Do I correct the teacher?

[cornflake]

I'd send him a tersely worded note and cc the entire mess to the principal. That's utterly unacceptable, and inexcusable.

It's not a mistake - he wrote down the incorrect spellings as correct and maked her correct spellings as wrong, as I understand the OP.

 

[MrsPete]

I wouldn't get bent out of shape over one mistake -- but three spelling mistakes on one quiz? Unless something odd's going on (like poor hand writing), it sounds like the teacher is not too smart. Those are simple words, and if he assigned them, there's no reason for him not to know them. Also, there's no wiggle room on spelling. It's either right, or it's not.

I'd say to the teacher politely, "I am a little embarassed to bring this up, but I want to talk to you about Susie's last spelling quiz. It seems that she spelled three words correctly. Please let me show you . . . " You want to aim for non-confrontational.

 

[monsterkitty]

I'd send him a tersely worded note and cc the entire mess to the principal. That's utterly unacceptable, and inexcusable.

It's not a mistake - he wrote down the incorrect spellings as correct and maked her correct spellings as wrong, as I understand the OP.

 

[cornflake]

Heh, that is a typo, though of course I should have checked the post over for any. My keyboard is shot. There should be an 'r' in there.

 

[disykat]

I don't understand how not a single parent called the teacher to ask about the weird words on the spellling list. It'd be pretty odd if, out of 25 or so students, the OP was the only one who noticed.

I'm wondering how you knew the words were supposed to be dining and trudged. It seems like someone saying "I don't recognize these words" would have solved the problem long before they got to the test.

 

[monsterkitty]

Heh, that is a typo, though of course I should have checked the post over for any. My keyboard is shot. There should be an 'r' in there.

I know, I just had to tease you!

I am a teacher and I do make mistakes. It bothers me when I make mistakes. In fact, drives me crazy! When a student finds a mistake I thank them and hand them candy or a sticker. I still can't believe how many middle school kids love stickers.

 

[cornflake]

I know, I just had to tease you!

I am a teacher and I do make mistakes. It bothers me when I make mistakes. In fact, drives me crazy! When a student finds a mistake I thank them and hand them candy or a sticker. I still can't believe how many middle school kids love stickers.

I'd have done the same.

A mistake is one thing - I agree on both counts. What's described in the OP, however, doesn't seem like a mistake to me, seems like a teacher who can't spell and, worse, doesn't know it.

 

[clh2]

Teachers are humans and humans make mistakes. Maybe the teacher couldn't read the handwriting. Maybe there is other criteria being judged that you didn't know about ... staying within the lines, capitalization, etc. Who knows.

As another poster pointed out, this would be a great time for a child to learn to speak up and ask the teacher a question. My kids used to be scared of questioning a teacher too but they found out that they weren't going to get their head snapped off by just asking a question. The best thing for a child to learn is to not be afraid to ask questions of a teacher. Try encouraging your child to ask for themselves, but if that doesn't fly, then I would certainly write a friendly note asking for clarification as to why they were marked incorrect.

This...ITA. Our kids will learn lots by a) realizing that adults do make mistakes, and b) the adults can correct their mistakes and c) their confidence in their own ability to deal with adults will greatly increase. This is a "learned" skill. What a great opportunity for your child to get some real-world practical experience!!! Adults are NOT always correct, and I think kids need to see this, and understand it! JMHO - and I respect anyone with a different one!

 

[Jennasis]

My 8 year old cousin got marked down on a geography test for "incorrectly labeling several states". The teacher had insisted he incorrectly labeled Kentucky. She INSISTED that Kentucky was where N. Carolina is...WHY? because she insisted that North Carolina had no border with Georgia (also incorrect) so that state, with MILES of lovely coastline, had to be KENTUCKY.

 

[Disney Doll]

I see no reason not to bring it up but I don't think you need to go in all confrontationally...speaking of spelling, is that a word?

