Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar?

november17, ASN, RN · Nov 9, 2009

Back to my spelling issues...son who is a most dreadful speller, brings home vocab. test with the teacher misspelling words...

Hahahaha my son's teacher last year had the most terrible handwriting. It looked like a 5 year old wrote it. I've got a bunch of his papers I should scan them and post them here just for comedy value.

My daughter this year is in the "gifted" class and it is hilarious because her teacher spells words wrong without fail. The teacher even managed to spell a word on the spelling list wrong a few weeks ago (this is the same teacher that made a point of telling me she got a 4.0 in her masters program at the parent teacher conference).

chelynn · Nov 9, 2009

I think correct spelling, punctuation and grammar are very important. In nursing school we were always taught that these things were especially important in charting. They told us that if you ever have to defend your charting in court they will tear you apart with poor charting.

Vito Andolini · Nov 9, 2009

Hahahaha my son's teacher last year had the most terrible handwriting. It looked like a 5 year old wrote it. I've got a bunch of his papers I should scan them and post them here just for comedy value.
My daughter this year is in the "gifted" class and it is hilarious because her teacher spells words wrong without fail. The teacher even managed to spell a word on the spelling list wrong a few weeks ago (this is the same teacher that made a point of telling me she got a 4.0 in her masters program at the parent teacher conference).

What did you do about the teacher's errors? I know it's awkward and risky to speak up, but if you let it slide, things will never improve.

Have any of you here spoken up when you've encountered teachers' errors? If not, it's time to do so.

I did with my kids' teachers. They were not happy with me, but it was more important to me that their teachers taught them correctly.

Vito Andolini · Nov 9, 2009

I think students give only what is required of them. Most job applicants give only what is required. And to be fair, some jobs don't reward the articulate workers. Some managers look down on a worker who comes across as too well educated; it makes them feel uncomfortable.
Schools (colleges included) are passing students who cannot write complete sentences. My nursing school dumbs down the program and makes us do lots of busy-work so those who can't do basic math or writing can learn.
The scary thing is that a misspelled word in a patient chart can totally change the meaning of something. IMHO, spelling and somewhat coherent grammar should be as important to Nursing school as the calculations exams.
I'm starting to get the idea that America as a whole has devalued education. People are graduating High School barely able to read. We have parents who parents complain when their kids have homework. Over the semesters, I've watched classmates cheat or drop out when they're challenged. We live in a society that values youth, fun, social interactions, and instant gratification. Wisdom, education, and accuracy are for the nerds and old people, I guess.

Charlotte Iserbyt "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America"

sharpeimom · Nov 9, 2009

nursing was a second career for me. my first job was an editorial position with a marketing research company in a very very large city. i spent my days reading and

proofing what clients representing various companies had written about their products.

most ad executives are tremendously nice people, really know the product inside and out, can quote chapter and verse about the research done, but despite all this, are very poor writers. some of these mba holding execs looked down their noses at those of us who "merely edited and rewrote copy" who held mfa degrees instead of mbas, but . . . guess what? we knew grammar, rules of correct writing, varying writing styles. etc.

the end result? despite the fact that i no longer get paid to edit, i unconsciously edit every single thing i read. kleenex boxes, print on the tv screen, the newspapers i read daily, the dog food bag... oh . . . and one final thing that keeps me grammar and usage conscious is that i married a humanities professor.

i take the information in a poorly written article online or in print, much less seriously

if it is poorly written.

kathy

sharpei mom:paw::paw:

landesmummy · Nov 9, 2009

I have sent notes to my children's teachers and for my professors, it has been mentioned on every single evaluation, the benefits of using spellcheck and a grammatical book...hmmm and I'm still awaiting those results...hopefully for those students below me they will reap the benefits

pennyaline · Nov 9, 2009

I have sent notes to my children's teachers and for my professors, it has been mentioned on every single evaluation, the benefits of using spellcheck and a grammatical book...hmmm and I'm still awaiting those results...hopefully for those students below me they will reap the benefits

