# Anyone else have a teacher that is this insane?



## EmersonHerrmann (Feb 24, 2009)

Okay, so on Friday I got an F on a lab just because of the following reasons:

One (yes, one) of the lines on my graph was not straight.

Now I am a reasonable man, but this seems pretty EXTREME, dontcha' think?????

Does anyone else have a teacher that goes to such extremeties to make their life a living hell?


Edit: He is giving me and many other people who failed the lab the chance to make it up and get AT MOST a 45/60...oh goody


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## ConnorCuber (Feb 24, 2009)

EmersonHerrmann said:


> Okay, so on Friday I got an F on a lab just because of the following reasons:
> 
> One (yes, one) of the lines on my graph was not straight.
> 
> ...



I understand lowering the marks a bit because the line isn't straight, as it affects the data on the graph, but an F?!?! That's just stupid.

EDIT: And I am talking about it being really far from straight.


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## cmhardw (Feb 24, 2009)

My physics teacher in high school used to take off 2 points on our lab reports for every incorrect usage of units. This could be using an incorrect unit, or not putting a unit where one should. This, on occasion, resulted in students getting negative grades on lab reports. She did not change those grades to a zero, but left them negative. I, thankfully, never got a negative grade, but I was not a star student and got my share of -2's :-s

Not sure if that makes you feel any better, but I've had teachers like that.

Chris


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## Lucas Garron (Feb 24, 2009)

In geometry, we had to label our axes.

Once on a test, I switched the axes (to y horizontal, x vertical) and drew the graph appropriately. Still lost points. Something about "convention"...


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## moogra (Feb 24, 2009)

So you got under 36/60 (assuming anything under 60% = F)?
24 points only because of the axis? That's pretty sad.


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## AvGalen (Feb 24, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> ...and got my share of -2's :-s...


-2's are great! All I ever got were +2's or DNF's

(and your teacher is overreacting and Lucas' teacher was right about convention)


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## GerrySly (Feb 24, 2009)

Yeah my specialist maths teacher takes off marks for not having the right punctuation in our equations. For example not including equivalence signs, therefores, becauses, or having the right wording (For stationary points dy/dx = 0). I have gotten an equation marked wrong (which had the right answer for) because I did not have a therefore symbol beside it.


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## tim (Feb 24, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> My physics teacher in high school used to take off 2 points on our lab reports for every incorrect usage of units. This could be using an incorrect unit, or not putting a unit where one should. This, on occasion, resulted in students getting negative grades on lab reports. She did not change those grades to a zero, but left them negative. I, thankfully, never got a negative grade, but I was not a star student and got my share of -2's :-s
> 
> Not sure if that makes you feel any better, but I've had teachers like that.
> 
> Chris



Actually i slightly agree with your physics teacher. Missing units or wrong usage of units is just wrong.


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## PatrickJameson (Feb 24, 2009)

I got a C on a math test for not showing my work. Everything was right though. Quite annoying.


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## TurbulentTurtle (Feb 24, 2009)

Wow, you guys must be terrible at school.
All your "insane" teachers sound pretty normal. I would take marks off for that stuff too, especially for crap like switching the y and x axis... Convention is always correct, because if you pull that crap at a job or a presentation, you're just going to confuse people, no matter how appropriately you draw your graph.

As for not showing your work on a test, I would've just failed you right there. How do I know you actually know what you are doing and not just copying your neighbour?


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## a small kitten (Feb 24, 2009)

High school chemistry teacher was actually insane. She said something like


> The periodic table is made up of squares. That is why scientists use trigonometry.



and



> I think pi is 22.7. No wait, let me check on the calculator...Alright, it's 31.27.


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## Stefan (Feb 24, 2009)

Lucas Garron said:


> Once on a test, I switched the axes (to y horizontal, x vertical) and drew the graph appropriately. Still lost points. Something about "convention"...


