RateMyTeachers

User Comments

Updated January 28, 2008



January 28, 2008
I read some of the user comments and while I can agree with some there is
something to having a site like this. Schools I am sure have their own
performance review. Yes we know that kids can be cruel and write bad
comments but in the mix there are also some pretty good comments. As a
parent i would use this site to check out comments on my childrens
teachers. Why? Because I want them to have the best education possible.
If I read comments like the teacher is sitting in a class texting all day
and it comes through with most comments, come on - something should be
said or done about. The same goes for comments where the teachers
relationships with students are "unprofessional". (And yes, I have read
these type of comments on this site) What sort of work ethic is being
presented to our students? Not only are teachers teaching our children
but they are also a role model for future work ethics because these
students are seeing someone at work up close. Do I want my children to go
to work and text all day and not give 100% to the job - no! Then teachers
should be the same. Are their performance reviewers sitting in the
classroom with them every day - no. But the students are.And if you're
smart enough you will be able to read between the lines of students with
an angst and those who are genuine about their comments.

So I think this site is good. It should be treated as a tool, with
objectivity and as a means for those teachers who are not performing well
- to up the anti and better themselves or get out of the profession and
leave it to those who are dedicated and committed to teaching our
children.

I want my children to receive the best education possible, and for that I
want them to have the best teachers.


April 17, 2007
How can you sell your site as an honest site when students can post comments without saying who they are. What a dangerous message to be giving - As schools we are definitely encouraging students to speak out at all times - BUT PUT YOUR NAME TO IT - else its just a cowardly thought with NO credibility - Your site should be shut down - you are putting down a profession that works extremely hard for the children of New Zealand and giving children the wrong message of how to deal with situations.


March 14, 2007
I would like to bring up the motto at the top of your page. 'Honest, Essential Critique' and now raise the questions; is it honest? and is it essential? who is checking this stuff? It seems to me that only the students that have a problem with a teacher use this website to make comments about them that the magority of the schhol dont agree with. What is the point? has anyone actually found this helpful? I sure haven't.
With Love.

RatemyTeachers Rating: 1-Easiness 1-clarity 1-essentiality


February 5, 2007
Rate my teachers is unnecessary, a waste of time and undermines the purpose of school - to learn.

I know that the quality and standards of a teacher and his manner of teaching are very important and that's why one rates his teacher, but if a student thinks his teacher is not up to scratch, then he should bring it to the attention of senior management - that way the problem, if there ever was, could actually be solved. Bad-mouthing teachers and making vacuous comments about them on a website won't change things - that's why it's a waste of time.

I haven't always found school to be comfortable and neither have I liked every one of my teachers or peers,and sometimes they didn't always like me, but hey, that's life and school is not the only place where you will find people to dislike, so are we going to have many "ratemywhatevers.com"?

When teachers rate students in reports it is for the students' welfare and is confidential - not for the eyes of the whole world. If teachers had ratemystudents.com, I'm sure there would be no small objection, we'd all say - ' but thats not fair!'. So is rating teachers fair?

Anyway, the ratings, good or bad, of teachers is purely hearsay or personal opinion - so an intelligent conclusion cannot be reached.

I say we leave the teacher ratings and criticisms to their bosses - the head of department or Ministry of Education and wash any dirty linen in private.


October 25, 2006
It is most interesting to see how many bad comments there are about the site when almost everything is partly good and bad.

This site is a much needed outlet for students to express their opinions and ideas. To the people who think badly of this site it is not intended as an "avenue" for bullying but a place where the voices of students can be heard without objections in the background from supposedly concerned members of the public. Teachers have been given quite a lot of power and students who have comparably none and yet you complain about how they have been mistreated. Which is why hurtful things have been said by students.
Some may just be quite tactless but this is most likely to have come from the bad influences they have gone through i.e. bad teachers and have been emotionally scarred because of it, leading to their lashing out at others.

Another point is that anonymity is quite useful in the fact that it stops bullying and other unwanted attentions. How would you like it if you were put out in front of a large crowd for everyone to see?

And most of all, in every myth there is a grain of truth, and what I mean by that is even if the comments are cruel and horrible, there is some truth in it. Perhaps some teachers do work hard to try and teach students but if they find something reasonably expected is not there then obviously they are not doing something right. If they have tried everything and exhausted every option that is reasonable and still has not been able to keep a good atmosphere in class then perhaps they should not be teaching.

