What would you do in my situation?

[hawaiian_dragon]

On thursday, everything seemed perfect. Nice day, untill I go to Band. Now, I didin't want Band, I hate Band. I play the trumbone. We all start to play a song, and then Im the one that screws up. Now, I do this all the time. But this time, the teacher embarresed and angered me, and ruined my rep. Instead of telling the other students to help me, she gets on my case and forces me to sing a "La" note in front of the class, and then play the note. I keep getting it wrong. And then she says she's going to switch me to the heaviest instrument, which is the Tuba. I am obviously not some fucking weight lifter that can carry that kind of instrument. To make things even more worse, she says If I don't do good on a suprise test which she just annoucned because of ME, the whole class will write pages instead of play at a concert in December. Now I can't play good, and the pressure is all on ME.
So, what would you do if you were in my shoes?
A.Try as hard as you can to get out of Band
B. Stay in Band I and try to comprehend everything

Im trying to do A right now.

[Malice]

Well, if you can get out of Band somehow, go for it if that's what you wanna do. Otherwise you really have no choice but to stick with it.

[Dot50Cal]

Walk up to your teacher after class and explain to her that you arent very good at any instruments and that you are now extremely embarassed due to what she made you do. That you are getting picked on now since she subjected you to it, etc. If you can do that (and I wouldnt blame you, I didnt have the balls when I was in high school).

If shes "normal" she will feel like a total jackass. If shes a bitch, then she will probably ignore you. If that happens, take it to the principal/your parents. Guidance counselor is also a good choice.

[Nikovich]

What the fuck kind of school do you go to? That definitely qualifies as some sort of abuse. Damn, rich ass parents around here would have a teacher fired in split second over here for that.

[James]

You've got to remember you have rights. She's not some heartless self esteem destroying bitch. Ask her nicely to lay off you - tell her it's obvious forms of bullying / harrasment. If possible, get some other class members to identify that she is picking on you / taking it out on you.

If that doesn't work - take it to a higher entity / body such as the Principal or your parents. Teachers are scared of Parents and Principles, since they have such shit / low paying jobs they know they can be asily replaced.

Just remember - she has no right doing that to you

[Borman]

She did everything right. Kids in band today are idiots, quite frankly. They go there thinking its just another free study hall/talking period. Its not. If you cant play the damn songs, then practice. If you cant commit to practice, then quit.

The tuba isnt even a hard instrument, nor is the trombone. I happen to play both.

What grade are you in? If you cant play some simple notes, then quit. Its that simple.

[Nikovich]

No, she didn't do anything right. First of all, to deduce that all kids in bands are idiots because of your own limited experienced is illogical, but to conclude that her course of action towards poor performance was right AT ALL is beyond ignorant. Since you already mentioned you play both instruments, you obviously know that you can’t just pick the things up and play them correctly. I’ve taught and I’ve coached before. You NEVER pressure and insult someone like that in learning. It doesn’t help them at all; not in performing their task, and certainly not in gaining the confidence to do it. That's not the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; it's the fucking school band.

[Borman]

I dont care if its a high school band, elementary band, or a full on orchestra, you should be able to play your intrument at a certain level. If you cant relate a tone in your head to a note coming out of your instrument, dont play. Simple as that.

And for reference, trombone took me 1 month to learn to get to an 8th grade level. Obviously, im above that, but it isnt hard if you practice. Trombone and tuba have similar enough mouthpieces to where you can switch between them, with me switching instruments between songs at times with no warmup.

Its no different then getting called on in UShistory class and saying the name of the wrong president, except that Band is normally an elective.

[Nikovich]

That negates the whole possibility of people playing in the future if it's a be born with or don't do it policy. It’s kind of hard to play it without learning it. If that was the attitude, there wouldn’t be a single instrument player there. And the fact that the tuba and the trombone are similar is not what’s relevant when she uses it as a threat simply because it’s the heaviest.

And when you name the wrong president, the teacher doesn't put you up in front of the class to name all of them with the threat that the whole class will have to suffer if you don't do it right. That's boot camp level responsive training and it doesn't have a place in a school band.

[RuStY]

Just tell the teacher nicely to fuck off and then leave the class i mean whats the worst that can happen?

[Borman]

You get suspended?

Its not be born with or die. Its practice. If you cant hit a simple note even after practicing, then thats sad. Whatever level hes at, a certain amount is to be expect. Band isnt a free ride. Being able to play a note is such a simple thing, and i highly doubt that a teacher would make you go out of your range for your skill level. Either do your homework (IE Practice) and get extra help to do well, or not put in the effort and have to play until you get it right. I think everyone has this feeling that band is this easy class, no worries, blah blah, but it really isnt, and not being able to play and taking up time in the class because you cant play something is just a waste for the people that want and deserve to be there.

[Dot50Cal]

I played the clarinet...I used to be able to play Mary had a little lamb but all that went out the window ages ago. I remember I had issues remembering what the sheet music notes were, but I did remember what "letters" each note was. So I always tried to find a band book that had them written in by the other idiots

Also Borman, I just realized. Are you thinking of like...The band which goes out on the football field and all that? Cause Im pretty sure this is just the "Basment of the school, noone cares if you can play really" area. At least...thats what I was in when I was at Junior High.

[Shakahnna]

Castration solves just about any problem. However what everyone is saying is sensible. You are either dealing with someone whose bitter or was just having a bad day.

If I had to work with High School kids I'd be in jail but that is the profession that she choose. Isn't like it's the sort of job you just accidentally wake up with one morning. Like there are some important questions here like, do you enjoy band? Do you want to become better? Do you care one way or the other? Because if the answer to any of those is yes then you want to stick in there.

Being obtuse can be allot of fun and if she seriously is down on you(which she may or may not be, again everyone has bad days and people in authority especially have a willing audiance on which to vent.) then the best way to over come it IS to be good. Regardless of what class it is.

Of course you could always go with being obtuse too, she says you can't play, then ebulliently don't play. Be as loud and crass and obnoxious as you can. Cause essentially it is down to you and what you want to do.

Then again I can't hold a tune in a bucket and I don't think band will really make or break any future careers but at the same time it's a challenge. Which isn't really an answer but it's thinking about your choices which should make things a little easier.

[Borman]

Nope, we have like 10 people that go to football games, definatly not. But theres definatly a standard that has to be met, throughout highschool or middleschool, whatever it is, and if you cant hit a note, then you shouldnt play. People have to play by themselves until they get it everyday in my class, its not unusual.

[Nikovich]

That's a red herring and it's completely irrelevant though. It doesn't even matter what the standards of ability are; what matters are the methods taken towards inability. Whether or not he can meet the standard of the band in no way justifies her actions. He can't play, he should practice, yes, she should make him work harder to reach the class level, yes, she should make him play it until he gets it, yes, but that's not what she did. She made him into an example, held him responsible for extra work that everyone would have to do if he failed, offered no help but pressure and punishment, and threatened physical abuse on him.