Does Spelling Count?
I am deeply saddened. I am almost finished grading the research papers from my class. And they are not good. The grammar and spelling alone are abysmal; any sense of coherence one might expect in a semester-long research assignment is rare to find. Even the papers that are well organized still are replete with there-their-they're and too-to-two type mistakes. I sometimes don't understand how these students have made it this far. Have they never been graded on spelling and/or grammar in their work before?
I perhaps should have seen this coming. Several students asked specifically whether spelling and grammar would count. How exactly would they have approached the assignment differently, I wonder, if I had told them "No"?
I perhaps should have seen this coming. Several students asked specifically whether spelling and grammar would count. How exactly would they have approached the assignment differently, I wonder, if I had told them "No"?
posted by Meredith | 5:34 PM
4 Comments:
I'm sure it won't make you feel better to know that I REVIEWED there/they're/their and too/to/two with my fourth graders on Thursday. They learned it in September. We also worked on it's and its. :o)
Ah, it's and its. I remember them well. Of course, my students do not. Perhaps you could guest lecture for me next time around... :)
welcome to the first generation of students who have been able to rely solely on MS Word's grammar and spell checking all the way through their (not there or they're) entire educations. they never had to learn the real differences between these words, because they are all real words to Word, and therfore OK. it's (not its) sad--it really is. you're (not your) pretty lucky if that's the worst you see.
If you had said "No spelling and grammer didn't matter", they would have atleast felt no guilt for not proofreading, of which they planned all along of course.
I'd like to take this sidenote by the way to note that many of the men I've met in the northeast have oddly pointed out that one of the things they like about me is the knowledge of when to use there, their and they're appropriately. So just goes to show good grammer = dates. Boy are your students gonna be sorry. :-p
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