Why did you do it? Accidentally, just for fun, or for a good reason (other than fun)?


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## cmhardw (Feb 24, 2009)

tim said:


> Actually i slightly agree with your physics teacher. Missing units or wrong usage of units is just wrong.



I also agree that focusing on the units, in any science course, is extremely important. However, it seriously impacted people's lab grades (something like 10% of the overall course grade) to get one lab report that had a negative score. This I did not like or really agree with very much. I can understand the teacher's reasoning for it. Getting one lab score with a negative grade will destroy your lab grade for that class for the semester. This will very quickly cause you to focus on units for the rest of the semester, or be a bad memory for the rest of your career if you are going to go into a science field. So I think what she did was very effective at getting people to focus on units, but it made for some very stressed out students (me included) in her class.



TurbulentTurtle said:


> Wow, you guys must be terrible at school.
> All your "insane" teachers sound pretty normal. I would take marks off for that stuff too, especially for crap like switching the y and x axis... Convention is always correct, because if you pull that crap at a job or a presentation, you're just going to confuse people, no matter how appropriately you draw your graph.
> 
> As for not showing your work on a test, I would've just failed you right there. How do I know you actually know what you are doing and not just copying your neighbour?



Wow you must be/must have been a complete a** hole at school. That whole thing about respect and being nice to people went over your head in school huh? Yeah... that one is a tough topic..... Here, let me explain it to you again....

DON'T
BE
A
DOUCHE
ON
THIS
FORUM

Now, as for your post, I do agree with you that you can't do stuff like this in a job setting as it will confuse people. Also I think all these "insane" teachers do have their reasons for why they are grading the way they are. See my explanation above to my physics teacher giving negative grades. Now you know that I do agree with the points you made in your post, and I think the substance of what you are saying is reasonable, and makes perfect sense.

However, if you pull crap like the way you wrote your post in a job setting you will potentially hurt your career just as much as a bad presentation. Ever think about that?

Chris

P.S.


> Convention is always correct, ...


Really? Always?


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## TurbulentTurtle (Feb 24, 2009)

Yes, always. 

And what you posted about being a douche on the forum really makes me laugh, because I have seen your more senior members get away with posting much worst without even a slap on the wrist.
I kinda wanted to make a thread about this the other day, but whatever. I was just going to say that I noticed members of this forum (usually the "popular" and more well liked, or just older members) being pretty uptight about stuff, or just being very rude and all their cronies just back them up, or no one really cares to say anything about it. They just have a very obvious and apparent holier-than-thou attitude and do not mind showing it off.

Like in the beginner section when you have new members asking questions and making threads on topics that have been covered many times in the past, it is not unlikely to see someone come in, post a half answer, call the person an idiot, and just shuffle along.
I am not saying that all your more active members are like this, but it is just something I have noticed from lurking this forum on before I registered and even afterwards. Your response to me kinda proves that already, all I said was that some of you were probably not great students, considering even yourself admitted to getting "my share of -2'", meaning you didn't learn your lesson even after the first time. And then you come along and call me a douche and an *******.
After a while on this forum, I have enjoyed reading newer members' posts a lot more than certain others, for this exact reason.

Yeah, you are right though, I had very few friends in high school, and even less in university, but that is because school is for learning, and not for socialization.

As for doing stuff like that in a job setting, I am actually a very agreeable person to work with as long as you don't do something dumb. I conduct myself professionally, and I expect the same from everyone else.


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## brunson (Feb 24, 2009)

+1 cmhardw

Turtle, two wrongs don't make a right, stop justifying being jerk because other people do it. Try leading by example. Chris Hardwick is one of the nicest, kindest and most helpful people I've seen on this forum, if you've irritated him to the point that he'd write something like he did, I'd guess it's a pattern of behavior and not just that one jerk post.


Edit: I think in Galileo's time it was conventional to draw the earth at the center of the solar system and to bleed people with leeches.


