Rex Roland, a 6th grade teacher in a North Carolina School, claims it was just a joke, a way to get close to the kids. But one mom isn’t laughing. And I’m not either.
From NECN:
(NECN/WLOS) – A middle school teacher’s controversial style of educating has him in hot water with one parent.
Rex Roland teaches sixth grade at Enka Middle School in Candler, North Carolina. Parent Patty Clement said Roland wrote "loser" in red ink after correcting her daughter’s paper.
"I went to the principal in November and complained," Clement said. "She said she would put a stop to it."
A few weeks ago, another of 11-year-old Heather Clement’s graded assignment made its way home and at the top of the page was a step beyond the original — "minus 20% for being a loser." The word "loser" underlined twice and capitalized.
Mrs. Clement called the assistant superintendent, then met with the principal and Mr. Roland. She said Roland apologized and said it was his way of joking with students. To Mrs. Clement, the practice is unacceptable.
"Suspend him," she said. "Make him think about what he has done — the severity of this."
The Buncombe County School District released a statement saying that it was a personnel matter that is being looking in to.
The school’s Web site says Roland has been teaching at Enka Middle School for 12 years.
Personally, I think they should boil him in oil…but that’s just me.
I think more teachers should do this.
Take those little punks down a notch or two with their overly inflated senses of self worth.
What a whiner.
Rae,
Promise me you’ll never go into the teaching profession…lol.
He was picking on an 11 year old girl? In my day and age he would have been reprimanded for being a bully and chastised by the community for behaving like a child.
It’s sick that he wasn’t suspended the first time he did it.
(and just because of the state our culture is in right now I would hire a private detective to look into this matter. We’ve seen teachers ‘getting back’ at students who weren’t nice to their favorite student. Could this be the same thing?)
@MK: Don’t worry, children’s self esteems everywhere are safe from me. I decided not to go into teaching when I realized I’d probably have the urge to smack every disrespectful little brat that came into my class.
That, and I do believe in such a thing as a “stupid question”- which is something teachers aren’t supposed to believe in.
I love you Rae. You make me laugh. How did such a young, beautiful woman, become so cynical?
His way of joking with the students is unprofessional. I taught for 13 years. I have a sense of humor. It can’t be helped. OF COURSE I jokes with my students. But I still had to remember that I was in a position of authority, and that there was a level of appropriateness that needed to be considered. Name calling is never appropriate in any setting.
Forget being his principal or supervisor. If I had been his colleague, I’d have asked him what the french toast he could have been thinking! I won’t go so far as to say his fellow teachers should shun him, but this teacher does need to be schooled.
all of you against rex are wrong im an 8th grade student at enka and was one of his students. plus i have known rex all my life and everyone at school loves him and supports him he jokes around all the time. if you are talking bad about him you need to shut your mouth because you don’t know him, and 999 out of 1000 students at enka would agree with me
Spencer –
I’m even more doubtful of his ability to teach considering the poor use of the written word you seem to have. As a matter of fact – I have doubts about your entire school system now.
Valerie Jane,
You’re “picking on” (to use your words) a student! Spencer’s “use of the written word” in this instance might possibly be a function of the context. He is posting on a blog, not writing an essay assignment. The fact that you presume it an inability on his part is proof that you would be a horrible teacher indeed. Additionally, if you’re going to be such a grammarian, I feel the need to comment on your post: your use of the em-dash in both instances is improper. The one after the salutation might be acceptable, but the one in the second sentence is completely superfluous. If you wanted to emphasize the point, you should have used a comma.
I cannot believe how condescending and hypocritical all these criticisms are.
Spencer and Larry, our point is that teachers should not be calling students names, not even in a joking context. That some students like him is not the point. He isn’t there to be liked. He is there to teach. What is he teaching his students about name calling if he does so himself? That it is okay so long as you say you are joking?
I am the first to agree that humor in the classroom can alleviate the boredom of a long day, and bring student attention to the subject at hand. I do NOT agree that students can be the butt of those jokes.
Larry –
Gee, I wonder if that is why I am not a teacher? Hm…..
Anywho, I’m back in school. The teachers have to constantly tell recent high school graduates to write in complete sentences using proper grammar and proper punctuation. They say “No Text writing is allowed”. Many students have flunked out because they did not know how to write with punctuation and capitalization – no clue whatsoever. (Oh dear, did I just use a dash in non structured writing in order to place emphasis on the point of the subject just as one would do in common speech patterns?)
You do not do this student any favors by making excuses for him. Shame on you for allowing people to consistently fail so you won’t make them “feel bad”. Talk about hypocrisy. Perhaps Spencer will remember my words, heed the warning, and remember how to succeed in the written word.
I also should add that calling someone a loser is picking on them. In no way did I “pick on” Spencer. I pointed out the obvious and blamed the lack of teaching. The implication is not a problem with the student, but with the teacher and possibly the teaching structure of the school.
Hi um im a student from enka middle and mr roland is my teacher. He is the best teacher ever and he is awesome! Heather Clements mom over reacted, mr roland is my favorite teacher that i have had in my life, thanks
Well ghtyysbhf,
I’m glad that you like Mr. Roland, BUT, you have to understand that there are ways to treat people, and ways NOT to treat people. There are a lot of kids from your class that have said some pretty mean things to Heather on other blogs. I think that if your teacher calls his students “Loser” he is basically telling his students that it’s okay to disrespect people. Shut up, Loser, name calling…all of these are rude. Common courtesy is what allows us to live together as a society.
Mr. Roland might be a good teacher, even a good man, in many, many ways, but in this one thing he needs to rethink his methods.
But I’m glad that you have a teacher that makes school fun. Maybe you could be HIS teacher, and set an example of how people should treat one another…?