<p>DS17’s science teacher told his classes on Monday that they were having a test next Wednesday. On Wednesday the teacher gave them a test. The teacher said at the beginning of the hour When I say Next Wednesday on Monday I mean the Wednesday this week. Needless to say the kids were not expecting the test and DS said there were some kids crying… I think the teacher should have said the test is on Wednesday. To me I would have thought next Wednesday meant the Wednesday of the following week. IF the teacher had told them that on Friday then I would have agreed with him however by saying it on Monday it caused confusion. </p>
<p>I’m curious would you have thought the test was on Wednesday?</p>
<p>Honestly, I was such an A-Type in high school, I would have assumed Wednesday of the following week, but I also would have asked.</p>
<p>Do his teachers not give out syllabi? We had them in high school.</p>
<p>If your S is concerned about his grade, I would encourage him to talk to the teacher and explain, “I misunderstood and thought you meant Wednesday of next week, so I didn’t have adequate time to prepare.” </p>
<p>It sounds like a lot of students did not double-check with the teacher. Whose fault is that? (both the teacher’s and the students’, but guess who wins that fight?)</p>
<p>The usage is inconsistent, most people would say “this Wednesday” for the Wednesday this week, but some people do say “next Wednesday” for the Wednesday this week, and “Wednesday week” for the following week’s Wednesday. British folks and some Southern folks use “week” in particular.</p>
<p>The situation should NEVER happen. Verbal announcements should be reminders of due dates that are printed and/or posted online. Changes to the schedule should be printed/posted with at least a week’s notice.</p>
<p>All this protects the teacher as much as the student. My spouse the high school teacher has received a lot of complaints over the years over this or that technicality. She gets fewer these days because she knows from experience that a confusion over “next Wednesday” is likely to cause trouble for her that she will hate dealing with.</p>
<p>I would complain to this teacher and the principal about this. Not so much to change the present circumstance as to make sure a similar incident never happens again.</p>
<p>If there is a lesson for students to learn here it is simple: when the teacher announces a deadline or test, always ask for a calendar date.</p>
<p>The syllabus has no dates. Unlike the other teachers he does not keep his calendar or really anything on his website. Yes the kids have learned a lesson and DS17 will survive however this is a science class that you have to pass to graduate and there are a bunch of seniors that aren’t ready for it in 10th grade and so they take it senior year.</p>
<p>I’m hoping someone else’s parents complain because I’m not willing to make waves. The last thing I want is a teacher mad at my kid.</p>
<p>Is this a young teacher? I’d have thought that an experienced teacher would have learned to be unambiguous in announcing dates of tests. If he knows that when he says “next Wednesday” people will think he means the following week, which is what a lot of people would think and what I would think, and he still says it, he’s being a jerk.</p>
<p>I would think the teacher meant next week, because I would expect to hear “this Wednesday” if it were the day after tomorrow; however, having encountered confusion about this many times, I would ask the teacher to clarify “Do you mean this coming Wednesday, or Wednesday next week?” Especially if I needed to study to be prepared and the test was high-stakes in the course.</p>
<p>I do not think that there is anything for anyone to complain about. And doing so teaches your kid the wrong lesson.</p>
<p>I would have assumed the Wednesday of the next week. Maybe it’s a regional thing, but where I live, the day after tomorrow would be THIS Wednesday. NEXT Wednesday would be the Wednesday of the next week.</p>
<p>I always hate when people use “next” to designate a day or weekend, so I always clarify, especially if someone is referring to next weekend and it’s only Monday. Sometimes they are still in weekend mode!</p>
<p>The other factor to consider is what was the text covering, and could students deduce that they had already covered that material, so the test would in fact be in just two days.</p>
<p>It’s inherently ambiguous, you could commonly hear it both ways, meaning the next coming Wednesday, so this week’s Wednesday, or next week’s Wednesday. I hate the phrase so much I never use it, in favor of saying “In 1 Wednesday” or “In 2 Wednesdays.”</p>
<p>I think the teacher could have avoided any uproar by writing on the board on Tuesday, “TEST TOMORROW.” Every pre-college teacher I ever had, or my kids ever had, either did that or had a syllabus with dates. I’m sorry so many kids were confused by this, though it’s a worthwhile lesson to learn that language is imprecise.</p>
Is this teacher a direct descendant of Humpty Dumpty? I wouldn’t have asked for clarification about the test announcement, nor would I have expected a student to do so, because to me there’s nothing ambiguous at all about the usage–it means the Wednesday of the following week. The fact that the students were taken by surprise (to the point of tears in some cases) proves the point. This should definitely be taken to the department head. The teacher made an error and it should be corrected. In fact, I can’t believe the teacher didn’t see the reaction, recognize the problem, and immediately reschedule the test. But some people have a lot of trouble admitting they’re wrong.</p>
<p>I agree with Momma J. “Next” can be ambiguous when you’re at some distance from the event - someone might well use the phrase “next summer” today to refer to the summer of July 2015. Similarly, if it is Thursday and I hear"test next Wednesday," I would probably assume"the Wednesday of next week," not “the Wednesday after the upcoming one.” But with a two-day gap? It would seem self-evident that if you wanted to refer to Wednesday October 1 on Monday September 29, you would just say “test on Wednesday,” or “test this Wednesday.”</p>
<p>I’m assuming the teacher made no mention of the test on Tuesday, as in, “This will be on the test tomorrow,” which is even more bizarre. I question her competency as an educator.</p>
<p>In the teacher’s construction, what is the purpose of the word “next?” If he had said that they are having a test “Wednesday” there would have been no ambiguity. I’d be angry at the teacher if this happened to my kid (but I’d also be telling my kid that you should always make sure when somebody says something like this.)</p>
<p>No one in the class asked for clarification? That’s what seems bizarre to me. Yeah, teachers will occasionally say something ambiguous like that because they’re human. When I was in high school, though, a statement like that would be followed by a barrage of questions. Is the OP getting all the info from the daughter, because the teacher might have another side to the story!</p>