Mocking teacher serves to keep up standards

[webfact]

Mocking teacher serves to keep up standards

By THE NATION

 

 

HEATED debates about a teacher’s incorrect marking of a girl’s homework may sound like people are making a mountain of a molehill. Human errors, after all, are not unprecedented.
 

But these debates, which spread like wildlife on social media, are not at all fruitless. They have at the very least nudged all sides to pay attention to the country’s educational sector. 

 

What has happened to cause teachers to teach erroneous things in class? How will children be affected when they are told their right answers are wrong? 

 

“My daughter was so sad when her teachers told her the answers were all wrong,” said Duangmaee sae Kow, the mother of a Prathom 1 student at Chomchonwatnongtumlung School in Chon Buri province, during a meeting with the school’s headmaster Chamnong Mingcharoen. 

 

On Tuesday, Duangmanee’s younger sister posted on her Facebook account “Phuan Pennapa” a simple question and asked how her niece’s teacher could find fault with such a straightforward answer.

 

 

The question was: “If Joy picked 12 mangoes and Joe picked eight mangoes more than she did, how many mangoes did Joe pick?” Conventional wisdom would suggest the answer was “20” but for one maths teacher, the correct calculation was 4.

 

The Facebook post attached a picture of the homework |showing the niece’s response of 12+8=20, the teacher’s X mark to declare it wrong and by it the “correct” answer of 4. 

 

When the post appeared on Facebook, it generated such a huge response from that “Joy” and “Joe” became the hottest words of the day. Her post has been shared more than 10,000 times. 

 

“Thank you for all comments. I posted this online to hear possible explanations. I think about my niece’s feelings,” explained Phuan. “I don’t want her to lose confidence in studying.” 

 

 

Many media outlets reported the story and even interviewed academic experts as well as maths champions to double-check the answers. 

 

 All experts unanimously agreed: Phuan’s niece gave the right answer. 

 

After attracting such huge media attention, the school invited the student’s parents to a meeting. 

 

Chamnong said the homework marker in question was an assistant teacher and had only recently been assigned to teach Prathom 1 students for the first time. 

 

She rushed to check the homework of more than 30 students one evening and mistook the “plus” sign for a “minus” sign, so 12+ 8 appeared to be 12-8, leading her to declare 4 to be the right answer. 

 

“She will have to admit her mistake so that she will learn to become much more careful in the future and work as a good teacher,” Chamnong said. 

 

According to him, the assistant teacher is so ashamed of her mistake that she dared not come to her class yesterday. 

 

Phuan has resolved to remove her popular post from Facebook to reduce the impact on the assistant teacher. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30354819

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-20

[Somtamnication]

That is bad. One day, one of my students asked me why her English homework was wrong; her well written paragraph had: "She was in an accident and went to the hospital". Perfect, right?  The teacher scratched out "accident" and wrote "accidented".

 

I bought her some ice cream.

 

[YetAnother]

35 minutes ago, webfact said:

She rushed to check the homework of more than 30 students one evening and mistook the “plus” sign for a “minus” sign, so 12+ 8 appeared to be 12-8, leading her to declare 4 to be the right answer. 

then she is not qualified to be a teacher, math or otherwise; let's call this what it is

[Lunchbob]

If teachers weren't so inappropriately dominating and proud this would be a great opportunity for the students to gain some pride themselves and confidence. Also, teachers who don't show up for work get fired not coddled.

[George Bowman]

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

She rushed to check the homework of more than 30 students one evening and mistook the “plus” sign for a “minus” sign, so 12+ 8 appeared to be 12-8, leading her to declare 4 to be the right answer. 

As a a retired teacher, I will admit that I have made a handful of mistakes rushing to get work done. I then began to wonder if I had ever mistaken the plus sign for the minus sign. Let's see if I get the Math right. 2+2=0.

[Aussie999]

26 minutes ago, missoura said:

As a a retired teacher, I will admit that I have made a handful of mistakes rushing to get work done. I then began to wonder if I had ever mistaken the plus sign for the minus sign. Let's see if I get the Math right. 2+2=0.

Your answer is dependent on the question, if you ask what is the population growth, when you have 2 men, marrying 2 men, then yes, the answer would be "0".   ?

[davehowden]

"  All experts unanimously agreed: Phuan’s niece gave the right answer.  "

 

Are you sure about that, surely you need to set up a committee to exam the evidence in detail, possibly a trip to the US to check the facts first, please don't rush into this.

[canuckamuck]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

She rushed to check the homework of more than 30 students one evening and mistook the “plus” sign for a “minus” sign, so 12+ 8 appeared to be 12-8, leading her to declare 4 to be the right answer. 

Another BS excuse that likely won't be questioned.

There is no plus sign in the question. The question uses only words. And one would assume someone checking a whole classes answers would have had, or made, an answer sheet, so she wouldn't have to work out the answers for each kid's test. Also she apparently mistook the very clear plus sign for a minus at least for times for just this one student.

It is more likely that this teacher actually misunderstood the questions.

[mikebell]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Many media outlets reported the story and even interviewed academic experts as well as maths champions to double-check the answers. 

Did they use calculators?

[LazySlipper]

1 hour ago, Lunchbob said:

this would be a great opportunity for the students to gain some pride themselves and confidence

 

I agree with primary kids, and then some, but in high school level all you get from students is blank stares or attitude... maybe they are emulating their teachers from childhood or their parents... this will be the "Caramilk Mystery" to be solved for generations to come.

