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Discussion Forums » General Discussion
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anyone a teacher? Need advice on how to handle s
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13 Sep 2012, 03:59
Me, Myself & I
Post Count: 11
Chey is supposed to do a project (make a informational poster) about John Smith.. Here's the problem. The info that the class was given by the teacher has a lot of incorrect information about him on it. (Since when do we base history lessons on a damned Disney cartoon?) - so I have her put the historically incorrect info that she's been taught on the poster or the historically known facts? Among the "mistakes" is `
married Pocahontas
died at the age of 27
was the only leader of Jamestown

All of these are very wrong historically speaking.. So what do I do? It's due Friday.. I know it's "only' 5th grade "social studies" but it annoys me that wrong information is being taught as truth. I am sure it will not be the only time I come across a situation like this - just don't know how to handle it..

and can I say it's no wonder as a country we are so far behind the rest of the world in most subjects if this is how our teachers - teach
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13 Sep 2012, 04:10
Mommy to 3+1
Post Count: 18
I would suggest doing the project using the correct information, not the Disney information. If the teacher has a problem with it, go to the Principal.
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13 Sep 2012, 04:15
~Aiure
Post Count: 118
I second this. The teacher should know the subject before teaching it to a class full of young, eager minds that will accept it as fact.
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13 Sep 2012, 04:54
Jessica
Post Count: 283
Married Pocahontas? What the fuck? Pocahontas doesn't even marry him in the Disney version! She married John Rolfe! Where the hell did the teacher even come up with that? I'm completely shocked that a teacher would even think to teach such inaccurate information like this!

I say have your daughter do this with the correct information, and then include a nice little note for that "teacher" about how she should check her facts before trying to teach bullshit to young minds. She's about as knowledgeable as the textbook fail (from like 1968) my teacher pointed out that said Pocahontas was kidnapped and forced into marriage.


On an unrelated note, I'm so amused that someone's child is studying the same thing I am in my History degree ;D While I'm sure it's different, it's still pretty amusing. Our final project is to write a chapter for history books about the American Indians. So obviously Pocahontas/John Smith/John Rolfe are a part of that.

I'll have to send a copy to your daughter's teacher when we're done with it. And highlight the part about Pocahontas. With neon green so she can't miss it.
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15 Sep 2012, 02:26
starsmaycollide
Post Count: 408
As someone with a teaching degree, I'm baffled that she thinks he married Pochantas. My guess is there was lazy 'research' done by the teacher for that info. I would also have a problem with the assignment, as a parent. I would email her, perhaps asking about John Rolfe, and ask what your child should do now that you have found this other (accurate) info. Then I'd probably tell the principal that she gave the whole class inaccurate info...who knows where she got it-maybe the whole 5th grade is using the same lousy fact sheet! agh.

It reminds me of a project about the Presidential candidates I saw in a 5th grade class in 2008. They had accurate pictures of Obama from different stages of life with random, totally inaccurate information about him/his family (like about his dad and stepdad, where they were from, etc.) . It really irritated me because you would think a display in the hallway would have actual facts! I'd be pretty peeved if some parent "helped" their child make a poster for me with random wrong stuff on it. So I think your kid's teacher needs to do her job. It's not that hard to find factual information about that time period. While a lot of elementary age history can get romanticized when it comes to Native Americans, they should at least know better than that.

(and just FYI- no child left behind required me to have 12 hours college credit in each major subject (Math, English, Science, History) in order to be highly qualified and get my certification. at no point in college did we get to watch the Disney Pochanhontas, lol.)

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16 Sep 2012, 03:47
Jessica
Post Count: 283
@Stars May Collide: in my history class (which focuses on the founding of America, predominantly) my teacher used parts of Pocahontas (the disney movie) as examples to back up what our lesson for the day was. [In particular, the bit where they land on shore and start singing about gold - he used that to emphasize why people started coming here in the first place.] I should also point out he mentioned how historically inaccurate most of the movie was about 75 times.

I really like the teacher I have for this class. He's the head of the History department, and he's really big on teaching us to look at things from a million different angles, and seeing how things are taught as the years go on.

When we started our section on Pocahontas/the Virginia Company, he had a bunch of examples from textbooks from the last ~70 years, of portions mentioning Pocahontas and what happened with her. It was quite interesting to see how there was a textbook that says she was kidnapped and forced into marriage, another saying she was traded, and another saying that John Rolfe married her so he could "save her heathen soul".



On a different note, I'm intrigued that you're required to have 12 credit hours of Math and Science to get your certification. In my requirements for my degree/certification I'm required to take 1 math class (Which is 4 credit hours), and I believe 2 science classes (which will be ~8 credits). Maybe it's the way my school is set up that it's just integrated into other classes or something, but I know for sure that I'm only needing to take one math class. (Unless, of course, I decide I want to be a secondary school math teacher. Then I would need to take more math.)

As it stands now, when I was a ECE major, I only needed the 1 math/2 science. And now as History/Secondary Ed, I still need the same. And to take further classes towards my degree, I'm required to take (and pass) the three parts of my 1st PRAXIS exam.
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16 Sep 2012, 19:05
starsmaycollide
Post Count: 408
I had to take the PRAXIS as well.

