Hi!
My child is starting year 6 next year. The teacher my child has been placed with is new to our school so she sent home a letter indroducing herself, explaining a bit about the class focus next year etc and it had a picture of herself attached - which, as a whole, was lovely and I appreciate the time and effort that went into it, especially as she wasn't obliged to do so.
However, it was riddled with grammatical errors, typos and convoluted sentences that you kind of had to read 3 times over to make sense of.
So that brings me to my question.
Would a letter like that concern you? Would you feel that to be a reflection of her capabilities as a teacher? Or am I being unreasonable and pedantic?
For context, if it's relevant. She appears to be quite young judging by the photo, I'd suspect either fresh out of university or at least fairly new to the profession, so I don't know if it's inexperience, nerves, an accidental oversight due to being time poor...
Please don't think I'm "one of those" parents lol. I value teachers, I think they have the most important job on the planet and they don't get half of the recognition they deserve. I just know that year 6 is so pivotal to my child's education, I want her to have the best start heading into high school the following year!
18 Replies
It’s probably been done in a rush at the last minute. Give her a chance. Sometimes I’ve found the young ones to be great for my kids. Especially in year 6
She probably wrote it at midnight.
Bad sign of things to come, my son once had a teacher who couldn’t spell, all year brought home spelling lists with mistakes. However, he seemed to learn and do well, didn’t effect his next year of learning, thank god.
The score to get into teaching when I was at uni was very low, not sure if this is still the case?
You have to accept some years you draw the short straw, it’s the same in any profession, there’s great, mediocre and bad. As long as she isn’t abusive, emotionally or mentally, then this is your shit year. One in seven isn’t too bad.
While I agree it’s not a good first impression, I would give her a chance and see what she’s like once school is back. This might just have been a rushed effort before the end of year.
What state are you in? Here in WA teachers are coming out of uni with the worst spelling ever! I'm not sure if I posted here or somewhere else a few months back about a teacher on Facebook who posted a very errored post and ended up getting trolled because of all the mistakes, it was really hard to read! It is really scary that these teachers are passing Uni, they are teaching our kids and I personally think spelling and grammar standards have dropped since the 80's. I'm far from a grammar nazi as I'm not perfect myself BUT I do think our teachers should not be able to enter a Uni course unless they have perfect spelling and grammar! We wouldn't let a Doctor or a vet into uni without next to perfect scores in biology, should be the same for teachers with spelling and grammar since they need to teach it!
Actually, the academic entry requirements for medicine have never been particularly high. There is no requirements for a perfect score in a particular subject. There is a test to show that they are suited personally though and as long as they are reasonably intelligent, that's most important. I read medical reports all day. Some are riddled with spelling errors lol.
Also, I have always found spelling very simple. My husband is dreadful. We are both classified as geniuses in psychometric testing. I don't think that is that important at the end of the day because we still have strengths and weaknesses. My husband can explain complex mathematics in a way that makes sense to almost anyone. He is also excellent in making reports very clear and succinct (a writing skill few people have). I am better at ensuring words (written or spoken) create the emotion the writer is t trying to. This teacher may have some skills that are going to be much more valuable in life than accurate spelling. Don't forget that, big picture, our children will get different skills from different teachers. If they all have varying strengths, they'll ultimately end up better off.
I was giving an off the cuff example mate!🙄 I am also the last person you need to explain that intelligence is not just spelling and grammar, I'm married to an illiterate dyslexic man who also happens to be one of the smartest people I know, so I'm not sure where I have implied that. You also need an ATAR score of 99 to get into medicine, I don't know about you but to me that's pretty high! Not that any of that matters, my point was you need to be good at what you are trying to teach, how can you teach kids how to spell if you can't do it yourself!? How do they correct spelling and grammar? Especially grade 6 where some kids can be quite advanced? How are the struggling kids going to learn too if the teacher writes a misspelled word on the board? If you think there doesn't need to be a higher standard for the people giving our kids an education then maybe we have like minded people to thank for the state of education today!
I don’t know what world the other commenter lives in, but medicine needs a cream of the crop score plus an interview 😂😂😂 Doctors don’t need spelling and grammar, teachers do!
When school goes back, ask to see her privately and bring it up. Pretty easy suggestion really.
I’d def be concerned! An incompetent teacher can make for such a bad year.
I have a friend who can't spell to save himself. He would get me to proof read his assignments when he was at uni. The structure of his writing was also terrible! I always wondered if he was actually going to be a good teacher.
He has won some really impressive accolades in his career and had multiple schools offering him permanent positions after only 6 months in the industry. Other friends that graduated with him took years to get permanent offers (which is more typical).
What I didn't predict is how amazing he would be at classroom management and making kids love to learn. Kids hang on his every word and his ability to work with ADHD and ASD kids is truly impressive!
Your child is grade 6. The strengths of this teacher may be far more valuable than what has you concerned. I would absolutely have the same doubts... but I think you should wait and see.
Where most of the people he graduated with female though? Due to the shortage of men in teaching they are snapped up. So the length of time it takes to get a permanent role doesn’t actually mean your a better teacher. Often right spot right time and good interview.
Yes, men have it sooooo much easier.
They also are more career driven and ambitious and end up in leadership roles, even though they are not necessarily the best “man” for the job.
Nope. 12 friends all graduated in the same year. 8 male and 4 female. He had no prior relationship with any of the schools because he married one of the girls and they all lived in the town they all grew up in. He was the only outsider. He's a phenomenal teacher.
The whole graduating uni class is lucky to have 8 guys..........
They had heaps more males actually. No idea whether the others are still teaching though. I only ever saw the others at parties etc and have lost contact with them. But I agree that generally it is female dominated. My son's school is fairly small for a major city, but there is only 6 male teachers in a school with 450 students.
This would irritate the hell out of me but I’m a spelling and grammar nazi 😂 Maybe just take it with a grain of salt for now, like others have said a few spelling mistakes may not define who she is as a teacher and she might make up for it in other areas. Terrible first impression though, I completely understand your concern!
I’m a graduate teacher. Finished Uni and have my first class next year.
Can I just say, please give her a chance. It’s hard for us, she was trying to do something nice. If she is a graduate teacher you can be sure she will give your child EVERYTHING she has and some.
If she is a graduate she will have a mentor teacher to help guide her so she won’t be on her own. Generally we plan as a team so she won’t be making decisions based on inexperience.