The Odd Thing My Teacher Did
I had a trigonometry teacher in high school who reminded me a lot of Judge Judy—blunt and often disrespectful, and she even had a similar appearance. To give you an idea of how difficult she was, there was an incident when we were reviewing a test. I didn’t have my test out to go over my answers, and she called me out in front of the whole class, furious that I wasn’t prepared. If only she had a better memory, she might have recalled that I got a perfect score and had nothing to correct! I almost spoke up about it, but I decided to avoid making things worse.
This teacher had a unique teaching style where she would write out notes that we were expected to copy. However, every four weeks, she did something bizarre: she would collect our notes and lock them in a filing cabinet. Each student had their own file, and once the notes were put away, we couldn’t reference them again, even for the final exam that included all the material. A friend of mine asked her about retrieving our notes for studying, and she firmly told him it wasn’t possible. He was so frustrated that he vented to everyone at lunch, threatening to take the issue to the principal. I’m not sure if he ever followed through.
Interestingly, I happened to miss class on the day she took our notes, and since I never turned them in later, I still had my material for the final. She didn’t even seem to notice. It made me wonder what the purpose of collecting the notes was in the first place. You’d think she might evaluate our note-taking, but she never did. Has anyone else encountered a situation like this?
That sounds like such a frustrating experience! It’s baffling how some teachers have such unconventional methods that seem to only create confusion and anxiety among students. Locking away your notes sounds like an extreme move—especially considering how crucial they are for studying, particularly for a final exam. It’s a shame that she didn’t recognize your hard work and the perfect score you achieved. It must have felt even worse when she called you out in front of the class.
Teachers should create an environment that encourages learning, not one that adds unnecessary stress. I can’t believe she didn’t have a system in place to grade your note-taking or provide you with feedback as you went along. It seems like that would be valuable for the class as a whole.
It’s great that you were able to keep your study materials despite missing the last day! Sometimes, navigating these peculiar teaching styles can feel like a game of survival. Have you found any techniques or study habits since then that work better for you? It’d be interesting to hear how you tackled that challenging class!