When I was in third grade I had an argument with my teacher who told me that insects were not animals. I was really into nature documentaries and books at the time and I knew that insects were in the animal kingdom.
I remember going home and being really mad about it. That really soured me on school for the rest of my life. I’m still bitter about it!
I had a teacher in 6th grade who told us that God placed the earth the perfect distance from the Sun; a few inches closer and we’d all burn, and a few inches further and we’d all freeze. I got detention for standing on top of my desk and asking why I wasn’t on fire yet.
That kinda shattered my view of teachers being arbiters of knowledge.
Also, that’s a specious argument because if the Earth wasn’t in the Goldilocks zone it would be a dead planet and we wouldn’t have evolved on it over billions of years to make the observation that it is the right distance from the Sun to harbour life.
Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, “This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!”
Silimar, I had a teacher ask us to write down the first animal that came to mind and I wrote, “wolf spider” because to an 8 year old, there are few more bad ass sounding animals.
She said “really? That’s the First animal you think of?” Eye roll
Me: looks down at doodles of giant spiders battling tanks that shoot lightning, “it’s the only animal I’m thinking of right now…”
I guess compared to the other examples at least she didn’t try and persuade you it wasn’t an animal, just a bit crap at embracing a child’s natural enthusiasm and kind of immediately killing their sense of enquiry by making it in to an experience of being judged.
My third grade teacher told me that negative numbers aren’t real.
Reflecting back on it thirty years later, it’s clear what she meant, but the poorly communicated statement and arguments she made were very upsetting to me, someone who at the time was very proud of having just learned the concept.
In the moment, I had the same reaction as you. Shortly thereafter, my mom - who was not at all a fan of that teacher - took my brother and me out of public school and we started homeschool.
I really wish teachers understood that the correct response to that is “yes, but that’s something you’ll be learning later, for now we’re going to not deal with that.” That’s how my Jr high math teacher dealt with me forgetting algebra and attempting to invent calculus because the rate of change seemed the easiest solution to the problem.
That said, I’ve met education students. You’ve got some bright people who really love kids or teaching, but you’ve got plenty of people who never really understood stem subjects. It was a revelation to learn that yeah a lot of grade school teachers don’t get math.
Sometimes teachers repeat a lesson plan over and over, and a small innocuous statement grows in intensity with each retelling and each argument with students as the teacher digs in their heels, until it’s ballooned into something silly. I’ve also heard that suction and centrifugal force are a myth.
OK, I understand that you’re trying to make a point to better my understanding of the material you are currently teaching, but now I’m hung up on this weird thing you said. It usually comes down to something “the language to describe this thing is insufficient when expressed this way” but the way they say it is like “this concept is a lie, full stop, no more thinking.”
Maybe they initially wanted to use more definitive statements to make students listen in class or something.
When I was in third grade I had an argument with my teacher who told me that insects were not animals. I was really into nature documentaries and books at the time and I knew that insects were in the animal kingdom. I remember going home and being really mad about it. That really soured me on school for the rest of my life. I’m still bitter about it!
I had a teacher in 6th grade who told us that God placed the earth the perfect distance from the Sun; a few inches closer and we’d all burn, and a few inches further and we’d all freeze. I got detention for standing on top of my desk and asking why I wasn’t on fire yet.
That kinda shattered my view of teachers being arbiters of knowledge.
The problem isn’t teachers, it’s that religion is a severe mental illness.
Also, that’s a specious argument because if the Earth wasn’t in the Goldilocks zone it would be a dead planet and we wouldn’t have evolved on it over billions of years to make the observation that it is the right distance from the Sun to harbour life.
- Douglas Adams
Was that Douglas Adams? I remember Richard Dawkins using that as an example. I always thought it was a really good analogy.
“Oh no, not again”
- bowl of petunias
he’s out of line but he’s right
I wish teachers like that actually learned from these experiences
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Silimar, I had a teacher ask us to write down the first animal that came to mind and I wrote, “wolf spider” because to an 8 year old, there are few more bad ass sounding animals.
She said “really? That’s the First animal you think of?” Eye roll
Me: looks down at doodles of giant spiders battling tanks that shoot lightning, “it’s the only animal I’m thinking of right now…”
I guess compared to the other examples at least she didn’t try and persuade you it wasn’t an animal, just a bit crap at embracing a child’s natural enthusiasm and kind of immediately killing their sense of enquiry by making it in to an experience of being judged.
My third grade teacher told me that negative numbers aren’t real.
Reflecting back on it thirty years later, it’s clear what she meant, but the poorly communicated statement and arguments she made were very upsetting to me, someone who at the time was very proud of having just learned the concept.
In the moment, I had the same reaction as you. Shortly thereafter, my mom - who was not at all a fan of that teacher - took my brother and me out of public school and we started homeschool.
I really wish teachers understood that the correct response to that is “yes, but that’s something you’ll be learning later, for now we’re going to not deal with that.” That’s how my Jr high math teacher dealt with me forgetting algebra and attempting to invent calculus because the rate of change seemed the easiest solution to the problem.
That said, I’ve met education students. You’ve got some bright people who really love kids or teaching, but you’ve got plenty of people who never really understood stem subjects. It was a revelation to learn that yeah a lot of grade school teachers don’t get math.
Sometimes teachers repeat a lesson plan over and over, and a small innocuous statement grows in intensity with each retelling and each argument with students as the teacher digs in their heels, until it’s ballooned into something silly. I’ve also heard that suction and centrifugal force are a myth.
OK, I understand that you’re trying to make a point to better my understanding of the material you are currently teaching, but now I’m hung up on this weird thing you said. It usually comes down to something “the language to describe this thing is insufficient when expressed this way” but the way they say it is like “this concept is a lie, full stop, no more thinking.”
Maybe they initially wanted to use more definitive statements to make students listen in class or something.
Yeah, I’ve been on the same page.
Fortunately I haven’t been in a formal classroom setting in years.
autism has entered the chat
Maybe. I’ve wondered if I’m on the spectrum. Either way that teacher was definitely wrong.
I’m mostly joking, but not getting over it so many years later is a symptom of autism, fyi
I was mainly joking, I’m definitely over it.