I've stopped correcting people's grammar and/or spelling.

[Sduibek]

I'm a first year high school English teacher in Texas, US, and this morning our principal saw the lesson plans that I had submitted (for English I, II, and English II Advanced Placement) and made sure to meet up with me in the faculty office as I was printing my handouts.


"Hey, you can't teach the lessons you sent me."

"Oh, I hadn't realized. What would you like me to change?"

"Don't spend anytime teaching complex sentences. You have to teach simple sentences."

"We met up as the English department and decided to move strict STAAR [new state-mandated exam] teaching to the end of the year, for all subjects."

"Teach simple sentences every day, every class. No sentences with commas or they'll make a mistake, got that?"

"Ugh, yes sir."


The new exam requires knowledge of grammar for the first time in twenty years. Since students are grading by their amount of mistakes, if a comma is used incorrectly (which happens because of a poor education system), they will be marked off for it: if students make five mistakes in one paragraph, they are deemed illiterate. If every sentence looks like this: "I went to the store to get some bread. I ran into my uncle at the store. My uncle bought the bread for me," then no one is considered by the state to be illiterate.

Over sixty percent of our students failed the writing portion of the STAAR exam last year. Our high school is over 3,000 students strong. Thought I'd share.

Thanks for sharing. This saddens me, but isn't surprising unfortunately. I've been wondering since I got out of public high school (I'm 27 now) how anyone could get a high school diploma and still not know your/you're, to/too/two, their/they're/their, etc. Well, it's not because all these kids are total idiots - quite untrue. Many of the kids I'm meeting in college are bright and motivated and talented. They aren't too stupid to learn grammar, they've just had no incentive to learn it, and/or subpar teaching to begin with.

And now, as you are experiencing, we're focused so much on these stupid testing batteries, so that instead of teaching kids functional grammar we're teaching them how to jump through test hoops. Which would be fine, if we were preparing them for the SAT, ACT, and college reading/writing entry-placement tests. But we aren't doing that. We're prepping them for some bullshit benchmark exam that no one gives a shit about and won't matter ever again in their lives once they pass it. It's ridiculous.

It must be a depressing time to be a teacher.

 

[SnapSlav]

Re: I've stopped correcting people's grammar and/or spelling

"Your defiantly correcting my grammer alot"

Fixed that for ya! *wiiiiiiink*

I actually find myself kinda amazed at the reception this topic has gotten. Bringing up the subject of grammar, and somehow people take it to be an invitation to talk about their days. In a way, I think that's part of the same problem; self-obsessions. "What I want to say is more important than the topic." Similarly, "I wanna talk about dis how I liek so fuk u if u dun liek."

I'm all for slang (as you can tell, considering I used "kinda" and I'll continue to use more, as I go on) but I think there's a time and place. For example, I often make use of all-caps, rather than underlining or italicizing words, but that's just another form of slang; it's not grammatically inaccurate in a strict sense. On the other hand, there's meme-speak, which just isn't slang; it's intentionally butchering language in irony, yet often used seriously. I always go out of my way to correct spelling mistakes, unless it really seems like it was the result of rush. But if it looks like a habitual mistake, I try to point out that it is, indeed, a mistake. I just ignore the users who respond with ferocity because they can't take criticism, and I feel contentment when the corrections receive appreciation from users much like valcik who seek to improve their handle on the English language. Besides, telling you that you misspelled something isn't a personal attack; I'm not mocking you for a mistake, I'm just recognizing problems that ought to be addressed.

In response to person's tale... I'm hearing more and more stories like that, and they always get me wondering about MY education. I mean, I'm not special, and I didn't go to "the best" schools. I had a public education, yet I and my peers were taught that a sentence had certain structures, and when we'd screw it up, we'd receive poor grades. If we wanted to get good grades, we had to try harder. I even had a great 6th Grade teacher who got invested in the development of his students, but by today's standards he'd be thrown in jail for child molestation, because he'd put his hand on our shoulders. Hell, once he gave me a ride to school because he was driving by, saw me, and why not give me a lift for the next 2 blocks? Today that's such a taboo, yet it was just a teacher being a good person, back then. So am I just lucky that I grew up in a time that wasn't so muddled in PC and regulation, and that I received a "proper" education that today's standards are lacking in? I can only wonder. Perhaps person would know; maybe he was raised on the same and he sees the difference.

 

[Sduibek]

One thing I think about "modern" education is that they don't teach the passion to learn. I've always had a decent vocabulary and grasp of spelling/grammar/etc because I cared. I was fascinated by words and language and linguistics. I still am. I literally did read dictionaries for fun. (Well, not the whole book, but you know what I mean). I suppose this was because I had smart parents that valued education, but I don't know the exact cause.

I think this probably began before the Placement Tests Of Doom, but what we've done is created an environment where kids don't even WANT to learn grammar. They just don't give a shit. So even if we're giving them good instruction, they'll just say "whatever lol" because no one has inspired them to find the process of mastering English to be empowering and fun.

News flash, people who are English-born and don't have a grasp on the English language are typically disrespected and looked down upon. Maybe we need to give these kids a reality check and let them know that if they want to get jobs, get laid and get into college, they need to Learn2speekGood.

 

[AskWazzup]

..............Over sixty percent of our students failed the writing portion of the STAAR exam last year. Our high school is over 3,000 students strong. Thought I'd share.

--------------------

I'm trying to brake a sort of a habit... I can't force myself to study as much as i want to. I'm now a student for the second time, after graduating in business management (which is worthless on it's own), i'm seeking a bachelors degree in electric engineering, and i have this bad habid of not being able to study in the evening. This inner pull towards not doing anything of worth and just wanting to relax at least 5 hours before sleep is killing me! And there all these wonderful things that i could learn if i wasn't such sloth.

