Thai teacher praised for teaching a life lesson with an error in her sums

[rooster59]

Thai teacher praised for teaching a life lesson with an error in her sums

 

Image: Sanook

 

The online world of social media has praised a teacher for her approach in teaching a valuable lesson to her primary students.

 

She did it by putting a simple multiplication sum up wrong on the chalkboard.

 

A picture and description of the class was posted on the Facebook page of "Aiw Nipaporn".

 

The teacher had written up ten multiplications of the number nine. The first read 1 x 9 = 7.

 

The other nine up to 10 x 9 = 90 were all correct.

 

By the time she finished the ten sums the students were in stitches but she had the last laugh.

 

She said: "Students, my mistake was a test for you all to teach you something about the real world. I was right nine times but nobody said that was good. You all just laughed at my one mistake.

 

"You will see this in the world. You can do good a million times but you might be judged on your one mistake".

 

Her wise words and good teaching technique were commented upon and caused much comment online about people who are quick to criticize others.

 

Source: Sanook

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-10-08

[nev]

Excellent teacher!!!.

[Foreign Jim]

I think the better lesson would have been to admit her error, own it like an adult, and move on.  And what gives the teacher the right to teach 'life lessons'?  If she's a math teacher, teach math.  But I know this isn't the Thai way; God forbid the teacher be wrong or questioned.  God forbid anyone be held accountable for their mistakes.  Yeah, now I see how this culture of not being accountable for your actions all starts--in primary school from primary teachers.

[casualobserver]

Did the kids laugh between themselves or did they dare have the audacity to correct the authority figure? 

Edited October 8, 2016 by casualobserver

[jaiyenyen]

Great teacher. In my experience the newer teachers have a completely different (Better) set of teaching methods compared to the older teachers, many of whom seem to go through the day on 'Auto-pilot'.

[colinneil]

Children would never attempt to correct the teacher, as she would lose face.

[Strange]

Well, its true. Always judged by your last mistake. 

[whatproblem]

Forgot her calculator 

[phantomfiddler]

1 hour ago, Foreign Jim said:

I think the better lesson would have been to admit her error, own it like an adult, and move on.  And what gives the teacher the right to teach 'life lessons'?  If she's a math teacher, teach math.  But I know this isn't the Thai way; God forbid the teacher be wrong or questioned.  God forbid anyone be held accountable for their mistakes.  Yeah, now I see how this culture of not being accountable for your actions all starts--in primary school from primary teachers.

 

You have missed the whole point of the exercise, Jim ! It was not an error, she did it deliberately, in an extremely adult manner,  in an attempt to teach her pupils something valuable ! 

[NongKhaiKid]

1 hour ago, jaiyenyen said:

Great teacher. In my experience the newer teachers have a completely different (Better) set of teaching methods compared to the older teachers, many of whom seem to go through the day on 'Auto-pilot'.

This young lady better e careful because if she gets praise as a competent, caring teacher her colleagues will undermine her for spoiling it for the rest of them.

[Rob13]

1 hour ago, Foreign Jim said:

 And what gives the teacher the right to teach 'life lessons'?

 

 

She's a teacher, that's what the good ones do. It was an good lesson.the  kid's learned about percentages, times tables and got a  'keep trying in the face of adversity lesson' thrown in for free. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by Rob13

[Artisi]

12 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

 

You have missed the whole point of the exercise, Jim ! It was not an error, she did it deliberately, in an extremely adult manner,  in an attempt to teach her pupils something valuable ! 

Think Jim is missing more than the point. 

[Artisi]

22 minutes ago, whatproblem said:

Forgot her calculator 

Another one who is missing something and it's just not the point.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Artisi

[whatproblem]

2 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Another one who is missing something and its just not the point.

Or ,that was an excuse from their many excuses for when mistakes are made 

[Artisi]

27 minutes ago, whatproblem said:

Or ,that was an excuse from their many excuses for when mistakes are made 

Is that your excuse?

[Wilsonandson]

I got it! 9x1=9
Easy.
Duh!!!

