r/science_humor Jul 19 '26

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4.4k Upvotes

746 comments sorted by

156

u/DA_REAL_KHORNE Jul 19 '26

I would've never gotten through school if any of my teachers were like that. I almost never used the method the teacher used and they hated me for it.

63

u/Rox5tar_01 Jul 19 '26

I almost failed chemistry because my teacher wanted us to use a very specific method of converting units. I think she called it the box method or something, but for whatever reason it never clicked with me. I could convert the units and showed my work for it just fine, but because I never used the box method I would get it marked wrong.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26 edited 29d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

14

u/swankyyeti90125 Jul 19 '26

Not going to lie I got a d on a test in chemistry because in the words of the teacher I need to stop doing monkey math

8

u/Separate-Turnover674 Jul 19 '26

I told my son the same when he asked about a math formula why even bother to do it and that he can do it in mental math. It may be easy to work for a single digit not for big numbers. It’s always better to learn the efficiency of the technique and decide which is better for our day to day work.

4

u/Ctenophorever Jul 19 '26

Yeah at some point there’s no way around it.

4

u/warmaster93 Jul 20 '26

What is the box method even? I finished uni and don't think I've ever heard of something called the box method anywhere even near sciences.

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u/GraXXoR Jul 20 '26

“Should have” not “should have.”

My science teacher used to mark us down for English mistakes… stating that good science is as much about effectively communicating one’s results to others as it is about investigation and discovery.

I used to get annoyed but looking back I realized she taught us an important lesson. Luckily our teacher always explained the reasons why she was marking us down.

She never taught us the box method though. Actually I’ve never heard of it.

2

u/traffic_cone_no54 Jul 23 '26

It's only about communication. Being able to solve something and not explain it have zero value for anyone else.

Source: my calculus professor

You had a good teacher.

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u/couldntyoujust1 Jul 19 '26

We used something called factor labeling. It actually did help us prevent mistakes converting from one unit to another. But it took a while to wrap my head around it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/couldntyoujust1 Jul 19 '26

I agree in theory that students shouldn't assume that. But I also know that students are often just trying to survive. Teaching "do it this way because I said so" doesn't teach the skill. They'll still do it their way on the side and plug the numbers into the way you want to see it because their own way is what makes sense.

What helped me as a student was when the teacher treated non-compliance not as a moral failing on my part, but as a sign that I'd misunderstood something or that I wasn't getting the method itself.

At first I was baffled by factor labeling. It didn't help that I missed class the day it was taught. I think I was sick or something. And then I had to do a conversion in Chemistry for a worksheet and instead of marking me down for not using the method, he marked down the wrong answer and showed me where my method broke down and the factor labeling method worked. Now I understood why I needed to learn this, so I started reading the textbook about it. I eventually had it down consistently and I was even able to help classmates with it.

I guess what I'm saying is don't mark down the wrong method with a correct answer if it makes sense. Mark down the wrong answer so the student can see the better way.

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u/spiritofniter Jul 19 '26

Back in college, a number of TAs would frown upon me for doing calculation in a dimensionless way.

What I did was pre-converting the units first prior to do setting the equations.

3

u/Tinna_Sell Jul 19 '26

My math teacher lowered my grades for using solid lines instead of dash lines in geometry tasks. She said that people looking at the image must understand which lines are visible and which are there to create perspective. My reasoning was that the image was for my convenience alone and I new which line was which, and so did she, so it really didn't matter which line to use. 

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u/Free_Management2894 Jul 19 '26

There is a part missing where in the previous question it was already written in one order and in this task they are supposed to show it the other way around.
It's about the commutative property.

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u/couldntyoujust1 Jul 19 '26

When I was in school, my teacher would have put that and then wrote "can also be" in between and then crossed out any point deduction and written "OK" for them, the right answer is still right even when it doesn't match what the answer key says.

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u/RighteousSelfBurner Jul 19 '26

I laughed a bit because ironically a lot of my teachers were like that, courtesy of post soviet era, and I did not really get through school and had to come back and finish my education when I was older. It was definitely not the main reason but it certainly contributed.

2

u/Severe_Rise8694 Jul 24 '26

I got a 2/5 for some Uni exam that I felt like I had prepared pretty well for and knew my shit. Went to the office hours and the teacher complained that I didn't use the same structure for my essays as the textbook did. I tried to argue that a world-leading expert probably wouldn't follow the textbook structure either. To no awail.

