Evil Pre-Calc Teacher Ruining DDs Grades

[mathnerd]

To add to those who've said this needs reporting - start getting a paper trail.

 

"Dear Evil Prof, I asked after class today if I could meet with you to discuss my recent assignments, and your response was that I should 'just get a tutor.' This is the same response you gave on the [however many] other occasions when I've asked the same question. Please confirm that I have understood correctly: You refuse to meet with me for this purpose. If I have misunderstood, when are you available to meet?"

 

Except, you know, use his name instead of "Evil Prof." ;)

I agree - except in my case, this email would be from me instead of my son and I would CC the Principal so that everyone is kept in the loop. I am all for self-advocacy - but, when a child needs to battle a grown up in a position of power in a situation that is obviously unfair to the child, I will get involved - not only to resolve the issue but also to be able to model the actions that need to be taken when faced with such a situation.

 

In this case, a W is better than any grade that this prof will give out to your daughter. I also would state in the email that due to the repeated unavailability of the prof to meet with your daughter as well as to answer her questions, your daughter has decided to drop out of the class and pursue this course elsewhere.

Edited September 26, 2016 by mathnerd

[mamiof5]

I would talk to everyone and their mom if possible. Yes, meeting with both teacher and principal at the same time. Maybe school board if there's one? Would also let his college know. AND, I'd request someone else goes over my dd's tests and assignments to make sure they were properly graded.

 

First I'd probably email the professor stating everything that has happened, and requesting to meet with him and principal. I'd CC the principal and let him know principal was CCd, and end requesting prompt action and a meeting ASAP.

Edited September 26, 2016 by mamiof5

[goldberry]

OP, one thing I would look into before meeting with the principal or instructor (or complaining about the instructor to the college) would be whether the college and/or HS records withdrawals as just a plain W or as W/P or W/F. When I was in college, withdrawals were always listed on the transcript as W/P or W/F to show whether students were passing or failing the course when they withdrew. Personally I would withdraw before speaking to anyone about the issue anyway, but if there is any possibility of the instructor listing your DD as "W/F" then I would definitely not say anything until after the grade was recorded. 

 

Whoa, I will check into that.  She is passing right now, I would guess with a C.  Her previous grade was 82, and the last three assignments are not recorded yet online.

[SKL]

The problem with meeting the teacher & principal is, it's gonna go like this:

 

"I never said that, Student must have misunderstood.  I have no idea what she's talking about.  I think she's trying to cover for the fact that she let things slide and is having trouble catching up.  Of course I will meet with her any time.  How about tomorrow at 3pm?  I will spend as long as you need.  I'm so glad we had this conversation, it's important for you to tell me if you need help.  I have an open door policy."

 

And then things get worse.

[SparklyUnicorn]

The problem with meeting the teacher & principal is, it's gonna go like this:

 

"I never said that, Student must have misunderstood.  I have no idea what she's talking about.  I think she's trying to cover for the fact that she let things slide and is having trouble catching up.  Of course I will meet with her any time.  How about tomorrow at 3pm?  I will spend as long as you need.  I'm so glad we had this conversation, it's important for you to tell me if you need help.  I have an open door policy."

 

And then things get worse.

 

Yup

 

That's why it might be better to just drop the class. 

 

[goldberry]

That alone is not an issue.

Getting a  correct answer does not mean all the reasoning is correct. The teacher also may have requirements for how the solution has to be written out. Requiring compete equations ("x=...") is perfectly reasonable; a random expression or number on the page does not constitute a valid answer to a problem that asked for x. 

 

 

I don't disagree with you completely here, but all the marks on that assignment were strictly what he even called "formatting" errors and not methodology. Some of his comments were, "don't you know you always put such and such on the left side, not the right side..."  That kind of thing.  It was things she said were not even mentioned in her College Algebra class.

 

I thought a test with all correct answers being marked off down to a C for formatting was a bit excessive.  But, even then I would not have brought that up in isolation. I really want someone who knows math to look at these last assignments she failed, and see exactly what he is marking off for.

 

I found out the drop date is October 25th.  I think we are going to work with a tutor before then and see how the tutors method and evaluation compare to the profs.

