I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Bren-2007

Joan .. students really use text language in powerpoint slides?!?  I'm so glad I'm not a teacher, I'd be pulling my hair out!

Thanks Blue .. it was quite a storm.  We have lots of limbs and branches down, but thank goodness the power was only out for 24 hours.  I was starting to go crazy with no power!

hugs,

Bren

crazy4carrots

Bren -- 24 hours?  Oh my!  So glad you're okay.  Did the pups ever make it down the steps to the cellar?

Joan -- Couldn't agree more!  The written language started deteriorating when teachers stopped deducting marks for spelling and grammatical errors (and many teachers have bemoaned this fact to me; I don't blame teachers!).

Bren-2007

Hi Linda .. I worked on a puzzle by flashlight.  Very boring.  Thankfully, now I can put all that up and I don't have to finish it!

I work with docs who do psy-ed testing and appraisals for ADHD.  A very common accommodation is that the teachers have to overlook spelling and grammar.  Or if you have a disability in written language, then you don't have to learn how to spell. 

Bren

1Athena1

Bren - hello, btw! Interesting re:that accommodation. It can make sense in English to some extent but it doesn't work for all languages, especially French, where one extra letter or an accent or lack thereof can change the nature of a sentence, essentially preventing the person from communicating properly. I know of a case in which the mother of a child with dyslexia was told by school personnel that they could accommodate by overlooking spelling and grammar and she (the mother) nearly had a fit.

I am torn. If you have a neurobiological disability that is one thing (and ADHD is not a learning disability - it can affect learning, though, and many children with the disorder have comorbid processing/learning problems). But the vast majority of people in our country, whether we like to admit it or not, are either too lazy or too ill served by their local school district to have much respect for the language. Nothing shocks me more than to read something written by an English teacher that looks as though it had been written by her worst student. We all make mistakes and typing errors (I am horrendously bad) and those of us with crappy eyes find it difficult to spot mistakes, but our real problem as a country is the lack of respect for the elegance of written communication. The sad part is that my comments might be perceived as old fashioned.

like, c u sune, like! 

BarbaraA

Athena, LOL.

JoanDavies

I'm not sure if it was clear that the oral communications class is in COLLEGE... students who are supposed to be preparing for a professional career. But, it's a different generation, and I get that priorities are necessarily the same in today's workforce. As a hearing impaired person, I text a lot, but the only abbreviation I use is bc (because); I'm not quite sure why. But I stubbornly refuse to abbreviate words in texts, which may make me a fuddy-duddy to my younger acquaintances.

Prolly idk brb...

rosemary-b

Bren

Good to hear you are okay. The weather this year has been very strange.

Maybe I'm just old but I think prper spelling is a big deal. I do know elemenatary school teachers who have been taught that corecting spelling stifles creativity. I disagree

PROPER, CORRECTING ...if there are any more errors I give up. I guess I believe in proper spelling in theory only

Alpal

I don't proof read as well as I once did, so frequently make spelling mistakes, even when using spell check. Poor grammar drives me crazy! Particularly, you, me, and I. I yell at TV announcers, "When in doubt, take the other out."

crazy4carrots

Problem is, there are too few doubters!

otter

I taught college students in a health professions curriculum for 25 years.  The problem isn't just with spelling -- it's with precision.  Students don't think it should be necessary to spell words correctly, but they also don't think it should be necessary to use proper grammar or to describe things using accurate terminology.  Precise communication is critical in a medical setting.  It took some effort to make that point. 

I had no idea that my students would use "u", "ur", "b4" or "w/" in their essay answers on midterm exams.  (I didn't even know what all those letters meant!)  Once I realized what was happening, I set out some standards and explained the consequences.  I don't recall ever deducting points for a misspelled word if there was honest effort to spell it correctly; but I did make it clear that slang, texting jargon, and lack of professionalism would be penalized.  The strategy worked -- my students reformed quickly, but let me know on my end-of-term course evaluations that they thought I was a b*tch.  <sigh>

And, yes, it drives me nuts when people type "u" instead of spelling out the word "you" in something other than a one-phrase text message. My mom used to take dictation using "Gregg shorthand" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_shorthand).  She never would have used shorthand for person-to-person communication, though, and most certainly not in an official document -- it was used for her convenience only.  A court reporter's notes would never be published as-is; they would always be translated into intelligible language.

otter

Alpal

My mom used shorthand on her grocery and errand lists. Always fascinated me. She kept her Gregg book and I loved it!

BarbaraA

I completely agree. My aunt was an English teacher and she would CRUSH any of us if we used incorrect grammar or misspelled any work on anything we wrote. (Fortunately, I didn't have her in school or it would have been ugly). That being said, my father was always proud of me for having never missed a word on any spelling test. I read the dictionary. Now you know my dirty little secret.

208sandy

Ah yes, I took Gregg shorthand and still use it to this day - I am amazed that I can still read it back - it has served me well, as for spelling - I am a little nutty on the subject - it annoys me no end when I see spelling errors especially in a newspaper - I've been known to phone the editor's office and complain.  As for texting language - use it if you must text but please don't make the rest of us suffer.

