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DD9 has the same 4th grade teacher DD13 did. When DD13 was in her class, we had homework issues with the teacher marking problems wrong that weren't wrong and not marking problems that were wrong. DD would sometimes get confused when she saw her graded papers and start second-guessing whether she knew how to do the problems after all. It didn't happen all the time, but it happened enough that I decided to address it with the teacher. When I tried to approach the teacher about one paper in particular that seemed to be graded rather sloppily (I didn't use that wording!), she essentially blew me off, made an excuse, and acted like it wasn't a big deal since DD was doing well in math and all her other subjects. It didn't happen again after that except once or twice, so I thought maybe that discussion was enough to get things back on track.

 

Fast forward to the new school year. DD9 showed me her very first math paper last night and asked me to help her because she didn't really understand some of the things they were discussing with regard to place value. While glancing at the paper they went over together in class, I noticed that one of the answers DD had written down was wrong. DD confirmed she wrote down what the teacher said. She told me she almost raised her hand to ask the teacher if it was right because she thought it should be a different answer, but she didn't end up saying anything even though she didn't get it, as no other students seemed to take issue with the answer. The problem listed something like one hundred eight thousand nine hundred sixty four, then the students had to write down the numeral that the words represented. The answer the teacher had given was 118,964. No wonder DD was confused! 

 

I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I don't want to just ignore it either since we had the same issue with this teacher before. I know that teachers have to grade a lot of papers and don't spend a lot of time checking homework. However, when they make errors while checking papers—especially when going over problems in class during their class instruction—that's a problem. I suspect this will be an even bigger issue this year because the school recently changed from Saxon to a Common Core-aligned program (Go Math), so it's new to the teachers as well as the students, and some of the terms and problem-solving techniques are different from what they learned in earlier grades. 

 

I'm going to carefully check over DD's homework and her graded papers and incorporate more hands-on math instruction in our afterschooling, and I will bring it to the teacher's attention if it continues to be an issue and DD is reluctant to bring it up herself. But I also want to encourage DD to talk more in class and ask questions, not be afraid to speak up if she spots an error, and to address homework discrepancies directly with her teacher. She isn't a know-it-all like I was in school; looking back, I know I was sometimes too cheeky and presumptuous when I corrected my teachers, and I don't want to inadvertently encourage that kind of behavior. 

 

I'm sorry this is so long. If you're still with me, I'd appreciate feedback on these two items:

1. How would you handle errors on homework checking and classroom exercises with your child's teacher?

 

2. How do you encourage your kids to be confident, ask questions, and point out incorrect information without being disrespectful to the teacher?

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It is possible that your daughter heard "eight" when the teacher said "eighteen."

 

I would encourage your daughter to ask for clarification as needed.  If she is afraid of seeming annoying or dumb (or a smarta$$), maybe set a suggested limit, say, 2 or 3 questions per class.  Explain that being able to ask questions and articulate the thought process in math are important skills.

 

Keep your eyes open and save the math papers for future reference.  If there is a pattern that indicates the lady does not actually know math well enough to teach it, that is obviously a big problem, and I think it should be brought up to her superiors.  I am not sure exactly how to go about this, because I've never done that.  Maybe someone else on here has advice on how to navigate that.  I mean, you don't want to get the lady fired, but the fourth grade needs to learn math somehow.

 

Good luck.

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I think it is likely this teacher isn't very good at math.

 

What I wanted to add, though, was the idea that everybody makes mistakes in math. In fact, I would wager that elementary and secondary teachers better in math make more errors than teachers poor at math. Why? Because teachers better at math will do more solving of questions spontaneously/off the cuff, whereas those poor in math will have pre-written every problem and step they will be presenting.

 

I've been taking some math/physics classes at the local university this past year. My math and physics teachers with PhD's have been pretty impressive, but all of them have made errors. In particular the differential equation class I just finished, there were many simple algebraic errors pointed out by students. None of these professors got upset when the students questioned the numbers. One amusingly would say, oh, shoot! when he made a mistake.  I think it's a strong signal that those good at math don't get upset when questioned about the accuracy of an answer - they all know they will make mistakes and it doesn't undermine their feeling of competency about the subject. On the other hand, were the reaction of a teacher to be defensive, I would be much more concerned about his/her competency.

 

I try reinforce for my son the "everybody makes mistakes" lesson. Then, if a teacher makes a mistake, it's not a shock or an indication of incompetency. It's normal. And he can handle his own mistakes much better as well. Then he is also more willing to question the teacher, but hopefully not in an antagonistic fashion.

 

 

 

 

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That was the only issue this week. For now I'm going to keep checking papers carefully and encourage DD to raise her hand if she doesn't understand an answer. I'm not thrilled with the math program the school is using, so I want to supplement her math instruction anyway.

 

Asking to change teachers would likely cause more problems than it would solve for various reasons, and I'd only consider that if it became absolutely necessary. I don't know anything about the other teacher, nor do I have any indication she would be a significantly better teacher.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

1. How would you handle errors on homework checking and classroom exercises with your child's teacher?

 

2. How do you encourage your kids to be confident, ask questions, and point out incorrect information without being disrespectful to the teacher?

 

My kids had similar problems with a few teachers in elementary and junior high school. Usually I would look over graded homework and tests that came home and would go over the errors with my kids myself. Unless the teachers appreciated feedback, I didn't bother trying to correct them. Some are very resistant to having their mistakes corrected. My kids eventually learned which teachers were okay with a student pointing out an error and which were not.

 

I would still encourage your child to ask questions even if the teacher might not know the correct answers; however, I'd encourage them to also ask you because some teachers truly do not know the material they are teaching.

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I agree that I would go over the schoolwork to correct any errors.

 

I would talk to my child about raising her hand during class instruction if she thinks an error has been made by the teacher.  BUT I would teach her how to word that question.  Because as SKL pointed out, sometimes the children mishear or misunderstand something.  She could raise her hand and ask as in the example in your original post, Can you tell my why it's eighteen and not eight?  I thought it was eight and I'm confused.  Of course, it might be uncomfortable for your child to expose herself in front of classmates if she really did misunderstand but I try to teach my children that it is better to ask and learn something than to keep quiet and not understand.  It's a great life skill because it is funny to me how many adults are scared of asking for clarification because they are afraid of looking dumb.  My parents are like that so I had to teach myself this skill as an adult and I have learned so much from not being afraid to ask questions or "look dumb."

 

I would encourage her to ask questions in class but in the meantime, I would also tell her be sure you come home and ask me any questions if you are confused and I will try to help you.  If she's too afraid to speak up in class, you don't want her to clam up at home because she doesn't want you to know she's not asking questions of the teacher.  In that case, you might have to approach the teacher and tell her sometimes your daughter is confused in class but afraid to speak up.  Does she have any recommendations for how to handle this?  I personally would word it this way so you are not directly attacking the teacher's math skills...I know other people are more direct but I find you get much more from teachers when you approach them collaboratively.

 

If a parent came to me with that concern, I would be on the alert as a teacher to encourage that child to ask questions and I would also discreetly check in with that child to be sure she is understanding the materials.  And if I had made an error, I would probably discover it then in going over the problem in question.

 

 

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