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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to put a note in dds homework pointing out the teachers errors

236 replies

brook1 · 13/12/2009 20:30

My dd did some comprehension homework last week and brought it home on Friday after it had been marked by the teacher (or possibly ta).

One of the answers my daughter put to her question was "they would have been fed to the sharcks".

The teacher has crossed out fed and replaced it with feed and has crossed out the "c" from "sharcks" and replaced it with an "e" so it now reads "they would have been feed to the shareks".

We are not allowed to speak to the teachers in the mornings about any issues unless they are urgent so we have to make an appointment. I didnt think it was worthy of wasting an appointment but I do feel like it needs pointing out.

DH thinks I will look stroppy if I put a note in.

AIBU.

OP posts:
MavisEnderby · 13/12/2009 23:36

But can you not perceive that it could be a genuine error,as a one off?

Morosky · 13/12/2009 23:38

I will out myself as a teacher who is somewhat tired having spent a good few hours tonight marking and still have some books to go.

I hope I rarely make mistakes when I mark but being human it may happen. When I do make such errors, it is usually because I am tired. I have no objection is being corrected. Infact the other week I had the wrong use of their on a powerpoint, a child told me, I thanked him gave him a merit and changed it.

Rather than you writing a note, which is a little confrontational, why not just ask your dd to say something?

Loudlass the way your son spoke to his teacher was rude IMO and my dd would be in trouble if she ever spoke to a teacher in that way.

MollieO · 13/12/2009 23:41

I find it difficult to correct poor grammer in the teacher's written notes but I do it all the time in the reading books that are sent home. I do point out the errors to ds too.

Original poster
brook1 · 13/12/2009 23:43

And, FWIW, although there are some great teachers and ta's out there, you cannot deny that there are some rubbish teachers and some appalling ta's.

The thing with ta's is that many of them are in the job because its a convenient school hours job. Its not the same as teachers who have studied and gone to uni in the hope of becoming a teacher after doing their A levels and then a degree. I am not saying all ta's are the same, because some are fantastic. But, a large majority are in the job because it is school hours and convenient. I bet the biggest majority are just mums whose children are now at school and they need to earn a few pounds. The NVQ exams are a doddle and prove nothing. Yet these people are responsible for helping to teach our children.

Some are exceptional, and are so good that the give qualified teachers a run for their money, but some are in it for the wrong reasons and are just not good enough to teach our children.

OP posts:
ravenAK · 13/12/2009 23:48

Brook1 - I'd probably have marked all 7 of your dd's errors (I'm fussy like that...)

If, however, a child handed in a piece of HW with a lot of spelling errors (for some of my lower ability set 8, they'd make 7 errors before they'd written 14 words), then I'd mark the homophones (their/they're/there), & any words which were key to the task, but quite possibly not correct every last mistake made over an unfamiliar word.

So if we were writing about sharks, I'd correct 'sharek' but maybe turn a blind eye to 'ferrotius' or 'terrorfying', in a student with weak spelling skills trying to use more interesting vocabulary. The last thing I'd want is for the child to think 'right, I'll stick to words I know I can spell'.

Honestly, it's almost certainly an overtired teacher/TA making a routine error, but I agree it's worth challenging if it happens again - your dd has to feel that she can trust annotations made on her work.

If it were my dc's book, I think I might comment on it. In a non-confrontational sort of way...

Morosky · 13/12/2009 23:49

I don't think anyone would seek to deny the fact that some teachers are poor.

There are teachers who do the job just for convenience. I may be lucky but I cannot think of a single TA I work with who does not make a real difference to the children we teach.

TheFallenMadonna · 13/12/2009 23:57

God I can. But only two...

And they both work with me this year

But I mark all the books

CarrotForKing · 14/12/2009 06:53

I think you will look petty (which tbh honest you do sound a bit) if you send a note. Your daughter (and her homework) is obviously the centre of your world but the teacher has twenty nine other children's work which she may well have marked ahead of yours before she made this grave error . As others have said teachers aren't infallible, no-one is, as you have so clearly demonstrated while complaining about mistakes and littering your posts with them. I'd tell your dd how to spell sharks and then move on and find more productive things to do with your time.

gingernutlover · 14/12/2009 07:20

You know what? It's a week until the end of a 7 week half term, everyone is knackered and working a lot of hours to put together school plays etc. The vast majority of teachers do their job because they love children and love to see them learning so if anything this will be down to someone who is up til midnight marking homework after making 30 silver stars for the christmas play (or something similar). It wont have been done on purpose.

Whoever made the mistake - if it actually is one - for goodness sake let it go. The fact it was written like a capital e sounds to me like it wasn't a spelling mistake. Don't stress the teacher out even more than they already are.

If it really matters, approach them after the xmas holidays.

MsDoctor · 14/12/2009 07:27

Yes, that's a great way to alienate a teacher!

Spectroscopy · 14/12/2009 07:47

YABU

If this was after a string of other errors on the teachers part then, yes.

One mistake? I think it unlikely that the teacher doesn't know how to spell 'shark's. Much more likely that they got distracted and made a mistake. We ALL make mistakes.

piscesmoon · 14/12/2009 07:48

I agree with CarrotForKing and gingernutlover-if fact I can't believe that there is a whole thread saying that teachers should be perfect and are not allowed to make a mistake through sheer exhaustion at the end of a long term! It is obviously a mistake-does anyone really think she meant what she put?!! If it is pointed out she can simply say 'oops-sorry-silly me!'. I would really save getting upset for something that matters.
I don't think that 6/7 yr olds should be getting homework anyway after a day at school, she would have been much better spending the half hour reading for pleasure than doing a reading comprehension.
I think that your DS was rude Loudlass, I would never speak to anyone like that and I would be mortified if my DSs put it so rudely. Of course he should have pointed it out, but politeness doesn't cost anything!

