*facepalm*

[textualdeviance]

I believe I have discovered how kids are failing to learn proper English.

Here's the sad beginning of an e-mail I just got from a kindergarten teacher:

Actually it has been a long time since anyone has come to my class that has not been to preschool. So kindergarten is usually is not there first experience.

The rest of the mail is just as bad, with improper use of parentheses and egregious abuse of ellipses.

Meh. I give up.


ETA: This reminds me that I meant to link this.

It's a damn shame the guy had to go all technophobic (and I sent him a rather pointed e-mail to that effect) because the rest of his point is solid, and worth paying attention to.

Comments

[miss-swamp.livejournal.com]

Okay, but what should we do about this decline? I'm not offering excuses, but asking for advice on how to manage the real obstacles we face. We teachers can't help that kids don't read for pleasure. Their parents don't; why should they? Homework assignments take second place to babysitting younger siblings, or they simply get forgotten in favor of TV or games.

Teachers spend so much time trying to motivate kids, to make reading relevant to their lives, that I never have time to get to Latin and Greek roots--as much as I'd love to. We fit lessons on social skills, technology, health and investigative science into the same 6-hour day that used to be spent just on reading, writing and math.

And don't get me started on math reform or English language learning.

I'm not saying things are great, but I also honestly don't think there are very many teachers who just plain don't care. In most cases, it's too draining to be "just a job." So, for those of us who want to be part of the solution, what do you suggest?

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

I personally think reform needs to be at the administrative level, in terms of stricter grading requirements. If students keep getting rewarded for poor performance with better grades than they deserve, then they have no motivation to do better.

I'm normally more carrot than stick, but for some students, learning itself isn't enough of a carrot. I think they have to be confronted with the possibility of being held back a grade to get them going. I realize that with overcrowding, this is a logistical nightmare, but the alternative--generations of uneducated kids entering the job market with no hope of doing well--is much worse.