Miss Zilch, did you really mean that?

Miss Zilch seems to have a somewhat unusual approach to motivation. Here are some quotes (as remembered by students) and their translations.

Miss Zilch: You diverted from the set task. You didn’t do what I asked you to do. You will lose marks in your exams for not answering the questions.

• Student hears: Creativity is a baaaad thing.

Miss Zilch: In your exam next week, they aren’t going to be as lenient as the school. They will be marking on the grammar and punctuation, not the whole effect.

• Student hears: blah blah exam blah marked on little, unimportant things. Creativity and story doesn’t matter.

Miss Zilch: You may not think English is important and in Year 12 this is going to be an HSC topic. We do Jane Eyre because it has cultural significance.

• Student hears: English is not important. HSC is irrelevant. Jane Eyre is not fun. Culture is uninteresting.

Miss Zilch: I don’t care if you hate reading… You may not think this class is important but you have to do this class. It is important for your education.

• Student hears: I don’t care blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Miss Zilch: I’m not in a hurry [to mark your work] when the work I get is so poor that it is painful to mark it!

• Student hears: You are a pain.

Miss Zilch: I’m the boss here!

• Student hears: Flee!
  

Miss Zilch: You are the lowest rung on the pecking order.

• Student hears: Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.

Miss Zilch: You should be able to do it [an essay] on Thursday if you have to.

• Student hears: The task is trivial. Any difficulty just proves you are hopeless.

Miss Zilch: [Work]….that I’m going to have to mark – and weep over.

• Student hears: You are pitiful.

Miss Zilch: I think far too many of you don’t listen. You sit there not engaged …. listening to your ipod [looking at C], reading your magazine [looking at D]

• Student hears: Don’t listen blah blah blah – God, she’s looking at me! – blah blah

Miss Zilch: I’m doing the talking here. You’re listening. You’re learning. That’s the relationship.

• Student hears: You’re voiceless.

Miss Zilch: Most of the pieces of work were very bad, although three of them were pretty good. [Students applaud. Miss Zilch rants.] It’s nothing special! You should be thinking of what these people did and how can you make your work better. [Miss Zilch then neglects to return any of the students’ work.]

• Students hear: Don’t honour success. You’re hopeless. It’s your own fault. I don’t want you to get better.

Rating Miss Zilch?

Remarkably, Miss Zilch has been pretty much ignored on RateMyTeacher.com which currently shows only a few positive and one low rating.

However, students should not expect RateMyTeacher to affect teachers’ behaviour at all. Sane teachers and wise coordinators care about the students in front of them far more than anonymous voices on the internet.

Miss Zilch is a pseudonym.