. . .irregardless

[Bob Slydell]

If this really is a "top rated" school, I would expect even the math geeks to be able to speak the language correctly if they are teaching students.

One of the best teachers I had in high school (and yes, it was a "top rated" school) you had to struggle to understand, at least until you got used to the way he spoke. The reason? He was from Swaziland (sp?), so English was far from his first language. Did it affect the effectiveness (I think I used those terms correctly ) of his teaching? Of course not -- I learned more from him than my other three history teachers combined.

 

[Blondy876]

She's the new breed of DISer in training.

I believe you are correct.

 

[redshoes]

Seems kind of sad that it bothered you enough to email her, but not enough to include your name on said email. Cut the teacher some slack, she must be great at her job if she was hired at one of the top 50 high schools in the nation.

 

[Daxx]

Maybe your incredibly hot husband could ask his blabbermouth masseuse if it is a word?

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

 

[imsorry]

She's the new breed of DISer in training.

Someone here had it in their signature line: "Welcome to the Community Board, where all the women are perfect, all the men make alot of money and all the children are perfect".

 

[Cindyluwho]

Teachers are human and make mistakes and (gasp!) may not know everything about every subject even at the best high schools in the country.

For me, it's not the fact that the teacher made a mistake. It sounds like the teacher was a wise-@## about it and pulled the old, "I'm right and you're wrong, neener, neener". So she was not only incorrect, she was also being a less than stellar teacher. Not the kind of attitude I'd want in a classroom.
Everybody makes mistakes but everyone should also be willing to take a second look at a situation and own up to their mistakes.

 

[wvrevy]

One of the best teachers I had in high school (and yes, it was a "top rated" school) you had to struggle to understand, at least until you got used to the way he spoke. The reason? He was from Swaziland (sp?), so English was far from his first language. Did it affect the effectiveness (I think I used those terms correctly ) of his teaching? Of course not -- I learned more from him than my other three history teachers combined.

Actually, that's a good point. (And yes, you used them correctly )

One of the best professors I had in college was from Africa.

Still...this teacher was apparently adamant with the kids that he was correct, when, obviously, he wasn't. I would imagine your Swazi teacher and I KNOW my African professor would have reacted quite differently.

 

[Beth76]

I'm curious...if the teacher had said to a student, "I'm sorry, but your solution to the equation ain't correct," would you have been ok with that?

As long as the teacher's assessment was correct and the solution was indeed incorrect. I would not be bothered by a math teacher's use of "ain't". I would tell my son (in the small chance that my son would actually pass this on to me) that it's not correct and he's not to use it. I don't make it my business to correct other people's grammar mistakes.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

There was an extensive article in our Sunday paper about this very subject. Schools refer to it as helicopter parenting. Not that I'm implying that's what the OP is doing

one of the morning shows did a bit on this! quite interesting!!

 

[Bob Slydell]

Still...this teacher was apparently adamant with the kids that he was correct, when, obviously, he wasn't. I would imagine your Swazi teacher and I KNOW my African professor would have reacted quite differently.

That's true, but it's possible (and I'm obviously speculating at this point) the teacher was annoyed by being interrupted in the middle of class for something irrelevant (whew, spelled it right this time ) to the discussion at hand.

If it was that important to the OP's daughter's classmate to correct the teacher's use of improper grammar, it could have been done after class instead.

 

[ElizaB39]

Improper grammar drives me nuts. However, I tell my daughter, who is in public school and the accelerated program, it is not your place to correct the teacher unless s/he asks you to. She has had a teacher ask the class as a whole to find errors in test textbooks and etc. That is a different matter than what the OP is talking about.

It makes me crazy to have her teachers tell her, "when you're done your homework..." or pronounce "saw" as "sawl" with an "L"! I am far from perfect, as are my children. I tell them they must use proper grammar I don't care what their teachers do, their teachers are not perfect and are allowed to make mistakes and misprounounce words.

We also have discussions about regional speech phrases; this is how I explain why teachers sometimes use improper grammer. In the midwest there are a few that we laugh at, "Wanna go with?" "Can you borrow me some money?" I grew up in the Upper Midwest and there are more I just can't think of them at this point.

JMO

I would not have emailed the teacher and I would have told my DD that she should not have corrected the teacher. And, yes, I too think some of the responses are skewed because of who the OP is.

 

[becka]

For me, it's not the fact that the teacher made a mistake. It sounds like the teacher was a wise-@## about it and pulled the old, "I'm right and you're wrong, neener, neener". So she was not only incorrect, she was also being a less than stellar teacher. Not the kind of attitude I'd want in a classroom.
Everybody makes mistakes but everyone should also be willing to take a second look at a situation and own up to their mistakes.

