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You’re Outta Here
The title of this post sums up the outcome of my dealings with the student who said to me,
. . .you can be as evil as you wish because I have favor with God. I can make it with out the belief of others. See you in class Wednesday and also…. thanks for nothing!
As happy as I am to be rid of that problem, I am not at all impressed by the way in which things transpired.
Simply disrupting a class over two consecutive periods and then sending a threatening e-mail are not sufficient grounds to send a student packing, nor does anyone on my campus think the student needs counseling—in fact, my suggesting such was met with warnings from very well-meaning people that “[I’d] be going down a dangerous road” for suggesting such a thing.
Remember, this student is a grown adult who had been verbally aggressive and abusive in class, and who has military training.
While I don’t want to blow things out of proportion here, can anyone say Virginia Tech? The irony of events such as those at VT is that no one claims to have seen the thing coming until it was all over. During the same week that lots of fingers were being pointed at instructors and administrators at VT, I was telling the people at Sacramento City College I had a volatile student in class, and all I heard was a warning of how to act so as not to have the student complain about me.
At one point, the discussion turned to whether or not other students in the class would report this student’s behavior as disruptive. (Unfortunately, I’d left my crystal ball at home that morning, and I had forgotten my word wasn’t sufficient.)
This student called me EVIL.
This student implied I HAVE NO FAVOR WITH GOD.
The subject line of the e-mail read “Thanks for nothing. . . BITCH.
Yes, I can see where I might have difficulty explaining my reasons for feeling threatened by this student’s behavior.
The student is someone else’s problem now: arrangements were made to move the student out of my class and into someone else’s.
The message: treat your instructor as the pile of shit you think she is, and if the instructor expects something different, we’ll take care of you.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
That is insane and scary. As an undergrad who wants to go on to teach college, I’m completely appalled.
I’ve just found your blog, by the way, and think it’s fantastic.
September 17th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Patashoqua,
Welcome aboard, and thank you for the positive support.
Teaching is a tough choice to make, but some of us have to do it: the little classroom joys coupled with the love of sharing learning are like nagging things that won’t go away.
There are always really bad days, but there are really good ones, too, and those are addictive.
The problem I have with the bad teaching days is they often have nothing to do with bad teaching/learning but simple laziness or inappropriate behavior on the part of students who simply don’t belong in college.
I have to say this: now that the main problem has been removed, this group is so much fun, I feel a bit spoiled!
September 18th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Thank you.
I am not entirely sure yet that I’m called to teach, but I want to translate ancient Greek, and it sort of goes with the territory. That said, I do think I could learn to enjoy teaching. I like people (though I’m a bit afraid of them), and finding different ways to convey information to make it clearer. I just have to loosen up a bit and stop mumbling.
It’s good that the rest of your students are fun; perhaps you’ll enjoy not living up to your blog title for a while.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:18 am
Patashoqua,
I see you have chosen an slacker’s discipline.
It reminds me of my high school days when I petitioned to go to an out-of-district school in order to take Latin.
For what it’s worth, I am not much of a people person: I’ve never enjoyed large social gatherings or places crowded with strangers. Ironically, I am a relatively shy person outside my profession, and I have often gotten to know people only to learn the individual mistook my shyness for arrogance.
If you think about all of your teachers, and you consider how bad some of them have been, you’ll be able to recognize (as I did) that you can do better than that, and a good deal of the performance anxiety will be relieved.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:57 am
That is scary indeed, though I am not surprised such would be the action of the powers that be (to take care of the student at the expense of the professor or the rest of the class). Glad to see at least the person is out of your classroom, but I can’t help but wonder who got stuck with the “little package” now. Heaven forbid that person should “snap.” It will be finger wagging all over, when the signs are all there. Just certain people refuse to see them.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:53 am
Angel,
I agree the pass-off is asking for potential problems, but as you also point out: the student comes first in the eyes of the powers that be.
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