What?!

leslie :-D · Nov 9, 2009

What did you do about the teacher's errors? I know it's awkward and risky to speak up, but if you let it slide, things will never improve.
Have any of you here spoken up when you've encountered teachers' errors? If not, it's time to do so.
I did with my kids' teachers. They were not happy with me, but it was more important to me that their teachers taught them correctly.

absolutely, a parent must speak up!

when my dtr was in 1st grade, her teacher used to send her home with 'sad faces', pointing out that tiff wasn't working up to her capacity, that her penmanship was sloppy, and some other concerns.

i booked to the school and met w/teacher that very day, and insisted on having principal present.

my biggest concern, was the sad faces, and what it could do to a child's self-esteem.

as we were all going over dtr's work, i pointed out a few misspelled words from the teacher, and asked how she could justify criticizing a 6 yo when she didn't even have an elemental command of spelling?!?!

anyways, i ended up transferring my dtr.

the teacher was not allowed to distribute anymore sad faces...

and i just didn't feel confident keeping my dtr in a school where she wasn't receiving the correct education in basic english.

who gives a darn if the teachers aren't happy?

this is our childs education, and is perfectly reasonable to expect an appropriate education.

there isn't any reason why a teacher should be consistently misspelling words and mispronouncing basic words.

no reason at all...

leslie:oornt:

Otessa, BSN, RN · Nov 9, 2009

Hmmm. "Cat in the Hat". :) Zana, you'll find there's sort of a tug of war between the phonics people and the word memorizing people. I always taught my kids phonics as an addition to whatever they learned in school. The best way to have kids read and love to read is the family culture. My son had a hard time at age 6-7. My brother had to have a tutor and he now has a Phd in Engineering and an MBA from Stanford

I was taught phonetically and add this to what my children are taught in grade school. If they can't sight read then they better darn well sound it out-if they can.

My kids love to say "Amn't" instead of am not

"I amn't tired, mom"--makes sense-doesn't it?

otessa

sharpeimom · Nov 9, 2009

i have two email accounts -- a hotmail one and the other yahoo. the spellchecker in the hotmail account is useless because it either misses errors and/or incorrectly fixes them.

aauuurrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

Otessa, BSN, RN · Nov 9, 2009

I think a huge contributor is that many people just don't read anymore, from childhood onwards. I know a lot of my spelling and grammar skills came from being an avid reader all my life. Once you get used to seeing words on a page, it is much easier to recognize inaccurate spelling.

I agree!! The library was my favorite place to be -and is to this day.

LOVE to read-pretty much anything!

otessa

allnurses Guide · Nov 9, 2009

absolutely, a parent must speak up!
when my dtr was in 1st grade, her teacher used to send her home with 'sad faces', pointing out that tiff wasn't working up to her capacity, that her penmanship was sloppy, and some other concerns.
i booked to the school and met w/teacher that very day, and insisted on having principal present.
my biggest concern, was the sad faces, and what it could do to a child's self-esteem.
as we were all going over dtr's work, i pointed out a few misspelled words from the teacher, and asked how she could justify criticizing a 6 yo when she didn't even have an elemental command of spelling?!?!
anyways, i ended up transferring my dtr.
the teacher was not allowed to distribute anymore sad faces...
and i just didn't feel confident keeping my dtr in a school where she wasn't receiving the correct education in basic english.
who gives a darn if the teachers aren't happy?
this is our childs education, and is perfectly reasonable to expect an appropriate education.
there isn't any reason why a teacher should be consistently misspelling words and mispronouncing basic words.
no reason at all...
leslie:oornt:

My son had a teacher like that when he was in first grade. Why teachers zero in on a child to pick apart minor things is mysterious to me. One of his papers came back and it looked like the woman was having a nervous breakdown with the pen in her hand what with all the arrows, frowny faces and comments like "What is this?????????????" :eek: Sure, I can laugh now, but it sure as h-ll wasn't funny then. GRRRRRR. . .watch out for us mama bears!!