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

[off road pat]

4 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

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. 

There might be hope after all for Thailand's education...

Best regards.

[Gainsbourg]

Hows the weather?

[Jane Dough]

I wonder what she would have said if a child in the class had said there were nine mistakes. If one nine equals seven then it follows that two nines equals 14 and so on. 

[Gulfsailor]

2 hours ago, Surasak said:

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?

I do question your ability to read.

[Rorri]

Pretty obvious the reporter has reading issue... the teacher wrote 9 x 1 = 7, the rePorter wrote 1 x 9 = 7.

[Foreign Jim]

6 hours ago, Rob13 said:

 

 

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. 

 

Sounds like a bunch of contrived sentimentality than what the lesson should have been about: math.

[The Dark Lord]

4 hours ago, Foreign Jim said:

 

Sounds like a bunch of contrived sentimentality than what the lesson should have been about: math.

I think it is called maths, a shortened version for the word mathematics.

 

This is because it is not a singular but a multiple discipline unlike, for example English Language. Which (until very recently) was a singular discipline.

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, Foreign Jim said:

 

Sounds like a bunch of contrived sentimentality than what the lesson should have been about: math.

 

Your wrong, very wrong.

[Artisi]

7 hours ago, helloagain said:

Foreign Jim yes i agree with you

Wow! another expert in education.

[berybert]

8 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

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. 

Actually the answer to that would be 8. She has 7 living buffaloes and 1 dead buffalo .

Simple math is never easy.

[ChristianBlessing]

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.

Wow. One wonders if you've ever been a teacher. First, the initial problem was intentionally incorrect. Secondly, good teachers always teach outside the boundaries of their respective subject matter. Finally, Thai or not, imparting "life lessons" is what teachers do and those lessons are often remembered far after the math drills have been forgotten.

[gdgbb]

16 hours 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...

 

Her list of multiplication didn't include 3 x 9 = 24, she did write 9 x 3 =27 though but you didn't actually notice.

[gdgbb]

15 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

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. 

 

 

That is not thinking outside the box, you are just

(obviously) wrong and god help any children that you teach maths to.

Edited October 8, 2016 by gdgbb

[Thechook]

16 hours ago, vivasamui said:

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.

True it has been going around for a very long time and not an original idea.  She has copied it but  good on her.

[attrayant]

11 hours ago, The Dark Lord said:

I think it is called maths, a shortened version for the word mathematics.

 

This is because it is not a singular but a multiple discipline

 

Exactly, just like sciences, histories and musics.

[The Dark Lord]

5 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

Exactly, just like sciences, histories and musics.

No, not quite.........

 

[The Dark Lord]

So as to cut the discussion short, I do not have (or need) a work permit here in LoS so am unable to provide further English lessons.

 

sorry but I prefer to follow the law here (mostly) 

[Baerboxer]

On 10/8/2016 at 7:42 AM, 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.

 

Guess you're not a teacher. Teacher's especially good ones influence children far more than the subject they teach, They are role models. And that lesson, btw, is spot on. 

I've corrected spelling errors for non Thai teachers, Asian and Western. Recently had one teacher whose bumbling performance at parent's evening was only surpassed by a lack of attention to detail and spelling. I deliberately corrected a spelling mistake that had been missed and saw it register. Couple of minutes later the comment " I only mark based on the content as this is science not English (so spelling isn't important). Legendary.

Good teachers, bad teachers, average teachers and excellent teachers - and it has nothing to do with age, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

 

 

[MaxLee]

Be careful, Ms. Teach, you might get unwelcome for the state serving visitors who will definitely charge you with internal defamation of the Phuyai community.

[Travel2003]

Poor teacher, letting her students film her while teaching.

Poor teacher making a pathetic excuse for her error.

Poor teacher who doesn't know you NEVER show a wrong answer on the board to youngsters, as this answer will be stored in the memory. You don't show what it is not supposed to be to youngsters.

 

[nausea]

True, you can do good a milllion times, but you will be judged by your one mistake. True, so make your mistakes while you're young. Nowadays I' m not so sure. Our children have no space to make mistakes. Personally, I would be horrified if some of the things I did in my youth were brought up on facebook or youtube.

[Foreign Jim]

On 10/8/2016 at 8:32 PM, The Dark Lord said:

I think it is called maths, a shortened version for the word mathematics.

 

This is because it is not a singular but a multiple discipline unlike, for example English Language. Which (until very recently) was a singular discipline.

I'm American, buddy.  We call it math.  But I'm okay calling it maths, just in the same way I know Centigrade v. Fahrenheit.

