High school science teacher suggests grammatically incorrect title on paper

[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.

This. Don't make a major big deal out of it because it isn't one. Just tell your daughter to bring it to his attention right before/after class. Done.

[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.

Gee whiz. Really?

"Puzzled" can denote lots of things. She is giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt. That is a polite thing to do. "Puzzled" can mean lots of things: puzzled as to why the teacher did this (likely tired).

By going to the teacher, she is being assertive. Remember, some on this thread are advocating that MOM go directly to the PRINCIPAL. That is hardly assertive.
I am puzzled as to why the teacher did it. I'd like to know if she doesn't know better or was just very, very tired.

Do you never give others the benefit of the doubt? Do you never give your spouse or kids the benefit of the doubt or are you always assertive (or agressive) with them? Same at work? You must be fun to work with.

Years ago, there was a program called "Assertiveness Training." It had some good points, but some people took it way beyond what is necessary. Anytime they did not like what you did, they felt it necessary to tell you. They would not let anything slide off their shoulders. They also became quite unpopular.
No one wanted to work with them.

"Assertive" is one thing. "Obnoxious" is another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea, I might cross out affect and write "no, actually EFFECT is correct" then send it back in with my kid to give to the teacher. Assuming he/she didn't take points off, does it really matter? Not a lot. But it would irritate me.

+1 This. Do not go straight to principal. Give the teacher a chance! They are humans that make mistakes. It could be they had 5 other kids spell "affect" and just got tired.

[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.

Gee whiz. Really?

"Puzzled" can denote lots of things. She is giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt. That is a polite thing to do. "Puzzled" can mean lots of things: puzzled as to why the teacher did this (likely tired).

By going to the teacher, she is being assertive. Remember, some on this thread are advocating that MOM go directly to the PRINCIPAL. That is hardly assertive.
I am puzzled as to why the teacher did it. I'd like to know if she doesn't know better or was just very, very tired.

Do you never give others the benefit of the doubt? Do you never give your spouse or kids the benefit of the doubt or are you always assertive (or agressive) with them? Same at work? You must be fun to work with.

Years ago, there was a program called "Assertiveness Training." It had some good points, but some people took it way beyond what is necessary. Anytime they did not like what you did, they felt it necessary to tell you. They would not let anything slide off their shoulders. They also became quite unpopular.
No one wanted to work with them.

"Assertive" is one thing. "Obnoxious" is another.

Yes, really. You know perfectly well the advice to act "puzzled" was to convey uncertainty and deference. People were saying to bring in a dictionary, etc. We do not need to teach our girls to give others "the benefit of the doubt." The next thing you know, she might be apologizing for challenging someone sitting in her assigned seat at the movies.

I've taught my kids two things: 1) Never apologize for being right. But also, 2) When given the choice between being right and being kind, always choose kind.

I'm trying to figure out the solution here.

Update: DD did take it to the teacher and said she didn't understand why it was corrected to "affect" when "effect" was correct. DD reports teacher seemed slightly annoyed and convinced she was right, but didn't push it. So I guess we'll leave it at that.

[Anonymous]

^^^^ Ugh, you are a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Update: DD did take it to the teacher and said she didn't understand why it was corrected to "affect" when "effect" was correct. DD reports teacher seemed slightly annoyed and convinced she was right, but didn't push it. So I guess we'll leave it at that.

Probably because her mother told her to be assertive and demand to know why the teacher had done it. Student should have given the teacher the benefit of the doubt.
OP says being "kind" is more important than being "right." Sounds like those are just words to her. Giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt would have been "kind."

[Anonymous]

Stop making excuses for this teacher! Acting annoyed and suggesting she believes she is correct and the student is wrong? I find this appalling and would be inclined to email the teacher myself at this point. Something short but to the point. This would be unacceptable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Update: DD did take it to the teacher and said she didn't understand why it was corrected to "affect" when "effect" was correct. DD reports teacher seemed slightly annoyed and convinced she was right, but didn't push it. So I guess we'll leave it at that.