Hmm. The 12 credit hours in each subject is what made us 'Highly Qualified' under the federal NCLB Act. That being said, I got my Master's in Elem. Ed (K-6) after already completing a B.S. in another major. The bachelor's degree Elem Ed program lists its requirements differently (even though I think they require the same), but maybe that is part of it. Honestly, I'm not sure why that would be different, unless perhaps it has to do with different state requirements.



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13 Sep 2012, 08:44
Zarathustra
Post Count: 16
I'm not a teacher but as a parent I would use the correct information rather than false information. The teacher needs to have her lazy teaching highlighted for her. If no parent contradicts her then she will continue to teach this way and it is the children that will suffer... bringing her false information to light now may make her change her ways.
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13 Sep 2012, 17:02
Betch.
Post Count: 111
Definitely use historically accurate information, and DEFINITELY TALK TO THE SCHOOL. This "teacher" is in charge of educating children, i dont care if it's first grade addition and subtraction, she needs to know exactly what she's talking about, and the school that's PAYING HER needs to know that clearly, she does not. That is....UNACCEPTABLE, to say the absolute least.
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13 Sep 2012, 18:56
*Forever Changing*
Post Count: 847
I am not a teacher, but I would use correct facts. I have a whole rant I could go into, but I am just going to shut my mouth and say THIS is why I am terrified my kids are back in public school.
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13 Sep 2012, 21:33
Estella
Post Count: 1779
In my experience (both as a child being taught, and as an adult working in schools) teachers often give wrong information. It's very very common.

How you deal with it depends on the teacher. Some teachers have the whole pride and power thing going on, and they become resentful if they are corrected, particularly if they are insecure - they could then take it out on the child in subtle little ways. I talk from the experience of having corrected my teachers quite frequently when I was a kid - in my naivety, I assumed they'd be delighted to be given the correct information/grammar! ;D In reality, of course, quite a few resented me for it. When I was 6, I had one teacher who did not take kindly to me correcting her grammar (to be fair, I hadn't been very polite about it - I told her she was stupid! Although, in my defence, she was!), and who then made a point of regularly ridiculing me and getting the class to join in. Some teachers, however, said they'd check what I'd said, and then came back to me the next day and told me I was right and then informed the class that the information they'd given was wrong. These were the minority. They were the best teachers though, and I guess my approach reflected this - I didn't tell them they were stupid, because they weren't!

In short: intelligent, open-minded teachers, who are more interested in learning than in needing to be right all the time, will be receptive to being corrected, and glad to learn the facts. Insecure teachers who are control freaks, have big egos, and need to be right all the time, will not be so receptive. Unfortunately teaching is a career that attracts quite a few of the latter - but fortunately a few of the former too. The most important thing you can teach Chey is the fact that her teachers won't always be right, and that she should never assume something is right simply because a teacher said so - encourage her to check things for herself. That is way more important than whether or not the poster uses the correct information or not.
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14 Sep 2012, 23:06
Avonlea@ITW
Post Count: 53
Get used to it. Teachers are only people, and many of them lack even basic knowledge. History is especially difficult because there are so many differing viewpoints and agendas. Whatever that teacher's college class taught may be all she knows, if she even paid attention there. The basic skills test that teachers need to take is a joke, at least in Illinois, and you'd be amazed at how many of my peers went on and on about how hard it was! And yet they all went on to become teachers. There are great teachers out there, but unfortunately they're overshadowed by the poor ones. But you can overcome this. The students who will perform best in school are those whose parents are deeply involved. I'm teaching my son to read history from several sources to help him to get the full picture and also to recognize bias. Maybe you could do the same, following along with what your child is learning in school and providing other sources at home throughout the year.
As for your original dilemma, I do agree with the others that you should have her put the correct information in her project. But before she turns it in, or maybe on that day, but definitely before it gets graded, you should quietly pull the teacher aside and explain the inconsistencies, so she's not taken by surprise and tempted to respond in a prideful way.
Good luck!
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15 Sep 2012, 10:00
Music God CJ Plain
Post Count: 550
Yeah, I wouldn't even be nice about it. I'm a history fanatic and that would drive me crazy.

I would use the correct information for the poster and would go to the principle to let them know their teacher is a moron.

I once got a History teacher fired for this very thing. (she said the Magna Carta was the peace treaty signed between Christopher Columbus and the Aztecs...LOL)
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15 Sep 2012, 14:58
fifty shades.
Post Count: 56
@Music God that teacher definitely deserved to be fired LOL
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15 Sep 2012, 14:58
fifty shades.
Post Count: 56
I would contact the teacher with your concerns before anything.
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15 Sep 2012, 16:41
Me, Myself & I
Post Count: 11
Well. She put the info we found in the hardback Encyclopaedia Britannica on the poster and we printed out the picture of him from the Smithsonian website instead of drawing one. She got an "A" on the information part and a "C" on the visual part. Guess it was wrong to print out a picture. But at least I don't have to stress so much about it
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