[Foreign Jim]

On 10/8/2016 at 9:37 PM, ChristianBlessing said:

Wow. One wonders if you've ever been a teacher. First, the initial problem was intentionally incorrect. Secondly, good teachers always teach outside the boundaries of their respective subject matter. Finally, Thai or not, imparting "life lessons" is what teachers do and those lessons are often remembered far after the math drills have been forgotten.

 

I have been a teacher for 30 years, and I don't waste my students' or the parents of my students' time or money with contrived 'life lessons.'  I teach a subject and let the students make their own discoveries.  I abhor teachers who think they are some sage imparting pearls of wisdom.  Let the subject matter do that; let the older siblings, parents or extended family do that. Sorry, this is not my role.  Perhaps this teacher instead of forcing both the situation and the 'answer' to her lesson had asked her students to think about why they had the reaction they did instead of laying out some platitude she already had formulated in her mind, I would be less critical.  But instead of asking her students to think about their laughter to one mistake, she lectured them on their action.  That, to me, is not teaching.  

[Strange]

10 minutes ago, Foreign Jim said:

 

I have been a teacher for 30 years, and I don't waste my students' or the parents of my students' time or money with contrived 'life lessons.'  I teach a subject and let the students make their own discoveries.  I abhor teachers who think they are some sage imparting pearls of wisdom.  Let the subject matter do that; let the older siblings, parents or extended family do that. Sorry, this is not my role.  Perhaps this teacher instead of forcing both the situation and the 'answer' to her lesson had asked her students to think about why they had the reaction they did instead of laying out some platitude she already had formulated in her mind, I would be less critical.  But instead of asking her students to think about their laughter to one mistake, she lectured them on their action.  That, to me, is not teaching.  

 

Hey, do you remember what it was like when you had a good teacher that cared? 

 

You are the opposite. 

[Foreign Jim]

1 hour ago, Strange said:

 

Hey, do you remember what it was like when you had a good teacher that cared? 

 

You are the opposite. 

Go <deleted> yourself. I care by teaching them how to think for themselves. 

[Foreign Jim]

On 10/9/2016 at 1:03 PM, Baerboxer said:

 

Guess you're not a teacher. Teacher's especially good ones influence children far more than the subject they teach, They are role models. And that lesson, btw, is spot on. 

I've corrected spelling errors for non Thai teachers, Asian and Western. Recently had one teacher whose bumbling performance at parent's evening was only surpassed by a lack of attention to detail and spelling. I deliberately corrected a spelling mistake that had been missed and saw it register. Couple of minutes later the comment " I only mark based on the content as this is science not English (so spelling isn't important). Legendary.

Good teachers, bad teachers, average teachers and excellent teachers - and it has nothing to do with age, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

 

 

 

I am a teacher.  I suppose by default I am a role model, too, although I never asked for that role--even though I fulfill it. 

 

Just what exactly do you mean by 'good ones influence children far more than the subject they teach?'  My presentation of material is usually enough.  Inspiring students to excel if they are inspired by the material can also occur, and if it does, it's an organic process. What I never do is walk into a class with a 'life lesson' ripped off from the Internet and expect that to be the fulfillment of the job. Where was the argument, the discussion, the arriving at conclusions for in this instructor's lesson?   She walked in knowing the outcome.  Big deal.

 

Like I told another poster who enjoys platitudes, had the teacher taken it one step further and instead of telling her students how to feel, she could have asked them to ponder what it is liked to be judged by one mistake, or asked an abstract, open ended question; one they could arrive at the answers themselves.  "Think about why you laughed at this one mistake and write a journal entry." 

 

There are plenty of arguments for how making one mistake does overshadow a lifetime of good.  There are also arguments for how making one mistake makes no difference.  But I've wasted enough of my time on this thread.  

 

By the way, calling out spelling mistakes while a teacher is presenting is a real dick move.  And he does have an argument for stating his knowledge of the subject and concepts he teaches surpasses a few spelling mistakes.  

[The Dark Lord]

8 hours ago, Foreign Jim said:

I'm American, buddy.  We call it math.  But I'm okay calling it maths, just in the same way I know Centigrade v. Fahrenheit.

Hi FJ, suspected as much and I have no issues with American spelling and/or pronunciation as is your "sovereign right" What grieves me though is the uneducated Brits who use facebook slang or u instead of you etc when writing letters / emails/ posts believing it to be cool or hip.

 

cheers

 

TDL

[DrTuner]

Please don't let her students become engineers.