# What do you think of this homework question? My kid's answer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386 "2011-09-15T12:47:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/61 "2011-09-17T03:02:31Z")
> [@grama](#): > > I disagree with people who says it’s not an acceptable answer, it is, considering how the question is worded. It’s not the job of the student to interpret a question in order to answer what he may think the teacher wants to hear. Try telling your boss that it’s not your job to interpret what he told you to do. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/62 "2011-09-17T03:42:21Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Try telling your boss that it’s not your job to interpret what he told you to do. No, **grama** is correct. The student answered correctly the question that was asked. If the teacher doesn’t want the student to answer the question that was asked, the teacher should ask a different question. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/63 "2011-09-17T11:40:05Z")
> [@grama](#): > > I disagree with people who says it’s not an acceptable answer, it is, considering how the question is worded. It’s not the job of the student to interpret a question in order to answer what he may think the teacher wants to hear. To a certain degree, yeah it is. Especially when it doesn’t take much to understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/64 "2011-09-17T11:58:40Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > Ugh. Having to take notes on fiction would have made me stabby even as a 10 year old. It completely ruins the immersion. As I explain to my students, I encourage them to read whatever they want, however they want, on their own time. At school, however, the pleasure of reading is secondary to learning specific reading skills. Does it ruin the immersion! Absolutely–and tough cookies. The skill of having an active inner voice while you’re reading is crucial to understanding what you’re reading. (Trust me on this: once you’ve done reading assessments on hundreds of kids, you can pretty quickly tell which kids have that inner voice going on, and which ones regard reading as a race to see how quickly their eyes can skim the words). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/65 "2011-09-17T12:15:43Z")
It is not the student’s job to be a smart ass, as much as many may believe it is. It is a student’s job to learn and to be able to demonstrate that learning to the teacher. A teacher’s whiffing the wording of a particular question does not void the student of that still being his/her responsibility. A child of 11 may not be able yet to figure that out or be able to deduce what sort of learning the teacher really wants to see demonstrated. Hence the op’s question: what is the parent’s job here? And the responses: to help the child understand what learning they should be demonstrating for this assignment. Because the response as it stands demonstrates only that no learning has occurred. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/66 "2011-09-17T12:54:22Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > No, **grama** is correct. > > The student answered correctly the question that was asked. If the teacher doesn’t want the student to answer the question that was asked, the teacher should ask a different question. So when my boss asks me to write a report on the current state of the project I’m working on, it’d be cool for me to say. “This project is Washington DC, which we all know isn’t in any state at all!” Figuring out what people are really asking you to do is probably about the most important and universally applicable skill you can learn and practice. Learning how to point out and discuss fundamental flaws in something you’ve been asked to do in an appropriate manner is another, more advanced, skill that the student could practice in this situation. Life is full of poorly worded assignments. You have to learn to roll with them. It’s basically never useful in school, your career, or life to make smart ass comments. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/67 "2011-09-17T13:49:01Z")
I agree with what many people are saying here…there’s no reason for your son to pretend that he doesn’t know what the teacher is getting at, here. And you really shouldn’t support him in it just because you personally don’t care for the book. He’s going to read a lot of stuff in school that he doesn’t particularly enjoy, and his enjoyment will generally have little relevance to the assignments. The thing that probably bothers me the most about what your son wrote is that to me it sounds rude. Is there a good reason to be rude to the teacher because you don’t like the way the question is worded? Is that how you want your son to present himself? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/68 "2011-09-17T13:49:07Z")
We’re talking about 10 year old kids here, not working adults. And your “state of the project” example is just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/69 "2011-09-17T13:55:06Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I agree with what many people are saying here…there’s no reason for your son to pretend that he doesn’t know what the teacher is getting at, here. I think the teacher assumed all the kids _will_ “learn a life lesson”, and wrote the question with that assumption. I think that’s a poor assumption to make, and that’s why it’s a poor question. I think the child truthfully answered the question the teacher asked. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/70 "2011-09-17T14:06:18Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I think the teacher assumed all the kids _will_ “learn a life lesson”, and wrote the question with that assumption. I think that’s a poor assumption to make, and that’s why it’s a poor question. I think the child truthfully answered the question the teacher asked. By starting with the presumption you challenge the kids to go past their immediate reaction and actually consider if they learned something. They may say “nope” immediately, but when encouraged may find there was something they hadn’t considered. This type of critical thinking is a learned skill (as it was for my son, back then). By starting with something personal it is often easier- often kids enjoy and are good at writing about themselves. The child can then apply it to the more abstract. It’s also good for kids who have trouble seeing things from the character’s pov, but can more easily see it from their own. By thinking about themselves they learn to bridge that gap. Creating a variety of question types increases your chance of reaching most of the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386/71 "2011-09-17T14:16:07Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I think the teacher assumed all the kids _will_ “learn a life lesson”, and wrote the question with that assumption. I think that’s a poor assumption to make, and that’s why it’s a poor question. I think the child truthfully answered the question the teacher asked. I don’t disagree with that, but I think that there are better ways of explaining that he didn’t personally get anything out of it, and still explaining what life lessons might have been expressed in the book. His answer was curt and rude-sounding, which isn’t going to get you far in school or in life. I just had a similar conversation with my 2nd-grader. She was upset because in Spanish class, her teacher sits them in a circle and instructs them to each say how they’re feeling that day, in Spanish. My daughter is very reticent about her feelings, and doesn’t want to say it in front of the class. I explained to her that her teacher isn’t as much interested in how she’s feeling, she just wants to hear her speak some Spanish. I told her not to worry about telling how she really feels, just say you’re fine and having a good day, and that will satisfy the teacher. Sometimes you have to look beyond the specifics and try to figure out what the actual goal of the assignment is…that’s part of being a good student. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-homework-question-my-kids-answer/596386.md?page=3)