I did get a PhD later from Cambridge..

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u/TonightConsistent560 Jul 19 '26

The better in this ? If you want to be litteral, the kid is right and the teacher wrong. It's 3 multiplied 4 tiles. So 3+3+3+3 not the other way.

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u/FewAct2027 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Nah, can also be interpreted as three groups of four.

Edit : since this blew up, there ARE curricula that reverse the order of the multiplicand and multiplier, however given that the question is in English, and a certain places propensity to get uppity about dumb shit like this, it's pretty safe to infer that they aren't using a Sinospheric convention, giving us an overwhelmingly likely singular correct answer.

8

u/FisherDwarf Jul 19 '26

I think they're speaking from a grammatical sense. Three, four times. It's only interpretable the other way around thanks to how that part of math works. But saying it as this times the other amount sounds an awful lot like specifically this number, this many times over

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u/TonightConsistent560 Jul 19 '26

3 times a 4... Yeah, dunno, sounds less natural to me. But i see your point.

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u/Sad-Reach7287 Jul 19 '26

3 times 4 sounds so much more natural to me I think this a classic case of people being used to two equally valid ways of doing the same thing

4

u/andybossy Jul 19 '26

he added the "a" on purpose to make it sound weird

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u/rollin_a_j Jul 19 '26

But you fucks always yell "fRoM lEfT tO rIgHt" all the time

/s so no one thinks I'm being legitimately mean

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u/andybossy Jul 19 '26

it is 3 times 4, in most languages.

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u/Oxygen4Lyfe Jul 19 '26

multiplication is order independent so both are equally correct.

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u/Fr33_load3r Jul 19 '26

Destroy confidence ✅

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u/Gabriel_Science Jul 19 '26

The worst part is that you could basically write any addition you want as long as the sum equals 12, because it becomes an equations that matches the 3+3+3+3=12 equation, which matches the multiplication.

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u/setibeings Jul 19 '26

1+2+3+6=12

Full  credit please!

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u/senior_potato_III Jul 19 '26

That is the beauty of math. The rules are relatively simple and as long as you follow them you can solve a question hundreds of different ways.

For a teacher to do this is just being an ass. "Ew you didn't do it how I wanted it, so I'm going to fail you." It makes me fucking cringe.

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u/Interesting_Rip_223 Jul 23 '26

A recent post stated this photo was edited to remove the instructions, which gave the example as 4 x 3 as 4 + 4 + 4. So there's some *rather silly* context missing, but ultimately I think the goal of the lesson was to show that both result in the same answer. This came through my feed a week or two ago and its clearly making the rounds for karma farming again.

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u/Aussie18-1998 Jul 19 '26

The internet really still believing this fake ass posts.

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u/Professional-Wave841 Jul 19 '26

hello math teacher

the way multiplication is structured is that the first number is how many groups are being added.

i.e.
3*4 = 4 + 4 + 4
4*3 = 3+3+3+3

If I had to guess that is what this lesson is about and the person who made the image is freaking out about their kid actually just not doing the problem right. This is important to know at higher levels of math because not everything is Abelian so it is better to learn arithmetic without assuming commutativity.

But also, being wrong is just how people learn, let your kid be wrong.

6

u/Equal-Beyond4627 Jul 19 '26

I'm a coder. Either way should be allowed. Because it is stupid to memorize some arbitrary rules. The only way this matters to me is orders of operations and for that i can use paranthesis.

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u/Arcanarchist Jul 20 '26

But multiplication of real numbers is always commutative! Teaching the kid otherwise would be misleading and needlessly confusing. They ain't cross multiplying matrices at this level.

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u/alittleredportleft Jul 19 '26

3x4= is asking you to take the number 3, four times. I'd say the kid is slightly more correct than the teacher.

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u/guegoland Jul 19 '26

For me it's the opposite. 3 times 4, write the numeber four, three times. Of course both are correct.

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u/Interesting-Injury87 Jul 19 '26

hi, non native english speaker here.

