Have you ever had a teacher who went too fast?

[awakenedsoul]

I posted a few weeks ago about a sight singing class that I've been taking. I just dropped out of the group class and switched to the on line classes. They are easier to follow. (The tempos are better for a beginner.) The class is called Beginning, but most of the students studied music in college. (which means they probably had private lessons growing up.) I'm brand new to reading music.

I sent the teacher an email explaining that I can't keep up with the pace, and that even though I practice an hour a day, I lose the info when he starts racing and pushing us. It just vanishes. I do all the assignments, but then he springs unexpected quizzes on us. Yesterday it was on intervals. I don't even know what an interval is! I was able to guess the numbers because I have a good ear... (I got all but one right,) but he never taught us intervals. He says that I'm faster than the other students on certain vocal exercises, and he thinks I should finish the class. I was so exhausted afterward. It feels terrible. We do these ridiculous rhythms that are totally unmusical. He lets the students make them up. They try to make them hard and impressive. (Like using a thirty-second note.) It's so awkward to try and count. Five of the other women stopped him in class and said that they didn't understand what he was teaching. He just zips through...I think he should only teach advanced levels.

Have you ever had a teacher like this?

[Flic]

Yes, and it is really a nightmare. When I was learning Italian in the cinque terre I had a teacher just like this. Barely learnt a thing! Olive oil and seaside sunsets were the only thing that got me though!

[awakenedsoul]

Flic,
Thanks for your response. I went through all of my music last night, and realized that I am able to read it now. So, I guess there's a method to his madness. He told me in an email that it's a crash course. He's giving us in six weeks what we'd learn in a three year college program. I'll just keep practicing...

[KayLR]

At 45 I went back to college to get my Bachelor's degree. (challenge #1)

I took a Psychological Statistics class and worked like he** to keep up (I did get a B!!) At one point I went to the prof (a young new "doctor") during his office hours and asked him for one little tiny favor....when he solved a problem on the board, introducing a new formula, he would get to the end of the problem, and rather than showing the final step, he just dropped it there and gave it verbally.

Well, that wasn't working for me. I simply asked if he would please SHOW the final step, it would be so helpful to me. I know it sounds petty, but for some reason, it just wasn't making sense fully unless I saw it worked out.

He acted like it was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. And no, he did not comply with my request.

[catherine]

I always struggled with algebra, and I had to take a freshman level course in it to fulfill requirements and I remember the teacher went WAY too fast. And what was really frustrating was that the exams had too much in them for the time period. So I felt I was penalized for not being able to think fast enough to find the answers. If there were fewer questions and I had more time, I might have been able to to get them.

(similar to the Are you a Cat or Dog Person thread, I feel like people are either algebra or geometry people. I always aced geometry--it came SO naturally to me, figuring out theorems. Maybe that's why I've been able to write decent market research reports.. )

[awakenedsoul]

Kay, That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. It seems like a technique to throw you off. As you get older, you see through that stuff.
Catherine, It's really stressful. It doesn't have to be that way. I think it bothers me more because I taught for 30 years. I can see that the other women are near tears and then losing confidence. They're definitely smart enough to get it, but sometimes he leaves out one important detail in the formula. (like in the circle of 5ths...)

[Packy]

Math Teachers ALWAYS go too fast. I can comprehend just about how any process works, but Math Teachers think that since they know all the complexities by heart, and do it for a living, that all it takes is a quick run-through, and you should know it all. They also have poor communications skills, although they can put you to sleep just listening to them.

[catherine]

Math Teachers ALWAYS go too fast. I can comprehend just about how any process works, but Math Teachers think that since they know all the complexities by heart, and do it for a living, that all it takes is a quick run-through, and you should know it all. They also have poor communications skills, although they can put you to sleep just listening to them.

I hate to say this description fits all math teachers, but it did fit all of mine (except for my high school geometry teacher, Ms. Cervanansky, who was awesome).

[Miss Cellane]

Math Teachers ALWAYS go too fast. I can comprehend just about how any process works, but Math Teachers think that since they know all the complexities by heart, and do it for a living, that all it takes is a quick run-through, and you should know it all. They also have poor communications skills, although they can put you to sleep just listening to them.

My mother always said that the best math teacher was not someone who was gifted mathematically, but someone who had struggled to learn the math. Someone who struggled would understand the difficulties many students have, and not just brush them off. And actually take the time to teach, instead of just writing formulas on the blackboard and expecting people to understand them.

I'm a geometry person, too. Did so much better in geometry without even trying.

Although I do have to thank Mrs. Browder, my ninth grade algebra teacher, who managed to teach me how to set up an equation for a word problem, and the order of operations, and somehow taught me enough so that I got my first ever "A" in a math class.

[frugal-one]

I had an economics professor who kept going too fast even when told to slow down during class. He tried to belittle me when I asked him to slow down. I was ticked and I came in the next day and put a tape recorder on his desk. The following day you could not even see his desk because EVERYONE brought a tape recorder and placed it on his desk. He looked at me with shock. The last day of class he asked if I was taking any more of his classes because I kept him on his toes. Needless to say, I thought he was a jerk.

[awakenedsoul]

Wow...thanks for these responses. I ended up dropping the class. The day before I was supposed to go back I felt like I didn't want to practice, (even though I'd been practicing for an hour a day,) and I felt like I HATED music. I've never felt that way. I'm very musical and usually look forward to practicing my songs. It reminded me of aa dog who didn't want to go to the vet. So, I did the on line classes for another week. Yesterday I emailed him and said I wasn't going to renew the $14.99 per month membership. I did learn to read music, but it would take me a long time to sight read quickly in a work situation. I'm much happier gardening and knitting. I have a feeling other people are quitting, too.

Miss Cellane, That is so true about what your mother said. I was actually stopping him and explaining why some of the women were not understanding how to figure out the key of what we were singing. There was an inconsistency that I spotted that was throwing them off...it did the same thing to me. He said, "That's a good point."
He sent me an email asking for feedback on his website. I'm just not into it. He thinks I'm a perfectionist, and I feel I'm a high achiever. In a Broadway show, or the Rockettes, you can't make any mistakes. None. He acts like it's no big deal. (I pointed out that he was making mistakes when he was teaching us how to count rhythm.) The reason he was stumbling was that the students were making up complicated, unmusical bars of rhythm, and we had to clap it. It was like stuttering. (As a former tap teacher, I couldn't take it!) It was making me crazy...

frugal-one, The tape recorder is a great idea. I had to use the on line classes for the same reason. (To reteach myself at home, at a slower pace.)

[Teacher Terry]

I can happily say that after 4 college degrees I never once had a teacher like you describe. sounds like you made the right decision. For the past 2 years I have been teaching a class at the university and I would never teach so fast that I left everyone confused.