The programmer and his woman

Today, my class welcomed a new transfer student. According to rumors from other classmates, this student transferred from Teacher Wen because he seemed to have a conflict with Teacher Wen's teaching style.

Naturally, I was also very curious about what was so special about this student that made Teacher Wen feel so embarrassed.

Whenever he explained a new knowledge point, he would always look puzzled, and stare at me with confused, helpless and slightly eager eyes, like a lost lamb that urgently needs guidance on the way home, as if he was trying his best to convey some kind of help message to me...

After class, I took the initiative to find him.

"Classmate, can you tell me why Teacher Wen assigned you to my class?" I asked.

He answered hesitantly, "Teacher Wang, I was not popular in my previous class. My classmates were somewhat hostile to me."

"Why?" I asked.

He sighed deeply, as if to let out all the annoyance in his heart, and then murmured, "Maybe it's because I love asking questions too much. Every time I attend class, I always have a lot of questions I want to clarify, but perhaps it is precisely because of such frequent questioning that Teacher Wen feels that the course cannot proceed smoothly as originally planned..."

I thought back to the class. Although he did ask a lot of questions, I didn't think it affected the course. So I asked, "Do you like to ask questions so much because you don't understand what the teacher is saying?"

He shook his head and said, "No, Mr. Wang. I'm just not sure if I really understand it. So, I always want to confirm it again."

I nodded and then asked, "So, can you complete the after-class exercises independently?"

He thought for a moment and replied, "Most of them."

I suddenly realized something and said, "I see. Your questions may be motivated by your pursuit of understanding, which is not wrong in itself. But your frequent questions in class may have affected the progress of the course to a certain extent and caused dissatisfaction among other students. So, I have a suggestion. If you are unsure about a certain knowledge point, you can write it down first and ask me after class. This will not waste everyone's time and can also satisfy your need for knowledge."

He listened to my suggestion, nodded and said, "Okay, Teacher Wang, I'll give it a try."

Although the student had promised me that he would try to control the frequency of his questions, he still raised his hand frequently in the following class. I understand his thirst for knowledge and I think his questions are well thought out and not repetitive, so I can accept this situation.

However, other students in the class expressed strong dissatisfaction with this. Some students began to publicly criticize him, believing that his questions disrupted the class order. Some even said that he was a "problem student" who had transferred from Teacher Wen's class, and instigated other students to demand that he be "asked" to leave the class.

This classmate's remarks actually received responses from many classmates. For a time, there were calls for him to be expelled from the class one after another.

I know that this student's question did not seriously affect the progress of the course, but just slowed it down a little. In order to calm the discontent in the class, I stood up to appease everyone: "Please calm down, our course will not be affected by this student. The questions he raised may be the doubts in other students' minds, but they just don't have the courage to express them. I have communicated with him and suggested that he try to write down the questions and ask me questions after class. Everyone has different learning methods, and we should understand and respect them."

With my comfort, the atmosphere in the class gradually calmed down. I noticed that this student tried to restrain himself in the following class and hesitated several times. I indicated that he could write down the question and review the relevant content during the lecture so that he could understand it better.

In this way, the class ended smoothly. After class, I found this student and asked him if he had any questions. He told me that after reading the textbook again, he had understood most of the content, but there were still a few questions that he didn't quite understand. I patiently answered his questions and half-jokingly asked him, "Do you have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder?" He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and replied, "Really? I haven't really thought about this question."

I took the opportunity to suggest that he try to adjust his study methods and reduce the number of questions he asked in class. He readily accepted my suggestion and said he would work hard to correct it.

After a few days of adjustment, this student really changed his habit of asking questions frequently. I thought the matter was resolved satisfactorily, but I didn't expect that even bigger troubles were still to come.

The student felt that his change made him happier, so he told his uncle everything. His uncle had raised him since he was a child and doted on him. His uncle also funded his schooling. After listening to his nephew's story, the uncle flew into a rage and went straight to the school principal.

In the corridor, he loudly questioned the principal: "Why do the teachers in your school treat students differently? Why do they discriminate against my child? Call Teacher Wen out, I want to settle accounts with him! He teamed up with classmates to bully my child, this matter is not over! There are other teachers, I heard from my child that only Teacher Wang helped him, and the other teachers bullied him!"

The anger of this parent spread quickly on campus, and other teachers looked at me strangely. Several teachers who had had conflicts with me before took the opportunity to fan the flames and pointed the finger at me. They seemed to think that I was holding a grudge because of the previous dispute, and this time I deliberately joined forces with this student's parents to retaliate against them.

After the principal tried his best to persuade the angry parent to leave, the atmosphere in the office did not ease. Other teachers put pressure on the principal, especially Teacher Wu, who stood in front of everyone and said emotionally:

"Principal! Look at how much trouble this new teacher Wang has caused! This time, the parents of the students came to the school to make trouble, which is definitely related to him! We have to ensure that the entire teaching plan goes smoothly, right? But he only cares about taking care of that one student and doesn't care about the overall interests of the school at all! Think about it again, the last time Teacher Shen was beaten by a student, in my opinion, it was probably related to him. Why did he happen to visit the student dormitory and give him extra lessons on the day when Teacher Shen was beaten? How can there be such a coincidence in the world? There must be something fishy here!" Seeing this, other teachers also echoed. In an instant, I seemed to have become a rat crossing the street and everyone was shouting and beating me. My ears were filled with all kinds of complaints and reprimands against me. My heart was really mixed with emotions, but more of it was deep helplessness and full of disappointment.