Anyone has any advice on how to engage yourself in a "ruthless study mode"?

 

[SnapSlav]

Well I DO recognize that my earlier childhood education came before certain "changes". For example, I was regularly being given poor grades when I was in the 1st-3rd Grades, then for the first time upon reaching the 4th Grade I heard the words "Your son is struggling because he's not being challenged enough." Suddenly it wasn't because I was too stupid, I was too smart! That really DID become a thing around then, and as far as I can tell (I haven't been in any form of continuing education for over 6 years) it continues to this day. Kids weren't failing because they were failures, it was because the curriculum wasn't enough to meet THEIR standards. At least it was true in some cases (like mine), but I figure that such a pampering mindset is what laid the foundation for atrocities-to-education like "No Child Left Behind".

 

[TucoX]

I dont give a flying chocolate dipped fuck about grammar.

 

[Jebus]

I dont give a flying chocolate dipped fuck about grammar.

I don't*

 

[mobucks]

Anyone has any advice on how to engage yourself in a "ruthless study mode"?

My sister went to school for like 9 years. She had room mates who would not study, wake up the next day, and ace a test. She could not do this. She had to lock herself in her room, sometimes through the night, to study for tests. She is very goal oriented though. She wanted it. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel. She realized how important it was not only to pass tests but get the best scores possible.
Sucess requires willpower and drive. That's the only advice I can give you. (through her, I never studied anything except breasts)

 

[Crni Vuk]

*steps quietly out of this topic*

 

[mobucks]

What? Sometimes I wake up and become internet Dr. Phil. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Sduibek]

I dont give a flying chocolate dipped fuck about grammar.

I don't*

*chocolate-dipped

 

[person]

Re: I've stopped correcting people's grammar and/or spelling

I actually find myself kinda amazed at the reception this topic has gotten. Bringing up the subject of grammar, and somehow people take it to be an invitation to talk about their days. In a way, I think that's part of the same problem; self-obsessions. "What I want to say is more important than the topic." Similarly, "I wanna talk about dis how I liek so fuk u if u dun liek."

What about you, The Internet At No Mutants Allowed? What annoying habit have you broken lately?

. . .

..............Over sixty percent of our students failed the writing portion of the STAAR exam last year. Our high school is over 3,000 students strong. Thought I'd share.

Thank you for understanding.

It must be a depressing time to be a teacher.

Precisely so.

 

[Ohaimerk]

Your definately correcting his grammer alot

 

[Eternauta]

They sometimes call me a grammar nazi but I am actually a grammar communist: I want everyone to spell and write equally well

Nah, actually I don't usually correct such mistakes but I personally would like people to tell me about any grammar/spelling mistakes I make.

 

[UniversalWolf]

...if a comma is used incorrectly (which happens because of a poor education system), they will be marked off for it...

Proper comma usage being the most important characteristic of literate English, right?

Standardized testing combined with school leadership concerned only with gaming the testing to cover up the wretched truth: a recipe for success.

I don't like correcting people on the net because, as someone mentioned previously, it's not always clear who is and is not a native speaker. "A whole nother" never fails to make me laugh, though. I'm sure I do it myself from time to time.

My all time favorite is when people say something like, "there's twelve ducks on the pond" when you would never say, "there is twelve ducks on the pond." Once I started noticing that one I discovered that even the brits do it, and I found it popping up in Shakespeare, so I stopped worrying about it. Still funny though, and easier to say than, "there're twelve ducks on the pond."

My high school English teacher used to have a cow about split infinitives,"to boldly go," being the split version of, "to go boldly." Personally I think splitting infinitives gives the language a little extra flexibility.

 

[Sduibek]

UniversalWolf, is your avatar from the original Straw Dogs? Reminds me of that.

What's hilarious and stupid about the Texas system mentioned earlier, is that I use commas -- and parentheses, and dashes -- all over the place, yet I'm the best-written best-spoken person of most people I encounter in life and at school, both high school and college. I have a pretty good vocabulary and grasp on the language, and articulate myself well, but the way I speak is kind of ADD-ish, so when putting my spoken word into type, you get huge run-on sentences. By conventional rules, this means my grammar is horrible, when in fact, getting A on English papers and classes is easy for me because I'm mostly-awesome with the language and continually learn more about it. TL;DR: Comma usage don't mean shit if you no what your doing.

 

[UnidentifiedFlyingTard]

Every time someone says "alot' I get a strong urge to post this.

 

[Sduibek]

Every time someone says "alot' I get a strong urge to post this.

I love that comic alot. I show it to my friends alot.

 

[UniversalWolf]

The avatar is one of the Hanson brothers from the movie Slap Shot. If you've never seen it, put down whatever you're doing and go watch it now.

I violate alot (heh.) of the rules of the language all the time, as do many of its greatest writers. Fragmentary sentences are a favorite bad habit.

Obviously when you're teaching kids, you're supposed to be giving them the by-the-book rules so at least they'll know when they're breaking them.

This is an interesting resource:

http://www.civilwararchive.com/LETTERS/letters.htm

Letters written by Civil War soldiers. Their grammar, spelling, and punctuation were poor, but they were very expressive.

 

[Lexx]

My english sucks, because I pretty much learned it all by myself. For years I used translator tools to construct my sentences for every english speaking fora I visited. At some point I didn't needed them anymore to form walls of texts... my english still sucks, though. The internet just isn't a good teacher for good english. Oh well.

Every once in a while I wish me a grammar nazi, because it is hard for me to see / realize the mistakes I make. Though, it is annoying if a grammar nazi shows up all the time and in a public forum. :>