To be shocked & astounded that DD's teacher has told the class that some penguins can fly :o

[ignoranceisntbliss]

On the way home yesterday DD told me that her teacher had told the class at carpet time that some penguins can fly. I thought that perhaps the teacher had made a joke and DD took it literally, so put a little note in the reading record asking her to assure DD that penguins can't fly.

Today I read the response, which explains that Adèlie penguins can fly, and that was the penguin being discussed. This is rare and unusual but is documented by the BBC.

Well yes, the BBC's 2008 April Fool's Day hoax, which shows a 'newly discovered' colony of Adèlie penguins flying 1000 of miles to a warm tropical rain forest to get away from the snow & ice.

Penguins wings are vestigial & they have solid rather than hollow bones because they are adapted to swimming and can not fly.

So just to put my mind at rest, I'm right about ALL penguins being flightless birds and it's not that unreasonable to be utterly gob-smacked is it?

Oh and I have so changed my nickname for this - I will feel mortified if I'm wrong and will feel mortified for her if I'm right!

What's more annoying is how confidently she replied to you that she was right without double checking as if she, as the teacher, will always have superior knowledge. You don't have to demean her, but I would say it was an April Fool's joke. If she has any sense she'll have a laugh about it and apologise.

Someone young person I know in her 20s didn't know what D Day was, and said they didn't need to know as it didn't affect them. Worryingly this person went to a Russell Group university.

I got a "U" in my English Lit O-level (1970s) for suggesting that Julius Caesar was homosexual because he liked to be surrounded by young men and his wife was barren (as per Skakespeare).

I think there might be more to your U than that.....

Penguins were named after the great auk (Pinguinus impennis), but great auks weren't penguins, they were auks (same family as puffins, guillemots and razorbills). Auks and penguins are similar through convergent evolution (similar way of life) but not closely related. They both 'fly' underwater when they chase fish but auks (the not-extinct species) can also fly properly - useful as, unlike penguins, they live in the same hemisphere as polar bears

I patiently explained to 4yr old ds that no, platypuses didn't lay eggs as they were mammals
Mistakes happen...but how embarrassing for her

Well technically they are under the class mammalia so half right I suppose !

I work in a school (not a teacher) and have decided that this month is the month that I correct all students in their incorrect pronunciation of the letter H as 'haitch' (we are not in a part of the country where the standard/accepted local pronunciation is haitch. It's a new and creeping thing) . Quite a number of them have protested that their parents insist the correct pronunciation is 'haitch' and pull them up on saying 'aitch'.

Hyper correction is rife these days.

You, op, could have told your dd that teacher was wrong. No beed to do anything else

Outing myself here but I went on a course at my DS's primary school to teach us the new methods of maths they now use. The guy they had brought in to teach us (retired maths teacher type) got some stuff wrong.

I was very hesitant point out his error, (horrid memories of being called cheeky at school and didn't want to undermine him) but he was so bloody patronising and tried to insist that hevwas right. Luckily another teacher there backed me up.

I felt awful though; like I was being a proper know it all.

You, op, could have told your dd that teacher was wrong. No need to do anything else.

And the other DCs? How about the teacher? I don't think I'm alone in wanting someone to correct me if I've got the wrong end of the stick, am I? Are there actually people who would rather carry on not knowing they've been taken in by a hoax?

Maybe I should have just mentioned it in passing, but I honestly thought DD had got the wrong end of the stick (90% DD's got it wrong, 10% maybe the teacher really did tell the class penguins can fly and wasn't joking) and assumed that on seeing my note the teacher would just laugh and say to DD, "you didn't really believe me did you, I was joking?".

It was only when I got the note back from the teacher telling me that Adèlie penguins can indeed fly that I then doubted myself, did the research and saw the hoax.

Although the YABUs are fairly low, I have taken on board the views and will be taking up macramé post-haste The reference to a 'little note', however, was just factual - it was a very small note in the book!

What's more annoying is how confidently she replied to you that she was right without double checking as if she, as the teacher, will always have superior knowledge

^this, absolutely this. This is why DD feels nervous about correcting certain teachers, because some of them won't admit they are wrong and have not the good grace to admit that yes they made a mistake. The pupil is branded as rude and humiliated in class for daring to speak out. A good teacher is not afraid to show they are human and made a mistake. A bad teacher is arrogant and always knows best. How can pupils respect this sort of teacher.

Or if he/she wants to avoid saying I don't know: why not try 'let's talk about this as a class, does anyone else know? There's a housepoint/merit slip for anyone who can find out by tomorrow' rather than just making shit up.

Indeed, ignorance, telling dd the teacher got it wrong would not have been enough. The teacher needs telling. With emphasis, given the daft woman has persisted in her error.

Jane Austen's novels were set 50 year's in the future - fact.

I wondered why they featured hoverboards and food pills.

phantomnamechanger

I totally agree. As a teacher if I love learning something new. I'm not scared to say, 'I don't know' or, "are you sure?" and then look something up or look something up with a student/class.

I've corrected colleagues at school who seem to lack a basic general knowledge of the world. Hell, I've even had to help them with maths and English as well. I've seen misconceptions on Power Points and displays.

Me too

Don't get me started on basic grammar...