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## cmhardw (Feb 24, 2009)

Turbulent, I also agree with you that people on this forum often portray a holier-than-thou attitude which I don't like either. By the way, you portray this same attitude in your school worthiness/prowress or whatever you want to call it, so you're not innocent here either.



> And what you posted about being a douche on the forum really makes me laugh, because I have seen your more senior members get away with posting much worst without even a slap on the wrist.
> I kinda wanted to make a thread about this the other day, but whatever. I was just going to say that I noticed members of this forum (usually the "popular" and more well liked, or just older members) being pretty uptight about stuff, or just being very rude and all their cronies just back them up, or no one really cares to say anything about it. They just have a very obvious and apparent holier-than-thou attitude and do not mind showing it off.



Sadly this is true. I've seen it as well, and try to comment on it when I see it. As to your last sentence, I think you'll understand why that same idea prompted me to post a response to you (see my comment above).



> Your response to me kinda proves that already, *all I said was that some of you were probably not great students*, considering even yourself admitted to getting "my share of -2'", meaning you didn't learn your lesson even after the first time.





TurbulentTurtle said:


> Wow, you guys must be terrible at school.



Those two phrasings sound different to me.



> And then you come along and call me a douche and an *******.



See my comment above.



TurbulentTurtle said:


> Yes, always.



It was once a convention that Jewish people were an inferior race, deserving of extermination. It was also once a convention that Tutsi people were an inferior people, also deserving of extermination. You're posting on a board full of math minded people. Be aware that we are going to take what you say very literally on large blanket statements like that.

Academic conventions are not always right either. Take M,E,S cube notation. The referrence sides used for how to interpret these turns is different from the referrence sides used in x,y,z cube rotations. This is convention for historical reasons (which is fine), but it is not the clearest or easiest way to use the notation. Just because it's how we've always done it doesn't make it right or more correct than any other way. In fact there are even easier notations that we could be switching to that we just don't. All for reasons of convention.

I see no reason why an arbitrarily assigned rule or convention *must be* "right". It can be right, or not be right, it does not *have to be* only one of those or the other.

At least we have discovered the root of our disagreement. I hope this message will come across as somewhat civil, my intention is not to be a *complete* jerk about this. But I hope it helps you to see my point about how your first post might be interpretted here.

Chris


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## AvGalen (Feb 24, 2009)

I guess I am one of those "more senior members" that gets away with bad posting. Some examples of today:
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9785
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9799
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9749
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9

All of these threads were "bad" so I just dove in and started insulting them, being rude and have my cronies kick the topicstarters in the 2x2x2's



> Yeah, you are right though, I had very few friends in high school, and even less in university, but that is because school is for learning, and not for socialization.


Life (including school) is for learning AND socialisation.


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## brunson (Feb 24, 2009)

You have to learn to socialize. Just as math comes easier to some and others have to work at it, social skills are (wait for it) *skills* and skills can come from innate talent or practice or a combination of both.

P.S. I read most of those posts already, Arnaud. I figured you were just having a bad day?


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## TurbulentTurtle (Feb 24, 2009)

I never said I didn't have have a holier-than-thou attitude, nor will I deny it when someone tells me that I am a very uptight and pompous *******. I know I am, and I really do not care. The things people say and think about me really do not weigh heavy on my conscience, I really could care less about what people think about me, as I will probably never see them again for the rest of my life. And if I do, so be it.
I just have a pretty different attitude online, and especially on forums such as this, where it might be a good idea to show the ropes and invite new members to share in a hobby that is both enjoyable to learn, and difficult to master. But I see a lot of one word posts and the like when newer members are asking questions, or things that really do not help with the topic.
I distinctly remember one situation where someone was asking how to improve their F2L. Now I am not even close to being an expert, and very far from being knowledgable with speedcubing, but I still offered my experiences. I told the author or the thread to take the solve and do it slowly, and get the corner-edge pairings down to muscle memory. Was this wrong? Probably, but it is exactly what I did and I did show some improvement afterwards.
Then one of the 500+ post members (it is quite a bit more than this) quoted me, and simply said: No.
Really? Just no? Just, that's it? Nothing else to add? Alright then, I will try no and hope for the best.