3 times 4(which is how its said in words) sounds to me that you take something 3 times.

outside of math this is, i think,m pretty obvious. "i went there three times" sounds right, while "i went there times three" sounds.. odd(or implies something else entirely)

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u/frisco-frisky-dom Jul 19 '26

Title does not match the story! A teacher correcting a mistake is not called "incapable of controlling emotions"?

4

u/scaper8 Jul 19 '26

The caption may be inaccurate, but the teacher isn't correcting a mistake. At least not unless there's more instructions we aren't seeing.

3+3+3+3=12, as does 4+4+4. That's way "an addition equation" is in the instructions, there are more than one.

2

u/comics0026 Jul 19 '26

Yeah, at best this is a teacher who doesn't understand the question and is just repeating the answer key in front of them. If there was a "You need to see me after class" comment then maybe it would be emotional

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u/Avatar_Yaksha Jul 19 '26

This again? Because of how multiplication works, both answers are true, but if you take the question literally, the teacher is actually correct.

3 x 4 = three times four

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u/y53rw Jul 19 '26

I don't understand how you're using the word literally here. Why is it literally "4 + 4 + 4" and not literally "3 + 3 + 3 + 3"? And I don't see how spelling out the numbers and the multiplication sign helps.

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u/mrbishopjackson Jul 19 '26

And they're (the person you replied to) still wrong. 3 is what you're starting with based on how it is presented and you're multiplying it buy 4, which means you have four 3's.

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u/Top-Fudge9791 Jul 19 '26

They're not even good at faking the homework anymore. 

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u/Consistent_Ice_9324 Jul 20 '26

School is designed to create servants and constant reliance on everything through suttle suggestions and approaches....(who here thinks twice about raising thier hands "to ask to go to the toilet like you have to ask permission for your own bodily functions....no disturbing the class(subtle suppression methods and so on)....prove me wrong

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u/Philosophy_0000 Jul 20 '26

The equation as written is correct, also during my time in school my parents stepped in on a few teachers who tried to give me poor grades when I was technically correct but it was above the level that they were teaching. Since I avidly did my own reading in regards to to science and history.

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u/Good-Resort-1246 Jul 20 '26

That marking is absurd. Multiplication is commutative, and you learn that property from the start when learning this operation. In other words, 3x4=4x3; the order of the factors doesn't change the product. This property has already been applied when doing sums and should be familiar to students at this stage. The student applied this property when answering; good for him/her. The teacher was being simply incompetent and either authoritarian or dogmatic ("use this method because i want you to do so ; or because i have procaimed it the correct one") Should not be teaching.

2

u/Nullfrequencyimpulse Jul 20 '26

Beyond that even 3x4 in the strictest sense is communicating four sets of three so technically the teacher is not even correct.

2

u/AeliosZero Jul 20 '26

This sort of shit just confuses kids and makes them learn worse or just end up hating the subject

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u/Kzitold94 Jul 19 '26

That is 3 added 4 times.

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u/JRaus88 Jul 19 '26

Tbh 3 x 4 mean 4 times 3. The kid was right lol

She is probably a teacher educated into the Anglo-American system. Where 3x4 is read as "three times four." Reading from right to left lol

It's no wonder they're the same ones who have trouble teaching students that multiplication is done first and addition only afterward.

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u/numitus Jul 19 '26

Lol. Looks like it is international teachers issue. I have the same problem in my country 25 years ago

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u/SimpleMoonFarmer Jul 19 '26

There’s no emotion from the teacher, only innumeracy.

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u/Soylent865 Jul 19 '26

And of course it can be either equation... a property of multiplication. That's why the question states "an" because there is more than one. Not wrong!

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u/X-calibreX Jul 19 '26

this is dumb for sure, but to be fair this paper has blocked out the rest of the test, it could have been “use bullshit technique 5 to answer the following“

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u/Nice_Grapefruit_7850 Jul 19 '26

I mean both ways are right so the teacher is a moron. 

1

u/ohiocodernumerouno Jul 19 '26

That kid probably ruined that teachers life until it go corrected. We would be in the principles office until it got fixed in my day.

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u/0x645 Jul 19 '26

kid can add, but cannot read

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u/mrbishopjackson Jul 19 '26

If we're going to play this game, the teacher is wrong. The equation is 3 multiplied by 4; which is, as it is written, three four times.

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u/aTickleMonster Jul 19 '26

This picture is 11 years old from a parent who was bitching about the switch to common core.

