My son's teacher's note.

[Donamy]

This is from my son's 5th grade teacher:

Dear Parents,
Thursday the 21st of Jan. our class will be going on a field trip to Plimoth Plantation. Permission slips are required for all students who will attend, before debarking.

Your's truly,

Ms. xxxxxxx

My son doesn't bark.:rofl:

 

[lennartsmit]

Painful that that's a teacher.

 

[Arrowstar]

Well then, debarking will not be required. Good for him, I hear it's a painful process.

 

[Gumdrop]

Well, if that is an exact reproduction of the letter verbatim, then I'd say your son's teacher cannot proofread her own major grammar and spelling errors. Let's hope the public school system does not fail your son.

 

[agentgonzo]

 

[Quick_Nick]

Nice one, agentgonzo. Sadly, I see teachers give misinformation or personal opinions all the time in my classes... About 95% of the students take it as fact because it's the teacher telling it to them. Sometimes it's a simple mistake that someone will probably point out to them, but with things like personal opinion (for example, about global warming) argument is pretty much useless. The teacher firmly has their opinion (and likely got it from internet misinformation) and the students all now agree with them. Also, a number of teachers around here don't even really teach. (I haven't had any like this, but I know students who do) They just hand students work, expect them to learn it entirely on their own, sit at their computer, and get paid.

 

[agentgonzo]

Nice one, agentgonzo. Sadly, I see teachers give misinformation or personal opinions all the time in my classes... About 95% of the students take it as fact because it's the teacher telling it to them. Sometimes it's a simple mistake that someone will probably point out to them, but with things like personal opinion (for example, about global warming) argument is pretty much useless. The teacher firmly has their opinion (and likely got it from internet misinformation) and the students all now agree with them. Also, a number of teachers around here don't even really teach. (I haven't had any like this, but I know students who do) They just hand students work, expect them to learn it entirely on their own, sit at their computer, and get paid.

I'm really glad I didn't go to your school.

 

[Quick_Nick]

I'm really glad I didn't go to your school.

Yeah... they literally hire anyone they can. The substitutes are usually scarily clueless about anything they're trying to teach. (and bring the most opinions or bad information) The teachers vary greatly, and sometimes would be best off teaching a different subject. Most of the teachers are decent, and some of them very skilled, but not all...

 

[eveningsky339]

Yeah... they literally hire anyone they can. The substitutes are usually scarily clueless about anything they're trying to teach. (and bring the most opinions or bad information) The teachers vary greatly, and sometimes would be best off teaching a different subject. Most of the teachers are decent, and some of them very skilled, but not all...

All they needed from me is my fingerprints and some paperwork, and I sub at two local schools. I've only been a teacher once, though; I usually sub for Ed Techs, which means I work in either the special education rooms or the behavior program (which I generally dislike).

When I was a teacher, it was for Spanish and French. I took Latin in high school. Interesting day, it was. :thumbup:

 

[computerex]

I had a Christmas packet for the winter breaks. 3/4 of the packet was composed of things we don't know. The U.S educational system really is trash. A well read student is probably more knowledgeable then half the teachers.

 

[Unstung]

The only teachers with decent grammar/spelling recently are the English ones.
One teacher I had was terrible, I wonder how he was even qualified for his job. He knew so little in his subject and was often incorrect. Other than that, his attitude is also unfit for teaching.
I believe I only had one substitute this year who really knew the subject they were substituting for.

 

[computerex]

It has to be said however that the inadequacies in the U.S education system extend only to high school. Teachers that teach high level classes are actually quite knowledgeable and qualified.

 

[Arrowstar]

Sure. But weak high school students often become weak undergraduate students...

 

[Saturn V]

The public education system in this country has been appalling for a good many years now.

I recall finding hundreds of of typographical errors, spelling mistakes and just patently untrue gobbledy-gook in just one of my daughter's school issued 3rd grade textbooks 20 years ago.

When I approached the Board of Education (armed with the offending textbook) and pointed out the trash they were foisting on our children in the name of educating them, they were grossly offended and I was informed that the books were ordered from a distributor in California who regularly out-sourced their proof reading to Mexico and Honduras.

I responded that I didn't care where they were proof read, in my considered opinion, a proof reader should be able to recognize mistakes regardless of where they were located.

I was then informed that it was the Board of Education's money (oddly, I was under the impression that my state and municipal taxes funded the BOE and rightfully it was our money) and they would spend it when and where they saw fit.

So, from that day forward, I've chosen to spend my money on private schools for her (and the rest of my kids). And don't even get me started on the illiterates who graduate just because the system passed them to get rid of them...

 

[Istochnikov]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. And i thought that the Educative system in my country was a b*******!!!

Your son was in a private or public school?, 'cos if i were you... my answer will be...

April 21st, 1994
​

Dear Mr Hilliker

I received your notification you sent yesterday and i don't know if laugh out loud or sit to cry. The reason is as folllows:

One of things that a professor should do in a student, is forming a critical thought. If my son obeys "as-is" your statements AND/OR/BUT_NOT_XOR is punished for critize them, his education clearly is formed with POOR bases. And you later (about 2009) will think... "why my country is in this state?". But you don't bother to think that the main reason is for AU-TO-MA-TI-ZE the students' minds.

I'm not a professor, but like father, i'm conscious of my children's education, and i want that this education has THE BEST QUALITY possible. Like a professor, you should be capable of generate dialogue and questioning of the reason of things. If you think that the obbeyance of autority is first, i suggest you go to Cuba, where the one point of wiew of things is the authorised by Mr Fidel Castro.