Just to be clear I am not suggesting people should do anything I say here but that I am only expressing my opinions in response to those who feel this site should not even exist. To be fair this site was, is and will still be a good idea and I thank those who run and maintain this site but you cannot expect everything to be as you want it to be. And for those who are curious and still reading this I am a student.


September 21, 2006
Firstly, I would like to say that I was disgusted to hear that this site even exsisted. This is just plain cruelty. You are allowing teenagers to bully and taunt others, something which secondary schools in New Zealand have worked so hard to control.
Secondly, my Mum is a teacher, and the things that have been written on here have hurt me deeply. My Mum won't come on this site, because she knows that the teenagers on here are just full of hormones and are looking for a way to seek revenge on their teachers anonymously. I can't find the heart to tell my Mum what the kids have written, because I know how hurt she would be. She works incredibly hard for her students, all day and nearly all weekend. The students on this site are so ungrateful, and so immature...how can you suppourt them like this?
Many of my Mum's friends are teachers too, and I have seen how hurt they are by this site. This is HARASSMENT, and I think the teachers on this site should start up a ratemystudents.com.
I'm only 17, and I'm a student. But I agree with the teachers, this site is horrible. They spend their time providing us with the education we need, and this kind of bullying is completely unnecessary. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Please think about the effects this site is having, please think about the people you are hurting and offending.


September 16, 2006
I find this website to be a highly flawed concept. I’m not aware of any other websites here in New Zealand that allow anonymous members of society to post feedback on the skills of individuals for all to see.

Unfortunately the nature of the internet makes it hard to stop sites such as yours from providing students with a mechanism to get back at teachers they dislike.

How do you ensure that feedback is factual? From what I can see anyone (student or not) can post whatever comments they please on someone without having to provide information on who they are - sounds like a perfect avenue for cowardly negative comments to me.

Your site mentions that reference to alcohol and drug use is not allowed and feedback containing this will be deleted.

I however have noticed speculative comments from students mentioning alcohol use which leads me to believe that the site is not very well moderated.

If you are to continue this unethical website that the least you should do is ensure that EVERYTHING posted on the website should be thoroughly checked before it is made live on the site, otherwise you are providing a mechanism for students to post whatever they please about teachers. This can extremely hurtful to the person involved.

For a site that allows rating of the professionalism of teachers, I believe you are not acting particularly professionally yourself – pity there isn’t a rating website for the runners of this website to assess how good they are at their jobs?


July 25, 2006
Your website has been in the news a lot recently in New Zealand and as my mother is a teacher I decided to check the site out. I can see exactly what you are trying to achieve with this website by allowing students to voice opinions about their schools and teachers. However, from the sample I have read few are constructive. Most are written by hormonal adolescents whose suggestions are full of major spelling errors and immature comments.
Such comments are hard to take seriously. Many of my Mothers' Friends are teachers and some of them have had very hurtful things written about them on this website. To criticise someone you do not need to be nasty however a lot of the users of this website seem unable to grasp this.
On a more positive note I have read some very constructive and well thought out opinions. I doubt if many of these comments will receive the desired effects however as many schools have banned this website. These schools do not deserve to be on a wall of shame they are meerly preventing
(some) students from having an outlet where they can bully teachers.

This brings me to my point and that is what is the point of this website?
Surely there must be a better way to allow adolescents (and younger) to comment on their teachers.

regards


July 18, 2006
Students are adding other students to the website and writing bully type comments about them. We have already had suicides in NZ related directly to electronic bullying - I'm not sure how that fits in with your first amendment but in New Zealand we don't hide behind lies and bullying.


July 18, 2006
This is an excellent website which balances the power of Teacher Associations and Teacher Groups of each school. Teachers commonly share information amongst themselves about students and this website provides a focussed and organised forum for students to do the same in the absence of an active Parent Support Group at the school. Students and parents should be able to collectively share information about teachers and pass it on to proper authorities such as the Education Review Office.

Schools that fear that such a site would be damaging to a teacher especially if several students and parents have rated the teachers badly needs to take control of the situation commissioning an independent survey of all children and parents of that teacher through the Education Review Office rather than condemning this website

Regards




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