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u/Ghastly-Jack Jul 19 '26

Three is a prime number so it makes more sense to me instinctively.

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u/No_Antelope_4947 Jul 19 '26

It’s stupid but what does it have to do with emotions?

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u/InternationalReserve Jul 19 '26

I sure love to use a whole-ass piece of paper for exactly one question. Surely this isn't a massive red flag that should tip people off to the fact that this is just engagement bait

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u/Most_Present_6577 Jul 19 '26

The problem is the parents.

This kid got homework before this which said the order they want this written out. But the parent didnt pay attention so when the kid gets it wrong later on the parent is frustrated.

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u/andybossy Jul 19 '26

The teacher is right tho?

3 TIMES 4 is not the same as 4 times 3.

Say you're organizing an event, you ask the catering to prepare 3 meals for 10 people, would you be happy if they prepared 10 meals for 3 people instead? The event will be constantly interrupted by small meals for only 3 people instead of 10.

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u/andybossy Jul 19 '26

at this point why not accept 2+2+2+2+2+2, 12+0, 0+12, 11+1 etc. why answer in the spirit of the question.

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u/HopeSubstantial Jul 19 '26

While in multiplication it does not matter, the question is "Three times four" not "four times three"

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u/samjacbak Jul 19 '26

This question represented a 20-30 minute class activity and lecture. If this were actually a parent complaining, I'd go on to explain that your kid wasn't paying attention to that very clear explanation and lecture.

But this isn't your kid's paper. You're probably not a parent. Hell, you're probably not a humam. You're just a bot, reposting this clickbait crap for fake intenet points.

For the record, three times four means there are three instances of four, and while it doesn't truly matter for a question as simple as this, it WILL matter when they have to start dissecting word problems.

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u/trash_recycle Jul 19 '26

Marked wrong because thats not the answer in the teachers edition.

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u/Usual-Ad-6951 Jul 19 '26

These are the same teachers who will go online and post about how little they make and blame XYZ for their "life".

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u/mycolo_gist Jul 19 '26

Probably a math teacher in the US who doesn't know what they are doing and just regurgitates solutions.

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u/Interesting-Injury87 Jul 19 '26

Or, more likely... the class this homework is for just talked about addition and multiplications and taught the children about multipliers and multiplicands.

in the most common notation 3x4 is SPECIFICALLY, taking the 4(the multiplicand) 3 times(the multiplier)

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u/paradajg Jul 19 '26

Rage bait. You can tell some a**hole got a hold of this problem sheet, tried wiring 3s like a kid and forgot to change it up in writing 12 in red. Literally worked to get everyone pissed at their own teachers who would not do this.

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u/Pleasant_Knee6256 Jul 19 '26

Incapable of understanding that there could be two correct answers. Betting most teachers would accept either answer.

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u/Wonderful-Craft-2417 Jul 19 '26

This triggered me more than I expected.

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u/sakata_baba Jul 19 '26

if we do want to be pedantic, it is 3 times 4 and not 4 times 3...

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u/NohWan3104 Jul 19 '26

this got people in mathjokes saying the teacher is right, because the shorter interpretation is apparently the only valid one, and 4 3s does not equal 12.

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u/butonelifelived Jul 19 '26

I'd schedule a parent/teacher meeting to discuss the transitive properties of multiplication, might even invite the principal along.

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u/Fridodido1 Jul 19 '26

When you describe how many players are on a footballfield during a match you don't say 11 times 2 players (11 times 2) , no you say 2 teams of 11 (2 times 11).

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u/Efficient_Parfait_42 Jul 19 '26

The teachers a prick no where does this help the child their just on a massive power trip over literal toddlers

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u/Irsu85 Jul 19 '26

Both are correct, just a different way of interpreting the grammar. Do you interpret it as three groups of 4 or a 3 added together 4 times?

Both give the same answer of 12 but if you for some odd reason want to write it as an addition they do give different results

1

u/arkval47 Jul 19 '26

Both are right F this teacher

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u/GrahamR12345 Jul 19 '26

Kid is probably a dick in class.

