High school science teacher suggests grammatically incorrect title on paper

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child should point it out to the teacher, but in no way should the child have to dumb down and act like she is confused when she is not! Nor should the child have to have proof by showing the dictionary. The teacher should look it up in the dictionary herself. That's pretty pathetic. It's like the teacher automatically wants to correct kids (incorrectly) as a power trip.

+1

This reminds me of the thread about what to do when someone takes your seat in a theater. Many posters suggested saying 'I may be wrong, but I think you may be in my seat..."
No, I am not wrong. The person sitting in my seat is clearly wrong. Why on earth should anyone have to dance around it that way?

Your daughter shouldn't have to "dumb it down" as PP said just to avoid offending the teacher. That is no way to teach her to go through life. She is right; she needs to be confident standing up for herself! Needless to say, "you were wrong, a$$hole" should be avoided at all costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with those who suggest having your child advocate for herself. There are many teachers who don't want to be corrected by a student. Unless you know that this teacher is not one of them, I would not have her advocate for herself without proof that she can bring in. The dictionary comment is the only one that I would advocate your daughter do herself. Otherwise, I would get the assistance of an adult, whether you, the mother, or the English teacher I would send an email saying that your daughter showed you this correction and was confused because she had it correct. I would say that I verified via <source> and she did have the correct word. Even though I know it myself, I would cite a reference that confirmed what both my child and I knew. I would just say that my daughter was leaving the title as she originally had it for the final copy without a request for a response and this message was just to let her know.

I really don’t think this requires a reference. It is really grammar 101. It’s like the difference between “your” and “you’re” or “their” “there,” or “they’re.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

I'm puzzled as to how the teacher could think "affect" is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

I'm puzzled as to how the teacher could think "affect" is correct.

I'm puzzled why people think a student should act dumb just to spare a teacher their feelings. Do you think the teacher was thinking about the student's feelings when they crossed out the correct word to scribble the wrong word on the student's paper?

[Anonymous]

Wow, that’s almost unbelievable. In fact, if I were a teacher and had to explain effect vs. affect, a science-type example of that nature is exactly what I would use to demonstrate the difference (the effect of x on y). That is exactly how I remember learning it, in fact. Quite an egregious mistake for a teacher to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

I'm puzzled as to how the teacher could think "affect" is correct.

I'm puzzled why people think a student should act dumb just to spare a teacher their feelings. Do you think the teacher was thinking about the student's feelings when they crossed out the correct word to scribble the wrong word on the student's paper?

It's a technique of communication. It's called "the columbo technique".

You say, I was looking up affect and effect in the dictionary. Affect means...., effect means....

So I'm confused why you asked me to change my title from effect to affect.

It leaves the teacher an opportunity to say " oh I was wrong, I always get those 2 confused, my bad" without being put on the defensive.

One thing assertive women (and men) need to learn more than grammar and spelling is diplomacy, compassion and communication. It will take you much further than self righteous, smug and rude.

[Anonymous]

Someone may have suggested this but I don't feel like going through the posts. Scientists are notoriously bad with spelling and grammar. I am one, I know. They are also very aware. If your daughter brings it up to the teacher I would assume the teacher would laugh it off, be embarrassed, and move on with a positive relationship with your daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have her ask her English teacher for clarification. Then she can say she was confused as she thought she had it right, so she asked english teacher to double check.

THis is the best option

Yep...loving this one. And then when the English teacher confirms that student was correct the first time, student can say very politely to English teacher "now...I'm sort of wondering how to approach this with [science teacher] because I don't want her to think I'm being arrogant or disrespectful. What do you recommend?" And see if the English teacher can give the student a thoughtful way to smooth this over. (I agree with others that it's ridiculous, but you don't want to anger the science teacher over this.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

I'm puzzled as to how the teacher could think "affect" is correct.

I'm puzzled why people think a student should act dumb just to spare a teacher their feelings. Do you think the teacher was thinking about the student's feelings when they crossed out the correct word to scribble the wrong word on the student's paper?

That's a good point...but going all assertive and challenging is not always the best strategy in a situation where there is a power imbalance. For example, how do you correct your boss at work? In school, this is pretty much the same thing. You don't have to "act dumb"--but you don't have to act as though you think the teacher is an idiot either, because that will not help the student--male or female!

You might say "Ms. Smith, I double-checked this one and it turns out 'effect' with an 'e' is definitely correct here, but I made the other changes you suggested. Thanks for your help." But you wouldn't say "I didn't change 'effect' because it was right the first time, Ms. Smith!" It's a matter of delivery that allows the "superior" to save face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

I'm puzzled as to how the teacher could think "affect" is correct.

I'm puzzled why people think a student should act dumb just to spare a teacher their feelings. Do you think the teacher was thinking about the student's feelings when they crossed out the correct word to scribble the wrong word on the student's paper?

That's a good point...but going all assertive and challenging is not always the best strategy in a situation where there is a power imbalance. For example, how do you correct your boss at work? In school, this is pretty much the same thing. You don't have to "act dumb"--but you don't have to act as though you think the teacher is an idiot either, because that will not help the student--male or female!

