DD’s science teacher AIBU

[Adviceneededalways]

Dd14 is quite an opinionated teen and has become very sensitive to even a sniff of inequality. I think it’s quite cool that she has strong beliefs but do sometimes have to tell her her to rein it in a bit..

She came down from Google classroom tonight on a fowl mood and announced that she was drafting a complaint letter to her science teacher due to an argument they had over an exercise in class...

The exercise was dividing statements into fact and opinion, ie FACT on average the sun is 150 million miles from the sun. OPINION pineapple taste good on pizza...

The final one was girls should be able to work in any area they choose which I’m sure you have guess the teacher was adamant was opinion and if had been marked down on the sheet as such...

I personally think this is less about being opinion or fact statement and more to do with it being a poor choice of example in a class of predominantly strong minded young girls but DD is very upset and angry at her teacher.

Is she being a bit immature and dramatic or does she have a point...

I’ll include the work sheet in next post.

Wheresmykimchi

😂

The ways the question was formulated means it was an opinion. Or was asking for an opinion. It isn't about women's rights.

@BackforGood I couldn't have put it better myself. Excellent point.

There is absolutely nothing wrong about telling your dd that her perception is wrong. Nobody is right all the time. I have a 15 year old too and he needs to know when he is wrong or his perception needs further examination.

I thought of this example:
Fact: I'm your mother
Opinion: I'm I a good mother?

One cannot be debated the other can because it's based on individual opinion.

@Adviceneededalways

Dd14 is quite an opinionated teen and has become very sensitive to even a sniff of inequality. I think it’s quite cool that she has strong beliefs but do sometimes have to tell her her to rein it in a bit..

She came down from Google classroom tonight on a fowl mood and announced that she was drafting a complaint letter to her science teacher due to an argument they had over an exercise in class...

The exercise was dividing statements into fact and opinion, ie FACT on average the sun is 150 million miles from the sun. OPINION pineapple taste good on pizza...

The final one was girls should be able to work in any area they choose which I’m sure you have guess the teacher was adamant was opinion and if had been marked down on the sheet as such...

I personally think this is less about being opinion or fact statement and more to do with it being a poor choice of example in a class of predominantly strong minded young girls but DD is very upset and angry at her teacher.

Is she being a bit immature and dramatic or does she have a point...

I’ll include the work sheet in next post.

More information is needed (women/girls ought to be - morally, legally - are there any jobs/professions not open to women?) Maybe their worksheet was out of date - it has only been recently 2016-18.

She should complain - it'll be good for her, give her confidence, enpowerment.

I am more angry that the science teacher said the earth was 150 000 000 miles from the sun, when it's 93 000 000 miles but 150 000 000 km. And earth's orbit is elliptical and not symmetrical, so there is a difference of +/- approx 20 500 000 km....

2016-18 that women could fight in live combat in the army, then other armed forces

@redpencil77

2016-18 that women could fight in live combat in the army, then other armed forces

Irrelevant.

The exercise was whether women should.

I disagree that holding the teacher's chosen resource up for examination is unfair.

Either parents are or they are not partners with teachers in the education of their children.

If partners, then constructive criticism on both sides should be part of the process of bringing out the best in the children.

mathanxiety
Posting online to make a point isn't constructive criticism though.

I'm more than happy to deal with parental complaints about inappropriate resources or lesson content and have had to have some difficult conversations with colleagues when there has been the need for professional challenge.

But that is done through respectful dialogue from all involved, not uploading someone's material to the internet whilst sharing a story that could be easily identifying.

In this thread someone's correct lesson material has been uploaded and then scrutinised by people who themselves can't seem to tell the difference between fact and opinion, or more amusingly seem to think they know better on selecting examples for the topic when there's currently 26 pages of discussions showing some adults couldn't even complete the task.

I disagree that holding the teacher's chosen resource up for examination is unfair

Parents are absolutely partners in their children’s education- if a parent wanted to discuss a resource with me I’d be happy to explain why I’d made decision to use it.

What is unfair, is putting an individual teacher’s lesson resource on AIBU, in the full knowledge that a healthy proportion of people would say “it’s shit” - despite having zero knowledge of the lesson.

Our lessons are happening in people’s houses at the moment - so I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if my parents approached me and asked questions. BUT that’s not what this thread is doing.

Complain about what? It's an opinion. It raises interesting issues and as previous posters have said, it should generate some interesting discussion. But it's an opinion, and your dd needs to recognise it as such. There are too many people who think that something they passionately believe should be true is a fact, when it is not.