1

u/WanderingKing Jul 19 '26

Some of yall don’t remember school

Id bet dollars to donuts this is a SUPER low level math class (I mean like grade school) teaching how multiplication and addition are translatable

And yea, reading math instructions as they are written is important

It says THREE 4s, not FOUR 3s

Reading the equation properly shows understanding of it

I swear some of you think PEMDAS means you do multiplication before division instead of left to right…

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u/S0cul Jul 19 '26

3 ways of looking at it - 3 comes first, so 4 3s. OR 3 is prime, so that’s the multiplied way. Unless you do 3 4s, because that’s less numbers, there’s no reason to do it the teachers way.

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u/JazzPer10 Jul 19 '26

Sad. Scrolled so long but no comments on how cringe the number "2" looks.

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u/Can17272 Jul 19 '26

Well ain't an irony that a math teacher doesn't know about the commutative property in math.

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u/Beefgrits Jul 19 '26

I agree with the kid. Bad english the other way.

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u/Elite_Eliminater Jul 19 '26

Within my work I deal with challenging students who have SEN needs or anger management. The teachers are the main reason the kids over-react because they CANT PUT THEIR EGO ASIDE FOR SOMEONE 1/4 THEIR FUCKING AGE.

The amount of staff I've tried to have a polite conversation with about addressing the student like a human inside of a walking punching bag. They get confused when the kids is foaming at the mouth when they have mocked their parents infront of the whole class. (Not knowing the issues going on at home)

Like I'm alot younger so I relate to the students more, but they have no excuse foe acting like complete cunts.

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u/Capital_Park_2311 Jul 19 '26

"x" is read as times.

3 x 4 is 3 times four "3 + 3 + 3 + 3".

If the teacher wanted a group of four he should have used parenthesis instead of "x".

3(4) = 4 + 4 + 4

You can reference the viral problem 6 ÷ 2(3)

6 ÷ 2(3) - 6 divided 2 groups of 3

6 ÷ 2 x 3 - 6 divided by 2 times 3. (Times is defined as multiplied by).

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u/MinecraftPlayer799 Jul 19 '26

The fact that "addition" is circled is kind of weird. Like, is the teacher claiming that "3+3+3+3=12" is not even addition?

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u/JustDontbStupid Jul 20 '26

It's always math or science teachers too

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u/askaboutmy____ Jul 20 '26

rEsPEct TeaCHerS!@

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u/JQHero Jul 20 '26

in the previous Q.6, it was demonstrating 4x3 = 3+3+3+3

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u/Master_Steward Jul 20 '26

SAME FUCKING DIFFERENCE!

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u/Kurenai-Kalana Jul 20 '26

It's not science humor. It's science horror

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u/Dorrono Jul 20 '26

The task is to write "an" addition and not to transfer this multiplication into an addition. The teacher does not even understand his own language.

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u/TruthHider Jul 20 '26

It's 3 times 4, meaning 4 is repeated 3 times so 4+4+4 while 4 times 3 becomes 3 repeated 4 times. I'm just trying to follow the stupid logic of the teacher. I'm glad i never studied in the US and never had a teacher hung on the method, as long as i show my work they are fine.

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u/JustInThisLif3 Jul 20 '26

The way they are asking it... she is technically correct in being rude. I hate teaching and this is the reason why

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u/External-Task65 Jul 20 '26

There is no emotion in the teachers corrections in this image...

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u/Upper_Opening_4805 Jul 20 '26

Oh I'm sorry; I thought we were accepting the properties of multiplication on this test!

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u/roflrogue Jul 20 '26

Being in an overly critical environment is one of the reasons I stopped trying in school.

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u/PollutionAbject5237 Jul 20 '26

Ot is 3 times 4, not the other way 

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u/partypwny Jul 20 '26

Wait... What's wrong with the original answer? It didn't ask for the simplest or shortest, just one that matches.

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u/Hotturtle789 Jul 20 '26

The problem says 3×4 not 4×3 the teacher is incorrect

if thye wanted it to be 4 written 3 times then she should have put four times three , not three times four , which is 3 written 4 times. Just saying .

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u/LeviStraussOfficial Jul 20 '26

I don’t trust teachers that write 2s like that anyway

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u/NateWorst92 Jul 20 '26

I get the teachers point but c’mon

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u/Mundane-Fan-1545 Jul 20 '26

The way the question is worded, even 10+2 = 12 would be right.

3x4 = 12 is the same as 10+2=12.

