Death of the Written Word
I mourn the death of the written word. Not by me, but by my students. Every time I assign a paper or really anything I internally sigh and then kick myself. Why am I doing this to myself? Because I am trying to actually teach students. Once the assignments are turned in, I actually kick myself.
I am amazed at the deficiency of grammar teaching in schools. How is it that students can get to 10th grade and not know the different usages of its and it’s? It’s (notice the usage) a crazy situation! I don’t really know how to fix this problem. The easy way would be to correctly teach students grammar when they are in elementary school. If that does not happen, I am at a loss. I could teach grammar, but an intensive lesson plan of grammar would eat into my teaching of U.S. History. I have more things to do that constantly remind my students the difference between there, their, and they’re.
So that brings me to the self-inflicted injuries. There are a few common mistakes that I get very angry about. Let me share:
- There, their, and they’re. There (hee hee) is a difference.
- LOL, IDK, U, and OMG are not words, don’t use them.
- Verb/subject agreement matters, please make sure they do.
- Tenses — nothing’s worse than students changing tenses in the middle of an essay. And for the record, if you’re (not be confused with your) talking about the past, use the past form of the verb.
- Comma splices –#1 headache producer in grammar, but necessary to correct in essays.
There are multitudes of other mistakes, but these are definitely the top offenders. So who has suggestions of how to fix this epidemic? And you cannot say “make sure they get taught in elementary school.” I want real practical suggestions for high schools. Grammar is essential for competent communication in the world. I don’t care what your job is or what you are doing. Text language, bad language, or even abbreviations have no place in written language. I don’t even use text language while texting. You know why? Because my brain takes too long to comprehend the text language and then I take the time to correct the message. Annoying, but only because others fail to real language.
Makes my brain hurt. Not to mention the lovely bruises up and down my shins.
A friend recently sent me this link to another blog. Goes along great with my entry. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html
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