The Trick Is to Teach the More Difficult Students

Re “Children in Class Mirror Their Parents,” March 19: I am quite disturbed by Pyung Kim Conant’s limited classification of her students. To say that being an A student boils down to being responsible fails to consider individual learning styles, background knowledge, experience and abilities. Most teachers know that a true A student will get an A no matter who the teacher is. Those students, indeed, are often very responsible. But to conclude that being responsible can be equated with receiving a high grade is at best faulty. It seems that Conant is quick to point fingers and that possibly the true responsibility here should lie in her efforts to find more teaching strategies to increase learning.

Elissa Tognozzi

Santa Monica

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There is a Korean proverb saying, “Even a hedgehog loves its offspring,” which means all parents love their kids blindly. However, their love shouldn’t be self-indulgent toward their children. Parents should keep track of their children’s schoolwork before the parents blame the teachers for a bad grade. They’d better check whether the children do their homework. When the kids blame their teacher for a bad grade, the parents shouldn’t agree with their kids. If they do, then the kids might learn misconceptions that everything [owes] to misfortune rather than their own laziness. Every education begins and ripens at home. As the old saying goes, you reap what you sow.

Eunok Kim

Irvine