[Just1Voice]

My adopted son is a teacher of advanced Thai language, and jokes that he is a member of "The Gang of 8". Eight people who all went to Monfort College, and then through CMU together, and are now all going together to Far Eastern to earn their Masters in Thai Education. Six of them were able to secure teaching positions at Arunothai School in northern Chiang Dao. Within two years, the school's academic standings soared from one of the lowest ranked in Thailand, to one of the highest. My son personally received a commendation from the daughter of the King for being the Best Teacher in Chiang Dao, Fang, and Prae.  Now the six of them are at schools in Chiang Mai, where the are continuing their teaching methods. 

 

They know the system is broken, and their goal is to fix it. They also know that to do that, they have to be in the right positions. Which is why, upon the completion of their Masters, they will all take the tests to become Asst. School Administrators. My son jokes that after his PhD, he's shooting for Thailand's Minister of Education.  

 

They know the current situation will never really change anything, and if it is going to change for the better, it is up to them to do it. They are a new generation of teachers, with new ideas, and are slowly, but surely, making a difference. And their students absolutely love them. All of them. They are also slowly recruiting other teachers into their group by "spreading the gospel", so to speak. The "eight" have now grown into about eighty or so. They have monthly get togethers to discuss progress and problems they face, and figure out ways to overcome them. 

 

They are a fresh breeze in a country of old, stale air, and they ARE making a difference. 

[slapout]

If the mistake on the lesson was delibertly done as a learning experience for the students, good on the teacher, if she made a mistake in her math, she should be considered ''good'' to be able to think on her feet fast enough to come up with the lesson learned statement to the class. Either way I would not worry about the children assigned to her classroom.

[realenglish1]

One example of critical thinking and the Thais are abuzz with praise

Give me a break

They will forget it within minutes

You need to teach them this on a continuing bases to get through

[Gulfsailor]

I wonder if her deliberate mistake was a little further down the list (e.g. 3x9=24) if any of the students would actually have noticed...

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, casualobserver said:

Did the kids laugh between themselves or did they dare have the audacity to correct the authority figure? 

 

Good point.

 

Another twist, is she a new style teacher who has conditioned her students to have no hesitation to say:

'teacher, I think there's a mistake', or 'teacher, are you sure about the answer for the first example?' Or similar.

 

In this scenario, is she a teacher who will stop and say nicely, 'tell me more', or something similar, then say 'wow, I'm wrong, thank you for telling me'. All reinforcing to the students that should and they can speak up and that teachers are human not gods?

 

IMHO that would be even better. 

 

Regardless, well done khun kroo.

Edited October 8, 2016 by scorecard

[Wilsonandson]

My adopted son is a teacher of advanced Thai language, and jokes that he is a member of "The Gang of 8". Eight people who all went to Monfort College, and then through CMU together, and are now all going together to Far Eastern to earn their Masters in Thai Education. Six of them were able to secure teaching positions at Arunothai School in northern Chiang Dao. Within two years, the school's academic standings soared from one of the lowest ranked in Thailand, to one of the highest. My son personally received a commendation from the daughter of the King for being the Best Teacher in Chiang Dao, Fang, and Prae.  Now the six of them are at schools in Chiang Mai, where the are continuing their teaching methods. 
 
They know the system is broken, and their goal is to fix it. They also know that to do that, they have to be in the right positions. Which is why, upon the completion of their Masters, they will all take the tests to become Asst. School Administrators. My son jokes that after his PhD, he's shooting for Thailand's Minister of Education.  
 
They know the current situation will never really change anything, and if it is going to change for the better, it is up to them to do it. They are a new generation of teachers, with new ideas, and are slowly, but surely, making a difference. And their students absolutely love them. All of them. They are also slowly recruiting other teachers into their group by "spreading the gospel", so to speak. The "eight" have now grown into about eighty or so. They have monthly get togethers to discuss progress and problems they face, and figure out ways to overcome them. 
 
They are a fresh breeze in a country of old, stale air, and they ARE making a difference. 

What teaching methods do they use? Is there a link you can give us on this groups achievements and how other teachers can learn from their new approach. Thanks.