You might say "Ms. Smith, I double-checked this one and it turns out 'effect' with an 'e' is definitely correct here, but I made the other changes you suggested. Thanks for your help." But you wouldn't say "I didn't change 'effect' because it was right the first time, Ms. Smith!" It's a matter of delivery that allows the "superior" to save face.

That's ridiculous. I would absolutely say "I didn't change 'effect' because it was actually correct. Effect with an 'e' is the noun, affect with an 'a' is the verb." and I would encourage my children to do the same thing. You don't need to rub it in, but you also don't need to act dumb. Being respectful is not the same as being a sycophant.

And to the person above claiming that scientists have poor grammar, that's also ridiculous. Plenty of scientists have poor grammar because plenty of people have poor grammar. Obviously most scientists didn't get into the field as a result of their love of writing, but they should still have half a brain and be able to figure out the correct usage of a 6 letter word that, as a PP pointed out, is actually used in a scientific context all the time. I have a STEM PhD and I know the difference between affect and effect, and I'd expect my colleagues to have a decent handle on it too.

[Anonymous]

We do not have the luxury of perfect educators at all times. Face it, Parents, you aren't perfect parents, and you aren't perfect at your job either.

So, what to do with your kid. Make sure the child looks it up in a reliable source, and learns the correct way. This is important because your child learns to rely on themselves and to understand that anyone, literally anyone, a teacher, the President, a police officer or parent, can be wrong. Everyone makes mistakes and that is normal, so always question and double check.

Then discuss social tact. How do you question and correct when you are on the downside of the power play? This will not be the first superior your child encounters who makes a mistake. Great life lesson moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask, but don't be a jerk about it. "Could you explain why you changed that to 'affect'? I double checked in the dictionary and 'effect' seems correct." Chances are the teacher will realize the mistake - they are grading hundreds of papers. If not, then they can have further discussion.

This is perfect. I’ve made small mistakes grading math assignments and I’m grateful when students bring them to my attention. I let them know that I graded 100+ and simply missed their negative sign, or something similar. Then I encourage them to always let me know if they find a mistake.

This teacher likely knows the difference between affect and effect but was tired and marked it incorrectly. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask, but don't be a jerk about it. "Could you explain why you changed that to 'affect'? I double checked in the dictionary and 'effect' seems correct." Chances are the teacher will realize the mistake - they are grading hundreds of papers. If not, then they can have further discussion.

This is perfect. I’ve made small mistakes grading math assignments and I’m grateful when students bring them to my attention. I let them know that I graded 100+ and simply missed their negative sign, or something similar. Then I encourage them to always let me know if they find a mistake.

This teacher likely knows the difference between affect and effect but was tired and marked it incorrectly. It happens.

Yes. Exactly this. What is with then parents thinking it's a power trip or self righteous or deliberate act of maliciousness on the teacher's part? In all likelihood , the teacher was on auto pilot and I know this is crazy, made a benign mistake..

Good god. Acsribing motives to the teacher, going to the principal...is all of your life so paranoid and confrontational?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a big deal. Don't make it one. Tell you daughter to talk to the teacher and take a dictionary with her. I would suggest a "puzzled" approach.

All due respect, I am raising a young woman. I am teaching her to assert herself. Politely and with civility, yes. But never to act confused or deferential when she knows she is right. Pretending to be puzzled is an offensive suggestion.

I'm puzzled as to how the teacher could think "affect" is correct.

I'm puzzled why people think a student should act dumb just to spare a teacher their feelings. Do you think the teacher was thinking about the student's feelings when they crossed out the correct word to scribble the wrong word on the student's paper?

That's a good point...but going all assertive and challenging is not always the best strategy in a situation where there is a power imbalance. For example, how do you correct your boss at work? In school, this is pretty much the same thing. You don't have to "act dumb"--but you don't have to act as though you think the teacher is an idiot either, because that will not help the student--male or female!

You might say "Ms. Smith, I double-checked this one and it turns out 'effect' with an 'e' is definitely correct here, but I made the other changes you suggested. Thanks for your help." But you wouldn't say "I didn't change 'effect' because it was right the first time, Ms. Smith!" It's a matter of delivery that allows the "superior" to save face.

That's ridiculous. I would absolutely say "I didn't change 'effect' because it was actually correct. Effect with an 'e' is the noun, affect with an 'a' is the verb." and I would encourage my children to do the same thing. You don't need to rub it in, but you also don't need to act dumb. Being respectful is not the same as being a sycophant.

And to the person above claiming that scientists have poor grammar, that's also ridiculous. Plenty of scientists have poor grammar because plenty of people have poor grammar. Obviously most scientists didn't get into the field as a result of their love of writing, but they should still have half a brain and be able to figure out the correct usage of a 6 letter word that, as a PP pointed out, is actually used in a scientific context all the time. I have a STEM PhD and I know the difference between affect and effect, and I'd expect my colleagues to have a decent handle on it too.

+10000

-STEM person