Teacher vent

[FireDancer]

When I am at work and communicating professionally I make sure I use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I'm not saying I don't miss every once in a while, but I proof read and spell check. This is especially true on the rare occasion I am communicating directly with a customer as opposed to a vendor or colleague. When a teacher is communicating with a parent I would look at it like communicating with a customer (her child is consuming the teacher's services) and the professionalism should match.

I wouldn't think about a little error here or there but repeated errors or bad punctuation from the person who is supposed to be teaching my child? No way.

 

[kathie859]

I am putting on my flame suit.....

I can't believe how many posters are willing to let a teacher slide on the basics. I don't care if she's "just" a PE teacher. She's an educator and an example for children. We all make the occasional typo (for me especially using my Blackberry!) but what the OP says is consistent, repeated misuse of words and tense.

I see this as proof of "the dummying down of America".

 

[FireDancer]

i see this as proof of "the dummying down of america".

omg! Nyd! Kwim?

 

[diznygirl]

When I am at work and communicating professionally I make sure I use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I'm not saying I don't miss every once in a while, but I proof read and spell check. This is especially true on the rare occasion I am communicating directly with a customer as opposed to a vendor or colleague. When a teacher is communicating with a parent I would look at it like communicating with a customer (her child is consuming the teacher's services) and the professionalism should match.

I wouldn't think about a little error here or there but repeated errors or bad punctuation from the person who is supposed to be teaching my child? No way.

I am putting on my flame suit.....

I can't believe how many posters are willing to let a teacher slide on the basics. I don't care if she's "just" a PE teacher. She's an educator and an example for children. We all make the occasional typo (for me especially using my Blackberry!) but what the OP says is consistent, repeated misuse of words and tense.

I see this as proof of "the dummying down of America".

The problem is that we are ALL guilty of it - proofread is one word, and the period goes inside the quote.... for example.....

So sitting in judgement of someone else's mistakes is just silly.....

 

[FireDancer]

The problem is that we are ALL guilty of it - proofread is one word, and the period goes inside the quote.... for example.....

So sitting in judgement of someone else's mistakes is just silly.....

The audience on a message board is very different then a professional audience. When you communicate professionally it should be professional. When you communicate casually it can be casual. Any communication with the customer (or parent) is professional.

This is especially true of educators who should lead by example.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Ya know nowadays in many states teachers don't have to have an education degree. They can have any bachelors degree & then pursue teacher certification & those requirements also vary by state.

What words did she use incorrectly? Is it a word that depending on where you're from as to how it should be used 'cause that happens too.

My dd has a 1st grade teacher that corrects her papers (non handwriting papers) with the comment - should be neater - & she has the most HORRIBLE handwriting herself!

 

[Kathi OD]

This may sound strange, but is English her first language? When my husband and I were started to look into buying a home, our real estate agent was not originally from the United States. She spoke English very well, but when she would email us, it just wasn't done 'correctly'.

Just a possibilty that I thought about when I read the OP.

I was thinking the same thing, especially after reading the example of "excused absent." Sounds like something someone for whom English was not their first language. Even people who have been here for many years, and may no longer have an accent, might still hang onto unusual word pairings. Just a thought.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My DD13's PE teacher also teaches Health during the quarter. I would only be concerned if it was one of my DD's core teachers.

 

[NikiM20]

Posting on a chat board and writing home to a parent are two different things. She was not rushed on her break ( these were sent after school), English is her first language.

 

[Jennasis]

Is it possible the teacher just didn't know any better? I mean honestly, half the kids I went to college with could barely spell their own names. My guess is that this is why the teacher isn't an English Lit teacher.

 

[tomthebarncat]

The blind leading the blind. I would correct her emails in red and send them back. My SIL is a 7th grade english teacher and she has the worst writing skills I have ever seen. If I did not know her, I would wonder if English was a third or fourth language for her. I feel sorry for her students!

 

[agnes!]

The problem is that we are ALL guilty of it - proofread is one word, and the period goes inside the quote.... for example..... ...

I'll give you "proofread" instead of "proof read" or "proof-read" but the quotation rules regarding punctuation are not as cut & dried as one might think. It depends on if the writer is following typesetter's rules (dating back to the days of actual type-setting) or if they are following logical-punctuation usage and also depends on which country's "rules" the writer is following.

In the sentence that was used, the more logical choice to me would be to arrange the quotation marks & the period as they were arranged by the poster, because the poster in this case was not quoting an entire sentence but was referring to a single concept and using the quotation marks for emphasis, i.e.,

I see this as proof of "the dummying down of America".

makes more sense to me than

I see this as proof of "the dummying down of America."

agnes!

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I am putting on my flame suit.....

I can't believe how many posters are willing to let a teacher slide on the basics. I don't care if she's "just" a PE teacher. She's an educator and an example for children. We all make the occasional typo (for me especially using my Blackberry!) but what the OP says is consistent, repeated misuse of words and tense.

I see this as proof of "the dummying down of America".

LOL @ this post. It is the dumbing down of America!!!!!
Seriously everyone complaining people who live in glass houses!!! Critique me all you want because I'm not complaining.

 

[Goldenbear6]

First, let me say I work with the school system as an aide and I am currently working on my certification.

I had to email one of DDs teachers about a problem. Throughout this series of emails, she consistently used wrong words, wrong tenses etc. Am I wrong to expect my childs teacher to write correctly?

Seems like you have the same problem. Does this disqualify you from teaching?

 

[NikiM20]

Seems like you have the same problem. Does this disqualify you from teaching?

Maybe you should read all of my posts before you comment?

 

[bgirldeb]

:

I work with pk and I get someone to proof anything I write because I know I am not the best writer/ speller. Thank goodness for spell check and grammer check. Unfortunately I don't have that on my phone.

It's spelled grammar.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I do agree with you!

 

[Art 1]

First, let me say I work with the school system as an aide and I am currently working on my certification.

I had to email one of DDs teachers about a problem. Throughout this series of emails, she consistently used wrong words, wrong tenses etc. Am I wrong to expect my childs teacher to write correctly?

You should correct the email and send it back.

 

[tchrrx]

I don't really have any advice for you, but I do know that it makes life harder when you are working in the district. My co-worker has blood pressure that is "threw" the roof even though she and her family eat the "most healthiest" of anyone.

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

If the grownups in a child's life don't write or speak well, how will the child ever learn the correct way? Children learn from their parents as well as from school.

This skill will help them as they grow & get jobs. I find it hard to believe some of the people at the insurance company where I used to work ever got a job there. You'd think an underwriter would have good skills. NOT! At least the underwriter I was assigned to had a few problems. I cringed when I read some of the letters/memos in insured's files. For example--if she was saying she was sorry she was late getting back to an agent she'd write "My apologizes for blah blah blah" in lieu of "My apologies for blah blah blah" or even "I apologize for not getting blah blah blah".

I know I'm not perfect; never was never will be but I do know how to read & what makes sense & what doesn't. I wish there would have been more classes in grammar & punctuation when I was in high school. Need that in elementary/middle school too but a refresher in high school would have been a plus.

No suggestions for you though, OP. Difficult choice I think.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

LOL @ this post. It is the dumbing down of America!!!!!
Seriously everyone complaining people who live in glass houses!!! Critique me all you want because I'm not complaining.

When the spelling and grammar police come to town, I love to wait around and see what kind of mistakes they make, and then how they can justify THEIR mistakes, but not the ones they are criticizing. This is why I don't correct anyone's spelling or grammar here. I can't type and would surely have to eat my own words.