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Pedants' corner
Original poster

Pedantry at parents' evening

177 replies

GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 08:43

Was parents' evening last night.

All ds's (5) books were out for us to look at. We picked up his literacy book and read comment praising his use of "the coma".

I was happy to let the spelling go, but try as I might I could not see any "comas" in his work.

We then sat down and talk to the teacher who begins to tell us how good his written work is and that he knows just where to put the comma in "isn't". The penny drops - she means apostrophe.

Dh and I tried not to say anything at the time as she really is a good teacher, but it was really hard.

OP posts:
wastingmyeducation · 25/02/2009 08:46

That's pretty bad. Write a polite letter to her.

Original poster
GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 10:37

Wouldn't we come across as the world's most picky parents?

OP posts:
rolandbrowning · 25/02/2009 10:40

And she can't spell 'comma' either

SoupDragon · 25/02/2009 10:41

He's 5. It doesn't matter.

SoupDragon · 25/02/2009 10:41

Perhaps she did mean "coma" in the book and your DS keeps pretending to be in a deep sleep at tidy up/reading time?

Original poster
GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 10:43

I know it doesn't matter for him and she really is a great teacher and has motivated him in the most amazing way and I would never actually complain, but...

isn't it just a little bit shocking?

OP posts:
Original poster
GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 10:44

Ds would never be in a deep sleep at school - I think that it may be more of a subconcious statement about the fact that she might like him to be (and I understand just where she would be coming from).

OP posts:
SlartyBartFast · 25/02/2009 10:45

you can't write a letter..
perhaps she is so used to communicating with children and calling it a comma when it is an apostrophe, or vice versa, she is out of practice at proper linguistics.

spongebrainbigpants · 25/02/2009 10:45

It's v shocking .

But as a primary teacher I sadly come across it all the time.

I think it matters but I know I'm in a minority .

SlartyBartFast · 25/02/2009 10:46

isnt 5 quite young to be learnign apostrophes?

spongebrainbigpants · 25/02/2009 10:48

But she wasn't talking to a 5 yr old, she was talking to their parents. And she can't even spell comma!

Original poster
GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 10:52

As I said, she is generally a good teacher and I told her so, I wouldn't really write to the school. I guess I was just taken aback that such a good teacher seems to have such a poor grasp of basic grammar and I began to wonder if this was the norm.

OP posts:
muffle · 25/02/2009 10:59

FGS of course it matters - she's a teacher! I would maybe let the odd unimportant spelling go too, but this is presumably something she's teaching the kids about, so she should be able to give it its correct name! I would talk to her - letter a bit much I think - and I'd try to be nice but basically she needs to know. How about "About parents' evening - I was a bit confused when you were talking about commas, did you mean apostrophes? I didn't say anything at the time but on reflection I don't really want DS to be learning the wrong thing - please could you check?" If she's ANY kind of a good teacher she should be embarrassed and apologetic and sort it out.

wastingmyeducation · 25/02/2009 11:02

No I wouldn't write to the school, but she needs to know.
It makes parents go and some kids might learn it (that is what they're there for isn't it?) and get it wrong later.

muffle · 25/02/2009 11:03

And I really don't think it's "picky" to expect teachers to teach the facts as they are generally agreed upon. That is what school is for methinks! If they get it wrong, they can learn better - no one is perfect, but everyone should be able to keep learning through their careers, and learn from their mistakes.

SlartyBartFast · 25/02/2009 11:06

but perhaps at the age of 5 they call it a comma but don't teach them the proper word when they are older.

SlartyBartFast · 25/02/2009 11:06

until

mindalina · 25/02/2009 11:08

I'm sure it's just a daft mistake on her part, got the words muddled up or thinking about something else beforehand iyswim? Maybe there's another child who is struggling with commas (or even comas, who knows)

I would probably say something like, "Oh I was a bit thrown by what you said about commas the other night but looking at his work I figured you were probably actually talking about apostrophes yes?" then if it was a daft mistake she'll say oh yes of course and if she says "No no, I mean his commas," well, then I guess you have to say "No really, you mean apostrophes"

Original poster
GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 11:10

I don't think that's the reason Slarty as she was talking to us at the time - why would she not have used the correct term with us if she knew it?

OP posts:
SlartyBartFast · 25/02/2009 11:11

oh, of course

senua · 25/02/2009 11:14

Ask around the other parents for similar gaffes (from all teachers) and work in a 'spot the deliberate error' round in the next PTA Quiz Night. Do you think that they might get the subtle message then?

Original poster
GooseyLoosey · 25/02/2009 11:17

Like the idea of the PTA quiz - would public humiliation not be too much though?

OP posts:
PlumpRumpSoggyBaps · 25/02/2009 11:22

My ds1 kept calling it a comma too- in fact still does (and he's 13!!). When he first started doing it, at primary school, I asked the teacher about it.

She called it a 'hanging comma'. I never found out if this was common at this school or just a thing of hers. But it made me

campion · 25/02/2009 12:25

It matters. Once you've learned something, wrong or not, it's much more difficult to 'unlearn' it. Obviously, this is the case with the teacher as she still hasn't got it right.Teachers should check anything they write / teach for accuracy. ( pompous emoticon!)

Hulababy · 25/02/2009 12:29

This would have been a situation where it would have been better to deal with it at the time, rather than sending a letter afterwards. IMO the latter does seem a bit off, and could mark you out by the teacher TBH.

You could have just commented whilst chatting to her very easily and without it seeming picky at all. Just a simple "oh yes, he isn't starting to get the idea of how an apostrophe works we have noticed", etc. Easily done, corrects the error simply and over with.