Teacher's grammar

[EmmalinaC]

DD1's teacher has written 'You're decoding skills are excellent' in her planner. Would it be very unreasonable of me to highlight this error and add the note 'Your grammar is not'?

The trouble is, however you intend your underlining and ahem!, you cannot control how it will be received.

It's highly likely the teacher will think you a shocking pedant and possibly show it around the staffroom so by Monday lunchtime you will be generally considered to be a total arse.

Perhaps not, Raspberry, but in my experience of staffrooms, the op is in for a bit of a pasting. I doubt the original mistake is shameful enough to just bury it when the opportunity to slag off a parent is handed over on a lovely pink plate...

Ha! Well let's hope for the op's sake her staffroom is more of your variety then... We love a quick game of hang, draw and quarter, 'specially on a Friday :o

If I showed this in the staffroom they'd at me for making the mistake in the first place.

Any feedback from the teacher?

OP, while I wouldn't communicate the teacher's mistake to them in that way, I'd certainly let them know.

It wasn't a slip, they actually don't know. It's not being pedantic. Believe me, the teacher won't make that mistake again in a hurry. A plus, then.

No feedback from the teacher yet!

I did correct a letter that DS took back to school today. It wasn't a teacher's mistake but a printed from asking for my "singature". Even a spell checker shouldn't let that one through.
What really got on my tits was the school's letter was headed with the motto "A Centre of Excellence"

form not from FFS

GiserableMitt! See, easily done! Although I do agree that a letter should be proof-read before it is printed. I don't think that teachers would have to time to proof-read all their comments though.

I agree larks

BTW, I don't feel bad about correcting stuff like this (the teachers seem ok, just the admin staff) because we're expats so it's not a state school.

Oh, oh, oh, I've just reminded myself.... they're (their?) building an extension to the school and the sign board next to the construction says "English Speeking School"

Completely reasonable OP.

larks - I love the way folk make it sound as if teachers are saints and doing something above and beyond all the time. They're not. They are professionals, paid to do a job, like the rest of us. Ok, kids can be annoying and no doubt parents are not easy to deal with, but the rest of us who have to deal with challenging grown ups at work, longer hours (and no, I don't mean 9-5) and probably far more stress. Teachers are paid to teach, and frankly if they can't even spell properly, they have no place in a classroom.

and probably far more stress

And Bona, that isn't a proper sentence, btw...

Decoding skills

Is this Bletchley Park school ? :)

Ah, but Kate, you see I'm not writing in my professional capacity. I'm joining a discussion on an internet forum, so it really doesn't matter if my spelling or grammar are not perfect. There is a huge difference in getting it right at work, and getting it right when you're bashing out a few words in this context...

cumfy - mwah ha ha!

No, of course not Bona. But it's easily done isn't it? And not very pleasant to have it pointed out either, whatever the context.

So, what's the consensus regarding improper punctuation on teacher-written posters and presentations in the classroom (like I saw on an Open Evening last night)?

I don't understand those who say the teacher is too busy to spell correctly... it should be automatic .

A typo is a typo, of course, and I can't believe that one poster corrected "singature" when it was clearly just a case of transposing letters.

I did speak to dd's Head once (I was a governor) about a teacher whose spelling was consistently awful. The last straw was when the whole class was given a homework sheet headed, "Can you right these words proper?" [Disclaimer: I had a big axe to grind because she previously had condescendingly asked me at a meeting what qualified me to be a governor as a SAHM ]

Perhaps you and your DH should try writing in a small room surrounded by 30 young children. You might find you are not so perfect!

emma... I (as an ex primary teacher who occasionally as too distracted by little johnny asking for the toliet and sally tying to cellotape annie's hair.. to notice that I had made a stupid mistake) would think that is quite an acceptable way to point out a mistake I may even write out my corrections and send it too you... .

spelling lists though... dictionary out and check if the faintest doubt

now about these capital letters...

sticky keyboard, honest miss!

Letty, I think I've sent a homework out with the same title. It was on proof reading.