Dear Mr. Grey,

There are many things that I believe should be brought to your attention concerning a teacher in our school. Mr. O’Rourke hasn’t been using his skills of being a teacher to actually teach his students. In the beginning of the semester, our class started off with 30 students, and now there are only 10 left, and I believe it is because he lacks teaching skills. His lessons consist of reading from the textbook. Students like myself can read a textbook in the comfort of our own homes. O’Rourke has never re-summarized lessons read in the textbook to support what we got from reading it. When a student asks questions he usually embarrasses or answers them sarcastically. This imposes fear within a student and makes them feel uncomfortable. If a student is uncomfortable in their classroom setting, they wont enjoy being in that class, therefore they wont be encouraged to attend, and or they will hardly ask questions, which will prevent them from advancing in the course. The sarcasm he uses isn’t in a funny tone, it’s said in a rude manor. Mr. O’Rourke constantly leaves the classroom unattended. He has never asked another teacher to keep an eye on the class in his absence. He never has any handouts or tests printed for the class on time, which is usually why he leaves the class, and which is usually why our test days get moved. In our class we have special needs student who is autistic. Obviously Mr. O’Rourke is aware of his needs and condition, yet still talks to him with attitude and in a rudely manor. In my opinion that’s just unfair. He has a few students he constantly picks on. Especially students who come into class late, and students who are either shy to answer or who speak quietly. O’Rourke walks around the class belittling his students with remarks on how we don’t know certain things, making us feel uneducated. The problem with the education system now a days is that we have a bunch of teachers who teach because they can and not because they feel it is a vocation, and it’s quite sad. We have teachers who simply don’t care about teaching, and if that’s how they truly feel, then they shouldn’t wear the d’Y cares t-shirt because it helps students notify who will benefit their learning and who will harm it.

This last week of class before exams, we were given a test we were forced to cram in. We also had CPT’s due