[Srikcir]

Or were the students laughing that they thought there was only one right answer or no right answers?

It might have been better to first engage the students for feedback before lecturing them.

[Dexlowe]

2 hours ago, NongKhaiKid said:

This young lady better e careful because if she gets praise as a competent, caring teacher her colleagues will undermine her for spoiling it for the rest of them.

 

I'm sure you realize just how close to the truth you are. In my own field of work where correct English is an important part of the job, I was constantly undermined by senior Thai staff who would go behind my back and tell the younger, newer staff that their way is correct. It was a "face" thing, and it created a huge amount of unnecessary work and ill-feeling.

 

I hope this young teacher's next step with her pupils is to steer them towards automatically pointing out errors (and the all-important volunteering of information) without fear of retribution.

[vivasamui]

I saw this "life lesson" on social media last month, so don't think this Thai teacher thought of this lesson herself but copied it.

Anyway, some people don't get it.  1x9 = 7 is an obvious mistake, to get a reaction from the students, before the real "lesson."

For example, think of Ryan Lochte.  He's won a heap of Olympic gold medals, but had the bad luck to swim for USA at the same time as a fellow named Michael Phelps. Do people remember his gold medals? No, they remember him lying about being robbed at the Brazil Olympics.

[lostinisaan]

But 9 x 1 is 7. She's such a good teacher that she didn't tell them all, challenging their life skills is tough. 

 

 She had 9 buffaloes, one died and one ran away. That makes it to 9 -1 - 1  = 7 x 1 = 7

 

 Kids have to think outside of the box. 

 

Great lesson, she should get the World Math Wurlitzer Prize 2916. 

 

  Amazing what people are doing that they don't lose face. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by lostinisaan

[Surasak]

1 hour ago, Gulfsailor said:

I wonder if her deliberate mistake was a little further down the list (e.g. 3x9=24) if any of the students would actually have noticed...

Am I correct in thinking you discovered another deliberate mistake? Not wishing to question your ability to read, but can you point out said mistake please?

[lvr181]

5 hours ago, Foreign Jim said:

I think the better lesson would have been to admit her error, own it like an adult, and move on.  And what gives the teacher the right to teach 'life lessons'?  If she's a math teacher, teach math.  But I know this isn't the Thai way; God forbid the teacher be wrong or questioned.  God forbid anyone be held accountable for their mistakes.  Yeah, now I see how this culture of not being accountable for your actions all starts--in primary school from primary teachers.

OMG - It was a lesson not a "personal" mistake. At least she was prepared to tell the truth about life - no one else seems to be able to do.

 

"Find a way how something can be done NOT a reason why it cannot be done"

[helloagain]

5 hours ago, Foreign Jim said:

I think the better lesson would have been to admit her error, own it like an adult, and move on.  And what gives the teacher the right to teach 'life lessons'?  If she's a math teacher, teach math.  But I know this isn't the Thai way; God forbid the teacher be wrong or questioned.  God forbid anyone be held accountable for their mistakes.  Yeah, now I see how this culture of not being accountable for your actions all starts--in primary school from primary teachers.

Foreign Jim yes i agree with you

[rkidlad]

I remember doing review work before a test. Students had to complete the review part of their workbook by using the student book to help them. Usually when they used the student book to help them the pages would correlate between workbook and student book. But because this was review, the information was all over the unit and not specific to one page. My students were lost. They completely lacked the skills to think of looking at other pages. 

 

In the same class, one student wrote 'peach pie' next to a very clearly drawn apple. I asked the student what kind of pie it was, and he said "apple pie". I asked him why he wrote peach pie, and he said "you told us to copy the student book". I absolutely didn't tell anyone to copy the book. I said for them to use it to help them.

 

Anywho, this was a very smart and polite student. But it made me realise that everything I thought was just common sense, wasn't. We are taught these things in school. We are taught the fundamentals and how to develop these critical thinking skills. Here is seems they are actively dumbing down the kids more than simply not just teaching them these life skills. Very sad to think that human beings could do this to other human beings. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by rkidlad