Who will admit to some Mini-Tigermom-Moments?

[Belacqua]

 

I've been called tiger-ish, but I don't have specific instances, other than me telling my kids that yes, there is such a thing as a stupid question and you'd better not waste my time with one. :tongue_smilie:

 

You're my hero.

 

My son once had a seriously intimidating math professor who, on the first day of class, said, "You are permitted to ask questions. But please do not ask stupid ones." I'm amazed anybody had the guts to raise his hand at all.

[Georgiana Daniels]

You're my hero.

 

My son once had a seriously intimidating math professor who, on the first day of class, said, "You are permitted to ask questions. But please do not ask stupid ones." I'm amazed anybody had the guts to raise his hand at all.

 

Awww, thanks :) Hope my kids think that someday too, hee hee!

[kiana]

Can we talk reverse psychology as well? :D

 

Once I told my middle daughter something like this when she did not finish her Greek: "I am sorry, amore. I had overestimated you, I thought you would be able to do it. It is really not your fault, I understand that amount of lines was simply too difficult for you, that is okay, we do not have equal skills and possibilities. [sigh] I got carried away a little and forgot what was realistic for you."

 

The kid's jaw dropped.

About half an hour later, she came furious to my desk with the full translation and: "You are going to underestimate me, eh? You are going to be telling me this is out of the realm of my possibilities? You have NO IDEA, watch out, I am so going to prove you wrong. Just how do you DARE to underestimate me like that?"

 

And of course, her translation was 100%. :glare: Be wishy-washy about it, and she will do a half-hearted, C-level work. Infuriate her, and you will get an A-level work. This approach wears off, though, you must be careful not to overuse it, LOL.

 

Nicely done. This approach worked well from my mother to me. If she wanted me to read a book carefully, she would tell me it was too difficult for me and in a few years when I was a better reader we'd go through it.

 

I didn't twig until I was 20. Then I phoned her and said "MOM!!!" and she admitted it and laughed rather a lot.

[AndyJoy]

And yet -a college professor who crumpled a student's paper would be called unprofessional. I still believe there are better ways to prevent a child from getting an F then demoralising them. :001_smile:

I had a huge amount of respect for my 6th grade teacher who tore up papers. She gave us very clear instructions and warned us that this was the consequence for disregarding them. It made a nice change from all the wishy-washy nicey-nice teachers I had who made empty threats and rarely enforced their own rules.

[spaceman]

I just thought of this thread today when:

 

My K'er showed me the thank you note he wrote to his Aunt and Uncle. It was terrible. After awhile, it was actually just scribbles. I told him that I would not mail it and that I knew he could do better. (this also wasn't his own initiative, we've been incorporating one thank you note everyday into our handwriting lessons...I typically sit with him, but today I had to blow my nose a bunch of times, deal with my other child, etc.).

 

Anyway, it was bad and I told him so. I told him I know he can do better and that I wasn't going to let him settle for that. He threw a giant fit, hid under the table for a few minutes, then went to "be alone".

 

When he came back, he had a very nice handwritten thank you note, even longer than the original. And he was proud of himself too.

[joannqn]

I had a huge amount of respect for my 6th grade teacher who tore up papers. She gave us very clear instructions and warned us that this was the consequence for disregarding them. It made a nice change from all the wishy-washy nicey-nice teachers I had who made empty threats and rarely enforced their own rules.

 

:iagree:

 

My favorite teacher, the one that finally helped me understand literary terms, was the one no one liked because she was mean. On the first day of school, she explained that there is no such thing as a perfect paper and she would not give 100% for any paper written. Not even accomplished classic authors would have been able earn a perfect score from her. She also refused to allow us to read Moby Dick because we'd butcher it. She chose a different novel for our class.