[DoctorG]

Perhaps this assistant teacher needs to have her eyes checked (seriously).

[mercman24]

see  post 8,,  and you mistook the number 4 for FOR  ha ha

Edited September 20, 2018 by mercman24

[nikmar]

did she not question herself when the majority, if not all, of the class got the same wrong answers? 

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, davehowden said:

"  All experts unanimously agreed: Phuan’s niece gave the right answer.  "

 

Are you sure about that, surely you need to set up a committee to exam the evidence in detail, possibly a trip to the US to check the facts first, please don't rush into this.

Oh!, you mean a fact finding mission for the whole committee and their support staff, plus you should visit more than 1 country just to ensure the consensus is correct. 

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

Did they use calculators?

Did they get the correct answer? 

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

mistook the “plus” sign for a “minus” sign

the perfect excuse for many corruption/embezzlement cases in the bureaucracy.

[Khun Paul]

Why remove the FB page, leave it there to alert everyone to the often bad mistakes teachers make and that so often schools hate it when they are called to account. more transparency I say, show it as it is not as it should be. Standards will then rise as no-one wishes to be seen to be seen a fool. 

[CanuckThai]

Pencil whipping and little or no work ethic, it's endemic here.  Think: police, think: road/house construction, think: government workers, etc.  No, not all, but yes, it's endemic.

[BwindiBoy]

It was later reported that the teacher lost her other job, where she was chief statistician for the Thai Tourism Office... ?

[madusa]

6 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

That is bad. One day, one of my students asked me why her English homework was wrong; her well written paragraph had: "She was in an accident and went to the hospital". Perfect, right?  The teacher scratched out "accident" and wrote "accidented".

 

I bought her some ice cream.

 

Ice cream is equally damaging.

[kannot]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

interviewed academic experts as well as maths champions to double-check the answers. 

yeah like it  really needs  a  genius to work this  out, surprised they didnt form a  committee

[kannot]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuan has resolved to remove her popular post from Facebook to reduce the impact on the assistant teacher. 

Dont worry love Ill add it  to my Wifes and spread it world wide..............its an easy mistake to make, I meant to hit "delete" and just hit "share" by mistake, +or - who would  know eh!

[kannot]

12 minutes ago, madusa said:

Ice cream is equally damaging.

yes especially  if you slip on it and have  that "accidented"

[madusa]

In Britain they have adopted the chinese system of teaching maths. Of course those anglo-saxons sent mathematicians to China to check out the methods. They were amazed at the speed the children learn. And those chinese children are 2 years ahead in maths compared to British schools.

French children are slow down in maths because of their language. 80 is called "quarter vingt" means 4, 20 is 80. When the kids multiply they have these long words that slow them down.

There is no figure for sixty one. It is actually written as sixty and one. They write sioxante-et un (sioxante is 60 et means"and" un is one)  The numbers get longer and longer. Of course the kids get used to it but it slows down when doing the calculation in their mind. I don't figure out this thing, I read them in papers written by Mathematician on why the french kids are slow in maths compare to Chinese kids.

 

[madusa]

17 minutes ago, kannot said:

yes especially  if you slip on it and have  that "accidented"

It's not so bad if they just had that "accidented" like you say. The worst is the sugar that rush to their brains causing brain fog.(not brain fart-  fog ok?) then it goes on it doesn't just end there, they will become attention deficit.

[fakename]

So, the teacher was ashamed so much, she didnt go to school the next day. What if all the students were ashamed so much, that they didnt go to school the next day?? Why not be so ashamed that she would just quit.

[ThaiFelix]

One day my Thai coordinator approached me and asked me to edit a speech she had prepared for an upcoming Parents Day at school, which I did.  Two weeks later she approached me again with the same speech and asked me would I be the MC and present it on the day.  As she handed it back she looked at me sheepishly and told me to check it again.  When I read it this time it was all wrong again....a veritable dogs dinner??  She then informed me that the school director, who could barely pronounce "good morning", had also read it, said I was wrong, and rewrote it herself!!  And I am a native speaker!

[WonnabeBiker]

10 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

That is bad. One day, one of my students asked me why her English homework was wrong; her well written paragraph had: "She was in an accident and went to the hospital". Perfect, right?  The teacher scratched out "accident" and wrote "accidented".

 

I bought her some ice cream.

 

Am checking a PhD thesis. Instead of "pregant", xx times "pregnancy" is being used...

[newatthis]

So, assistant teacher who is new at her job makes a mistake in marking homework. What will we do?

Lets go and talk with the teacher to check.

NO NO NO!! That's too logical. Lets go to Facebook. Lets mock the teacher! [of course, we'll tell others that we just want to be sure that our answers were right]. 

And we'll make certain it goes into the BP as well as the Nation newspapers. 

Of course, my sister and I and our niece have never made a mistake. We're perfection personified!!

Vanity, Vanity. All is vanity.

 

[wgdanson]

11 hours ago, missoura said:

As a a retired teacher, I will admit that I have made a handful of mistakes rushing to get work done. I then began to wonder if I had ever mistaken the plus sign for the minus sign. Let's see if I get the Math right. 2+2=0.

Isn't the full word for manipulating numbers MathematicS?