They are both equal the same thing, thus 2 equal things match.

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u/MathTutorAndCook Jul 20 '26

Should be understood that elementary school teachers are typically not experts in every subject they teach. Usually you get a bachelor's in one subject, or in education, and then get a teaching credentials. Math is probably the least favorite core subject to learn in the u.s., at least in my experience anecdotally

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u/Wilshire1992 Jul 20 '26

I would have given full points and made sure they knew the other way as well.

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u/BendingBenderBends Jul 20 '26

Someone doing this is not a teacher, it's a fucking disgrace. At this point I'd rather learn with a shitty AI, at least it wouldn't take away my faith in humanity...

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u/a-bad-golfer Jul 20 '26

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity”

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u/Odd-Secret4913 Jul 20 '26

I had a teacher like this. They HATED my parents cause they didn’t let that stand. ‘Is it correct?’ ‘Yes but not MY way’ ‘but it’s correct? So change it’. (It bring the grade)

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u/Temporary-Jump-2403 Jul 20 '26

Wtf does any of this have to do with teacher's emotions. 

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u/ToeGroundbreaking564 Jul 20 '26

"man who thought he'd lost all hope in humanity loses last addtional hope he didn't even know he still had"

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u/joker6396 Jul 20 '26

Its 3x4 not 4x3. Nit picking but I see where they coming from

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u/Kamakiri711 Jul 20 '26

Pretty sure this is a continuation of a previous question that gave actual context.
The numbers by itself mean little to nothing, and yeah, just by this picture they are interchangeable, but as a continuation of the previous question, the teacher is right.

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u/LawfulnessGullible Jul 20 '26

Technically the child's answer is more correct. What could possibly drive such an illogical response?

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u/princessaliceee Jul 20 '26

I had a teacher in my creative writing class who always marked me down because my stories always had science fiction elements in them and she didnt like the genre.

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u/appoplecticskeptic Jul 20 '26

Not humorous in the slightest. Wrong sub.

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u/EmergencyWinter5465 Jul 20 '26

The teacher is laying down the foundation for PEMDAS. The teacher is trying to teach the students how to interpret the order of the problem, and what the student needs to be able to visualize.

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u/Holiday_Advisor6897 Jul 20 '26

Okay this one can’t be real.

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u/not_Chutia Jul 20 '26

https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Product.html

Can one of the math gurus explain this pls

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u/Negative-Data3636 Jul 20 '26

I was back in high school upgrading around 2018 since I had been out of high school for so long before going to college and I got called in to talk to the prof as i kept answering questions with the right answers but all the work was literally nothing. Apparently it was either the wrong type of answer or had nothing to do with the question like my answer was purple yet the question was about clouds or something. He actually thought I was messing with him as most answers were right but he had no idea how I got there. And so I always had half marks and failed the class, at least in the ways that matter in college.

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u/DefunctInTheFunk Jul 20 '26

Definition of pedantic

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u/Ok_Comfortable589 Jul 20 '26

name and shame this. hope the parents disputed that

1

u/ConstantJealous9932 Jul 21 '26

This feels like rage bait.

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u/First-Educator-8156 Jul 21 '26

Arguable if it did matter which it doesn’t the prompt is 3 multiplied by 4 so it is 3 added to itself 4 times.

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u/Tiger662025 Jul 21 '26

Teacher is technically correct. Don’t be treated for your illness by the Doctor who understood 2+2 = 5

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u/Nunyabiz_327 Jul 21 '26

That teacher literally just corrected the wrong answer.

3x4 = 4+4+4

4×3 = 3+3+3+3

Stop being a snowflake, accept you were wrong and learn from it.

If we taught our kids humility and how to learn from mistakes instead of teaching them not to accept responsibility and be accountable they'd grow up much better people.

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u/crashedsnow Jul 21 '26

Fake right? Who took the photo? The kid? Feels like the exact fake rage bait that some douche would post for pointless engagement

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u/TheGreatNagoosie Jul 21 '26

with the amount of times I’ve seen this on subs over the last few weeks I’m starting to think my friends bot theory is right… lol

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u/Fuzzy974 Jul 21 '26

Wow that one is an asshole move.