Also, funnily enough, I saw a video the other day made by a highly respected member of this community saying something along the lines of what I posted that day in that thread.




> Those two phrasings sound different to me.


Those two phrases sound different? Yeah, I was trying to lessen the blow on my second post, but alright whatever. 
You guys are terrible students.




> > And then you come along and call me a douche and an *******.
> 
> 
> See my comment above.


Yes, I did see your comment above. The part where you said you "try to comment on it when I see it". Also, brunson said lead by example. So I guess
this means we all have permission to go around calling people names and such. Now I do admit I have been baiting quite a bit, but you have to admit (because apparently you also agree that the feeling of new members coming in is less than welcoming) that stuff I have posted in my first post in this thread does apply elsewhere, and nothing is done about it.

As for the whole convention thing, I do admit I might have overstepped it a bit by saying it is ALWAYS correct. So allow me to change that and say, convention is a good way to get your point across and for others to understand what it is you are trying to convey.
Also, you might not want to hear my ideas about inferiority of races. Hell, that sentence there might even be grounds for a ban...

@brunson. Cronie, that is all I have to say. 
Actually, I would like to say more, because, why not? We have an inquisition here anyway. I expected this exact kind of reaction from members of this forum (surprise *gasp*, 500+ posts) so you telling me I am a jerk is expected. Also, I shouldn't be able to get facts to justify being a jerk. Especially on a forum such as this where it is considered a community.
I am expecting more attacks towards me, and it is still early, so I will give it time.
I went through my earlier posts and the only pattern of jerkiness I could really see was one of my first posts where the Chinese gymnastics thing was being discussed. Apparently you guys can't take a joke. I also had that huge thing written up about how I should be king of the world. If sarcasm detection didn't go off, then I am sorry.

@AvGalen. You are actually one of the nicer posters I have seen on here and I actually quite enjoy reading most of your posts. I like reading about your ideas, insights and stories.
Life is for learning and socializing, agreed. But I pay to be in school, and I am going to go ahead and not waste any money.


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## ExoCorsair (Feb 24, 2009)

Turtle and everyone else involved, please take this to PMs; you are gradually pushing the thread off-topic...


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## TurbulentTurtle (Feb 24, 2009)

My physics prof last year was insane. He would tell jokes the whole class, and get started on examples that might be helpful for our assignments with two minutes left in lecture.
The guy never actually taught us anything, and he told us that every year the midterm and final average is 35%, so he has to standardize the hell out of it.


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## brunson (Feb 24, 2009)

Gradually? Seriously, though... sorry.


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## Neroflux (Feb 24, 2009)

i left a blank in my physics worksheet last year and my physics teacher called my parents.


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## cmhardw (Feb 24, 2009)

On a slightly different note, has anyone ever had a teacher who was "insane" in a really cool way? My favorite math teacher I've ever had used to number our tests in really cool ways. Example:

1.
2.
e^ln((3)).
|sqrt(16)|.
2*int(from 2 to 3) x dx.

I always thought it was really neat.

Chris


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## Swoncen (Feb 24, 2009)

In University in my second semester I had an oral eximamination. It was a woman/girl who just finished her master thesis and she asked me some questions and then she said: "The more if-loops in your algorithm - the slower it gets". I thought: "OOOMMMGGG!!!!" First point: There exists no "if-loop" and second point: "C'MON MY GIRLFRIEND KNOWS THAT!" - and she is a nurse!

So I answered everything correctly and she said: "Ok first question all points - second question you did not know anything..." - "WHAAAAAAT?!?!". I answered everything correctly and told her and she suddenly shouted: "GO TO THE PROFESSOR IF YOU LIKE!!"