[goldberry]

The problem with meeting the teacher & principal is, it's gonna go like this:

 

"I never said that, Student must have misunderstood.  I have no idea what she's talking about.  I think she's trying to cover for the fact that she let things slide and is having trouble catching up.  Of course I will meet with her any time.  How about tomorrow at 3pm?  I will spend as long as you need.  I'm so glad we had this conversation, it's important for you to tell me if you need help.  I have an open door policy."

 

And then things get worse.

 

Exactly.  

[ktgrok]

Up until now, DD has been handling it on her own.  Would it be appropriate for me to request a meeting with this guy and with DD?  (with me there also I mean)

 

As she is still a high school student, and this happened on high school grounds, yes I think so. Don't schools say they want involved parents?

[Another Lynn]

I don't disagree with you completely here, but all the marks on that assignment were strictly what he even called "formatting" errors and not methodology. Some of his comments were, "don't you know you always put such and such on the left side, not the right side..." That kind of thing. It was things she said were not even mentioned in her College Algebra class.

 

I thought a test with all correct answers being marked off down to a C for formatting was a bit excessive. But, even then I would not have brought that up in isolation. I really want someone who knows math to look at these last assignments she failed, and see exactly what he is marking off for.

 

I found out the drop date is October 25th. I think we are going to work with a tutor before then and see how the tutors method and evaluation compare to the profs.

Yes, but do you want to give him more opportunity to drop her grade? I'd drop now before he gives her more low marks. (Really, he sounds so "off"!). Especially if you find out it will be W/p or W/f.

[GinaPagnato]

I would raise hell with the principal. Not your DD, but you. I'm all for kids learning how to advocate for themselves, but sometimes it takes a parent.

 

Exactly.

 

And no way would I have her withdraw before I brought down all manner of *&!#$!@ on this guy's head. I would go to the principal and DEMAND an audience with him and the teacher. This incompetent ass has no business ruining diligent students' grades.

[Annie G]

The problem with meeting the teacher & principal is, it's gonna go like this:

 

"I never said that, Student must have misunderstood.  I have no idea what she's talking about.  I think she's trying to cover for the fact that she let things slide and is having trouble catching up.  Of course I will meet with her any time.  How about tomorrow at 3pm?  I will spend as long as you need.  I'm so glad we had this conversation, it's important for you to tell me if you need help.  I have an open door policy."

 

And then things get worse.

 

Well, maybe. But meeting with the teacher isn't helping. And meeting w the principal isn't going to help because he's not going to do anything before checking the instructor's side of the story.  Meeting all together at least gives the girl a chance to mention that she's frustrated that when she goes to his office hours his only help has been to suggest a tutor.  And be able to defend her side of the story.    It might not help and dropping the class might be the best option. But you can't always throw up your hands and drop a class without giving the school a chance to improve the situation.  

 

It's a great lesson for her dd, too. Advocate for herself at two levels, then decide the best course of action. We've had to intervene or prompt our kids to advocate for themselves three times- twice in high school and once in college. Each time we've walked away with some level of satisfaction. 

[nd293]

Oh, also he won't return test papers. He says that's a college policy? He lets them look at the test for about 5 minutes then collects them. So she asked for a meeting with him where she could review it and he could explain what he marked. He refused, and again told her to just get a tutor.

She should go back to the principal again, and insist that her grades are reviewed. The squeaky wheel gets the oil - if she complained once and went away, they might not take it that seriously. If she comes back with another issue they will have to. But this does depend on whether she trusts the principal. At this stage I'd probably get involved as a parent.

[Farrar]

The fact that she went to his office hours and he refused to talk to her is such an enormous red flag and seems so personally targeted. I had a professor do something similar to me and I ended up getting the Dean of Students involved. The professor basically got chastised for it - which didn't improve how he treated me like crap in class, targeting me and saying bizarre, sexist things, but it did help my grade. I'm pretty sure he was afraid to downgrade me after that whole affair, not when I could show I had completed all the work.

[goldberry]

Talked to DD some more tonight.  She said the last two assignments she did poorly on were legitimate.  Ever since the most recent incident when he basically called her group stupid for asking a question, she has no longer been asking questions during class.  She's afraid of him now.  The last chapter they covered she didn't really understand properly, but was afraid to say anything to him.  

 

This has been discouraging to her because she loves math, and taking a ding to her self-confidence has made it easier for her to be intimidated.  

 

Right now she wants to pursue tutoring and see how that goes.  She does not want to talk to the guy or for me to talk to the guy or to the principal.  We will do the tutoring and keep a close eye on things as we get closer to the withdraw date.

