Would you correct a teacher

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CrazyDaisie

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 5:11 pm

Tzippy323 wrote:

I have had many experiences with students who say a word completely wrong, and say that is how the teacher pronounced it. I try to verify, and more often than not, the teacher has said the word incorrectly. I teach in a school where this problem exists in spades. Many times, I attribute the mispronunciations to the way the teacher learned it when she was a student. Some of the errors, however, are inexcusable because there is a correct pronunciation guide right on the page, often, next to the word in the text. Have you ever heard the word irakwaz? Oh...Iroquois-proper pronunciation Ir-ah-koi. That is only the tip of the iceberg. It usually has little affect when you speak to the teacher, because she will just move on until the next error comes along. I suggest going to the principal who
can query the teacher and then suggest she use the pronunciation guide, and even teach her students (third grade and up) how to do so. Even then, if the teacher was taught incorrectly, it isn’t going to be easy to convince her that she is wrong. The problem is rampant in most yeshivas.

You mean in English?
I suppose it's up to the school to hire teachers with a good English level. Maybe there are schools that don't care about English. Maybe there are schools that can't find teachers who speak proper English. In the end, education is also the parents' responsibility, so they need either to correct what the teacher taught wrong or opt for a different school.

amother

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 5:36 pm

amother [ Aubergine ] wrote:

Totally out of place.
A 3 year old's world is not going to be thrown into turmoil by not knowing whether a little bit of shemen burned 8 days or whether the oil was refilled or whatever. In fact, most 3 yr olds aren't paying that much detailed attention to the story.

Sorry, but you sound a bit OCD about kids and consistency. We are talking about two slightly different versions to a story, kids can take that just fine.

If I were the teacher, I would be annoyed. It's not your place to correct the curriculum. If you witness a blatant mistake, tell her later privately.

you're right maybe I am a little OCD, I need to work on myself..it could be worse..every time she says Mitzvahs instead of Mitzvos, I never correct her(even though it drives me nuts)..so that is something!

seeker

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 5:52 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

In a preschool classroom. Teacher was teaching the Chanukah story and she said the miracle of Chanuka was that Hashem filled up the pitcher of oil to last 8 days

Absolutely not. This one sentence of a lesson is barely a blip in the scheme of their lives. Next year and the year after etc they will learn the more standard story. If they go home saying it this way, the parents will just assume they misunderstood the teacher because that's what 3 year olds do.

If you must say something, do it nicely and in a private moment. Can maybe save the teacher from writing something embarrassing in a newsletter that goes home.

SuperWify

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 6:17 pm

As a child I was the the annoying know it all student correcting my teachers. I’m sure they didn’t appreciate it.

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 6:28 pm

In 6th grade, my teacher pronounced Mesopotamia as “meh-SOP-uh-tamia”, and it drove me nuts. I never corrected her, but I still remember it!

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 8:40 pm

As a teacher, I aim for accuracy.

If I were op, observing in the classrroom, I probably would approach teacher at play time and ask(nicely) if that is a different shitah.

As a parent, inaccuracies drive me insane.

I listened to my child's teacher today (remote learning)...
What about nursery song about dreidel where the yidden put their SIDDURIM away???
What about not putting correct emphasis on words of shema!?
I can go on and on...

I don't correct the teacher on these.

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 8:47 pm

I don't think it's ever appropriate for a therapist to correct a teacher in the classroom she happens to be in.

amother

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 8:47 pm

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

I'm a parent too and for some reason I get outraged on the parent's behalf not for my own..for years she has not said Modeh Ani with the kids in the morning when she davens bc she does not want it to be too long and even though it drives me crazy I keep my mouth shut (like I said I need to work on myself)! I guess it was an in the moment thing about Chanukah..I was just surprised..bc last year she taught it with a little shemen..and she forgot which she tends to do.

lucky14

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:02 pm

No teacher is perfect. You really need to move on. These are such minor things. Are the children loved and cared about? That is the absolute most important thing at that age. I do think it's a bit odd how much this is bothering you.

amother

Royalblue

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:12 pm

I also just want to mention, I used to teach preschool. I had many therapists in my classroom. They all had input and criticism. It was really annoying and I spent too much of my spare time having to hear them out. And none of it was helpful or necessary. So it's probably best to just mind your own business. No one is perfect, including you.

precious

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:24 pm

In these examples, where it's not so important, it's not right to correct the teacher.