Fortunately, the principal was a seasoned man and was not disturbed by such emotional accusations. He listened to everyone's speech quietly, and then said slowly: "Okay, I have a general understanding of the situation. Teacher Wang, please come to my office with me."

I followed the principal to his office. However, to my surprise, the principal did not criticize me directly as I expected. Instead, he smiled and asked me to sit down, and then talked to me about some topics such as unity among colleagues and the overall interests of the school.

The principal said earnestly: "As teachers, we shoulder the sacred mission of teaching and educating people, but this does not mean that we have to get involved in meaningless disputes." His eyes were firm and full of wisdom, as if he could see through my innermost thoughts.

I nodded gratefully, saying that I would carefully reflect on what the principal said today and incorporate it into my future teaching work. Seeing this, the principal smiled with satisfaction.

Afterwards, the principal announced in front of everyone that he had given me serious criticism and instruction. At the same time, he also hoped that I would learn from the lesson, hold myself to higher standards, and wholeheartedly provide high-quality educational services to the school and students.

However, the matter did not end there. Teacher Wu and several other teachers did not seem to give up their attack on me. They seemed to be planning further actions behind the scenes. During a break between classes, I overheard a conversation between Teacher Wu and Teacher Wen.

Teacher Wu's voice was filled with dissatisfaction and complaints: "Teacher Wen, what do you think of this as? He just criticized Teacher Wang lightly and then let her go. This is obviously a perfunctory response to us."

Teacher Wen seemed relatively calm. He responded: "Teacher Wu, don't be impatient. This is just the beginning. We have to take it slow."

Teacher Wu asked curiously, "Oh? Do you have any good ideas?"

Teacher Wen smiled mysteriously and whispered, "We can start with the students. Teacher Wu, come closer and listen." Then, the two of them moved closer and started whispering. Since I was standing a little far away and they deliberately lowered their voices, I didn't hear what they said next.

But on this day, I was having dinner with students from City A, and he leaned close to my ear and said to me with some worry in his voice: "Teacher Wang, have you heard? Several students are going to unite and sue you to the principal."

I was shocked to hear this. This must be what Teacher Wu and Teacher Wen had conspired to do. They really started to act, so I quickly asked, "Sue me? Sue me for what?"

The student from City A carefully lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard, and answered softly: "They said... that your teaching method is seriously inconsistent with the syllabus, there is no system in the classroom, and the knowledge points you teach are already outdated. They are worried that if this continues, it will cause great trouble for future graduates in their job search."

After hearing this, I was completely stunned. I asked suspiciously, "What? How is this possible? I always strictly follow the course system to teach. Who said this?"

The student from City A looked at me and said cautiously, "I heard it from other students. Those teachers asked a few students about the specific content of your class, and then told those students that what you said was problematic and would affect your future employment. Then these students believed what these teachers said and spread this false statement everywhere."

I took a deep breath, and an indescribable emotion surged in my heart. These teachers, for their own selfish interests, actually slandered me in such a way. I smiled bitterly and shook my head, and said to the student from City A: "Thank you for telling me this, I will pay attention to it."

Not long after, the principal really found me and talked about this matter with a serious face. He told me that before, only teachers came to report my problems, but this time the situation was different because many students came to report my problems. He had to consider doing something about these problems.

I eagerly defended myself, "Principal, this is not right! You should be able to see that they are targeting me on purpose. The courseware I have is provided by the headquarters, and I teach completely according to the curriculum system. I only made slight changes and added some content in different places, but I will never deviate from the main line of teaching."

The principal was silent for a while, then said, "I understand what you said. But you also know that as the principal, I can't just listen to your one-sided words. Now that students and teachers have raised this issue, I can't just sit back and watch. But don't take it to heart, this is just a formality, temporary. Go listen to other teachers' classes and adjust your teaching content. I believe you can handle this problem."

I sighed helplessly, feeling mixed emotions, both aggrieved and unwilling. However, I knew that at this moment, the only thing I could do was to accept and face this challenge. I nodded and told the principal that I would do as he asked.

The principal seemed to see the confusion in my heart, and he continued, "Teacher Wang, I will arrange for you to attend a class taught by Teacher Wen today. You can go and sit in on it later. You can learn some different teaching methods and content from him."

I came to Mr. Wen's class with a little curiosity and uneasiness. However, after one class, I was surprised to find that Mr. Wen had no intention of letting me listen to his class. Most of his class time was occupied by various jokes, starting from his childhood, both dirty and vegetarian. The students were amused and laughed, but in my opinion, this obviously deviated from the topic of teaching.

I began to wonder, is this what I want to learn? How to tell jokes in class? I shook my head and decided to listen to other teachers' classes. However, the next few classes were basically the same. It seemed that the teachers had discussed it. In class, there was almost no serious course content except chatting and doing exercises.

I felt a little disappointed and angry. These teachers were obviously making fun of me on purpose and they didn't want me to learn anything from their classes.