This has nothing to do with my teaching, but it irritates me anyway.
I don't know if you've seen it, but there's this commercial for this online tutoring company called Learn to Be. They use wacom tablets and the internet to help little kidlets. So, that's cool. What's not cool? The commercial.
In it, this blonde woman gets a phone call from her little friend who asks her in this slow and angelic way:
"How do you find the area of a triangle?"
And the woman smiles this smile...she's too damn euphoric to be answering this question....pulls out her tablet, draws a right triangle, tells the girl that base x height/2 is the formula. Do you get it? The girl smiles back, and they have this long....moment. AND ITS WEIRD. The girl smiles at her in this loving, creepy way, and these smiles....they're the sort of smiles people ooze at each other when they're in love.
The whole thing is weird and eerie and it makes me uncomfortable. Who does that? Especially about math? Especially if you're a grown up and a kid? AND... to further chap my ass....
IT DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHY THATS THE FORMULA, OR HOW TO ACTUALLY SOLVE IT OR SHOW HER ANY NUMBERS....
Just shows her the stupid formula.
Yes, yes, I know. I shouldn't get all worked up over a stupid commercial. But don't pretend to be this awesome, top of the line, prestigious tutoring firm when you can't even explain something like a real teacher would. I mean, shit, give me 30 seconds. Cut out the creepy smiles, show the scene already at the computers, online, and have THIS be the dialogue:
Girl: How do you find the area of a triangle?
Tutor: (pulls up a piece of graph paper on her computer, draws a square with her stylus) Well, how do you find the area of a square? (places in numbers)
Girl: Oh yeah! You multiply base times height, that's how you get ______(answer)
Tutor: (numbers boxes to the answer, say 6, while writing the formula under.) So, (draws a line diagonally across to form two triangles, and quickly shades it in) how much of this square is a triangle?
Girl: The triangle is half of the whole square
Tutor: Okay, so if my whole square was 6 centimeters squared how much is the triangle?
Girl: Half! So three!
Tutor: Three?
Girl: Centimeters squared.
Tutor: That's right. So, that's why the formula is the same as a square or rectangle-- bxh, but then there's one last step.....
Girl: Cutting it in half!
*insert cheesy smiles here*
BAM. Done.
They need to hire me.
11 comments:
Thank you! I have always hated this commercial for its creepy smiling and poor teaching methods considering what's actually being advertised. I'm so glad it's not just me.
I feel the same way... horrible teaching. I agree about the odd smiles too, but to me the first smile from the little girl has a bit of 'I am smiling but I don't understand this at all'. Then it continues with the weirdness.
That's exactly what I keep thinking when I see the commercial: Explain how you get to b*h/2, please!
If all she does is say "b*h/2", why doesn't she just text that back?
I just googled creepy learn to be commercial and found your blog. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. My partner and I always make a big fuss when this pedophilic commercial comes on. I think the worst part is at the very end when the tutor shyly looks down like she can't stand to hold the gaze of her child crush.
Thanks! I googled my own irritation and randomly found this blog. I teach math myself. This is terrible teaching; the last thing you want is mindless memorizing of formulas. I don't know what's being advertising, and don't care to.
I think all of you teachers out there are missing the point of the commercial. It wasn't written for you! It was written for the mom's & dad's out there looking to get their child some extra help. And what do mom & dad want in a tutor? Someone warm and caring that is going to relate to the child and truly help them increase their skills! (And if she just happens to look good doing it, do you think dad would object?)Remember, this company has a product. And they are trying to SELL that product. And the way you do that is to make people want the product by creating a need or a want. And you do THAT by selling the sizzle, not the steak. The smiles are the sizzle. The little girl is happy to be understanding the math, the tutor is happy to be helping the girl. Ain't this a beautiful world?This is nothing more than Marketing 101. How eyecatching and interesting do you think your 'correct teaching methods' commercial would be? Zzzzz. Sorry guys, you may be right on about the math, but your dead wrong about the effectiveness of the commercial. It's about giving your child a warm and interactive learning experience. No one cares if, in the ad anyway, the formula isn't right.
Thanks! Your article was exactly what I was looking for after this commercial enraged me... xo
Haha. I love this article. BAM! done. :p You're adorable. I love you.
And I thought I was the only one who was annoyed by the complete departure from realism that this commercial displays. If this is supposed to be an example of how their tutoring is, I would never have my kid use their service.
I REALLY appreciate your blog post. You perfectly captured all of the issues with this ad.
Thanks
Yeah I thought it was creepy too - because the teacher's eyes are huge and glazed over, like she's just been interrupted in the middle of doing her PCP. lol maybe not that far, but she does look like she's desperately trying not to blink.
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