Report: Uh, it's like student writing is bad

CNN ^ | 25APR03 | AP

[TheAbbodad]

• States and the federal government should provide more money so schools have the time and staff needed to focus on writing.

The key to this entire article. Let's just throw more money into a non funtional system.

[poet]

Thanks for the links


FReegards

[mommybain]

Another good proofreading trick I learned when I was twelve and spent my after-school hours at my mom's office at a small regional newspaper...read your writing backwards so that you're forced to examine each word out of context. Words that are spelled correctly but don't really belong (like the one in your example) will jump right out at you!

[Anamensis]

They are asked to read dumb stuff like The Color Purple and other politically-correct junk.

I agree in part, but let me say something on behalf of The Color Purple in particular: The sister who becomes a missionary in Africa writes back in realization: I thought I was going home to 'my people' ... these are not my people... they sold us. The don't care about us, they don't love us, they don't want us back... they sold us!

I personally was very happy to see someone acknowledge this. Moreoever, Alice Walker is one of the main discoverers of and champions of Zora Neale Hurston, who was muscled out of the African American literary world by Langston Hughes and the other Marxist black separatists because she was essentially a Republican. If you read Their Eyes Were Watching God, there is very little of the evil white man in it once the days of slavery are over. It's just blacks among other blacks living their lives, and is very interesting.

Nevertheless, students also need copious doses of sophisticated writing to model their own writing on, you are right. I just wanted to throw that opinion in there.

[itzmygun]

I went into parenthood with the understanding that providing for childrens' education is the parents' responsibility, and we elected not to farm the job out.

EUREKA! If a kid doesn't learn, it is the fault of his or her PARENTS! This is exactly why the problem is not being fixed - it's easier to blame the educational system than to take some of that precious TV time each evening and make sure a kid is learning. Maybe we shouldn't have to do this, but let's face it: Griping about the educational system is not helping the kids to learn. My brother (who is a good conservative and genuinely cares about his students) teaches 7th grade English in a public school, and while he admits the system is terribly flawed, he says the number one problem is parents who just don't care about education. He says that if parents would just be a little supportive, or at least let him do his job, he could teach, but he is increasingly impeded by parents who don't think their kids should have to put forth any effort to learn. They worry about their little angel being "picked on" by a teacher more than making sure their kid is being taught the things that should be taught. Until we start putting pressure on teachers AND parents, nothing will change.

[So Cal Rocket]

It's is a contraction for it is or it has.

Its is a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.

And just for the record there is absolutely, positively, no such word as its'

[Willie Green]

This is vey series.

its a hugh problem

[capocchio]

NY Times crossword puzzle

Good effort, wrong newspaper. The problem here is that to do a NY Times crossword means someone has to have bought a NY Times. This should be discouraged if at all possible and such people, if they cannot be re-educated, should be quietly phased out.

May I suggest a subscription to something like The Washington Times? At least then the rest of the paper has some value and is a worthwhile read.

[Anamensis]

The old Johnson house had always been mysterious. It's old fence, overgrown yard, peeling paint and gabled roof always conveyed a sense of doom. And the sense of doom was well earned, for rumors persisted about the horrible screams heard so many years ago. And the story goes on, to this day. People who dare to take the shortcut in at midnight, through the back yard of the old Johnson house often tell you of the fear they felt, before the pain and the screams started. And they all bear the tell-tale bruise, the vertical stripe across the face. Of course, during the daytime; visitors remember to step over the rake in the path.

Your BEV translation was cute, but it's not just a black kid thing and it's not just a dialect thing. There's a lack of imagination, limited vocabulary, poor spelling.... this is what I see:

The old johnson place is scarey and run down and poeple get like a scarey feeling becaus you can hear screems from it. And this is becaus theirs a rake in the yard and poeple steps on it and it hits them (thats a joke ha ha) but really its a scarey place.

[LonePalm]

Another tool to make him more diligent in spelling would be to disable the spelling and grammar check in Word. I do that, so that if I make an error, I HAVE to proofread what I write.

I leave the spelling checker on but I haven't shown him how to use the built in dictionary to make the change. He still has to use the regular dictionary. I want the grammar checker on so that he will learn to recognize bad writing.