 

ETA, Dealing with Jerks 101....

Edited September 27, 2016 by goldberry

[Anne in CA]

As she is still a high school student, and this happened on high school grounds, yes I think so. Don't schools say they want involved parents?

Schools SAY they want involved parents, what they MEAN is that they want parents to raise lots of money for pet projects and back them up 100%. They do not want parents to help make things better or advocate for their kids. They just don't, IME. But you still have to advocate even though the school considers the person complaining to be the real problem.

[Annie G]

Best wishes to your daughter. Hope the tutoring works out for her and gives her the confidence to start asking questions as needed.  But mostly I hope she just gets  her math mojo back. 

[goldberry]

Best wishes to your daughter. Hope the tutoring works out for her and gives her the confidence to start asking questions as needed.  But mostly I hope she just gets  her math mojo back. 

 

:laugh:  Yes, this!

[mamiof5]

I really hope she can work something out! A teacher can encourage the love for a subject or make the student hate it. This guy should not be a professor.

[SKL]

Talked to DD some more tonight.  She said the last two assignments she did poorly on were legitimate.  Ever since the most recent incident when he basically called her group stupid for asking a question, she has no longer been asking questions during class.  She's afraid of him now.  The last chapter they covered she didn't really understand properly, but was afraid to say anything to him.  

 

This has been discouraging to her because she loves math, and taking a ding to her self-confidence has made it easier for her to be intimidated.  

 

Right now she wants to pursue tutoring and see how that goes.  She does not want to talk to the guy or for me to talk to the guy or to the principal.  We will do the tutoring and keep a close eye on things as we get closer to the withdraw date.

 

ETA, Dealing with Jerks 101....

 

I'm glad you have time before she has to decide about a "W."

 

One of my college math classes (when I was about 17) went like that.  The teacher wasn't as bad as this, but I didn't like him and I lost motivation about halfway through.  Ended up with a C, when I was normally an A student.  But your daughter has a much better plan than I had.  :)  (The math grade wasn't important to my future career.)

[Ali in OR]

You know, when I used to teach math I was kind of anti-tutor (as were my teaching peers) as we thought we explained what students needed to know and having a tutor made some kids think they didn't need to listen in class. After seeing how many of my daughter's math classes are run, I am now very much pro-tutor. Maybe some of that comes from our home school model. Dd has been in classes with some weaknesses in teaching, but perhaps more importantly, there isn't really a check-for-understanding other than the all important quizzes or tests. Homework problems are not reviewed in any way. My dd often does fine, but if she misses one key idea, she can do a whole assignment wrong and never know it until she can't do it on a test. I now go over her homework with her and can say "looks good" when she's got it or re-teach when she doesn't. That step is missing in her school, and in her teachers' defense, a full teaching load for them is 6 classes of 30-35 kids (in my old school full load was 5 classes). It's hard for them to gauge each student's personal level of understanding, but a tutor can be a big help there.

[goldberry]

So she failed another assignment.  He took 1/4 off each question where she didn't draw the lines all the way to the edges of the graph.  I don't know if that's normal or not...?  She doesn't remember him discussing that before.

 

She is going back through her papers and making a checksheet of everything he marked off for, so she can make sure she is avoiding any previous mistakes.

 

She went in on her own and talked to the advisor today, and he said she should find outside resources if she needs them.  Thanks. :glare:\

 

Tutor session set for next Monday though.

Edited September 28, 2016 by goldberry

[Katy]

Oh goodness.  Go into the principal's office with the papers and explain that if he doesn't override this teacher and give your child the grades she deserves  TODAY you'll be informing the entire school board and all the local news stations tomorrow.  The media has been loving stories about rotten charter schools ever since John Oliver did that episode about them a while back.

[Katy]

For those who don't watch JO: 

 

 

[bolt.]

It doesn't seem "evil" to me that this prof assigns a significant portion of his grades towards requiring proper math formatting. It's an extremely important skill.

 

Scientists have to do experiments cleanly, correctly and completely -- not just get to the data in the end. English requires significant attention to spelling, grammar and citations.

 

Math isn't (just) about answers. It's also about process, and properly formatted notation is part of that.

