Silly things teachers think will work

[NAR4]

One of the teachers at my child's school (he is in sixth form) thinks giving out yellow cards and red cards for 'bad' behaviour in class will somehow motivate 17 year olds.

At my 14 year old's school (a different school) he was asked to write a letter to Father Christmas during an English lesson. The teacher was dead serious. REALLY?

I pressume that nether of these teachers have children of their own, but should surely have been taught at uni that these things were completely age inappropriate.

I mean even on this thread where it's perfectly clear that one poster said something, and now is saying something different - and the words are right there on the page - teachers are literally swearing black is white in order to agree with each other and disagree with the parent.

I think it's the non-teachers who are making more of the perceived "parent/teacher" divide here. Brycie - I'm a parent and a teacher. As are over half of my colleagues.

Brycie. Find me (and I mean cut and paste the whole post, not your edited version of it) the bit where I say that parents (all of them) have no clue about anything to do with education, and I will happily tell you that you are right.

I spent five minutes on Friday bellowing 'ONOMATO! POEIA!' to year 8 to the tune of Old Macdonald. 'With a miaow splash here! & a screech bang there!'

That was very silly, but they could all spell it at the end of the lesson. Silly can be good.

'I mean even on this thread where it's perfectly clear that one poster said something, and now is saying something different - and the words are right there on the page - teachers are literally swearing black is white in order to agree with each other and disagree with the parent.'

but that isn't the case - it's only you that's manifestly misquoting other posters.

And I dare say all the teachers on this thread are parents.

I did point that out that I was a parent too to a parent on the phone the other day (politely). Who then corrected herself to refer to herself as a "working parent". I wonder what she thought I was doing in school...

I think the real issue is that Brycie is more concerned about his own literal interpretation of what may have been, admittedly, a poorly phrased comment, to the exclusion of the clarifications the original poster is offering.

Words are an imperfect method of communication - try and listen to the intent, rather than the dictionary-defined meaning.

Silly can be good! I made 3 year 9 classes sit on the floor last week and pass round a screwed up piece of paper that I said was an injured bird. Very silly. But they understood the basics of Stanislavski's system for Naturalistic acting by the end of the lesson.

No, senua, you are being asked to appreciate that in teaching there are no hard rules about what will and won't work.

The cardiac cycle to the tune of Heads, Shoulders Knee and Toes...

My class love my stickers that look like colourful little poos. With faces.

'Lord of the Flies' with a real conch - actually, no, that one WAS bloody silly. Those things make very effective offensive weapons.

Oh & the year they made me teach Geography & I ruined a year's supply of felt pens doing contour line models on halved potatoes...

Sunscorch are you a teacher?

I'm not misinterpreting RavenAK. It's pretty clear. Backpedalling has followed.

"I think the real issue is that Brycie is more concerned about his own literal interpretation of what may have been, admittedly, a poorly phrased comment, to the exclusion of the clarifications the original poster is offering."

The only reason it's an issue is because it would have been so easy for Noble to say - for example - actually that does really sound like that, do you actually mean that Evil? Because Noble had said "nobody's saying that, nobody said anything like that". And they did, right then and there, which I pointed out.

At any point it's possible to say - yes saying "what does she know about it, she's not a teacher" - implies that anyone who's not a teacher has nothing useful to say about what goes on in the classroom. Maybe if this was a closed thread to teachers only you might say that.

But it's just impossible for any teacher to admit that parent X is right and teacher Y is wrong. Not about everything, not even about very much, but about this tiny little thing, that was worded badly and seems to say XYZ when it should actually say ABC. However tiny and wee and unimportant - however black and white the "evidence" (lol) The Teacher Is Right and The Parent Must De Facto Be Wrong For Ever And Ever Amen.

The quadratic equation to three blind mice.

Multiplying out brackets singing eyebrows, mouth and nose (to the tune of head, shoulders knees and toes).

Area of a trapezium to pop goes the weasel.

I don't care if it is silly, I have pupils tell me years later how they have never forgotten this or some other silly such way I gave them to try and remember something.

And I am parent... and I teach at a grammar school... Perhaps I should get some chalk and go back to getting them to copy out of a textbook...

My Y9 bottom set loved hard algebra on a Friday afternoon. That was unexpected. Good thing I didn't write it off as a 'silly idea'.

I didn't say you were misinterpreting. I said you were misquoting.

You need to quote accurately in order to interpret convincingly (as I tell year 11 four times a week).

I wasn't misquoting either.

The one time I did misquote (hasn't a clue) I immediately corrected it to "any idea".

Sunscorch are you a teacher?

Yes. And a man. And not a parent!

You have said that the poster of the comment meant to imply that she thinks parents have no worthwhile opinions on teaching strategies.
That poster has since replied that they didn't mean to imply that.

Resolution!

Except, apparently not.

I think you got confused between the two about an hour ago, if it helps.

Raven Ak - here you go - I hope you also tell your y11s to read thoroughly the text they're commenting on.

This is from my own post, quoting ET:

"The OP is not a teacher, and therefore has no idea whether such things are "silly" or whether they "will work". "
"why WOULD the OP know whether things were silly and whether they worked? It's not her job to know such things"

Anytime you want to say - you know what, they don't give them impression "I like listening to parents they often have a lot to offer" just go ahead and do it.

Sunscorch - however did I guess you were a teacher.

Sunscorch - however did I guess you were a teacher.

Would you like one of my shiny poo stickers?

I know what ET said - she was perfectly clear. You subsequently inaccurately paraphrased her, whether intentionally or carelessly, & misrepresented her clarification as 'back-pedalling' - again, either intentionally or because you misunderstood.

It was a trivial thing, but it does seem to be the basis of your argument.

Brycie, I don't think you can simply overrule the actual author of a statement on what that statement was intended to imply and tell them that they actually think something that they say they don't.

Where can I get these shiny poo stickers?

Where can I get these shiny poo stickers?

I bought mine at the London Comicon at half term :P I have no idea where else they might be available. Worth a google, though, they're great :)