No, CC is not a classroom, and I’ve certainly made typos. But the classroom IS a classroom and there really is no excuse for “your out” and “would of liked” and the rest.
I overlook a lot online or when people are speaking (the ‘of’ instead of ‘have’ in speaking is not apparent all the time). It absolutely drives me crazy when Obama uses ‘myself’ incorrectly, especially when reading off a teleprompter. He has speech writers, he has advisers. It is no longer a simple mistake when it’s done 10 times, it is how he thinks the word should be used. No one is perfect all the time, but it is his job to speak to crowds, he has a lot of tools to make it right, and yet he is wrong, over and over. It is just as easy to say “Michelle and I are welcoming the Queen of Sheba to the White House this weekend” as it is to say “Michelle and myself welcomed the Queen”, and yet one is wrong. Why be wrong when it is just as easy to be right? Or is it write, rite, or wright?
We have higher standards for some people, and English teachers and presidents are some of those people who should be meeting the higher standard.
The one that bugged me was the “site words” for words to be read by sight rather than by sounding out in the early grades. And, in the upper grades, I’ve seen “Site your sources.” I guess that’s only if the source is a website…
…and the Queen said regarding herself, “We were not amused.”
I don’t see how texting can be to blame for the ‘decline’ which people have been noticing and talking about hundreds of years before telephones were invented.
Ynotgo, I am a teacher and take online professional development courses. One place where I take them, which offers rigorous classes, would always remind students to “make sure to site your sources.” It drove me crazy. After the fifth course, I wrote to the office manager to apprise her of the error. What I do not understand is the lack of spell check. Spell check catches those errors. Why are they not corrected?
Also, my favorite funny teacher story; my then middle school son came home and shared with me that he was having a difficult time paying attention in social studies (his favorite subject is history, so I was surprised.) When I asked him why, he began to laugh, and it took a while for him to compose himself. The class was studying European History, and relevant terms/vocabulary words were categorized under headings around the room. Under the heading “Musical Instruments” was “Trebuchet” - my son is a big Medieval History buff, and this struck him as insanely funny. I told him that he would need to speak with the teacher privately to let her know what a trebuchet was, in a tactful way. This thankfully worked.
My mother is a primary school teacher. Her principal explicitly tells her and other teachers to stop teaching spelling and cursive. The direction of adolescent education is troubling. I remember spelling and penmanship being a large part of my childhood. Now, I haven’t even graduated yet and it is more or less gone from the classroom. If that happened in just 10 years, what will happen in 25 years? Will teachers be taught to just abandon writing on paper period? Will children only learn how to type? The scary thing is, with the way society is, that wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility.
Spell checker won’t catch words that are spelled correctly for a different usage. My email program doesn’t catch i for I either, sigh- but CC has automatically capitalized the small one sometimes (took three tries for it to just leave it with a red underline)- and CC catches it. I am also frustrated when the silly whatevers at the end of the first line prevent me from checking a word there. Plus, misspell/typo finance as fiancé and the accent appears over the e- using English, not French, thank you (and the accent doesn’t seem to disappear either).
Won’t clean up above. Think I capitalized the second I (and got an automatic capital just now, but had to be sure of the capitol/capital spelling myself)- afraid of silly moving symbols.
English is the least worries in the k-12 system. If all other subject were taught at least at the level of English, nobody would complain about k-12. The whole k-12 exsts to satisfy requirements of those who are working in the system, not whose who are served by the system - future productive resources of the nation. k - 12 is a shame and a very sad story and nothing else.
I just retired, worked as an aid in an elementary school. The new reading program they implemented a few years ago does not include writing. The students are no longer taught to print/write the alphabet, no writing practice, ever. It is thought that cursive writing may fall to the wayside, no longer necessary with the ability to type everything out on a keyboard. Students don’t sit alone in rows but are grouped together in clusters of four desks. When questions are posed, the procedure to follow is, think of the answer yourself first, then pair with your partner next to you to discuss it, then share with the group of four. The emphasis is on working as a team. Writing paragraph answers to questions does not require proper spelling, phonetical is accepted.
I have seen many school notes and memos go home with misspellings and improper grammar. Cut backs in staff leave everyone so overworked, they are often too rushed to make spelling corrections; it is low on their priority list. If you grasp the content even though there are errors, it’s good enough.