Probably because her mother told her to be assertive and demand to know why the teacher had done it. Student should have given the teacher the benefit of the doubt.
OP says being "kind" is more important than being "right." Sounds like those are just words to her. Giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt would have been "kind."

What, we are tolerating "alternative facts" in school now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Update: DD did take it to the teacher and said she didn't understand why it was corrected to "affect" when "effect" was correct. DD reports teacher seemed slightly annoyed and convinced she was right, but didn't push it. So I guess we'll leave it at that.

Probably because her mother told her to be assertive and demand to know why the teacher had done it. Student should have given the teacher the benefit of the doubt.
OP says being "kind" is more important than being "right." Sounds like those are just words to her. Giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt would have been "kind."

What, we are tolerating "alternative facts" in school now?

No. But, with this mom's guidance, DD likely went to the teacher and said "you made a mistake, you are wrong." She could have approached it differently. Like,"Ms. X, can you explain this to me? I don't understand why you changed it."
And, what did the teacher do to "seem annoyed"? It could have been timing, as well.

It was clear that OP did not want her DD to approach the teacher graciously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Update: DD did take it to the teacher and said she didn't understand why it was corrected to "affect" when "effect" was correct. DD reports teacher seemed slightly annoyed and convinced she was right, but didn't push it. So I guess we'll leave it at that.

Probably because her mother told her to be assertive and demand to know why the teacher had done it. Student should have given the teacher the benefit of the doubt.
OP says being "kind" is more important than being "right." Sounds like those are just words to her. Giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt would have been "kind."

What, we are tolerating "alternative facts" in school now?

No. But, with this mom's guidance, DD likely went to the teacher and said "you made a mistake, you are wrong." She could have approached it differently. Like,"Ms. X, can you explain this to me? I don't understand why you changed it."
And, what did the teacher do to "seem annoyed"? It could have been timing, as well.

It was clear that OP did not want her DD to approach the teacher graciously.

OP here. You are so full of shit. God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Update: DD did take it to the teacher and said she didn't understand why it was corrected to "affect" when "effect" was correct. DD reports teacher seemed slightly annoyed and convinced she was right, but didn't push it. So I guess we'll leave it at that.

Probably because her mother told her to be assertive and demand to know why the teacher had done it. Student should have given the teacher the benefit of the doubt.
OP says being "kind" is more important than being "right." Sounds like those are just words to her. Giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt would have been "kind."

What, we are tolerating "alternative facts" in school now?

No. But, with this mom's guidance, DD likely went to the teacher and said "you made a mistake, you are wrong." She could have approached it differently. Like,"Ms. X, can you explain this to me? I don't understand why you changed it."
And, what did the teacher do to "seem annoyed"? It could have been timing, as well.

It was clear that OP did not want her DD to approach the teacher graciously.

OP here. You are so full of shit. God.

The teacher was annoyed because she was convinced she was right, not because DD told her she would not be correcting the paper and why.

[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.

You mean the passive aggressive, “I was confused by....”

[Anonymous]

You really messed up here, OP.

[Anonymous]

The teacher was annoyed because she was convinced she was right, not because DD told her she would not be correcting the paper and why.

That's a great approach:

"Ms. X, you made a mistake here. You are wrong and I am not going to "correct" my paper."

No wonder she was annoyed.

You've trained her well, OP.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. I love it when students find my mistakes. In fact, I give them a paper "reward" that says "I Caught the Teacher," and the kids LOVE it. That said, as a parent in this situation, I think the better lesson here is teaching a child when to fight battles. I would compliment my child on spotting the mistake (at home) and say something like "adults mix up 'affect' and 'effect' all the time. Let's talk about the difference." Then I'd talk with her about the pros and cons of correcting the teacher. Yes, it's important to stand up for oneself; it's also important to know which battles to fight. Unfortunately, most teachers aren't so keen on being corrected by students. This is a science class, not an English class. I'd probably let it go.