WOW !!!!! I need a little help on this one?

Question

I just got a call from the school, seems my son wrote a paper on Columbus and got a big fat red F.

The teacher said my son has no idea who he is.
I asked what my son put and he said he wrote...
He was a Putz head and brought over illness and killed alot of the natives,
he also came back with small pox and killed more natives
as he spoke and told me what the paper said everything my son was true

I tried explaining to the teacher that he was right on all counts and that the paper does not deserve a failing grade
he basicly said TUFF and it was all Wrong

how do i get it into this teachers head THE PAPER IS RIGHT on all counts ????

red hot

it is not his opinion

lololol liam
a putz head is basicly a boob/jerk/pain in the butt/idiot

but i read the paper he did not say it that way
i think the teacher was suming up the picture of what he wrote

ummm
CM i am native american
i don't have to listen to anyone

ok the paper was written great

it is the veiw point the teacher failed him on

no..jehen

i do not nor want to have my child think that way
i did not raise him that way and i certainly am not that way i love information and always get both sides of it if i can

Answer 1

teachers teach what is in the literature books...so basically da answers they are looking for has to come from a literature book or wuteva...not your childs opinion.

thank goodness i graduate in 2wks..cuz im tired of school

Answer 2

As in instructor myself (albeit at the college level) I take many things into consideration when assigning a mark. Accuracy of information is simply one of them. I agree with another answer that regardless of whether the answer was, technically, correct, if it is not the information provided in class, and there was no attempt to communicate the information provided in class, then the instructor does not know if that student actually learned anything from the course that was required. Additionally, the way in which a paper is written is a large part of the mark. If a paper is poorly written and organized, then regardless of the information the student provided, it is often difficult to discern a clear thesis and argument. Even short answers should be clear and well-written.

That said, in this given situation, I would probably not outright fail the student, but I would want to talk to them to find out if they were listening in class and if it were poorly written, attempt to help the student with their writing skills. If the student was recalcitrant, I would speak to the parent. I would also say that age matters a great deal here. You did not specify if your child was 8 or 18. I would obviously expect more from an 18 year old.

There is a second problem within the first which is this particular teacher. No instructor should brush off a parent's concerns. Granted, many instructors do not like grade trolling, but it is important to be open and professional when dealing with both parents and students. If the teacher has ended discussion, then you will need to approach the principal. Even if the particular mark cannot be adjusted, you will at least have made your displeasure known and get it on record.

Something you might ask the teacher about is an alternate or additional assignment. Communicate to your child that all assignments should be taken seriously, and that while it is important to have convictions and seek the truth, that is not, actually, what school is about. Playing the game gets a person farther and there is all the time in the world after graduation to change the world. Schools are closer to prisons, especially now, not only in keeping students in their seats, but also in keeping their heads in the sand.

Answer 3

I am sure the teacher was looking for the essential facts on Columbus, not an editorial on the unintended consequences of exploration in the 15th century.

I would have given the paper an 'F' if it did not include any of these important facts:
1. He was an Italian explorer who advocated that the earth was round and promoted the idea that a shorter route to India was to the west, not the east.
2. He was commissioned by the Spanish King to seek out the western Route to India.
3. He discovered the Islands of Caribbean we now call "The West Indies".
4. He reported back to Spain and opened up trade and colonization in in the Americas.

I might consider bonus points if the answer also mentioned the Consequences of European colonization as a result of Columbus's exploration or that Columbus died still believing that he had reached Islands East of India rather than two entirely unknown continents.

But if 'putz head' was the essential and only answer, then an 'F' it would be. And you get an 'F' for teaching your son that it is OK to ignore what is taught in the classroom and substitute an opinion based on a misunderstanding of what people knew and understood about communicable diseases in the late 1400's.

Answer 4

No real help here. While Columbus was a dick who did kill millions of indians with disease, but in his defense he didn't know better, I think possibly you may want to consider the method of writing. If your son could have articulated his views better, it would be much easier to approach the school and say look, what my son said is based on historical fact, even if the teacher does not like it. If the paper actually said that Columbus was a putz who killed indians, that makes the argument a little harder to explain. As a former teacher, if I had a paper that looked like that, I would fail it also.

Answer 5

Even though your son's paper is correct (Columbus' journeys to America caused extreme hardship for the native population) the teacher is being very narrow minded about this. Perhaps it was the way the paper was worded that caused the problem with the grade. If your son had used historical evidence (eyewitness accounts, etc.) then maybe the teacher would have had a different response to the paper.

Of course, it is possible that the teacher thinks that Columbus did nothing wrong and should be placed on a pedastal for "Discovering America." If that is the case then there is nothing that can be done to change his mind.

Answer 6

Sure, technically your son is right. But none of those points are unique to Columbus. Most of the European explorers and plunderers of that time killed lots of natives, by violence and disease.

And I don't think Columbus did it on purpose, after all he thought he was in India and wanted to open trade. The later conqerors showed up with the intent of killing the natives, if they had to, to get their gold.

Your son should have mentioned the usual points about Columbus discovering the "New World" and such, plus mentioned the effects it had on the natives. I really doubt you're ever going to convince the teacher that it's right if it's not specific.

Answer 7

Do you honestly think it is correct for your son to call any historical figures in their homework "putz heads"? The responsibility of a good History teacher is to avoid this kind of behaviour. Maybe the "big fat red F" is to teach your son how to be more careful with his choice of words, since few historians excel by writing History in this fashion. Obviously, this is a debatable issue, and one shouldn't assume "THE PAPER IS RIGHT."

"One of the most contentious issues relating to disease and depopulation in the Americas concerns the degree to which American indigenous peoples were intentionally infected with diseases such as small pox. Despite some legends to the contrary, there seems to be no evidence that the Spanish ever attempted to deliberately infect the native Americans."

David Noble Cook, 'Born to Die'

"There are other terms to describe what happened in the Western Hemisphere, but genocide is not one of them. It is a good propaganda term in an age where slogans and shouting have replaced reflection and learning, but to use it in this context is to cheapen both the word itself and the appalling experiences of the Jews and Armenians, to mention but two of the major victims of this century."

Stafford Poole, '1492 and All That'

Answer 8

Look, those things are true, in a sense. But! For a GOOD history report, the report needs to have both sides, the good and the bad, pros and cons. Your son was only going from a single bias that Columbus had purposely brought over smallpox and other illnesses. The problem is, Europeans had a immunity to it, the natives did not. It was not his fault, but from the way you made your son's paper out to be, it sounds like he purposely infected them.

I would have to agree with jehen on this one.

Answer 9

I agree with some of the others. I think it is the way your son presented the paper, not the paper itself. Come on, I guarantee I would take a letter grade off just for using the word putz. My guess is the paper wasn't written well. Did he have the stats to back up his claims in the paper? I am actually with the teacher on this one with the information you provided.

Answer 10

It's not what he wrote...It's probably how he wrote it. Yes, the Spanish brought disease to the Americas. That can be stated without the editorial remark. It would be easy to write an unflattering paper on Columbus. It does need to be delivered and supported by references in the proper way.

See if you can locate a copy of "Lies My Teacher Told Me.
by James Loewen. Chapter 2 in the book is about Columbus, it might help bolster some of your son's positions.

This type of writing needs to be well documented and free from editorial. Build the case by doing the research.


Thats my position

Answer 11

He probably failed it because of the way he wrote it rather than for the info he had. I don't even know what a Putz head is but it doesn't sound nice.
Also, it isn't black and white. A good paper should balance both sides of the argument. Maybe some talking about the way Colomubus is perceived and the reality....