I love the properly spelled word, and the properly spoken word as well (anyone notice how often these days you hear people adding an H to the STR sound? As in “shtrong” for strong or “shtream” for stream? But I digress…).
In the end, proper spelling doesn’t get you a job when you graduate high school. Does a lawyer, electrician, mechanic need to use proper spelling to be successful? I’m not sure they do.
A lawyer? There might be some work a lawyer who can’t spell can do, but it won’t be for me or to represent me. Electricians and mechanics already, generally speaking, have a low degree of professionalism, so while it would be nice if they could spell, there are many other things they should improve first and spelling usually doesn’t matter much for the work they do.
BTW, I’m sure you were an “aid” to good function of the classroom, but you actually worked as an “aide”.
Aide! Good one!
Reminds me of a similar thread a while back in which a poster complained about the grammer.
I work with seniors in high school, specifically helping them with college essays. I had occasion to see a number of SAT scores being posted to our school’s Naviance system. I always thought that the Writing section of the SAT was the least difficult. However, I saw many horrendous Writing scores posted. Many in the 300’s. (This is a fairly low-achieving school, but still) When I mentioned this to the lead counselor, he told me that they no longer taught grammar in the school…too much time taken up with prepping for all the other testing. No wonder I see so many semi-literate first drafts.
In general, I have also noticed that texting and email has caused spelling skills to deteriorate. I often have to remind my students that in formal writing, there is no word spelled “gr8”, or “IMHO”, etc.
“I have seen many school notes and memos go home with misspellings and improper grammar. Cut backs in staff leave everyone so overworked, they are often too rushed to make spelling corrections; it is low on their priority list. If you grasp the content even though there are errors, it’s good enough.”
Too rushed to make spelling corrections? Oh, the poor, overworked dears. Here’s a concept. Spell it right the first time.
I find the attitude of “if you grasp the content, it’s good enough” appalling coming from a teacher. Can the kids use that excuse, too? Is “close enough” ok in math class, too?
This is the same mentality which leaves elementary school librarians asking for volunteers to come reshelve the books because heaven forbid they stay late or work through their lunch hours. Be a professional.
Our HS counselors just announced a meeting to talk about “financial aide.”
“In the end, proper spelling doesn’t get you a job when you graduate high school. Does a lawyer, electrician, mechanic need to use proper spelling to be successful? I’m not sure they do.”
Knowing the times tables doesn’t get you a job either. Neither does knowing how a bill is passed, who was the president who freed the slaves, or where Russia is on the world map. So why bother. 7 x 6 is whatever, the Senate and the House of Representatives are the exact same thing, Russia is next to Australia, and Roosevelt freed the slaves in 1776.
One would think elementary school teachers would at least take spelling and grammar mistakes seriously, not brush them off. Do you care about bring a role model or not?
“Do you care about bring a role model or not?”
or do you mean
"Do you care about being a role model or not?
In the case of a teacher rushing to get a note typed on the computer, sending a student to the office to get it copied, since they may not have time to get there themselves, while dealing with countless other classroom and student issues, mistakes are made! You might proofread and miss that mistake, then once you have x number of copies made to go home, there’s no time for a re-do. Overall, I think it’s a loss less worse mistake than say, a doctor leaving a sponge inside some patient he just sewed up on the operating table, and yet that kind of thing happens, too.
Many people judge without ever having stepped inside a classroom to see what goes on. I know countless parents who’ve volunteered for things like lunch duty and all school picnics who, afterwards, will say the teaching staff doesn’t get paid enough for all they do. And those parents don’t even see the half of it.
Teachers want to get it right as often as possible. Being a spelling role model is not something I think many of them have time to worry about.
I’ve seen some great teachers make any number of mistakes, not just the spelling kind, who still turn out well educated students.
Absolutely agreed … But there is a difference between a typo and “three strikes, your out.”
My office maintains a “three strikes and you’re out” policy on typo’s for cover letters for job applicants. The first- could be spell check, and we overlook it. The second- could be careless proof reading and we are leery but kind. The third- off with his head.
Don’t get me started on typo’s on resumes. We keep a file of the funniest and take it out when someone has a bad day. Some of them are hilarious- unintentionally so, but hilarious.
