What do you think of this teacher's grammar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first question, yes, "between" would have been much clearer.

The second question, I think you're wrong. The main theme is rarely the only theme. It's fine to examine side plots and other ideas.

The third question is weird. I would have rewritten it entirely.

Considering #1 and #3, do you really think that's what the teacher intended for #2, or is far more likely that she miswrote that one also but accidentally landed on something theoretically answerable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high school kid brings home assignments and wants help with them, but I find the teacher's instructions difficult to understand. It seems to me that the teacher's grammar is confused - do these questions look confusing to you, or am I just getting too old to understand English?

The following are questions from an assignment related to a novel they read:

"What conflicts exist among the members of Group A and Group B?" I can't tell if she is asking what conflicts exist among the members of Group A - with each other - and the members of Group B with each other, or if she is asking what conflicts exist between the two groups. (It turned out to be between the two groups).

"To what extent does money in this novel lead to kindness as opposed to greed?" This confused me because the theme of the novel is that money leads to greed, not kindness, so it seemed like the question was asking the students to find points that went against the main theme. However, it was actually asking students to explain how money leads to greed and not kindness (the novel's main theme).

"How does the author answer the essay prompt?" This one really threw me. The essay prompt was "How does the author of this novel show that money can be used for kindness versus corruption among those who have a great deal of it?" (Again, the theme of the novel was that money corrupts). I have no idea what the teacher was thinking when she asked this question, but I assume it was something like "how does the author show that money corrupts."

This is not the first time I've felt like these teachers are speaking a different language than me. Would you have had trouble understanding these questions? My kid says it's a "me problem."

It’s definitely a you problem. Those are all clear to me. I might have said “between” instead of “among” in the first one but that’s a word choice issue, not a grammar mistake.

I suspect you think you are smarter than you actually are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:English teacher here. I don’t like those prompts.

My guess? The teacher is trying to hold down far too many obligations and expectations. Things like proofreading get pushed aside when other tasks need to be prioritized.

My department has almost entirely turned over in the past few years. We can’t keep English teachers because the workload is just too much.

How can she grade 100 student essays if she can't grade here own 1 prompt?

On her own time, when she should be helping her own children with their homework or making dinner for her family. That’s when grading gets done because there is no time at work to do it.

It’s astounding to me how much this site hates teachers. Try holding down this poor teacher’s job for just one week. Let’s count how many mistakes you make, shall we?