To correct the teacher's spelling?

[Dany0909]

I'm a year 4 TA in a primary school. This year I have a new class and a new teacher.
She's an ok teacher in general, I've definitely worked with better.

Yesterday, she handed out the spelling list and had spelt one of the words wrong. I pointed it out to her privately as I didn't want parents to notice and she got in a huff. She didn't believe me and checked the spelling online before changing it.

Just today, she misspelt three subject-specific words that I'm sure she has been teaching for years so I was surprised she didn't know them. The kids copied them off the board incorrectly but I felt too uncomfortable to say anything.
I'm not going to specify the words so this post doesn't give me away just in case.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to do. It's annoying because obviously the kids are learning incorrect spellings from her, but at the same time I don't really want to annoy the teacher. I'm not sure if she's dyslexic but surely if you knew you were then you would double check the information you're asking children to copy down. She's not overly nice or welcoming towards me so not sure how to approach it. Should I just leave it???

Another memory, this time from my own school days (small private school). One of my classmates had a French mum and they spoke French at home so she was pretty fluent.

In a French lesson at school our teacher taught us various words for fruit and vegetables and on Monday there was a test. It emerged that the word she taught us for "lettuce" was actually a generic word for "salad". Half-French girl put down the correct word for "lettuce". Teacher went ballistic in front of the whole class, shouting at her for being "cocky and showing off" even though she was right. I was only about 9 or 10 and sat there looking at the teacher thinking you are only making yourself look stupid now.

It is a much better look to accept your own mistakes graciously but a lot of people get huffy about it.

I remember in primary school correcting my teacher's pronunciation of 'awry'. I'll never forget how furious she was.

Many years ago our deputy head observed a year 7 lesson on the correct use of “there, their and they’re”. Two days later he posted on the school website, “Their will be no school today due to snow”. Our Assistant Head uses “are” instead of “our”.

You should be correcting thefamous5 whose post you quoted, not me. It was her post which contained the misspelling of nemesis not mine.

You should be able to voice your concerns to the Head. If they're any good they should be concerned too about children being wrongly taught.
It's kinder than parents complaining about the teacher who cannot spell - actually doing the teacher a favour though they may not realise it.

Misspelled. The prefix is mis, not miss.

I agree. The curriculum is clearly focusing on the wrong things.

I was volunteering in a classroom and the KS2 teacher was telling a boy off in front of the whole class and said to him, "Was you telling the truth?"

DD had the misfortune of having that teacher for two years.

No. Do not let her get away with it. I know people say spelling doesn’t matter, but it really does. I get very frustrated at seeing educational establishments using incorrect spelling and punctuation. If you need to talk to the head teacher, rather than directly, please do so. After all a maths teacher can’t get away with making one plus one equalling three!

Omg that's terrible! Yes I couldn't have left that one!!!!

I'd offer to proofread the spelling lists for her.

This.

I taught for 40+ years and was HOD English/Literacy in various places. My spelling and grammar were excellent. The typing not so much. I always asked a trusted colleague to have a look at stuff I'd spent ages on as after a while you just can't see it, and I was always grateful for any interventions.

Having said that, the OP's colleague seems not to think they have a problem.

I remember writing about "a Greek god" in primary school and the teaching assistant insisting that "god" should be capitalised. She also said I was wrong for capitalising "Indian" when writing about takeaways. Thanks, Miss Walker!

Massive apologies, @CustardySergeant - I honestly didn’t realise.

I'll add an image of a message from my daughter's school yesterday...

Some wag has added to the Whats App Group that the teacher must be a Geordie - we're in Newcastle.

Ha ha! Oh dear... 🤣

This is clearly a typo though - not a lack of spelling knowledge.

I memorably once came close to sending a message home to my reception class parents reminding them to send in 'willies' for the nature walk. My lovely TA caught it. I still work with her now and she manages to remind me regularly. 🤣

This is clearly a typo though - not a lack of spelling knowledge.

True, but surely a short message should be spelled correctly!

Yes, it should. But teachers are humans and small mistakes happen occasionally.

I'd not be concerned by this in the same way I'd be concerned at a teacher teaching incorrect spelling or punctuation to their class. That's completely different.

Occasional mistakes of course, but I’ve worked with some teachers who are poor spellers in general. Really not on when teaching children.

It wasn’t. He was a former P.E. teacher who had very poor literacy skills.

I always used to have a quiet word with the teacher if a word was spelt incorrectly on the board. If she's doing it consistently and ignoring you, you need to talk to the Head of Key Stage.

Am I missing something here?