And grammar? “Let’s eat Grandma” vs. “Let’s eat, grandma!” They are priceless.
I agree with Miller514, the time constraints for teachers are tremendous. I teach over 500 students a week - though it is a “fun” subject, art, I take my vocation seriously. I prep, plan, engage, teach, have formative assessments and summative assessments for all of those students. I photograph, edit and upload their work to an online portfolio site (over 4,000 photos this year), in addition to keeping parents apprised of learning. I lug heavy bags of clay, load and unload the kiln, print the names of each child on their clay (they can’t do it well) - I love teaching art, but it is a LOT of hard work. I am in my classroom until at least 5:00 most days, and edit/upload art/type students’ responses/go over assessments in the evening.
In one second grade classroom of 28 students, 4 are on behavior plans who need preferential seating, 5 are on 504’s, and 4 are on IEP’s, and all need to be challenged with differentiation for different abilities. That is one class out of my 26 per week. Parents will write in that they don’t want their child seating next to a certain child, disruptive students will have parents excuse their behavior - and I have excellent management skills. Also, there are constantly new Federal and State mandates. I feel as if good teaching is being ground down in the face of the new never-ending requirements. I can think of at least 6 new major requirements in the past year. I’ve also been asked to incorporate writing and math as much as possible into art class. Each child has only 30 art classes a year. Do you think that they want to spend those classes writing? I have them write artist statements, and do incorporate some math, but honestly, when the Common Core ASSUMES that children entering kindergarten already know their shapes (and while I am sure that the parents on College Confidential are thoughtful about this, I assure you that there are many, many parents who are not) there is a problem. Many children do not attend preschool, and many parents believe that their children will learn in school. They do not perceive of themselves as the primary teacher of their child. Instead of speaking with their children, enlarging their vocabulary, have you noticed parents talking on their phones while they push their strollers, or handing their child an iPad in their stroller? This worries me A LOT.
Children require repetition and interaction - they confuse the words “triangle” and “rectangle” - but if I only see them 30 times in a year, and have a LOT to teach them in that year, and the kindergarten teacher and the first grade teacher are teaching them what is in the Common Core guidelines for their grades - not pre-K. Then those children will not learn their shapes, and parents blame the teachers. I utilize a number of strategies to reinforce that information as much as possible, but it is not enough. It can’t be enough with the dearth of contact hours that I have with them.
In regards to printing/handwriting - the new Common Core is being assessed with online only assessments (not our district’s fault) - fill in the bubble as well as some writing, all online. The focus is to train students to use bubbles and on how to type. Why would classroom teachers spend time on penmanship if they also need to make sure that their third grade students can type? The other day I walked through a classroom to see the second grade students filling in their bubbles. They were chastised if they were not careful. So SAD. The teachers are under so much pressure to have their students perform. Our district scores at the top for English in our state, but I wonder how long that will be.
They didn’t use to have to fill in the bubbles.
All this and I still have people laugh (true) when I tell them that I am an elementary art teacher. “That must be fun!” is the reply I most often receive. I do love my work, but it is not much “fun” anymore. I love it when my students “get” concepts, and I know that my students understand that I care about them and their learning - everything else is just not much fun anymore. I can almost hear some of you thinking “then get out!” but I know that I am an excellent teacher - I have received the highest marks from both the administration and my students (I administer an anonymous art teacher assessment) - I want my students to have art/design in their lives, as it is one of the few creative subjects left - they have to think hard, problem solve, work in groups, come up with creative solutions to their “mistakes” - and learn to be resilient.
I would invite anyone into my classroom. Instead of fighting the teachers, please read the requirements for Common Core for your state for your child’s grade level. Take the time to read some of the test questions for your child’s grade level. See what the assessment requirements are for the Common Core. It is driving education today. Did you know that the driving force behind the Common Core, David Coleman, is the David Coleman in charge of the College Board? Google the following terms: Common Core College Board Conflict of Interest. You will have 1,190,000 hits. Please spend your energy there. We could use your help. There is talk about testing art with fill in the bubbles. All the articles that I have read about Common Core and the Arts discuss “close reading” of the images. There is no discussion of creating. If you know Bloom’s Taxonomy, that should be troubling. I am very troubled.