I have introduced him to the Bulwer-Lytton contest. He loves it. He is learning that to write truely bad, you must be able to write well first.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[bush4life1]

Your right the United States education system has been deteriorating for the past 25 years and there has not been much done to improve it. Now granted I have not even been alive for 25 years but I am 14 years old and I am in the 8th grade. Our education system is not the only thing that has plummeted within these past years, our society has also and that is our problem that is why the test score are at there all time low. People now are to fixated on there appearance and the way they carry themselves, who has the cutest boyfriend and who has the blondest hair. These are the useless things that are discussed during school instead of studies things such as this that in 10 years will not matter. We won’t remember what we wore on our first day of high school and if we do then it won’t make a difference in this present day when you are having a job interview. What makes the difference is what you learned on those days of school when we didn’t pay attention in class, because you were writing a note to your friend that you are going to see after school anyways. Also I live in Georgia which has the lowest test scores out of the entire nation. But my parents make sure that I get the highest level of education. I attend a private all girls’ school. So that I don’t have to worry about my appearance or making sure my makeup is on so the look better for the guys. But then again most of our adult population does not even know who are president is, so the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The US educational system is at its all time low, can you imagine what’s it's going to be like in 30 years?

[nicholle]

I recently gave up my career as a freelance writer to start teaching writing classes to Northern New Jersey and New York City students. Although it is ten times the work, it has to be done. My student's writing is a blend of hip hop lyrics and IM chatter. It is almost impossible to break even the brightest students of this nasty habit.

A few weeks into my first week of classes, one of my students complained that I gave her "bad" grades and her ninth grade English teacher gave her grades in the nineties. Curious, I asked her to bring in a few recently graded papers. The first one I looked at had a huge star on the top right next to "98." As I went through it, not only did I find at least 25 gramatical errors, but the essay was as incoherent as an MTV video - absolutely no logic, organization, etc.

It was quite upsetting to realize that many teachers are glossing over their students papers. They are too busy to take the time to do a good job.

When is America going to realize that we need to teach our students, not babysit them?

[Hodar]

Just an unasked for suggestion. My mother was a genius at motivating us, sometimes by guilt, sometimes by threat ... but often by bribe.

She would make a deal. If one of us kids read (some appropriate selected book) that child would get a custom meal of whatever they wanted (malt, shrimp, whatever) while the rest of the family got the standard evening meal fare. So, while I ate as many fried shrimp as I could stuff, and washed it down with ahomemade ice cream chocolate malt; my brothers got pot roast and potatoes. For a farm kid, this was a pretty good deal.

[steve-b]

Ask high school juniors to write a paragraph about a haunted house, and nearly half are unable to do so satisfactorily.

"The ghosts were becoming restless. Each had lived in the great white mansion for a few years, serving his nation by executing its highest office. Now, the defilement of this revered place by its current occupant, who treated it as a combination of flophouse, whorehouse, and safehouse, was becoming unbearable...."

[Maigrey]

I had the chairman of the department teach my American Lit II class at the local U. I read it and was greatly impressed with the writing and form of her work. I was also deeply saddened when I read that she was ostracized from the literary community for wandering too far off the farm and passed away in obscurity.

Dr. Murphy, whereever you are, thank you!

[Anamensis]

Are you for real? Did you write like that as a joke because of the topic, or was that an actual sample of your writing style?

[Anamensis]

Hurston is making quite a comeback. She's required reading in the high school where I'm observing.

[Willie Green]

My student's writing is a blend of hip hop lyrics and IM chatter. It is almost impossible to break even the brightest students of this nasty habit.

Ladies can't resist my game... on AOL Instant Messenger

[Maigrey]

I read her in my 3000 level college class about 6 years ago. I'm glad that she is making a resurgence in popularity, especially when kids now read "Heather has 2 Mommies."

[twigs]

I am back in school getting certified to teach English and HIstory. I am now finishing a required course in the Theory of Writing where the main focus is on how to teach it to secondary students. My final project next week is to present a marking period lesson plan on how to teach writing. I was also required to take a grammar course, so some education schools are doing this. In our little college, I've met several English Ed majors who transferred to just English because of the more rigorous requirements made of Ed majors. That's the way it should be.