"Skip the idiot steps" Bad Teacher stories.

[noamnety]

21. My daughter had some bad ones.

One was an incompetent social studies teacher who gave her class a map to color that didn't acknowledge little things like the soviet union no longer existing as one entity. I told him at a parent conference that wasn't okay; that I understood if his materials were out of date but he had a responsibility to at least mention the map wasn't current, and that he could use it as an opportunity to discuss shifting political boundaries. He got defensive - and then switched to trying to sell me real estate which was his side job.

She also had a guidance counselor who asked what she wanted to do. She was heavily involved in community youth theater, and wanted to go into the arts. The counselor told her something along the lines of "But you're SMART, why would you want to do that?"

I make a decent living with my art degree and didn't appreciate the implication it's a career for stupid people. I certainly don't want a guidance counselor counseling students out of their interest to go into a career they hate just for the salary. My daughter is now in her 20s and supports herself working full-time in the arts.

Personally, I had great teachers.