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

[brook1]

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.

This comes back to the whole discussion of how good your degree should be if you wish to teach. Personally, I've always thought you should have at least a 2:1 but a couple of the best teachers I know don't have that. Teaching is a combination of academic knowledge, personality, charisma, presence, organisation, acting and staying power - and humanity and humility, amongst many other things. Not all of that is measurable prior to having a go at it and seeing if it suits you and you suit it.

If you are good you can pick and choose. The only time I could not pick and choose where worked was when I had taken 5 years out due to ill health. Employers were then, understandably, concerned about taking me on.

As to your BIL, nothing against him, but that is madness. I don't know how you can be just one chapter ahead to teach A Level, esecially A2 as it is about making links across the course. In my A2 set of 10 I have 2 Oxbridge candidates who would tear me limb from limb ( in a very polite manner) if I did not know my stuff.

Janeite it also depends on the level at which you teach. In my previous school we only taught 11-16 and levels of attainment were low. Aroun 25% A*-C including maths and english. A teacher with a 3rd could cope there but it would not be ideal. I think a few teachers there had 2:2. Although I suppose you could argue that perhaps teachers who were more acedmically successful would have perhaps got more out of the children. I am not sure in that context.

In my current school you would struggle tbh without a 2:1 unless there were exceptional reasons behind your results.

I think just as important is your passion for the subject, that is often linked to your degree class. I lived and breathed my subject as a student, and still do. Students love to see that, it motivates them to standards of academic excellence.

But what if it wasn't the teacher, but the TA?
Should all TAs have relevant degrees to work in schools if they are to be allowed to mark work?

TA s shouldn't mark work

I am very lucky that one of my main TAs is a humanities graduate.

I would imagine that only TAs in primary schools would mark work, so perhaps it is not such an issue.

I worked with a student one year who came across as very confident but had no subject knowledge. To the extent that my year 7s were always catching him out and sometimes I would have to stop him midflow and whisper the correct information. He walked into a job, in a grammar school of all places.

It makes me furious.

I teach outside my specialisms, albeit in another science subject, because we cannot recruit specialists. My teaching is successful because I work incredibly hard to get myself up to speed with the content of that subject and because I am a good scientist. I think it is important for teachers to be high achievers academically, but I think it goes beyond subject knowledge.

'TA s shouldn't mark work'

Why not?
It was a simple reading comprehension with a right or wrong answer-it is the sort of thing that I might easily get DCs to mark themselves, as we went over it together. The whole point of it was understanding the passage and so talking about it and going through it together would be far more valuable than me marking something that probably most of them wouldn't look at afterwards.

I'm very sceptical about the perceived desirability of postgrad qualifications for teachers (except a PGCE of course).

Many TAs are in a position where they are perfectly capable of marking some forms of work, and making assessmnet judgements.

I am well qualified, I have 10 years teaching experiece (in another area) and have done other training since becoming a TA. I do a lot of 1:1 work and small group work. I am the one who sees exactly what these children have done, how much support they have recieved, how much they have done on their own, etc. I am in the best position to assess that piece of work at times.

Many TAs are in a position where they are perfectly capable of marking some forms of work, and making assessmnet judgements.

I am well qualified, I have 10 years teaching experiece (in another area) and have done other training since becoming a TA. I do a lot of 1:1 work and small group work. I am the one who sees exactly what these children have done, how much support they have recieved, how much they have done on their own, etc. I am in the best position to assess that piece of work at times.

LeQueen, why were you working as an asst. with your qualifications may I ask?

Your argument isn't then for postgrad qualifications, but for a good first degree. Because while they may have run rings around someone with a poor third, someone with a first would be able to manage quite competently. A postgrad qualification is not necessary even with the brightest students. A bright teacher is.

I agree TFM, I was certainly bright enough to do Postgrad study but just did not have the financial means at the time. It is one of the things I regret the most.

Once I get my second degree out the way I hope to do Postgrad study.

I suppose Post grad qualifications prove useful because again it is a sign that you have fully immersed yourself in your subject and can offer in depth knowledge in a certain area.

Well yes, but an area that is highly unlikely to figure in any A level spec in my case at least.

x-post with you there LeQueen.