 

[torinsmom]

As a teacher, I don't mind at all being corrected when I am wrong. It is easier when it is done in a light hearted way and not in a way that makes the teacher feel embarrassed though. Everyone make mistakes, and teachers are far from perfect. When I make a mistake in class, I tell the kids about it and remind them that it's okay to make mistakes--it is the best way to learn

 

[Uptown Girl]

Thank you guys.

I'm going to write an email to the teacher as suggested. DD isn't afraid to talk or speak up to any other adult...just her teachers for some reason. I don't want to force her at this stage.

It's funny because she brings home a list of spelling words that she studies, and the teacher wrote the 3 extra words on there...trugged...dinning...believe. DH helped DD with her words this past week so I never saw it. He just told DD to spell them right and not worry about how the teacher wrote the words. So I know he didn't know how to spell them and it's not any other issue.

Just curious, did you ask your DD what the assignment was? I am wondering if she wrote those words wrong on purpose and the kids were to figure out how they are spelled correctly?

 

[Pigeon]

I'd photocopy the entries from a standard dictionary and ask the teacher to explain the difference.

 

[Pigeon]

I'd photocopy the entries from a standard dictionary and ask the teacher to explain the difference.

 

[Pigeon]

I'd photocopy the entries from a standard dictionary and ask the teacher to explain the difference.

 

[honeydiane1953]

Yes!!!

 

[lovesmurfs]

DD is in 3rd grade and in addition to her normal spelling words each kid had a few extra words this week. The words were whatever they spelled wrong on their district writing test. DD's words are "trudged", "dining", and "believe".

She missed 3 words and got a B. According to her teacher, "dining" should be spelled "dinning", and "trudged" should be spelled "trugged".
She spelled "believe" wrong.

I told her I was going to attach a note and send the est back because she should have only missed one. She is freaking out. She deson't want him to be mad. She is always like this with her teachers...I don't know why.

It's not going to make a difference in her grade if she gets one B instead of the A that she earned. But to me it's the principle of the thing. I consider myself a pretty crappy speller...but those are easy words and he is a teacher!

What would you do?

Absolutely I would send a note. If a teacher is going to grade a spelling test and MISSPELL the corrections, I think it's essential to point out the errors. This happened once with DS -- he had misspelled aquarium (and it was truly misspelled). The correction came back as acquarium.

Normally at that age, they make them write the correct words 5 times or so -- I would refuse to allow my child to write them incorrectly, repeatedly.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

A nicely-worded note or email should do the trick. If it doesn't, you'll know much more about the teacher!

 

[Rabscuttle]

I would send a note and tell her you understand that with so many papers to correct, she missed three correct words and you would like your DD to get credit for that. I have a relative who is a forth grade teacher. She cannot spell! She actually wrote on her facebook page, " just compleeted a 2 hour litterasy test, it was exausting". My reply? "How did it work out for you? LOL" I actually thought she wrote it that way for satire. She didn't.

 

[torinsmom]

I would send a note and tell her you understand that with so many papers to correct, she missed three correct words and you would like your DD to get credit for that. I have a relative who is a forth grade teacher. She cannot spell! She actually wrote on her facebook page, " just compleeted a 2 hour litterasy test, it was exausting". My reply? "How did it work out for you? LOL" I actually thought she wrote it that way for satire. She didn't.

Some people just aren't great spellers. From working with kids, I believe you either have that skill naturally, or have to really work at it. It does not reflect on intelligence. I can look at a word and tell if it's spelled correctly, even if I've never seen it before. And, the quote you mentioned is one reason I will never have students, or parents of students as "friends" on FB. Most of the time, I am in a hurry when I post there and I don't care much about typos, grammar, etc. I would hate for something I wrote to be gossiped about or posted on a message board for strangers to see. I would really hate to think one of my relatives or real friends would do that.

Not saying the OP should not correct the teacher. I think she should do so in a respectful way.

BTW, I am assuming you meant fourth grade? Sorry, it is hard to resist on a thread about spelling.