Sandy

1Athena1

Disclosure: Just corrected one grammatical error and one wrong word usage in my last post on this thread (I meant to say "read" and I said "write"). I will plead no contest to a felony and ask the judge for leniency. I have my period and I think what spills out when I menstruate is my brain. I have an acronym for my period, and all of the letters except for the last one, which stands for "period", are "bad" words. It is MFCSP. It is the bane of my existence. Evolution went wrong with us women. Do I really need to be reminded that I'm not pregnant every 28 days of my life? Can't my body just get the hint, considering that I'm not getting laid - er, being visited by the stork? I wish we could let our bodies in on our "relationship status" and "do I even want children or not" status. Because I am being treated to a Greek drama every month that I didn't even buy tickets for! Sometimes it is more like Pulp Fiction without the humor or creativity.

Thank you for listening to my rant.

bluedahlia

I am free of the dreaded monthly agony.  I was going strong with elevated estrogen levels at age 55 so decided to have those pesky ovaries removed.  With ER+ BC who needed them anyways!  Never missed a damn period until then.  I really feel for you Athena.

rosemary-b

Oh Athena periods were the bane of my exitance. Maybe that's one reason I had seven kids and breastfed them all for at least a year. I didn't have periods for about 6 months after each birth.Yes I did feel like I was always pregnant or nursing but I was not always doubled over in pain screaming at everybody.Oh and the migraines, lets not forget the migraines and I was 55 when they stopped.

I really feel for you girl. 

BarbaraA

I am very happy to not have periods anymore. But the hot flashes really stink. I feel for you, gal.

Bren-2007

Hi Athena .. I remember the pain and discomfort.

I love my hysterectomy!!

Hope today is a better day,

hugs,

Bren

rosemary-b

Nasty storm just went through just a little south of us. We just had rain but my daughter has no power and says most of the town lost power. There were a couple of tornados reported but not confirmed yet and a lot of trees down. She will be out here with her 3 kids tomorrow. Don't know how long they will stay.

Not as bad as a lot of places have had but boy is the weather crazy this year.

BarbaraA

Fingers crossed all are well in your town, Rosemary!

rosemary-b

A lot of trees down,roofs torn off, but nobody hurts. Even though people say they saw tornados the Weather Service is saying it was straight line winds, but at 85 miles an hour straight line winds can do a lot of damage. My daughter will be out with her 3 munchkins in a litle while. Right now the kids think it's cool-candles flashlights cooking on the grill but we'll see how long they last with that.

Bren-2007

Oh my gosh Rosemary .. sounds the like the storm we had here the other night.  I'm sure the novelty of no power will wear off quickly!

hugs all,

Bren

rosemary-b

They are five, two and nine months old. The baby will be fine as long as she has Mama, the two yer old boy will be okay but I'm sure the five year old princess will reach her limit soon. Iam not suggesting they move in here!

crazy4carrots

We got a thunderstorm (or several) last evening and the power went off at 9:30.  So, we each poured a glass of wine and sat out on the covered deck to watch the light show!  Of course, the power came back on (beep, beep) about 5 minutes after we went to bed, so had to get up and turn off all the stuff we'd forgotten to turn off!

No tornadoes or strong winds, fortunately. 

kadeeb

I promise that loss of power will loose it's appeal very soon. It only took about 24 hours here in N Alabama. The next 4 days were less than interesting. Do you know how many times you will turn on a light switch even when you know there's no power? A week later you would do almost anything to see a light bulb illuminated by direct current rather than a generator, or hear ice drop from the ice maker. I wasn't made for the good old days. Running water, electricity,air conditioning, and those other modern conveniences are soooo necessary!

To add, glad everyone is alright.

crazy4carrots

Kadeeb, I've often wondered how we would have coped in the "good old days"!  Of course, we wouldn't have even dreamed of all the conveniences that electricity brings. Early to bed, early to rise, and a whole lot of drudgery in between, I'm thinking....

Alpal

When we lost power during an ice storm, I discovered the contents of the freezer did just fine on the back porch - it was 10 degrees. And - the contents of the refrigerator did fine sitting out on the kitchen counter. It was so cold in there that the butter didin't even get soft. We didn't lose a thing. Summer would have been a whole different story!

The weather is strange everywhere. My DD lives in the Tahoe area in CA. They had 10 inches of snow yesterday!

Bren-2007

Allison .. can't believe your daughter had 10 inches of snow this late in the season.  It was 97 here today with a heat index of 108.  arghhh.  I just want to be on a nice cool beach somewhere!

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday today.

hugs,

Bren

BarbaraA

I was by a nice cool ( well 85) pool this weekend. Love to all.

AnneW

I finally swapped out winter clothes for summer ones today. I think we'll skip spring around here. Going to be near 90 later this week. That's too soon!! A few weeks of sunny and 70 would make me very happy. If all the snow in the mountains melts too fast, we'll wash away. Glad I live up hill...