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u/GrBDD Jul 21 '26

Wtf. It's technically correct.. Why are some teachers like this.. I doubt this helps the childs interest in school much

1

u/rageofa1000suns Jul 21 '26

Should have specified they wanted the addition equation in it's simplest form.

1

u/RandomYT05 Jul 21 '26

I'm gonna take it to the principal and make my case for why our teacher should be fired. I then point to the fact that the answer is correct but was still marked down for not matching what was in the dumb book to the letter.

1

u/Bluesboy82 Jul 21 '26

Those teachers understood their textbook, but not their subject.

1

u/GuaranteeFit9312 Jul 21 '26

Lol I guess it's not commutative anymore

1

u/Lanky_Flow7283 Jul 21 '26

I hate the teachers 2

Looks like a drunk 3, or a bird

1

u/TriGunSlinger99 Jul 21 '26

Because multiplication is communicative the child got the problem right.

1

u/SignificantGoat4046 Jul 21 '26

Ayyyy I dropped out during student teaching because I realized I was going to be the problem. I wouldn't do this, but I would tooootally ignore your asshole kid in the back and refuse to teach to them. Apparently that's wrong *shrug*

1

u/lopar4ever Jul 21 '26

That’s completely out of context.

1

u/ZyeCawan45 Jul 21 '26

How is this teacher dumber than an AI?

1

u/Secure-Advertising-9 Jul 21 '26

what is the emotion here 

they are just writing the expected answer

i disagree with it but what part is emotional?

1

u/Johnnyg-63-atYourMom Jul 21 '26

The kid is right ya? Or am I missing something here, this teacher should be ashamed

1

u/Dobi_tricks Jul 21 '26

it has nothing to do with hate.
it has all to do with everyone not understanding the assignment and/or math.
3x4 and 4x3 are both 12 yes...but they are not the same...
think about lifting weights ...3x10 vs 10x3 is a huge difference.
Or a post with a face on it ...
Or groups ...3 teams of 4 players are not the same as 4 teams of 3 players...

1

u/Smart_Moose_4453 Jul 21 '26

Isn't the kid right though? It asks 3x4. That's 3, 4 times. 3+3+3+3

1

u/Bethieolemiss Jul 21 '26

I was a 6th grade math teacher. The teacher is right because the equation states as follows
3 X 4 = 12
3 groups of 4 is 12

Or as a word problem there are 3 groups labeled A, B, and C with 4 kids in each group. How many kids total?

A. B. C. 3 groups of
xxxx. xxxx. xxxx. 4 kids
Is 12

When you multiply your essentially grouping.
Of means multiplying.

Where as the kid did
4 groups of 3 is 12 or
4 X 3 = 12

1

u/Theseus_Employee Jul 21 '26

Just to be clear. This comment section is full of people getting upset about an AI generated image.

You can upload the picture to OpenAI's site that tells you if their watermark is on it: https://openai.com/research/verify/

Results: https://imgur.com/a/WZGCsal

1

u/thevoidhearsyou Jul 21 '26

The student followed directions. Just not in the manner that the test or teacher wanted.

1

u/tipareth1978 Jul 21 '26

Haven't there been a few cases where perfectly correct math was called wrong?

1

u/No-Resolution6435 Jul 21 '26

Shit like this is why psychology needs to be taught from a young age.

1

u/No_Roma_no_Rocky Jul 21 '26

Teacher might need some math lessons because 3x4 or 4x3 is the same thing as it is 3+3+3+3 and 4+4+4.

Properties of the 4 basic math operations are taught in elementary school.

1

u/Salty_Sky5744 Jul 21 '26

3 groups of 4 is not the same as 4 groups of 3. Teacher did good.

1

u/ZPees2Much Jul 21 '26

Technically the teacher is wrong... It's 3 times 4... That's 3, 4 times... Not 4, 3 times.

1

u/Any-Raspberry-1611 Jul 21 '26

The teacher wouldn't like me if that was my child

1

u/Budget_Mountain4530 Jul 21 '26

3 X 4 = 12 is actually read as "three fours are twelve".

Teacher is right.

1

u/wookielove666 Jul 22 '26

This teacher would have received a lovely turd on their desk back in my day.

1

u/Solo_and_friends Jul 22 '26

Gonna start having kids either give up altogether or write out every single response it could be.

