. . .irregardless

[babytrees]

Sorry...but by sending the email anonymously....it APPEARS you just wanted to be right, and get the "last word" in. It would be the email equivalent of shouting your opinion to someone and slamming the door, or an email "hit and run". I think that if you really felt strongly about this, you should've had a face to face discussion with the teacher.

....

If the math teacher gave incorrect math advice...then I can completely see debating the point. But, she was just speaking. It sounds to me like there might have been a room full of children who are very impressed with their own intelligence, and were snotty enough to point it out at the beginning of the school year. However, they are just kids. They will definitely have their eyes opened if they are fortunate enough to attend a highly competitive university. However, I am not sure what was your excuse?

Instead of allowing your dd to take part in finding fault with her teachers, why not ask your dd to try focusing on learning from them....THAT is her responsibility.

I think you ought to "fess up" and apologize to the teacher. Open genuine doors of communication, and allow her to give you her version of the events. I am just curious. Is your dd aware that you sent her teacher an email anonymously? If so, what kind of message is that sending to your dd?

Here's a good link to "Helicopter Parenting":
http://www.collegeboard.com/parents/plan/getting-ready/50129.html

I so agree with all you said here!!

 

[shortbun]

I really don't care what the issue was. I just have a hard time with a student interrupting a teacher in the middle of class to correct anything. I realize this is an elite school, but is it full of a bunch of pompous brats? Do they think they're more qualified than their college educated instructor? Teachers deserve respect. Sometimes the most important lessons aren't taught to our children.

Yeah, the teacher deserves respect. But, the teacher also should be open to students questioning and wanting clarification when they feel things are wrong or incorrect. I have NO problem with the student correcting the teacher. I think it is the student's job to be thinking and learning. We don't want our kids to be a bunch of sheep blindly following just any old flute player leading them down the path of the mundane! I don't agree with the student here though OR the o.p. It is a word, a dumb word that I prefer people not use but it's a word. I also think the OP should fess up as the parent who sent the email and give the teacher the respect she deserves as a teacher at one of the top schools in the country.

 

[sugarpie]

Yeah, the teacher deserves respect. But, the teacher also should be open to students questioning and wanting clarification when they feel things are wrong or incorrect. I have NO problem with the student correcting the teacher. I think it is the student's job to be thinking and learning. We don't want our kids to be a bunch of sheep blindly following just any old flute player leading them down the path of the mundane! I don't agree with the student here though OR the o.p. It is a word, a dumb word that I prefer people not use but it's a word. I also think the OP should fess up as the parent who sent the email and give the teacher the respect she deserves as a teacher at one of the top schools in the country.

Put yourself in the position of the teacher, you're teaching a MATH class & a student corrects your grammar. This students says irregardless is not a word. Well, I'm sorry, it is a word. Maybe not a proper word, but it is a word. The teacher probably reacted badly. I would just shrug it off & continue teaching MATH, if it were me.

And it's my understanding that this is an academically superior school, one of the top schools in the country, so I'm sure none of these kids use ANY slang words. Give me a break. Are they Stepford Children???

And you have to keep in mind that this is all coming someone who wasn't even in the room when this all happened.

 

[RitaZ.]

I think it's funny when some posters say that the teacher should have no problem recognizing the mistake and admitting it to the class. There are very very few posters on the DIS that ever "eat crow" or publicly admit to making a mistake. It's human nature, no one likes to be embarrassed in front of a crowd.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Put yourself in the position of the teacher, you're teaching a MATH class & a student corrects your grammar. This students says irregardless is not a word. Well, I'm sorry, it is a word. Maybe not a proper word, but it is a word. The teacher probably reacted badly. I would just shrug it off & continue teaching MATH, if it were me.

And it's my understanding that this is an academically superior school, one of the top schools in the country, so I'm sure none of these kids use ANY slang words. Give me a break. Are they Stepford Children???

And you have to keep in mind that this is all coming someone who wasn't even in the room when this all happened.