But if the teacher is teaching something that will stay with them for life, like davening a tefilla wrong, that needs to be pointed out somehow.

#BestBubby

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:40 pm

amother [ Hotpink ] wrote:

I don't think it's ever appropriate for a therapist to correct a teacher in the classroom she happens to be in.

Agree.

As a SEIT in preschool classes, I sometimes heard teacher make mistakes,
but I would never correct them.

That would be embarrassing the teacher in public.

For example, I heard a teacher say that Lavan was Rivka's father and Besuel was
Rivka's brother.

As a student, I sometimes corrected my teachers in class but now I regret doing this.

amother

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:45 pm

I appreciate everyones input..I will continue to work on myself and not let these things bother me..and will keep my opinions to myself in the future!!!

#BestBubby

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:53 pm

My daughter is also a SEIT/P3 provider.

One teacher in a chassidishe girl's school taught the girls about the Russian Ruler
called the Czar but she pronounced it K'zar.

My daughter did not say the teacher was wrong. She just told her student,
"some people pronounce czar "zar". Maybe your teacher says C'zar to help
you remember the spelling."

octopus

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 9:58 pm

amother [ Hotpink ] wrote:

I don't think it's ever appropriate for a therapist to correct a teacher in the classroom she happens to be in.

This. You are a guest in the classroom. Know thine place.

erm

Tue, Dec 08 2020, 1:23 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

In a preschool classroom. Teacher was teaching the Chanukah story and she said the miracle of Chanuka was that Hashem filled up the pitcher of oil to last 8 days

There are differences of opinion about what exactly the miracle was. Some say they put in a little bit each day and it stayed lit for the whole day, others say they use the all the oil it stayed lit for 8 days and there is another opinion that states that the pitcher remained full even after it was poured.

CrazyDaisie

Tue, Dec 08 2020, 1:27 am

erm wrote:

Exactly. So actually what the teacher said is not wrong. It's rather that many people know just one version and are not open-minded enough to discover that there are also other versions.

lucky14

Tue, Dec 08 2020, 8:34 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I appreciate everyones input..I will continue to work on myself and not let these things bother me..and will keep my opinions to myself in the future!!!

Just wanted to say it's really mature of you that you are able to say this after all the responses and feedback we have been giving you here. Very "big" of you. Smile

amother

Wheat

Tue, Dec 08 2020, 9:15 am

Tzippy323 wrote:

Sorry to derail the thread, but I think OP has her answer and I feel this issue needs to be addressed.

I used to believe that the 'yeshivish' teachers were the worst offenders when it came to mispronunciation.

I'm currently in a college English course (non-Jewish, well-educated -multiple degrees- teacher) and her pronunciation is driving me (and my DD who likes to listen in) Crazy! Biggest offence (although definitely not the only one): genre- she pronounces it as gener. The class is online- we can hear her and type in the chat but she can not hear us, so I haven't had the opportunity to correct her.

In my mind, many of the more yeshivish people (including my DH and DC) have an excuse- much of their vocabulary comes from reading (my DH did not attend limudai chol after 6th grade, yet most people who meet him consider him to be well educated-and he is). I see this with my girls all the time- they are HUGE readers and it sometimes takes me a minute to figure out what word they are trying to say because they pronounce it as it is spelled. They know I will always correct them, and they seem fine with that, but many adults won't correct kids who mispronounce words so the problems persist.

#BestBubby

Tue, Dec 08 2020, 11:01 am

This was me.

I loved Bal-leT dancers. I considered them the E-pi-tome of grace. embarrassed

I also loved a good Buf-feT.

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