My fourth grade teacher had issues. She was in her late fifties-early sixties, had never been married, had suffered a stroke, and, apparently hated children.
She had her class divided in two.
Part one was what she called"My smart kids". Part two was "My dumb kids". She really called them her dumb kids.
Yours truly sat in row 1, seat 1 of the smart kids, of course!
Every morning began with copying off the chalkboard what she had written while she read the newspaper. This would go on for an hour or so.
IIRC, we spent an inordinate amount of time on soil erosion in a science book dating from the fifties.(this was 77-78 ) She was obsessed with it for some reason, it may not sound like a big deal, but the woman was LOONY about it.
She related to us the story of the First Jet Airplane. You see, the First Jet Airplane flew sooo fast, that when it fired it's machine guns, it flew into them and shot itself down. And the First Jet Airplane flew so high, that he pilot died from lack of oxygen when he bailed out. Foolishly, yours truly had the audacity to call her on this. She went into a screaming fit that left me in tears. Making kids cry was a specialty of hers.
If you have stories of teacher incompetence or cruelty, please share!
