Harriet is 14. Already an advanced sax and violin player, she came to me about a year ago to start the piano. Within a very short time, she gained 132 in grade 2.

Last night she left me the piano parts for her next sax exam. She announced with justifiable pride, that she her sax teacher had 'helped her get 139 for her last exam'.

Aha, thought I, time for a tease. I have worked with her teacher and know how good he is, so

"Well, that's not very good, is it? What happened to the other 11 marks?"

Quick as a flash and with a wicked grin, came the response, "Well, that's 7 marks more than you helped me get, so he's better than you" and stuck her tongue out at me.

Game, set, match, tournament to Harriet.

What do you guys think? Was I the victim of a superior wit or suckered by pre-planning?

Steve

Sounds like my daughter who is only 10 but very quick of the mark. So I opt for the superior wit LOL.

However never forget they learn from their environment and the people around! So she could be this quick in some part because of you!

LOL ...... Dont you just love children, by far the biggest gift in my life!

Sorry I am still laughing ......

You set them up......

Exactly what my parents used to say to me every time I did an exam (obviously not the 11 bit, the number of marks varied and these weren't music exams). Unfortunately I wasn't quite so quick witted and didn't such an excellent response....

I would say quick wit, what a great answer .

to know the answer, we need to split the stage into 2 and see what was going on in her other lesson - maybe we'd see your mate the other teacher rolling about the floor laughing at the thought of stitching you up

(but like you I rather suspect it's just your sharp witted student.)

Clever girl, ha ha!

When I got my first distinction in a music exam (137, again in grade 2 piano, coincidentally) my family ribbed me about what happened to the remaining 13 marks. Then recently one of my pupils got 96% in her grade 2 theory exam, and her dad immediately pounced on the other 4 marks. It's an old joke, but still a pretty funny one!

Not to take away from your story which is very good, but this comment sends a shudder down my spine! My mum would often say things like this and when she rarely complimented me on my achievements I found this very hurtful!

I would have to agree. Bad for self-esteem, at least in my case. But I'm a perfectionist and beat myself up about it enough without that kind of input

Funny story, though

I'm afraid it sends a shudder down my spine too!. I think you have to know your pupil very well to risk teasing her like this. We used to tease my eldest daughter (very bright all-rounder, perfectionist too and low self-esteem) about her achievements and pretended we expected her to get 100%, when in fact we were very very proud of her (and yes, after initial teasing we did let her know we were proud). Unfortunately she focussed on the teasing, took it all to heart and felt she couldn't please us unless she achieved 100%. Her attempts to be perfect (and other contributory circumstances) resulted in anorexia at the age of 12 and we very nearly lost her. She's okay now, thank goodness, but I'm always careful with my pupils to concentrate on what they did achieve, rather than on what they didn't.

Having said this, Steve, your pupil does sound as though she's a confident sparky person and able to deal with your comment.

Sparky?

Sparky?

Electrifying sums it up better.

I think some people are better at joking around than others. If you have a teacher who has a real downer on you even when you get outstanding marks, you probably could take a joke the wrong way, but Harriet's response tends to suggest she has a teacher (ie Steve) with whom she is totally at ease. It wouldn't take too many "boom booms" to tell me that a comment like that about a mark like that was a joke. Then again if you had a pupil with no sense of humour, I suppose it would be safer to say something like, "well done Harriet, that was a really good mark".

HeHe. Any more at ease and my lot would be comatose.

I can occasionally be a trifle terse here, when sufficiently irritated, which is why this will appear sometime on Monday (written Friday night), completely out of context - I am being moderated because I occasionally am a trifle terse here, when sufficiently irritated.....Sorry. Drivelling on, as usual

Terse with the kids? Never. That isn't what they come to me for.

Putty in their hands? You bet.

Gullible? Yep. I think Harriet set me up.

Steve

No, it is not a case of having no sense of humour. It is about self esteem. Two very different things.

Nice one!

Definately a sharp student I think!

I teach two very cheeky brothers aged 8 and 10 - but their cheek is usually so witty it's hard not to laugh!

You get to know the type of person you can have a laugh with.

I frequently tell these two boys I'm going to throw them out the window when they mess about The exception there is that I'm good friends with their parents, and know the boys are very thick skinned!

Once they get old enough to realise I'm legally forbidden from throwing them out the window, I'll have to think of something else!

Every time my music exam results arrived, my Dad opened them first and told me I'd failed. Thank goodness I never did fail or his joke would've backfired horribly!

Amanda xx

Wow, cool. Harriet obviously is one you can joke with. Well, you know her, Steve, so you can both poke fun at each other! I don't think I can cope if my teacher had complained I have a low distinction. At 14, I had quite a low self esteem despite being at the top.

lol...

yes, I agree that it's a comment that could be taken the wrong way, but I hope that most teachers are sensitive enough to know which kids can take a joke and which can't... and whether they have the right relationship with the student to be able to make jokes like that.

Can't speak for others, Sarah, but I sure do.

Steve