For the punishment... well, i really don't worry about if you let my son one extra hour in the school. In fact, i'll prepare him with one o more interesting books that maybe you could be interested for reading. But remember one thing: I'm paying for an education of THE BEST QUALITY and your wage is being payed for MY (monthly payment/taxes). If you don't like the critizism or feedback, maybe you should'n be a teacher.

Take it in account when you go tho the classroom to "teach" (or maybe i should say "program"?).

Regards
Yuriy Andreyévich Istochnikëv

PSD: Remember me go to the parent's meeting with a vela fish...
​

I don't know if this response is the equivalent of a back-kick in the gonades for the professor, but i know how does somebody feel when is punished by a fact and you know that you're right. Like student in school i passed a hell due to two teachers with a mind as obtuse as Mr Hilliker's one. And now in the University, frequently i have had some problems with some professors... One of them was really terrible. She does not know the difference between a flare and a welding bar and she believes that she is an electric engineer with an emphasis in power grid systems (O-U-C-H!!!).

 

[Quick_Nick]

The public education system in this country has been appalling for a good many years now.

I recall finding hundreds of of typographical errors, spelling mistakes and just patently untrue gobbledy-gook in just one of my daughter's school issued 3rd grade textbooks 20 years ago.

When I approached the Board of Education (armed with the offending textbook) and pointed out the trash they were foisting on our children in the name of educating them, they were grossly offended and I was informed that the books were ordered from a distributor in California who regularly out-sourced their proof reading to Mexico and Honduras.

I responded that I didn't care where they were proof read, in my considered opinion, a proof reader should be able to recognize mistakes regardless of where they were located.

I was then informed that it was the Board of Education's money (oddly, I was under the impression that my state and municipal taxes funded the BOE and rightfully it was our money) and they would spend it when and where they saw fit.

So, from that day forward, I've chosen to spend my money on private schools for her (and the rest of my kids). And don't even get me started on the illiterates who graduate just because the system passed them to get rid of them...

I've seen VERY few mistakes of any sort in our textbooks, luckily. I'm particularly impressed with our math textbooks. They come from within Texas, and are written by some of the most qualified professors. The book makes it easy to learn new things, and includes very practical problems related to various subjects. (many of the problems in one of the chapters relate to Apollo 11 and use accurate data ) Overall, the textbooks we have are quite excellent in my area.

Also, I agree with all that computerex has said so far. And from what he's told me in the past, his school is much like mine. (despite being in seperate states)

One thing that bothers me about being in public school is the fact that you go at the same pace as everyone else. The past couple of years, I've been quite bored with my math classes because of their simplicity. However, apparently some students have gotten strings pulled to take two math classes at one time to be able to advance faster. I didn't know that we could do this, so I ended up taking one math class this year like everyone else. When I found out about this 'loophole', I tried to test out of my current class to get into the next one. However, I was told that I could only test out at this point, but could not enter the next class because it had already begun and I would have missed too much. I've seen what they do in that class (pre-cal) and I would say that even now (half of the year is over), I could take a test over any of it, but unfortunately I'm being kept in my own class (algebra 2) and will be a year behind where I could have been because I didn't know I could... It bothers me, but I doubt I can do anything about it.

 

[Saturn V]

Let me relate a "math" story that occurred when I was a sophmore in HS (let's not get into how long ago that was!)...

In a move borne of economic necessity, I transferred from a top-tier school district into one not even ranked in the state.

Sitting in algebra one morning, I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard the teacher talking about subtracting one number from another. I'd always been taught that one of the basic tenets of algebra is that equations are never expressed as subtraction, but as adding a negative number (yes, the net result is the same, but we're talking about a basic concept). I pointed this out to the teacher, which netted me 3 days central detention.

Sitting in his detention the following afternoon, he said that he was aware that in theory, I was correct, but he didn't believe "these" kids would understand the concept. At the age of 15 and willing to throw caution to the wind, I told him if he thought so little of "these" kids, maybe he'd chosen the wrong profession.

 

[Quick_Nick]

Sitting in his detention the following afternoon, he said that he was aware that in theory, I was correct, but he didn't believe "these" kids would understand the concept. At the age of 15 and willing to throw caution to the wind, I told him if he thought so little of "these" kids, maybe he'd chosen the wrong profession.

Nice. I used to correct teachers any time I knew they were wrong, and luckily I never had any teacher that would do something like get angry or give me detention for it. But I've given up on that... If they say something wrong, and I know what is correct, I just don't worry about it anymore. I probably keep my mouth shut TOO much these days, but, I've gotten lazy. lol

 

[Brycesv1]

by highschool i had given up on even caring about my education. throughout elementary school i had spent so much time in detention from correcting teachers about concepts that i had finished most of the school library's fiction section. one argument was when the teacher said no word in the english language end with the letter "C". i then pointed out the word picnic, then the teacher said "no you are mistaken, 'picnic' ends in 'ck'..."

even parents who were visiting the class that day were siding with the teacher because there is no way that the student could be correct while the teacher was wrong.

most times it was correcting the teachers' misconceptions of math and english concepts. such as the "I" before "E" rule.


i really hate the shortbus method. at what point does it seem like a good idea to hold a class of 25 students back just so the one slower kid gets it? and why is it so hard to find qualified teachers?

 

[Quick_Nick]

one argument was when the teacher said no word in the english language end with the letter "C". i then pointed out the word picnic, then the teacher said "no you are mistaken, 'picnic' ends in 'ck'..."

What gave him that idea? I can think of a lot...
And there's nearly 500 pages of words ending in c here: http://www.findtheword.info/resultat.php?stype=ends&sword=C