 

A "C" represents "adequate" work that is not yet good, very good, or excellent. It seems like the right mark for a test that fumbles it's way towards correct answers by unclear methods, while making poor formatting decisions. It's not necessarily 'marked down' from some other higher mark the correct answers 'deserved'. Answers without proper support don't deserve full marks (even if they are correct).

 

Now, calling people stupid, and not allowing students time to think through errors by viewing their test documents for a reasonable time... Those things aren't good. They might be evil. But those things aren't what she is losing marks over. She's loosing marks over formatting. She can fix that, and she sounds like she is well on her way to doing so.

 

I reccomended that you help your DD separate his personal conduct from his marking style and specific requirements. Requirements are easy. People are hard.

[Epicurean]

I just want to step in to say that my DH teaches precalc (along with calc, calc II, brief calc, etc.) at a community college. Regarding drawing the lines and taking off for it, he says, "That is one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard. I don't know of any coworkers who take off points for things like that, and if they did, they'd probably not be hired back by the college when the department found out what they were doing."

 

He is also surprised that he wouldn't be fired for refusing to give her one-on-one attention during office hours. That's the whole point of office hours. Blowing off a student and just telling them to get a tutor is beyond the pale.

 

This is not normal.

 

 

[Guest]

Schools SAY they want involved parents, what they MEAN is that they want parents to raise lots of money for pet projects and back them up 100%. They do not want parents to help make things better or advocate for their kids. They just don't, IME. But you still have to advocate even though the school considers the person complaining to be the real problem.

Bingo.

[Farrar]

It doesn't seem "evil" to me that this prof assigns a significant portion of his grades towards requiring proper math formatting. It's an extremely important skill.

 

That's fine. But it sounds like it's one that he's not explicitly teaching in class and is name calling the students about when they don't automatically know it, even though some of it is new to the subject or not the formatting they've ever been required to use before. And when she wanted to talk to him during his office hours, he turned her away.

 

Honestly, in this situation, I don't know how much help a tutor would be. I think being on this kid's side may mean dropping the class. When I think back to my own youth, the times that I feuded with teachers and my mother didn't have my back were, honestly, the things I still find hurtful in her parenting. If she knew it was unfair yet didn't help me fight or figure out what to do.

[goldberry]

I just want to step in to say that my DH teaches precalc (along with calc, calc II, brief calc, etc.) at a community college. Regarding drawing the lines and taking off for it, he says, "That is one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard. I don't know of any coworkers who take off points for things like that, and if they did, they'd probably not be hired back by the college when the department found out what they were doing."

 

 

 

Thanks for that input.  It's hard when I don't know enough myself to know what is normal. 

 

Bolt, if you saw her papers you might understand better.  She is documenting all her steps and in the correct order.  He is marking off for things she has never even heard of before, and things he certainly hasn't told them before he marks off for them.  Sure he can have standards and requirements.  It's just somewhat of a jerkish move to not even state them and then give failing grades.

 

This is pre-calc.  Not an advanced class where students are already expected to know all these rules that are not written down anywhere.

Edited September 29, 2016 by goldberry

[Corraleno]

Bolt, if you saw her papers you might understand better.  She is documenting all her steps and in the correct order.  He is marking off for things she has never even heard of before, and things he certainly hasn't told them before he marks off for them.  Sure he can have standards and requirements.  It's just somewhat of a jerkish move to not even state them and then give failing grades.

 

And then refuse to meet with her when she's explicitly asking for explanations!

 

This doesn't sound like a tough but fair teacher with high standards. This sounds like an insecure bully who's more concerned about "catching out" students on trivial things instead of focusing on whether they are learning and understanding the math. How is a tutor going to help her understand his idiosyncratic rules and grading rubrics? That's something only he can explain — and he refuses!

 

I would drop the class. Life's too short (and math's too interesting) to put up with crap like that. (IMHO)

[goldberry]

He finally agreed to meet with her tomorrow to go over the most recent paper.  They are doing a test in class tomorrow (1st period), and he tried telling her first that it wouldn't help to meet with her because she would already have taken the test.  ???  She was firm that she still wanted to meet with him and he acquiesced. 

 

I'm hoping the tutor at least gets her the concepts down solid, so that it will be more clear what are real issues and what are his problems. I don't know the math myself, and I'm not a parent that automatically assumes my kid is not at fault. DH said, when you're dealing with a jerk, you can't give them an inch to get you with.  You have to be perfect so you put it all back on them.  DD and I both like the idea of a third party viewpoint here.  

