Five Worst Teachers You’ve Ever Had

With more than twenty years of education, you would think this one would be pretty easy for me to answer. I have been pretty blessed with my teachers, though. For the most part, I angle for the "teacher's pet" spot, and that helps. I also am pretty good at ditching bad teachers early in the game. Pondering the question, I think the WORST teachers I've ever had include

my kindergarten teacher.
She was a Catholic nun and (rightfully) concerned that I did not accept my place. Among the sins I regularly committed were my preference for playing with boys instead of girls, tying my shoe with two "bunny ears" (because that's how my dad taught me to do it), and holding my pencil incorrectly (which still draws comments three decades later). I upset her enough that she recommended my parents hold me back another year. Thankfully, my parents were smarter than she was!

my geometry teacher
In second grade, I forgot what the homework was, so I simply did the first 20 pages in the workbook. Through eighth grade, I was ahead in math and completed algebra before high school. I don't know that my TEACHER was really bad at teaching; I think a lot of It wasn't until geometry that I began to hate math. I don't know that I can blame HER; my frustration was due to circumstances and NOT her teaching. Still, it wasn't until this class that I began to hate and dread math. Things that went wrong: I was used to a very small class in junior high, with a lot of focus on individual struggles; here, I was one of 30+ and lost in confusion. I was the ONLY freshman in a class of sophomores, and there was always a smattering of pennies on my desk. My mom had *promised* she would help me through geometry (one of her favorite maths), but she died in early November. *sigh* Math became a scapegoat for my inability to cope with the rest of my world being out of wack.

my European history teacher
You would think that an experienced teacher would realize that first period...or ANY period...for seniors would require a little bit of spark to keep students interested. This teacher didn't even try. I slept through most of this class and managed with Cs because she didn't care enough for me to be bothered with impressing her. *shrug* Bored students is a worse result than failing students, in my opinion.

my organic chemistry teacher
This is one of the teachers I chose to ditch after ONE day in class. *shakes head* The guy walked into an auditorium of students and, with a heavy Asian accent, launched into how important element number four was in organic chemistry. All of life as we know it is based on element number four. Did you know that we are beryillum-based??? *shakes head* The truly sad bit was that the periodic chart was hanging directly over his head. If he couldn't get THAT right, there was no way I was going to struggle through his accent on dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane!

my first sociology professor
Another of those teachers who I chose to drop after just one day in class. This time, it was his superior attitude rather than ineptitude. I can accept that you know more than I do about some things, but I expect you to be open to information or interpretation, even if it IS brought to you by a student. This guy made it very clear that his head was firmly lodged in his ass. *shrug* I found a much more interesting sociology teacher a semester or two later.