically says "You may not enter my class late under any circumstances because you have a pass from another teacher." Granted, it's a legitimate policy to have, but the whole entire thing was just a power trip from her and a way to further make herself feel good about her putting someone down. Okay, Nancy, we know, you're a Strong Woman who won't be Bossed Around by our Patriarchal Society. Give it up.
Speaking of which, that act is old, too. Any time there's any sort of reference to anything at all that either does or does not have a penis, the whole entire lesson, if there ever actually is a lesson, is centered around the subject of gender. This elicits three responses from clear-thinking people: 1) There are more important lessons to discern from, for example, Hemingway's work, than how he wrote about women; 2) No, a piece of literature, for example "Things Fall Apart," is not automatically trash because it's "mysoginistic" (I don't care how you spell it)- NEWS FLASH, in African tribes, dudes have seven wives and the women are subverted and don't have any rights. That's the way it is over there, Achebe isn't making up some sexist fantasy world. It's called portraying the truth. "Things Fall Apart" is a masterpiece of our time illuminating an issue that is overlooked in our culture, but because the guys have seven wives, it's trash. 3) No, it's NOT okay for someone to kill her husband because he killed her pet bird, or Subverted Her in Some Way.
Of course, I lament the overcooking of the feminist theme during lessons, altohugh I should probably appreciate it because at least it's an actual lesson, the concept of which seems to be lost on Barille. Our AP class goes as follows each day: occasionally write down word-for-word previously written notes regarding her opinion on certain novels that we read without questioning them at all; these notes always follow this structure:
1. The novel has some sort of historical context.
2. The novel is considered great because of its theme of overcoming societal circumstances.
3. The novel was considered risque and thus was hated by certain critics because of its a) language b) sexuality c) controversial political views d) nonconformist structure.
4. But everyone wound up liking it anyways.
5. This is why you, too, must like it.
6. And it must be for these reasons.
7. Ha ha ha, you are incapable of independent thought.
And on it goes, minute after mind-deadening minute, until finally we change it up and go to.... answering mundane multiple choice questions on said novel and listening to her read off her opinion on what the answer is and not listening to any sort of discourse about it. Granted, the multiple choice is good practice for the AP test and we have to do it but 1) we don't have to do it every single god damn class period 2) we should have intelligent discussion about the novel and our interpretation of its context.
This problem is even worse with poetry, a subject notorious for its vagueness of theme/plot/interpretation/whatever. But no, you can't get a word in edgewise, especially if you're a man, because then you're only degrading her opinion because she's a woman.
And then of course there are the delightful Merzudin updates, which are nice, becuase I have incredible respect for Merzudin and his amazing ability and great story of survival from a difficult situation & going on to make something of himself. But for a woman who screams and yells at someone for being 3 minutes late because they were finishing a final exam because it Takes Time Away from Her Class, it seems a bit hypocritical that she would spend upwards of 20 minutes at a time discussing the various episodes in the life of everyone's favorite Bosnian track star, such as today when she went on and on trying to figure out what the extent was of his scholarship to Wheaton. Nice, I agree, but can we get back to To Kill A Mockingbird?
Answer: Yes, sort of, but it's going to be stupid multiple choice questions again.
Maybe we should just listen to her talk about Merzudin.
Aside from talking about Merzudin and not teaching, her main hobby is snapping at people for no reason other than to go on a power trip. For example, review this scenario:
SCENARIO: Student prints out a paper single-spaced, presuming that a 1-2 page paper would be really short if it were double spaced and thus should probably be single spaced. Innocent mistake.
IDEAL RESPONSE: OK, it's not going to kill me to read this single spaced.
REASONABLE ALTERNATIVE: OK, I don't like things single-spaced, but it was an honest mistake, bring future papers in double-spaced.
REASONABLE ALTERNATIVE #2: I'm sorry, but I need room to put in my editing comments in red pen and I can't do that without the white space from double spacing, so I can't take this until it is double spaced.
BARILLE'S RESPONSE: GRR I DON'T TAKE THINGS THAT ARE SINGLE SPACED, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, GRR I HATE MEN, GRR
I'm not even going to go into how I write essays that are horrible and they get good grades, and good things get poor grades, because I finally just give in and write the only thing she wants to read: Her own opinion, regurgitated; along with the opinion of literary experts, regurgitated. I learned quickly that, for some unknown reason, the student's opinion didn't belong in an AP class. Bizzare. Like, if you don't write about how Edna is justified for being an adulterous slut because she was Oppressed, you're wrong - no questions asked.
We have seen a situation where a teacher's ego really does outpace just about everything else, including, but not limited to: teaching ability, and amount of time actually spent teaching. I'm not saying she's a bad teacher, because she writes good notes and assigns interesting assignments. What I am saying is that an AP class is not suited to be run in an intellectually strangling, Nazi kind of way, and that it's unnecessary to go on a power trip about everything. Also, she needs to realize that she can be wrong some times, or, at least, if she's not wrong, it's possible that at one point, someone other than her can actually be right. Until she realizes that (I'm not banking on it), it's going to be a miserable rest of the year for me. "