Ashby 1 Caitlyn Ashby Professor Blair English 1103 10 November 2013 That Man Mr.

Lucas Kerns is a high school science teacher who looks as boring as his monotone voice. With blonde hair and blue eyes the first thought that crosses your mind is, Is that man part of the Aryan race? His skin was as white as a new fallen snow in early January. An average size height but a scrawny man I often wondered how he would do in a brawl. His classroom is dull with no decoration on the wall a mild version of hell. He sanded and painted the crummy old desks an ugly grey color to cover the graffiti and art on the desks and remove peeling, black top. His wife taught down the hall in the math department; they claim she from Italy and he is from Maine, but if you took a good look at them youll find theyre the same! Like brother and sister, it makes me sick, but love is love I guess. He is rude, he plays favorites, and he really cannot teach. Needless to say Mr. Kerns is the worst teacher you could ever meet. The first day in class I was not quite sure what to expect from this man. I had heard the terrifying rumors of course, but I never thought they would be true. The first day he went over the syllabus in his monotone voice, and I couldnt tell you a thing he said by the next day let alone the next class. In one ear and out the other his words would never stick even when I tried my hardest to pay attention. He would blabber on and on until you could not stand it! I honestly cannot remember a single one of his lectures and often remember trying to not sleep in that class. His voice made a person

Ashby 2 want to climb into a hole in the ground, cover the entrance with a rock, and lay down for your last slumber. However, if you wanted to you could not take a break without using one of your four bathroom-passes, which were being collected at the end for extra credit for your grade. This method to me is ruthless. Using bodily functions against a student as a punishment is just wrong. Mr. Kerns was known for playing favorites, and I sadly was not one of them. I still become enraged at the memory of us sitting in class watching a film about the ocean and its currents when someones phone went off. The whole class immediately started coughing to try to cover the sound of the phone while the girl tried desperately to shut it off. He looked up and instead of yelling at the girl whose phone was singing the words of some new pop song saw me chewing and said, Caitlyn, why are you eating? Another time that injustice took place was the time I was going to get out of class early for a soccer game. We had made it into the play offs and were about to go off for round one. When I had to use the restroom. I figured because I was done with all of my work and the class wasnt really doing anything he would allow me to leave a few minutes early. He would not let me go. At that point I told him it was an emergency I thought I was going to soil a perfectly good pair of pants. My bladder felt like a water balloon ready to explode and he still refused to let me leave. Finally, after what felt like forever of arguing with him about all the reasons he should just let me go I threatened to pee in his trashcan, at which, he finally allowed me to go. He did not like to teach like a teacher normally does with care and enthusiasm for their subject. It was the same mundane routine every day. We come in and sit down, copy a PowerPoint that he would talk about briefly, do a worksheet, maybe another

Ashby 3 PowerPoint and worksheet, then get a project or work on the one you already have, or watch a video. He mainly liked to show us videos to take up time or assign projects for us to do so we could basically teach ourselves. We watched so many videos that were not even related to our discussion. Once we watched a whole video on volcanoes, and we were not even studying them. I know most people enjoy an easy class like this, but not when I am unprepared for the tests. I was convinced he didnt even know what he was teaching. Especially when he had to look at his power points to talk about a subject. I am convinced that he is borderline psychotic. He used to show us videos of the ocean or something and it wouldnt be bad just a general documentary about sea life. Until a ginormous shark busts out of the water and eats a seal. At that moment the class would be horrified, and Mr. Kerns would just look at us and laugh at our reactions. He showed one of a zebra harmlessly crossing the river when all of a sudden a crocodile appears and takes the zebra with him. He showed us some more of various poor creatures being led to their doom in the circle of life. All of this happened around the time of Kony 2012 the class made up a little saying that went along the lines of Kerns 2013 I remember some of projects he thrust upon us because he did not want to teach. It was a hands-on approach, and that was probably one of the only things I liked about him or his class. We made rock candy when talking about volcanoes, and posters when talking about biomes. Once we even had a debate about fossil fuels. But the last project we made was because he wanted to redo his yard and he wanted some ideas. He tied it into our lesson saying we needed to make a 3-D model of our dream landscape. Well the whole year we had been teasing him about bringing in a cake and when he said we

Ashby 4 could make this project out of anything I raised my hand and asked, So youre telling us that we can make this model out of anything? He, not knowing why I repeated his instructions as a question responded yes and my friend Jessica and I exchanged glances. We knew exactly what we were going to do! We made a cake! Using a Barbie doll doghouse as the house and green icing for the grass. When we brought it in he was surprised and said that we broke the rules I told him that he said we could make it out of anything so we did. Overall, he was the worst teacher I ever had. I will never forget the day he called my mother because I made a ruckus in class. How could I not on the first day of school he told us notes were our own and that we did not have to write every word on the slide. Then one day, without notice, he collected our notes to grade them. Everyone got a 100% except for me and one other kid. I was given a 60%, which is failing because I left some of the things out that I already knew. So yes I threw a little bit of a fit. The only reason he did that was because he did not like me. I owned up to it because yes I did make a ruckus and when I told her why I did she agreed with me, which is something my mother never does. The next day I came into class and gave him the apology note my mother had made me write him. He smirked and asked, Did your mother talk to you. I said yes and watched him throw the paper into his desk without a care. The nerve of this man is unreeling and I was not the only one who experienced this treatment. A good friend of mine Christopher Keller would whole heartily agree with my indication (he was the other kid that was unfairly treated). He was unfair and I was not the only person subject to his tyrant reign. Honestly looking back on it now this teacher bullied me and the only reason I didnt report him was because I could dish it

Ashby 5 right back. He used to tell on me to one of the other teachers who talked to me and when I told him what was going on he told me to be the bigger person. I have never felt hatred towards any one but he takes it all. However, this man did do something good for me. As a future teacher I took this class as a learning implement and took everything to heart. I do not ever want to be a teacher like Mr. Kerns and I feel bad for my sister because she now has to suffer the wrath of Mr. Lucas Kerns.