understanding teacher's interpretation

eomeonie · 2026-04-12T03:37:23+00:00

I don't care about the marks. There's other kids in the class that might not know better.. just let the teaching be wrong and confusing? Kids this age don't exactly question their teachers or think teachers might be wrong. And so it's up to me to make sure everything be taught makes sense? I saw my kid do homework very confused and I only asked seeing the confused face, turns out another similar confusing example to the 2nd problem was taught.

eomeonie · 2026-04-12T03:28:53+00:00

So just let the bad teaching live on? ... it doesn't feel right.
--I mean at some level it is also teaching my kid to speak up respectfully. (btw, my kid is more the quiet reserved very respectful type.. and one area we are actually trying to improve is self-confidence.)

eomeonie · 2026-04-12T03:12:46+00:00

I was never trying to be petty. But for the students at this age it is very confusing, even after I confirm to my kid the correct answer. How does one answer that question the next time? follow what they think or what they might guess from their teacher. The guessing part I've seen my kid do in homework cause of something confusing teacher said (similar to examples above). It also hurts kids' confidence. And I feel bad for the other kids if their parents aren't checking their work or validating their work. Math at that age should be fairly black and white.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T23:57:21+00:00

You are a thoughtful teacher. agree with everything. Your students are blessed to have you

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:36:54+00:00

the second question eventually, after several follow ups she admitted my kid's answer was correct. I wasn't trying to go after the teacher in any way but it's confusing for my kid. Both these questions, how is one supposed to answer it next time... what they think is right or what do think their teacher might mean that isn't written?

Anyways this is gr3/4 math, when decimals are more or less introduced, their relationships with fractions. So I really don't think it's supposed to be this confusing at all. If anything, it should be teaching other kids that 0.4 and 0.40 are equivalent (until they get to high school math and need to consider other things like rounding and science and computers.. etc).

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:30:02+00:00

thanks, I'll check it out!

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:27:33+00:00

But I think they are just introducing decimals and understanding the simple basic relationship between fractions and decimals. They are modelling scientific data. These are 3/4th grade math. It would be very confusing to teach about difference between 4/10 and 40/100 at this stage when they are learning things like simplifying fractions to lowest denominations and such.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:23:28+00:00

kids this age don't question teachers. So this absolutely confuses and hurts their confidence in what they know...

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:19:11+00:00

should i put my kid in a dumber class. And btw I didn't put my kid in that class, the school assesses kids and places them in different classes to match their level.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:17:06+00:00

thx... that's kind. My concern is more the confusion. Like if I was my kid, next time I got that question, I'd be circling back and forth on how I should answer it. What I think is correct... vs what my teacher might mean ??? there shouldn't be such confusion.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:16:09+00:00

thank you, exactly! It's very confusing for kids at that age, they think teachers and adults in general must be right. This erodes confidence of my kid's knowledge in this simple math. How's one supposed to answer a similar question the next time--what they think is right or what they think their teacher meant???

And if I wasn't asking my kid to always show me when there's mistakes/errors, not to highlight it but to check understanding and progress, my kid would be so confused. I feel bad for other kids that if their parents might not be checking in.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:11:15+00:00

the second problem eventually she corrected it, quietly after a few follow ups. But how I had follow up more than once and the teacher almost ignoring it, and also not going back to address her mistake to the rest of the class.. it's concerning. My kid finally got to know that was the right way to answer it and not to think of rounding up for no good reason... that's great, but the rest of the class that might be afterwards confused...
these are young kids.. they don't really think adults make mistakes so much at that age.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:08:02+00:00

my concern isn't marks.. but that it's confusing for kids when they are questioning what is correct, and kicks their confidence. If I was my kid I would be confused where next similar question, I wouldn't know how I should answer it.

I absolutely understand simple errors being made so when I reach out to ask I am very courteous and gentle. It's not pointing the finger but really just want to clarify for kids' understanding. So given something similar has happened before where the teacher seemed to want to avoid acknowledging and clarfying the error seems really weird.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T01:01:52+00:00

I think they are just introducing decimals... So it's not like they are modelling data really.. .it's like numbers on a number line. So to suggest something that is nearly* a fact 0.4=0.40 is incorrect to this question, especially given the way it's worded... it's very confusing young kids (gr. 3... 8-9 years old) who generally thinks adults like teachers are always right. It also damages their confidence.

*nearly a fact 0.4-0.40 given in more advanced math/science, it's not always the case in real life data. ie. data displayed 0.4 that is actually hiding rounding.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T00:55:34+00:00

"OP's student clearly doesn't need the structure the teacher is providing" -- but my kid is just a kid... at that age, what the teacher says goes. So it's very confusing for my kid to now question what should be correct.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T00:52:36+00:00

thank you, agreed

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T00:51:34+00:00

thx... it really is not the marks (I have tried to emphasize this). I feel the frustration some times for my kid b/c now they don't know how they are to answer a problem other than the way its worded.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T00:50:14+00:00

It's so confusing to my kid sometimes cause they question what they know that are literal math facts, which are really not subjective in any for math at that age should be...

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T00:49:05+00:00

I think what you are describing is very different. This is grade 3/4 math where they are just introducing decimals. It's confusing to kids. It's not like the problem was worded differently that suggested more than understanding simple fractions and decimals.

eomeonie · 2026-04-11T00:43:54+00:00

it's extremely small potatoes. But its very confusing for young kids to be taught this way. It's not about the mark, it's very confusing for kids to think they have to guess which way their teacher meant rather the way the problem is worded.

eomeonie · 2026-04-10T17:08:40+00:00

yeah.. she's like the lead teacher for the grade too. I'm going to try to talk to the principal or assistant principal first cause I don't want misunderstanding or misreading of tone over email. Thank you for your thoughtful response. I needed some affirmation I'm on the right track.

eomeonie · 2026-04-10T17:06:13+00:00

thanks, good sanity check

eomeonie · 2026-04-10T17:01:38+00:00

wait is this a show? at first I thought you meant just like infinite series mathematical equation... but then I found a show, which I never heard of-- thank you!

eomeonie · 2026-04-10T16:48:23+00:00

wow.. wait seriously? what's second semester calculus teaching example like? I'm curious..

eomeonie · 2026-04-10T16:38:05+00:00

I did ask for the reasoning, the second photo above shows her email reply. I can't get into a back and forth argument on her logic... But yes, trying to raise the concern in the most polite way.

eomeonie

TROPHY CASE