Maybe the students were the ones being smart with the teacher about it in the first place. Once again they are human and the teacher was technically right - it is a word - although it does not sound like a discussion of the proper usage was discussed at the time. Perhaps the teacher was trying to get the class back to focusing on math rather than grammar.

As for how I am responding to the OP well honestly I never even looked to see who the OP was so that is not coloring my response.

 

[wvrevy]

I dunno...maybe I'm biased, since I got in trouble one time for correcting a teacher...who sent me to the principal over it. My mom's reaction on receiving the call? "Was he (I) right?" (Oh, and that was math class too...but it was a math problem that I (correctly) corrected the teacher on...and no, I hadn't developed into quite the smart aleck then that I am today )

Bob...Annoyed or not, the teacher was wrong, and should have admitted as such, even if they felt the need to slap down - figuratively, of course - the student for interrupting class. Not doing so - to me - would seem to indicate a deeper issue.

 

[mickeyfan2]

But, she's TEACHING the kids! She should be teaching correctly.

Her job it so teach MATH correctly and that is what she is doing.

 

[mickeyfan2]

But, it bothers me since it's such a high-rated high school.

Would it bother you less if she was in a failing school?

 

[declansdad]

My daughter is going to a very academically exclusive high school. Yesterday, her math (not English, thank goodness) teacher used the word, "Irregardless". My daughter immediately recognized that it wasn't a proper word, of course, but chose not to say anything. Another student piped up, "That's not a word." The teacher said, "Yes, it is." So, a few other students, including my daughter, stated that it was not a word.

The teacher brought a dictionary to one of the other students and had him look it up. The student looked up "regardless" and found it. So, he stated-- incorrectly-- that it WAS a word.

The teacher then said, "I told you it was a word." And, she proceeded to use this 'word' three more times (extra loudly) throughout the class.

What would you do, if anything? I wound up emailing the teacher to let her know it is not a word, but I emailed her anonymously! I included sources.

I guess there are bigger issues in the world, but this high school is one of the top 50 in the country. Opinions?

It is a word, just one that many people do not like to use.

It was really big of you to email the teacher anonymously.

 

[marlasmom]

I expect a professional in a professional setting to act appropriately. I am disturbed by the teacher's ignorance. Math teacher or not, she or he should have some rudimentary knowledge to get even an undergraduate degree.

 

[Cool-Beans]

My daughter is going to a very academically exclusive high school. Yesterday, her math (not English, thank goodness) teacher used the word, "Irregardless". My daughter immediately recognized that it wasn't a proper word, of course, but chose not to say anything. Another student piped up, "That's not a word." The teacher said, "Yes, it is." So, a few other students, including my daughter, stated that it was not a word.

The teacher brought a dictionary to one of the other students and had him look it up. The student looked up "regardless" and found it. So, he stated-- incorrectly-- that it WAS a word.

The teacher then said, "I told you it was a word." And, she proceeded to use this 'word' three more times (extra loudly) throughout the class.

What would you do, if anything? I wound up emailing the teacher to let her know it is not a word, but I emailed her anonymously! I included sources.

I guess there are bigger issues in the world, but this high school is one of the top 50 in the country. Opinions?

I would remind my kid that it is rude to correct other people's grammar, even if someone else did it first. Then I'd remind her that she is a kid and has no business correcting adults, because that's rude, too.

Then I'd remind her that she's in math class and should concentrate on learning math. There will be many times in her life that she needs to put aside the grammar and diction and concentrate on the message. She may as well learn to do it now.

My brother took college math from a teacher who spoke absolutely NO ENGLISH. The guy spoke German and was far too busy being a math whiz to bother learning a new language. If your daughter's high school is good enough (and she is smart enough) to get her into an Ivy League school, she'd better be prepared for LOTS of teachers who haven't totally mastered the language.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I expect a professional in a professional setting to act appropriately. I am disturbed by the teacher's ignorance. Math teacher or not, she or he should have some rudimentary knowledge to get even an undergraduate degree.

Yeah, let's start yanking degrees away from every teacher who uses improper grammar.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Bob...Annoyed or not, the teacher was wrong, and should have admitted as such, even if they felt the need to slap down - figuratively, of course - the student for interrupting class. Not doing so - to me - would seem to indicate a deeper issue.

But the teacher did have another student look up and report that the teacher was correct. So the student from this top notched school cannot even use a dictionary correctly. We do not know how the teacher would have reacted if the student had said it is not in the dictionary.
Did I pass the spelling test?