How would you feel if a year 4 teacher wrote this comment on your child s work

[Beetroot]

' Some interesting facts but lacks any imagination'

I would send the work back in with the following comment written in red ink 'some interesting feedback but lacks any positivity'

I would want to know what the objectives were for the work set. Was creating an imaginary piece the purpose? Or was the purpose not clear?

with soapbox.

I get what the teacher was saying...don't think it was intended to offend, it's not like s/he probably had a lot of time to carefully construct and proof-read the comment. I would imagine the child presented the facts in a bare manner, perhaps did the bare minimum necessary to complete the task so although was technically correct, it wasn't as good as expected. If it really upsets you why don't you ask the teacher - this would be if you wanted to make a big deal of it.

How old is year 4?

Oh I read AGE 4 not year 4 in which case I think the comment is reasonable if not a little blunt. Time may have been a factor in her marking comments? Yr 4 is age 8/9.

Year 4 is 8-9 year olds. My dd has lots of imagination but lacks the facts. Every dc is different, don't take offense. I would sit with my dc and try to make up stories.

I'd be disappointed in the teacher's thoughtlessness and would talk to the child so that it isn't taken to heart. Isn't the teacher supposed to provide a balanced, constructive comment? All that will be remembered by the child (imo, anyway) is "I have no imagination". Why knock the child's confidence in that way? Why didn't the teacher word it much more carefully and produce a constructive comment, perhaps suggesting some books your child could read or a way of planning the task to weave imaginative threads into the piece of work? I'd take it up with the teacher if it was my child, even if it is a one off and the teaching is normally good.

Sorry, typing 1 handed today so probably sounds very stilted!

Some suggestions for making it imaginative would have been more constructive.

IME an 8 or 9 yo probably won't read the comment anyway. Most teachers comments in primary are a waste of their time but done to look as though they have given feedback.

In reply to foofi

Not these days! When I write them the DCs often write a reply or find me to discuss it!

It's the word any - imo if that had been omitted it would have been ok.

Does the teacher do a lot of negative rather than constructive feedback? But if it's a one off, personally I'd leave it.

Would depend on what the work was. On a maths exercise, I'd be quite pleased.

Did it lack imagination?

it is the word ANY

it was not the most imasginative peice of work but it was jperfctly acceptable

and obviously she idd use her imagination

when writing a quiz
when drawing a picture etc

I'd feel the teacher's comment is thoughtless and unhelpful. I would assume he or she was having a bad day.

'lacks any imagination' is such a put down and I would be sad if my child (or any child) had to read it. My year 4 son doesn't like to commit his ideas to paper. It can be a struggle to get him to write a lot. If he felt the teacher was critical like this, I think he'd be even more reluctant to write anything for her.

The teacher should be more constructive in her criticism.

It was a project about rain forests brtw

the person who got top makrs had done an amazing project - hand painted loads of pictures of animals which, would get her an award for brilliance if she had done them herself

i will not write to her, although I may go and see her

That's just it Beetroot, perfectly acceptable (IMO) to say it "lacks imagination", totally unreasonable to say "lacks any imagination" because it so clearly does not, that is not possible, unless she copied something verbatim (and even then you could argue she had the imagination to go and copy something )

It's an unhelpful and unconstructive comment that smacks of being at best thoughtless and at worst immature.

Even as a secondary school teacher I try to write suggestions for future pieces - so I might have said 'Some fascinating facts here, littlebeetroot. Next time try to include some imaginative details too!'

loving soapboxs' comments! I would do that aswell!

Why were the top marks awarded to the brilliant animal paintings?? (even though not done by the child!!)
Was it an art project?
If not, then it's ridiculous to mark to that criterion.
The things that would worry me here are
a) there appear to be a lack of clarity over what the children were asked to do - ie was this an assessment of research skills/geographical knowledge/drawing??

and

b) if other parents know that the child with top marks didnt do the work herself, why the hell doesnt the teacher realise??!!

I'd be worried.

I agree -

I also know that dd did not get excited by this project, nobodys fault here but she didn't go al out with it. And I did nothing with her - so it was all her own work.

Some parents do the project together with their children and tha tis great and I have done that too

I'm not surprised my ds teacher once told me at parents evening when he was 7, that he was childish!!!!

The irony was lost on the twit of a teacher!

Comment in OP Wouldn't bother me in slightest. Er, ahem, cough cough -- I think some of the replies on here are being too literal & over-sensitive, maybe?

my ds1's year 4 projects were very poor,he scribbled a couple of pages the night before it was to be handed in,and the comment from the teacher was very constructive,along the lines of 'i feel this was rushed as it wasnt up to your usual standard.please allow yourself more time in future' or something.

i woouldnt expect such a negative comment,especially not on a project(different to a general peice of work IMO)