Spectroscopy · 14/12/2009 07:48

sorry I meant sharks. .

Goblinchild · 14/12/2009 07:49

Morosky
I think loudlass' boy might be the one with ASD, and you are right. That's often what used to happen to my lad when he pointed out errors that he saw, regardless of who had made them.
That's why we used to run away from irate motorists and smokers a lot.
He's got a bit more of a social veneer now, unlike his sister (NTish) who still points out errors pedantically to the person making them.
Just like her father.
Ah well.

Goblinchild · 14/12/2009 07:50

"I think it unlikely that the teacher doesn't know how to spell 'shark's. Much more likely that they got distracted and made a mistake. We ALL make mistakes."

Was that meant to be funny? Because I thought it was.

piscesmoon · 14/12/2009 07:56

It just proves my point Goblinchild-it was late when I wrote it and I was very tired! By the time I got to the end of shark I had forgotten what I was doing! I can't even have the excuse that I was distracted-merely tired.Even OP made a mistake earlier in reply.We all do it. I never proof read-even though I know that I should-I press post message and then read all my mistakes and lack of punctuation etc.

Goblinchild · 14/12/2009 07:59

I make mistakes all the time, which is why I don't mind having people point them out.
Maybe it's my SN parent extra-thick rhinohide coat with flameproof knickers that helps me not get defensive?
People judge my parenting all the time, so my spelin' is a minor itch.

Bucharest · 14/12/2009 08:18

Whatever the rights or wrongs about pointing ut a teacher's mistakes (I had an NQT working in my team of teachers over the summer months and had to change every single one of her bleeding reports to erase the "should of" bits) it is a bit crap if a teacher can't spell shark.

FWIW, I wouldn't point out the mistake...I'd just sit and nod sagely and harumph every now and then about the state of the world today in grumpy old woman fashion.

lindy100 · 14/12/2009 08:22

Brook - you aren't being paid to post, but if correct spelling and grammar is so important to you, you should make the effort to use it yourself.

As an English teacher, one of the biggest problems I get is that people (teachers, parents, everyone) think that it is the resonsibility of English teachers alone to instil caring and correctness about spelling and grammar. So we come across as pedants. Everyone should be respnsible for this imho.

The Gordon Brown-misspelling-a-soldier's-name incident makes me think this: why is it so important? Because it shows respect and caring. If only English teachers try to teach this, we are not going to get very far.

lindy100 · 14/12/2009 08:25

*responsible

OrmIrian · 14/12/2009 08:32

But what do you hope to acheive by marking the teacher's work brook?

Are you just making a point? In which case I have to ask why?

piscesmoon · 14/12/2009 08:36

I am 99% sure that she can spell 'shark'(I would be appalled if she couldn't)-which is why I should just point it out in a lighthearted, friendly way if I felt the need.

lindy100 · 14/12/2009 08:43

Re someone else marking the work: ask for a copy of the school's policy. If the policy allows for this, there's little you can do to insist this changes.

Policies are put in place to help teachers manage their workloads.

I have four GCSE classes at any one time - two yr10, two yr11. Each yr 10 class does four GCSE coursework essays - a first draft, marked in detail, then a final draft, graded only.

Obviously you have to return first drafts as quickly as possible, to help the kids benefit from your marking. This happens four times in yr10. For two classes of 30 kids, it takes about 60 hours to complete all of this. That's 60 hours mostly out of school time, as it needs (as I said) to be done quickly.

That's two classes out of 8 that I teach

It particularly irks me when a kids copies out their first draft word-for-word, diregarding my marking (sometimes to the extent of 'finishing' the essay halfway through a sentence...).

corriefan · 14/12/2009 09:39

For those who have commented, teachers don't always mark spelling mistakes as they don't want to demoralise the child, as has been mentioned earlier. The learning objective maybe focusing on 'ambitious vocabulary' or be geography or history rather than literacy and be about getting the child to express interesting ideas. If the good ideas are there but spelled badly, the child needs credit and encouragement for being about to convey their thoughts. It's not all about spelling! I'll sometimes say "Just write down your ideas, don't worry about spelling too much at the moment, I really want to hear what you think". FWIW half the time kids will incorrectly copy corrected spellings anyway. It takes time and repetition.

Another thing is that I have the feeling that the parents who do complain have maybe had a bad time in the past, maybe have had issues with their own literacy skills and are therefore very sensitive to their child being corrected and particularly upset and indignant if this is done in the wrong way. They're seeing it from an upset child's perspective, rather than the teacher's.

moondog · 14/12/2009 09:52

'For those who have commented, teachers don't always mark spelling mistakes as they don't want to demoralise the child, as has been mentioned earlier. The learning objective maybe focusing on 'ambitious vocabulary' or be geography or history rather than literacy and be about getting the child to express interesting ideas. If the good ideas are there but spelled badly, the child needs credit and encouragement for being about to convey their thoughts. It's not all about spelling! I'll sometimes say "Just write down your ideas, don't worry about spelling too much at the moment, I really want to hear what you think"'

Attitudes (albeit well meaning) like these are precisely why millions of Britons are barely literate.