Correcting teachers' mistakes

[skorpion]

Posting here for traffic, as I would appreciate quick advice...

How would you deal with teachers' spelling mistakes plastered over the classroom walls? There are posters in my DD's class (early primary) about 'not climbing on tree's' and such.
Would you talk to the teacher? I do not know whose it is obviously, and there are two teachers and two TAs. Would you talk to the head? I feel a bit mortified to bring the subject up but every time I see it it makes my head want to explode.
And before you say anything, I would not be that bothered with anybody else, but if you are a teacher it surely is a basic requirement, to be able to spell, no?

As a language teacher of 42 years' experience, I was taught by my brilliant College tutor about the importance of all modelled language's being correct.

Oops. Not that brilliant...

But yes, I would say something. I have and they appreciate it. I quietly pointed out 'fourty' last week. She was mortified but only in a 'shit, I'm a muppet' way.

Biscetti, the "being" is a gerund - a verbal noun. As a noun, it can have a possessor, which in this case is the singular noun "language". Hence, the apostrophe is not in a misused plural ( as in "banana's - 60p"). The use of the apostrophe is correct in this case. Latin is so useful.

Have skim read the thread, and can now go into work (an hour early) content in the knowledge that, according to mumsnet, teachers are crap. My fault for clicking!

lgg you must have read a different thread because I don't see that here at all?? Other teachers who have posted state that they would want to be told of errors like this, wouldn't you?

I work at a top independent secondary, a d there are posters up with incorrect spellings and just poor English in the tick shop.

For example, the kitchen made some nice chutneys from the orchards and they were on sale with a poster that something like "this home made chuttney with apples goes well with nice bread and some cheese. Why not buy some 4 your mum?" I said it was an embrassment and the got a bollocking for being insensitive

Not "goes well with" it was "goes good with"!

Problem is as can be seen in some of the replies teachers can be prickly about it!

Slightly off topic (!) but I am always appalled by how many people get apostrophes wrong. My grammar isn't great which but apostrophes are so basic. Last year a lawyer at work sent out an email riddled with apostrophes (used in every single plural s) to a client and copied me, I didn't say anything but was mortified.
And also I think it does matter, PARTICULARLY in a school where children and their parents see it. I remember being a teenager and seeing a sign saying "please return DVD's and video's here" in a library and - because I assumed the staff of a library would likely have better spelling and grammar than me it confused me for a long time and I wondered if I had been using apostrophes wrongly. I finally had to ask my mother to check the sign and confirm if I was right or wrong!

Tell the teacher, dont go to the Head, that is not the correct approach in my opinion.

There was a sign on DS1's classroom door last term, and it had an incorrect apostrophe in it - an 's rather than an s'.

It drove me nuts all term!

Missduke I wouldn't make such an error so it doesn't apply.
It's the posts criticising the spelling or grammar of an individual teacher's comments on here that annoy me.

Polyglot Sorry, no, that apostrophe is not correct, because the word languages doesn't possess the word being. To show this more clearly, it's possible to rephrase the sentence as "Being correct is important for all modelled languages."

I disagree, Kesstrel. It remains a gerund. And it's Pollyglot.

It's easy to make a mistake when writing on the board, talking and keeping an eye on the class at the same time.
Something that's been typed, printed and displayed is different.
It's odd to claim that teachers don't need to be able to spell or punctuate well, when in fact it's a basic part of their job.
I know a primary teacher who happily admits she doesn't understand apostrophes, and another, an English teacher, who doesn't know grammar. It's really embarrassing and not good enough.

What I am defensive about is this notion that "If you are a teacher it is surely a requirement to be able to spell, no?" And such comments. Because no, it isn't actually.

It is, actually. Why else do teachers have to pass a literacy skills test which includes a spelling section? And DfE information on the test specifically states "The correct and consistent use of punctuation is an essential aspect of a teacher’s literacy."

I agree it isn't appropriate to assume that a TA must be responsible. A TA friend of mine was telling me how she had to bite her tongue whilst listening to a teacher telling a class that 10% of 100 is 1.

I was going to agree with Kesstrel, till I realised that you would say "The importance of my being correct" which makes Pollyglot's version the right one.

Sorry I got your name wrong, Polly. It turns out we are both right! (or possibly both wrong) The article I've taken this from is very interesting (well, for those who like grammar) about the history of this question:

Let's recapitulate: This construction, both with and without the possessive, has been used in writing for about 300 years. Both forms have been used by standard authors. Both forms have been called incorrect, but neither are.

The New Fowler's (1996), edited by R.W. Birchfield, seems to me to have a reasonable approach to this, somewhere between the two extremes (my examples):

With things and plurals - not normally used
What is the reason for my foot swelling, I wonder.
Because of the shops closing early, we couldn't but any last minute Christmas presents.

random-idea-english.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/exploring-gerunds-and-gerund-phrases.html

I used to see so many of these errors when I was a TA! If I could, I'd correct them myself. I remember getting out the Tippex after noticing the 'Math's Resources' sign.

Unfortunately, there was less I could do about the laminated sign on the 'Stationary Cupboard.' At least it wasn't factually inaccurate!

I understand that some teachers may have more difficulty with grammar and spelling than others, and that everyone makes occasional mistakes, but some of the errors are so basic that it does worry me. Adding in random apostrophes isn't on the same level as using a comma in place of a semi-colon.

Adding in random apostrophes isn't on the same level as using a comma in place of a semi-colon

My kind of person

I did talk to the teacher in the end. She hadn't seen the display and will check and correct. I said 'before the head sees it', etc.
I felt very awkward but what the hell. I don't want my head to explode every day I go there.
I am not going to make any assumptions as to whose mistake it is, I just want it to be corrected.
Iggi - you must read the thread in full then, there were lots of good comments about teachers and from teachers.

Just read this through again and mine was the first comment on here.. meant to put 'yanbu' not 'yabu'… my own mistake! However, mine is not on a classroom wall and that would have definitely wound me up..so well done for speaking to her.