It's made you dd think, and get passionately involved, which sounds like good teaching to me.

@mathanxiety

I disagree that holding the teacher's chosen resource up for examination is unfair.

Either parents are or they are not partners with teachers in the education of their children.

If partners, then constructive criticism on both sides should be part of the process of bringing out the best in the children.

Fab.

So can teachers post their complaints about teachers on the internet, then?

Teachers about parents , sorry.

So if parents post the wrong thing for home learning can we hold it up and ridicule it?

So if parents post the wrong thing for home learning can we hold it up and ridicule it?
Why does it even need to be wrong?
This thread has shown some people further up the thread think it's acceptable to upload an example of correct materials and ridicule it.

I'm convinced 90% of people on here who are quick to be furious or ridicule staff wouldn't pick up the phone for a totally reasonable chat with the teacher.

It is opinion. Just because something is true doesn't make it a fact. I use similar phrases in my RE lessons. Pupils often think that if something is true that makes it fact and an opinion could be wrong. It's important that they know the difference between fact and opinion, and the nature of truth

Actually I think so far as the science goes it iS a good example. its the sort of unverified, unverifiable statement which looks like a fact but in scientific terms is not. I think that perhaps either the teacher wasn't as clear as she could have been about explaining the issue or your daughter was having a teenage strop and not listening or maybe both.

@LolaSmiles

So if parents post the wrong thing for home learning can we hold it up and ridicule it? Why does it even need to be wrong? This thread has shown some people further up the thread think it's acceptable to upload an example of correct materials and ridicule it.

I'm convinced 90% of people on here who are quick to be furious or ridicule staff wouldn't pick up the phone for a totally reasonable chat with the teacher.

No, given that they support a pupil writing a letter of complaint.

@mathanxiety

I disagree that holding the teacher's chosen resource up for examination is unfair.

Either parents are or they are not partners with teachers in the education of their children.

If partners, then constructive criticism on both sides should be part of the process of bringing out the best in the children.

The dialogue here is not between parent and teacher, though. The dialogue is between OP and the hundreds of people who have posted, and the thousands more who are just lurking. The teacher has had no opportunity to consent to this.

By your logic it would be acceptable for teachers to post anonymised student essays on AIBU for critique.

I think it’s opinion and a poor example but at least the teacher has engaged your daughter in her lesson!!!

Back to the OP

‘My daughter is quite an opinionated teen’

Yes. She is. Not

‘My daughter is a scientific and fact-based teen’

Posting online to make a point isn't constructive criticism though.
@LolaSmiles
The assumption that the OP posted it online to make a point is an opinion, not a fact.

But that is done through respectful dialogue from all involved, not uploading someone's material to the internet whilst sharing a story that could be easily identifying.
I disagree with that opinion of yours.
I am not sure how what was posted could be easily identifying.
It seemed a bog standard resource to me. It is very possible that the entire incident has had several details changed in the retelling.

The assumption of disrespect on the part of the parent is a bit troubling.

@SmileEachDay
What is unfair, is putting an individual teacher’s lesson resource on AIBU, in the full knowledge that a healthy proportion of people would say “it’s shit” - despite having zero knowledge of the lesson.
'In the full knowledge' is an assumption of malicious intent that has no place in a partnership.

Absolutely, @Wheresmykimchi. Here's food for thought though:
1- Ridicule is in the eyes of the beholder. As noted, school is taking place in students' homes these days, and teachers should be prepared for a massive amount of scrutiny of what they are doing and how they are doing it, certainly a huge amount more than they are used to.
2 - Is the source of the 'wrong thing' you have in mind 'easily identifiable'?
3 - Does holding something up to invite ridicule = constructive criticism?
In this case, the idea that a teacher's resource is being held up for ridicule is an opinion of yours, not a fact.

Fwiw -
It seems to me that the point of the class (whose topic appears to have been an intro to the scientific method) the difference between opinion and verifiable fact, went over the head of the DD. I think the OP missed the point too, on a public forum, as did many posters.

It's an opinion and the last thing the teacher needs right now is a complaint.

Well how about something like this for an answer -
Q: girls should be able to work in any area they choose
A: girls should be able to work in any area they choose but unfortunately they can’t for example a girl would make a very bad Willy sock model.

You have to look carefully at the language as others have said. Should is an opinion. But I don't think your daughter is over reacting and it's great that she will take the trouble to write to her teacher to argue her point. I hope the teacher will write back to argue her point as this is how we learn in the most positive way of discussion.