This is quite an entertaining thread.

I agree with you. Irregardless is a word, it is not a proper word, but a word none-the-less. Here's a definition from Merriam-Webster;

Main Entry: ir·re·gard·less
Pronunciation: "ir-i-'gärd-l&s
Function: adverb
Etymology: probably blend of irrespective and regardless
nonstandard : REGARDLESS
usage Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that "there is no such word." There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead."

The teacher was correct that it is a word, but it is not proper english. It was the math teacher, so I would be concerned about their ability to teach math. I think the OP went overboard by sending an email to the teacher.

'nuff said.

 

[Beca]

Yeah, the teacher deserves respect. But, the teacher also should be open to students questioning and wanting clarification when they feel things are wrong or incorrect. I have NO problem with the student correcting the teacher. I think it is the student's job to be thinking and learning. We don't want our kids to be a bunch of sheep blindly following just any old flute player leading them down the path of the mundane! I don't agree with the student here though OR the o.p. It is a word, a dumb word that I prefer people not use but it's a word. I also think the OP should fess up as the parent who sent the email and give the teacher the respect she deserves as a teacher at one of the top schools in the country.

You're right....correct a teacher...correct a boss....really, no one in the real world minds being corrected by a subordinate...

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

I transcribe medical reports for a living and let me tell you, doctors use irregardless OFTEN.

Grammar errors and spelling mistakes make me crazy, even on the boards. I notice, probably because of my job, and my English major in high school.

But I was brought up to believe that correcting people's grammar and spelling, unless it was RELEVANT, such as if the Vice President misspelled potato, was rude and simply a way to make others feel less intelligent. And it does. I would NEVER give someone a hard time on here about spelling or grammar. The only purpose it would serve is to make me look like a holier than thou nitpicker.

Even in my reports, when they say irregardless, I TYPE irregardless. We only make corrections in obviously huge grammar errors. Why? Because when the doctor reads that report, he may think....I said "irregardless" there. So, these typists think they know better than me??? And POW, he is calling up the supervisor, having a hissy fit. Since it is a word, albeit an incorrect one, it gets through at my company. We solve the ain't problem by not typing ANY contractions that are not in a direct quote from a patient.

It may not be a proper word, regardless is much better, IMHO. But, calling out someone like that? I think maybe the kids should be paying more attention in a class about the feelings of others, rather than policing the math teachers grammar and word usage.

I type for a living and make typos. The teacher was human. He believed he was right. Holy cow....light the torches and gather the mob!!

 

[Florida_Mom]

It is silly to expect someone to speak perfect English prose as if they were writing an academic paper all the time. I teach college freshmen (and see tons and tons of grammar problems), but when we're talking in class, I certainly don't have the same standard that I do when I'm reading their academic papers with all perfect English standard words. If I did, that would mean no contractions could be said in my class, no cliches, no abbreviations, no personal pronouns such as "you", and all comments would have to have bibliographic citations.

There are some spoken things that drive me batty, but I don't interrupt students when they say them:

Nucular
electorial college

Obviously no one has interrupted the president over "nucular" because he still says it that way. Maybe at the next press conference David Gregory should just make a mention of it.

 

[Uncle Remus]

It is silly to expect someone to speek perfect English prose as if they were writing an academic paper all the time. I teach college freshmen (and see tons and tons of grammar problems), but when we're talking in class, I certainly don't have the same standard that I do when I'm reading their academic papers with all perfect English standard words. If I did, that would mean no contractions could be said in my class, no cliches, no abbreviations, no personal pronouns such as "you", and all comments would have to have bibliographic citations.

There are some spoken things that drive me batty, but I don't interrupt students when they say them:

Nucular
electorial college

Obviously no one has interrupted the president over "nucular" because he still says it that way. Maybe at the next press conference David Gregory should just make a mention of it.

Okay class, now on to Spelling!
Florida Mom, just teasin', I'm sure that's a typo!!

