Help I have a mean teacher

Hi, I wanted to explain this problem I have on here and get a bit of advice. I’m a year 13 student retaking the year at my sixth-form as my centre assessed grades from 2020 were not decided fairly and it was the only other option I was willing to take. One of the A levels I’m retaking is maths, but I’m having problems with my teacher. He generally treats everyone in the class well apart from me. Before COVID-19, he would always make nasty comments about my work infront of the class. Even for really small things like accidentally writing the wrong year for the date. It’s not like I’m getting the wrong answers or I’ve set my work out incorrectly but still I was literally the only person in the class he would tell off for really insignificant things. Whenever I’d ask for help on questions, he would make comments like “well if u were paying attention in class you’d know how to answer this!” But when other people who were actually not paying attention asked for help, he’d sit down with them and explained things in a thorough way until they’d understood. There was even this one time when one of my friends copied my hw and this teacher noticed the similarities between the homework’s and in the middle of the lesson he severely told me off for apparently copying my friends work. He wouldn’t let me explain the situation and only assumed it was me who copied. I know that there were people from other classes whom he’d do the same thing to, mainly the quiet people.My friends (no longer my friends now) told me to just ignore his behaviour. This didn’t really go down well as exams were cancelled and he gave me a C (not what I wanted for maths). I tried to appeal this grade as this was based on exams which I was never given the reasonable adjustments for (I require extra time and rest breaks). The school didn’t take this seriously so I emailed my MP and the school then got scared (all they care about is their reputation) and gave the option to resit as a student. I’m now retaking, but this maths teacher still treats me unfairly against the other students and now is completely ignoring my existence in his class. I’m worried about the amount of power he has over my grades this year (now that exams are cancelled again) and there are very few people I can talk to about this issue (I have selective mutism and this has been a problem in regards to speaking to the new year 13s). My grades this year have been a lot more stronger but still there’s sooo much uncertainty with how things will go. I’ve honestly been trying to ignore this but sometimes it really sucks. Anyways thanks for reading.

Reply 1

rgwatwormhill

6

I'm sorry you are having these difficulties.

It is very unlikely that your teacher would deliberately give you a worse grade than he thinks you deserve, just to be mean. Teachers are professionals, and they have been trained to be as objective as they can.

Unfortunately, it might be true that the teacher does not think you deserve top grades. Impressions are relevant, and if this teacher believes that the smartest people are the ones who answer in class, then it will be more difficult for you to convince him that you (a quieter student) have really grasped the mathematics. You need to prove it to him by always producing perfect homework.

Would it be possible for you to pay for an outside tutor in maths? If you could find someone that you are comfortable with, it might help you to learn.

If a tutor is not an option, consider online maths courses. Have you tried youtube videos? There are some great ones out there. Whatever you choose, the way to put your mind at rest is to put a lot more time into the maths work, so that you know you can ace every question and you deserve an A*.

Looking to the future, are you sure you want a career that relies on a top maths grade? There are many ways to live a good life, and a university course is not essential for all of them.

Reply 2

123456789011

OP

6

Original post by rgwatwormhill

I'm sorry you are having these difficulties.

It is very unlikely that your teacher would deliberately give you a worse grade than he thinks you deserve, just to be mean. Teachers are professionals, and they have been trained to be as objective as they can.

Unfortunately, it might be true that the teacher does not think you deserve top grades. Impressions are relevant, and if this teacher believes that the smartest people are the ones who answer in class, then it will be more difficult for you to convince him that you (a quieter student) have really grasped the mathematics. You need to prove it to him by always producing perfect homework.

Would it be possible for you to pay for an outside tutor in maths? If you could find someone that you are comfortable with, it might help you to learn.

If a tutor is not an option, consider online maths courses. Have you tried youtube videos? There are some great ones out there. Whatever you choose, the way to put your mind at rest is to put a lot more time into the maths work, so that you know you can ace every question and you deserve an A*.

Looking to the future, are you sure you want a career that relies on a top maths grade? There are many ways to live a good life, and a university course is not essential for all of them.

Hi thanks a lot for this reply, I somehow managed to prove my maths teacher wrong this year and achieved an A*. I defo agree with putting in more time to doing maths questions and trying to ace each question. This has honestly been one of the most stressful years ever but you’ve been really helpful with giving advice

Reply 3

Powersymphonia

20

Original post by 123456789011

Hi thanks a lot for this reply, I somehow managed to prove my maths teacher wrong this year and achieved an A*. I defo agree with putting in more time to doing maths questions and trying to ace each question. This has honestly been one of the most stressful years ever but you’ve been really helpful with giving advice

If you have any problems with any future studies, you should speak to the learning support/student services departments to have access arrangements put in place for your exams and make sure any reasonable adjustments you need are taken care of. If you want to go to university you can get access arrangements there too. You might also be able to get student support allowance.

Reply 4

123456789011

OP

6

Original post by Powersymphonia

If you have any problems with any future studies, you should speak to the learning support/student services departments to have access arrangements put in place for your exams and make sure any reasonable adjustments you need are taken care of. If you want to go to university you can get access arrangements there too. You might also be able to get student support allowance.

Hi, yep I will definitely speak to the support departments at uni to make sure my reasonable adjustments are met and also see about the disability allowance thing on student finance.

From when I started secondary school - now we’ve been trying to get the actual support and access arrangements I require but the SEN department were completely nonexistent especially during A levels where it would’ve really helped and may not have put students like me in a horrible position when exams got cancelled. From what I’ve heard, the majority of people who had reasonable adjustments(but not met because of no SEN department) we’re given terrible grades which were not reflective of their actual academic ability. It’s quite a shame how many people are silently let down by this system.

Help I have a mean teacher

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