 

Like I said, she is making a list of all the quirks so far, so that at least she doesn't repeat anything he has already marked off for.

[Janeway]

It's too late to drop without it showing up on her record.  This is technically a college course.

A W is better than an F.

 

Did she take any other classes at this school? If not, she would not even need to produce this transcript. 

[Katy]

If I were her, I'd clear out some memory on my phone and turn on the audio record function right as she goes in the door.  The principal might not hear her, but the school board will certainly understand the threat of going to the press over abuse, especially with proof.

 

 

ETA:  Sorry if I'm pressing too hard on this issue, but I was your DD in high school. I had an AWFUL math instructor, who did not know how to answer any sort of question.  She had the spiel of a lesson memorized from the teacher's manual, but didn't seem to understand the concepts.  We were in the 2-years advanced class, so we all knew she didn't know what she was talking about. The kids would take turns figuring it out or even going to another teacher and then teaching each other.  My mom did not believe me until parents night.  During which some parent asked the teacher a very innocent question and that teacher got just as defensive and condescending to the parents as she did to us during class. She couldn't explain herself, all she could say was that she understood this better than anyone because she had a master's degree.  :huh:   I'm still bothered by the memories when I think back.   Apparently the year before someone whose parent was on the school board had a similar problem with her, but the problem wasn't so clearcut that they could fire her.  They DID force her to retire two years later though. When she annoyed a different parent on the school board, the teachers union could no longer protect her.  Plus, I think she was at the earliest possible retirement age at that point.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Katy

[mom2samlibby]

Talked to DD some more tonight.  She said the last two assignments she did poorly on were legitimate.  Ever since the most recent incident when he basically called her group stupid for asking a question, she has no longer been asking questions during class.  She's afraid of him now.  The last chapter they covered she didn't really understand properly, but was afraid to say anything to him.  

 

This has been discouraging to her because she loves math, and taking a ding to her self-confidence has made it easier for her to be intimidated.  

 

Right now she wants to pursue tutoring and see how that goes.  She does not want to talk to the guy or for me to talk to the guy or to the principal.  We will do the tutoring and keep a close eye on things as we get closer to the withdraw date.

 

ETA, Dealing with Jerks 101....

 

I would drop the class.  This is not helping her learn or continue her love of math. 

[Vida Winter]

I would also recommend dropping the class. This is beyond math - you're dealing with a destructive personality which may have a life-changing effect on your daughter. Get her out of there and into some other program with a caring, helpful teacher, perhaps like Derek Owens (his classes can be started at any time). At that point the only reason to complain would be to prevent him from inflicting his methods on other students.

[Another Lynn]

And then refuse to meet with her when she's explicitly asking for explanations!

 

This doesn't sound like a tough but fair teacher with high standards. This sounds like an insecure bully who's more concerned about "catching out" students on trivial things instead of focusing on whether they are learning and understanding the math. How is a tutor going to help her understand his idiosyncratic rules and grading rubrics? That's something only he can explain — and he refuses!

 

I would drop the class. Life's too short (and math's too interesting) to put up with crap like that. (IMHO)

 

 

I would also recommend dropping the class. This is beyond math - you're dealing with a destructive personality which may have a life-changing effect on your daughter. Get her out of there and into some other program with a caring, helpful teacher, perhaps like Derek Owens (his classes can be started at any time). At that point the only reason to complain would be to prevent him from inflicting his methods on other students.

 

 

:iagree:

 

If this were a relationship of a different nature, would you want her to continue to subject herself to his antics and keep a list of his unpredictable and ever-changing standards in order to please him?  I would drop it yesterday.

[kiana]

I just want to step in to say that my DH teaches precalc (along with calc, calc II, brief calc, etc.) at a community college. Regarding drawing the lines and taking off for it, he says, "That is one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard. I don't know of any coworkers who take off points for things like that, and if they did, they'd probably not be hired back by the college when the department found out what they were doing."

 

He is also surprised that he wouldn't be fired for refusing to give her one-on-one attention during office hours. That's the whole point of office hours. Blowing off a student and just telling them to get a tutor is beyond the pale.

 

This is not normal.

 

I also teach precalc. What the teacher's doing is nonsense. I'm not sure if he has it out for your dd or if he's just a jerk in general, but marking people off for not having the lines going all the way to the edge is very petty and definitely needs to be announced. 

