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???

Am I missing something here?

Yes, she clarified to say that the teacher had errorified it to "should of."

Not the head. Whoever is her line manager. Heads are too busy for this!

Or just keep correcting them for her, hopefully it will become a funny thing and she will ask you to check them all!

I had to keep a pencil on me with my times tables on when I was teaching year 4 because I never fully learnt my 7s, 8s, 9s. I told the kids because no one can know everything!

In the distant past I’ve seen ‘bus, deemed correct then, since it was short for ‘omnibus’.

My pet peeves (or some of them!) are incorrect plurals of words ending in y. Baby’s, party’s, family’s, etc.

A friend was listening to her daughter read out her spelling list for the week. DD says Sham a Lon...friend went and read the word for herself. Asked who told you to say it like that - the teacher, and her DD wouldn't hear it that the teacher might be wrong. Next morning she asked the teacher for clarification on the word, teacher says yes, Sham a lon. The word was chameleon!

Omg!!!!! Is she French? 😂 Actually I think the French is cameleon so a ‘c’ sound.

It is unfortunate that people who can’t spell are very defensive about it. I once had the misfortune to do a teacher training placement in the classroom of a teacher who was the literacy co-ordinator for the school and whose spelling was a bit hit and miss at best. I did point out (quietly) spelling mistakes on the board if the children were expected to copy, and as a trainee teacher, when marking, asked if it was OK to correct children’s spellings. I was accused of being “hyper” and was told no more than three per piece of work. “Honestly”, she said, “It really doesn’t matter because children these days will all be using spellchecker on the computer.” I often think of this when the spellchecker offers particularly egregious “corrections”.

The friend asked her what she thought Sham a Lon meant, she didn't know! Then why are you teaching it to the children?!?

This is because teaching is on its knees and the standard of English and maths to do a teaching degree is very low. We’ve had students who retook an English or maths gcse 5 times. It used to be that if you didn’t make the grade on second retake, you couldn’t apply. Now virtually anyone can .

It actually makes him or her human not he or she.

Good spelling and grammar skills ought to be compulsory for teachers but of course everyone can make an occasional mistake.

You will have people complaining that you are the spelling police and it doesn't matter these days. I'm sorry, but it does. Spelling and grammar are the foundation of communication and the correct spelling can change the meaning of a word. I would have to correct the teacher, for the benefit of the students and for her own benefit too!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO 😱😱😱😱

As a teacher, I fear for for future generations

This exactly. It's amazing that some people think that being a teacher involves being correct all the time.
Sounds a little like the OP doesn't really like her and wants to get her into trouble of some kind.

There’s no excuse for bad spelling and grammar from a teacher. Yes you should definitely correct her.

Serious consequences 😂.

OP, I used to be an editor for various publishing houses and they used different spelling and grammar tules according to their own house style. The most common dictionary used was Collins English, but others used the OED. There were many different but equally valid spellings.

Is she actually misspelling or is she using variants that you don't approve of? If she's transposing letters that's one thing and hints at dyslexia, but if she's using z spellings where you've been brought up to use s spellings, for example, she's not misspelling — she's using a common and acceptable variant.

If I was you I should go down the DYSLEXIC root. Officially complain to an outside source not mentioning names of teacher. You'll be surprised how those in a higher rank can close rank and get you fired. Do it annonoumously. At all costs. It's not what you know these days but who will side with you so you can keep your job.

That sucks. I’ve taught for 20 years and lately I’ve been making errors as I think menopause brain is kicking in but I’ve always challenged every class to spot mistakes as I’m checking they know and how to challenge in a respectful way. They love it when I make a mistake as they are always on the lookout and paying attention to the learning.

I also know that I have open dialogue with support staff to correct mistakes either one makes as your brain is working so fast. If you get too smug then I will screenshot the dictionary from google and email it too you.

spelling has been on the decline for many years as there is so much to squeeze in that something needs to come out. Kids don’t have time to play with letters and sounds in the early years anymore.

spelling is also muscle memory in your wrists as you don’t need to think about it and it’s a hard habit to break if it’s wrong.

Oh my goodness so glad you are not my TA. You're supposed to be a team not go criticising her to the HT or on Facebook. JUST point it out to her lightly. Spelling is obviously your forte... something else i will obviously be hers. Not being brilliant at spelling is not a crime. You can do the spelling list next week. Get a grip

As her TA it would be lovely if she offered it for her . They should be working as a team., not snitching on her. What about all the things the teacher is goid at?

It could make an “a” sound, depending on accent

I'm a secondary school teacher who teaches English up to a level. My spelling is atrocious but I'm very open with students and staff about it and will publicity check anything I'm unsure of. I don't think, with the tech we have these days, incorrect spelling is the issue. The bigger concern here is the teacher's attitude to being corrected.

Some people find spelling hard and that's ok. What's not ok is being bad at spelling if your job involves teaching children how to write correctly. My dc used to fairly regularly correct their primary school teachers' spelling! I teach languages and am very much on board with the notion that communication is the most important thing, but it's infuriating to see children actually being taught incorrectly.

You don't think it's important to be good at something that you're actually paid to teach people? I teach French, German and Spanish. Would it be ok if languages were 'not my forte'?

Don't you have a duty of care to allow pupils the right to a reliable education?
If partners complain the head will come to you asking why you haven't reported her.

Keep yourself right

What are you talking about?

The OP hasn't criticized the teacher to the HT or on Facebook. You've made that up.

The teacher does not respond well to having misspellings pointed out, hence the OP asking for advice on how to handle the matter.