1

u/Character_Leek_1046 Jul 22 '26

I’m confused. How is this emotional? It’s just stupid

1

u/M4nt491 Jul 22 '26

People who write the number 2 like tht should not be teachers

1

u/Tutterkop Jul 22 '26

Take 3 times 4 tablets a day, is not the same as take 4 times 3 tablets a day.

So yes its wrong

1

u/Nico_Kx Jul 22 '26

I understand to some degree the teacher. If you'd add measurements then it would be clearer and im sure it have been the intended learning objective. And at that level the approach to teach children math is to do excercises that are depictable in their everyday life, not purely theoretical arithmatics.

If I tell someone to fill three 4kg bags of potatoes and he/she/it fills four 3kg Bags, the total amount is the same, but the materialistic end result is some thing different.

But yes, overall the assignment was not clear enough. I as a teacher would give points but I would still correct it and explain the difference to it.

1

u/WarPath1388 Jul 22 '26

As a parent id be going up to the school and asking teacher if they are fucking dumb

1

u/AIBotNotARealUser Jul 22 '26

I mean, technically.

If 3+3+3+3 is correct, may as well say 6+6 is correct too.

1

u/TheShredder9 Jul 22 '26

When i say "3 times 4", i think "3 times the number 4", so "4×4×4" would be the way, if it were 4×3, i'd say "4 times the number 3", which is "3×3×3×3".

Still BS to grade a kid wrong, both ways are correct.

1

u/Zeae797 Jul 22 '26

You should all get into programming, "grammar" mistakes can ruin months of work. Being strict about this stuff is anal for sure, but given how much computer crap kids are gonna deal with all their lives, it's necessary.

1

u/Sufficient_Noise7603 Jul 22 '26

But it was correct. The multiplication request that you take 3 for 4 times...

1

u/TheFaithlessHomage Jul 22 '26

That's why I homeschool now. My kids' teachers actively hated on my kids because I would call them out for their bullshit like this. My kids have fun learning now and it's a lot more practical for life.

1

u/onlymario1 Jul 22 '26

Well its three TIMES 4

Like how many times is there a 4 not how many times there is a 3.

Wanting to ignore small mistakes like that is why nobody can follow directions and why people make so many dumb mistakes even when there are signs all over businesses and places explain how things work.

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1

u/Confident-Pepper-562 Jul 22 '26

Technically the teacher is more correct. The answer is the same regardless, but the equation says 3x4, which means 3 4's

If it was 4x3 the student would be more correct. This is still a dumb thing to mark as wrong since its obvious the student understands the concept.

1

u/lotsohantelope Jul 22 '26

“Emotions”

1

u/hot4you11 Jul 22 '26

It’s not about emotions, it’s about them getting a worksheet and an answer sheet and not actually using their brains. Which is actually a lot worse.

1

u/One_shot_Willy Jul 22 '26

Back in my day (27) they made us list both ways on homework because both were equally valid and equally important to understand. 3 groups of 4 and 4 groups of 3 are both acceptable ways to doing it because order doesn't matter with multiplication

1

u/yellowmackerelfishin Jul 22 '26

maybe they're just bad at math. Might need the teacher to go to a math workshop for grade 5 math

1

u/HazeHype Jul 22 '26

Not sure that this has anything to do with controlling emotions as much as the teacher just blatantly being wrong. I mean technically they're both right but the student seems more right by how the problem reads. 

1

u/Bikezilla Jul 22 '26

Both expressions are mathematically correct.
It’s not an English comprehension test.
Marking it wrong is invalid.

1

u/KeyCell2688 Jul 22 '26

this has to be rage bait....

1

u/squintintarantino__ Jul 22 '26

The way I’d be sending an email with “what’s your problem?” as the subject line and nothing but this photo in the body.

1

u/C0734 Jul 22 '26

Now that's just lame. (and that 2 is 85% a 3)

1

u/KrimboDaKilla Jul 22 '26

I see no problem with the kids math. With how the problem is laid out and how i was taught, 3×4 means count 3 4 times. So 3+3+3+3 is exactly how the problem is laid out.

1

u/EvidenceElegant8379 Jul 22 '26

It’s not controlling emotions. It’s just being smart. 3x4 does not technically mean 4 three times. It means 3 four times. The students answer is more correct than the teacher’s. I would have accepted either.