Factual Accuracy

Ok, I know. I'm a trivia nerd. My brain is full of mind lint. Because of this trait, I occasionally get annoyed by factual mistakes made by other people. Mistakes of analysis (or differences of opinion) bother me, but they are understandable. Factual mistakes - either out of ignorance or laziness really bug me. They are especially annoying in educational settings.
Being a dad and a teacher make me even more annoyed about these kinds of mistakes because they either mean I have to reteach something or correct a misconception.

One mistake that bothers me but hasn't caused any trouble so far has to do with the Brio company and the toy train station they manufactured to go with their wooden train set. We don't own it, but the kids play with it at Choo Choo Bobs. The problem is this. The sign on the train station lists the following destinations: London, Paris, New York, and Tokyo. You could say "Yea inclusiveness!" Or you could say, "Boo, horrible grasp of geography!" I take the second approach.

The second mistake that bothers me, and that surprised me more is from Sesame Street. They have a song called, "The African Animal Alphabet" in which they sing about animals- from Africa - starting with each letter of the alphabet. The problem is that they sign about several animals that are not native to Africa. Tigers, for example. I know finding rhyming, animals or animals that fit the needed meter for each letter is difficult, but I expect factual accuracy from an educational program for kids.

Finally, this morning I was confronted with a factual error made by a colleague. The presentation was about how to use cool gadgets on our Promethean Boards. The error had nothing to do with the technology, but with what he was teaching his students. The page he displayed was about the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. He included a picture of the French joining with Washington after the battle and he showed the French flag and played the French national anthem. The problem is that the flag he showed was the Tricolor and the song he played was La Marseillaise. Neither of these was in existence in 1777 when the battle of Saratoga was fought. I debated whether I should tell him. I asked other social studies teachers if they even noticed - they hadn't. In the end I said something because while it was a small point, it's important to understanding why the French would help and why we would return the favor a few years later.