 

As far as the "don't you know ___ always goes on the left", is it something like marking off for writing 2 = x instead of x = 2? Because that's also ridiculous in my opinion. 

[Carrie12345]

I haven't read the replies, just jumping in to say I had a similar experience my senior year. (I dropped the class, with my mother's permission and blessing.)  I had been an honors math student with As and Bs.  Not brilliant, but capable.  The teacher wound up grading the class on a curve, with the *actually* brilliant students getting the As for their C grades, leaving me with Ds and Fs.  Not only did it destroy my confidence, but my college forced me into Business Calc based on my SAT scores, and I ended up failing all the assignments and not bothering to finish the course.

 

I wish I had had an alternative.  Another place or way to take pre-calc without that horrible teacher.  I will probably outsource Alg II for my kids because of my fears, and okay them skipping any calculus all together (knowing that, in the older ones' cases, they aren't going into math-heavy majors or careers.)

 

That's how damaged I am by a terrible teacher.

[Moonhawk]

My DH teaches math at the CC, has for 10 years.  He may take off a point or two for formatting, etc, if things are really, really bad and he has no idea how the student got to the right answer.  But, he will only do this on a few questions then just write "?" on the other ones.  Essentially, he'll only take off a few points to make the student aware of the problem and let them know they aren't meeting a [pretty low] standard, never enough to actually impact the grade.  

 

IDK how this class is being put together, since it is a college course on a high school campus.  But, as far as the instructor's accountability goes, the principal may not have any power in this situation and you may have to bring this up with the college dean.  At our CC, these types of complaints are taken pretty seriously -- i.e. unfair grading, calling students names, refusing office hours.  (Referring to a tutor is normal and fine, but not taking any time AT ALL to explain what's wrong or let them look at the test again would not fly.)  My husband has been contacted by the dean because he did not respond to a student email within 24 hours (over the weekend, and he had responded in 28 hours); maybe our college is a little bit more student-centric, but there are certain standards that your college has and I'm pretty sure that there are some things being broken here.

 

My DH thinks many math issues kids have are from a bad experience with a teacher, so often you hear "I'm bad at math" but really the kid would be just fine if in 3rd grade their teacher hadn't laughed at them for multiplying instead of dividing.  Even tho your daughter is starting from a very strong place of confidence in math, I'd address the issues with the dean/principal, and be ready to pull her out immediately regardless of how the meeting went unless they promise to have someone present at all classes or reviewed grading or something spectacular like that.  

 

I agree having the teacher in attendance is a good idea, and requesting a copy of the tests be brought to the meetings (the dean may have a specific way of dealing with this that doesn't allow the teacher at the first meeting).  Bring a list of what he's said in class (if she can't remember exact phrase, just words instead of paraphrase), the times she's asked to meet with him during office hours, and a copy of any graded work she has.  Regardless of whether or not she gets out of the class, these are issues that need to be brought to their attention.  

 

I think even though he has agreed to finally meeting with her, the advice still is good to drop the class.  One meeting isn't going to change his personality or the past grades. 

[goldberry]

I also teach precalc. What the teacher's doing is nonsense. I'm not sure if he has it out for your dd or if he's just a jerk in general, but marking people off for not having the lines going all the way to the edge is very petty and definitely needs to be announced. 

 

As far as the "don't you know ___ always goes on the left", is it something like marking off for writing 2 = x instead of x = 2? Because that's also ridiculous in my opinion. 

 

Yes, this is the kind of thing going on.  He's not just knocking off a few points from the assignment, he's taking off points on every question for something like this.

[goldberry]

  I will probably outsource Alg II for my kids because of my fears, and okay them skipping any calculus all together (knowing that, in the older ones' cases, they aren't going into math-heavy majors or careers.)

 

That's how damaged I am by a terrible teacher.

 

 

 

My DH thinks many math issues kids have are from a bad experience with a teacher, so often you hear "I'm bad at math" but really the kid would be just fine if in 3rd grade their teacher hadn't laughed at them for multiplying instead of dividing. 

 

 

Yeah, that's my main worry actually.  She loves math, and especially loves being a GIRL who loves math.  I'm not going to let this guy take her down.

 

I will be watching closely...

[38carrots]

Audio recorder for the office hours!!!!! Please!!!!