 

[crazee4mickey]

You are kidding right?!! You actually emailed the teacher...anonymously?! WTH!
Other than trying to prove you were right, what exactly did you hope to gain from this?
I can't believe you think this is a big deal....I agree with other posters when they say "this is a math teacher" not a grammar/English teacher.
I seriously don't get what you hope to accomplish other than to make the teacher look foolish and "dumb" in your daughter's eyes

 

[disykat]

Obviously no one has interrupted the president over "nucular" because he still says it that way. Maybe at the next press conference David Gregory should just make a mention of it.

I'm sure it's been pointed out to him. My husband is in the nuclear energy and still has coworkers who say it wrong. They certainly know better.

I agree with you - sometimes people have bad speaking habits and those things slip out. It doesn't necessarily mean they don't know it's incorrect.

I also know lots of pretty intelligent people who say incorrect things, not realizing they're incorrect because they've heard others use it. DH had some gramatical errors and incorrect pronunciations that drove me nuts when I met him. When I knew him well enough to point them out, he had to look them up in a dictionary to believe me. He grew up listening to his family and simply imitated them. (have + went together, eye-talian) He thought they were okay because that's how he heard them his entire life. I have a friend who says "flustrated". She thinks it's a real word and I've never said differently to her - I've heard her husband use it too. They reinforce each other.

In the OP teacher's case, we don't know if she will eat crow and change her habits if she knows she's wrong - because she thought she was proven right according to a dictionary.

 

[ford family]

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.

The official languages of Swaziland are Swazi and English.
Guess you didn't learn as much history as you thought?

ford family

 

[declansdad]

The official languages of Swaziland are Swazi and English.
Guess you didn't learn as much history as you thought?

ford family

That doesn't mean his first language would be English.

Canada's official languages are English and French but there are still many people who cannot speak either language.

 

[ford family]

That doesn't mean his first language would be English.

Canada's official languages are English and French but there are still many people who cannot speak either language.

Actually, it does. Go to www.gov.sz and check out the Education Department.
As for Canada, I do not believe that there are citizens, born in Canada, educated in either the English speaking or French speaking provinces who reach adulthood and cannot speak either language.

ford family

 

[Bob Slydell]

The official languages of Swaziland are Swazi and English.
Guess you didn't learn as much history as you thought?

ford family

A. What does history class have to do with the official languages of countries? Did you learn all the country's official languages in your history class in high school?

B. So what if one of the "official" languages of Swaziland is English. All I said was that it wasn't his first language. Mainly, because he told us so on the first day of class and apologized in advance if his English was bad.

 

[LuvDuke]

I can't believe this trainwreck is still chugging along. This could be a new episode of Seinfeld.

 

[ford family]

A. What does history class have to do with the official languages of countries? Did you learn all the country's official languages in your history class in high school?

B. So what if one of the "official" languages of Swaziland is English. All I said was that it wasn't his first language. Mainly, because he told us so on the first day of class and apologized in advance if his English was bad.

A. Yes. How can you learn about the history of a country without learning how they came to speak the language they use?
B. I understand that all teaching in Swaziland since before WWll has been in English as the country was a British Protectorate from 1902 to 1968. All graduates courses are in English. Your Swaziland national teacher could have gone to school before then (I don't know when you were in school yourself) or perhaps was apologising for his heavily accented English. I don't know his original language but I do know that your original statement that "English was far from his first language" is incorrect.

ford family

 

[Sirius]

I can't believe this trainwreck is still chugging along. This could be a new episode of Seinfeld.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Beth76]

I don't know his original language but I do know that your original statement that "English was far from his first language" is incorrect.

OK seriously? You are seriously arguing about the language of someone you've never met? What's the relevence anyway? Just to prove Bob wrong? Why? That's not even the main point of this thread.

 

[ZuZugal]

I can't believe this trainwreck is still chugging along. This could be a new episode of Seinfeld.

Although Seinfeld is my ALL TIME favorite show, I've got to admit, who needs it? We've got the DIS!!