You cannot do anything against those people.. they are frustrated or something else, but one day you will laugh about that.


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## Stefan (Feb 24, 2009)

TurbulentTurtle said:


> I distinctly remember one situation where someone was asking how to improve their F2L. Now I am not even close to being an expert, and very far from being knowledgable with speedcubing, but I still offered my experiences. I told the author or the thread to take the solve and do it slowly, and get the corner-edge pairings down to muscle memory. Was this wrong? Probably, but it is exactly what I did and I did show some improvement afterwards.
> Then one of the 500+ post members (it is quite a bit more than this) quoted me, and simply said: No.
> Really? Just no? Just, that's it? Nothing else to add?


Wrong. Very wrong. Let's have a look:



pcharles93 said:


> ryannn said:
> 
> 
> > TurbulentTurtle said:
> ...



Notice he's *not* replying to you, but to *ryannn*. And he even carefully highlighted parts of your post to clearly show *why* ryannn was obviously wrong.

Please don't misrepresent. Geez.


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## TurbulentTurtle (Feb 24, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> On a slightly different note, has anyone ever had a teacher who was "insane" in a really cool way? My favorite math teacher I've ever had used to number our tests in really cool ways. Example:
> 
> 1.
> 2.
> ...


Something along those lines. I once was out with a couple of my friends for dinner, and they wrote their tip amount in math functions after one of them just wrote down e.
But then again, they were all software engineers and math students, so go figure 





StefanPochmann said:


> Notice he's *not* replying to you, but to *ryannn*. And he even carefully highlighted parts of your post to clearly show *why* ryannn was obviously wrong.
> 
> Please don't misrepresent. Geez.


This goes back to what I said about single word posts. He just said no, okay, no what? The one word posts are the cause for misinterpretation.
But I am not going to OT this again. PM me if you feel the need to discuss this.


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## fanwuq (Feb 24, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> My physics teacher in high school used to take off 2 points on our lab reports for every incorrect usage of units. This could be using an incorrect unit, or not putting a unit where one should. This, on occasion, resulted in students getting negative grades on lab reports. She did not change those grades to a zero, but left them negative. I, thankfully, never got a negative grade, but I was not a star student and got my share of -2's :-s
> 
> Not sure if that makes you feel any better, but I've had teachers like that.
> 
> Chris



When I took Physics last year, the teacher also takes off 2 points for these reasons on tests. However, there was only about 20 multiple choice and 5 written problems and it was out of 100 percent, so even if you made the mistakes, you would still get a 90%. For French class, the teacher marks a whole long sentence wrong if you just make one single tiny mistake. I usually end up with 50-80% on tests, yet some how miraculously, I end up getting over 95 on the report card, so I won't complain about that. I guess I should be thankful that none of my teachers were really insane.

I actually didn't think TurbulentTurtle's original post was super offensive. I was quite surprised that Chris would be angry about it. I just saw it as the first post in the thread offering an alternative opinion. ExoCorsair is right.

I think the worst thing that happened to me was the midterm test this year for APUSH. I thought I wrote a great essay that would get at least 8/9, but it was a disappointing 4/9; no one even scored over 7/9. The teacher is usually quite lenient and I've always gotten over 90% on previous tests without any curves. But on the midterm, even after a 10 point curve, I only got 80%.


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## Stefan (Feb 24, 2009)

TurbulentTurtle said:


> This goes back to what I said about single word posts. He just said no, okay, no what? The one word posts are the cause for misinterpretation.


Well, ryannn had asked a simple yes/no question. So "no" is a perfectly valid answer. And since you had already written the information and ryannn had directly responded to that, highlighting the appropriate parts was plenty enough explanation. So ryannn was simply told to think again, and even how. In short: If you choose to turn off your brain while reading, then yes, misinterpretation is often easy.


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