jackiepoppies Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I have been following this thread with great interest as I love the richness and diversity of all words and the way our language has evolved. I know I don't get it right 100% of the time, nowhere near, but I do try What I do abhor, (as I have said on another thread) is when teachers are incapable of teaching good basics, (be it grammer and /or spelling, maths, swimming, music or woodwork, whatever subject) to our children or failing to to correct it when they (the children) get it wrong. This is really unfair to our children. I believe attention to detail with the basics will stand our youngsters in good stead for the future thus enabling them to communicate at any level with confidence. If our teachers don't know the basics, they should not be employed (by us) to teach them incorrectly. If we don't ask our children to 'do their best', then we are failing to encourage bright young minds to absorb new skills, BUT, we need to work in partnership with competent teachers. My admiration goes to Pengy ( and anyone else) who has fought all the way to get James the education he deserves. Jackiex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I am totally confused by apostrophes. I greatly admire people who aren't! I use waaaay too many exclamation marks! Me too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I have been following this thread with great interest as I love the richness and diversity of all words and the way our language has evolved. I know I don't get it right 100% of the time, nowhere near, but I do try What I do abhor, (as I have said on another thread) is when teachers are incapable of teaching good basics, (be it grammer and /or spelling, maths, swimming, music or woodwork, whatever subject) to our children or failing to to correct it when they (the children) get it wrong. This is really unfair to our children. I believe attention to detail with the basics will stand our youngsters in good stead for the future thus enabling them to communicate at any level with confidence. If our teachers don't know the basics, they should not be employed (by us) to teach them incorrectly. If we don't ask our children to 'do their best', then we are failing to encourage bright young minds to absorb new skills, BUT, we need to work in partnership with competent teachers. My admiration goes to Pengy ( and anyone else) who has fought all the way to get James the education he deserves. Jackiex Good points Jackie...I was a primary school teacher back in the 90s and the school I taught in, like many at the time, had guidelines on marking work....we weren't allowed to correct more than four mistakes on any page of work so even if there were 50 mistakes we could only correct four. We also weren't allowed to use red ink. The reasoning behind both things was that it sent out a negative message to the child if we corrected more or marked in red, and it wasn't good for them. I didn't agree with this concept but had to follow it (went against it once and was hauled before the governors!) - what was most embarassing was when parents came in with their child's work and asked if I could spell and if so why hadn't I corrected their mistakes! This was one of the reasons I didn't go back into teaching when I returned from Sweden... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackiepoppies Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) I absolutely loathe the word 'gobsmacked' but that was my initial reaction when I read Omletinas' response to my post. I had NO IDEA that teachers were given such guidelines for marking their pupils work. That is partly my fault. It did not occur to me to ASK about marking guidelines, I, obviously wrongly, assumed it would be carried out with the same vigilance that my work was marked in the 50s, and I had plenty of red pen and .......hmph out of 10 I survived it I would NEVER have condoned my childrens work being marked in this way (If I had known I would have done something about it ) It is totally dishonest not to point out errors. Whoever thought up those 'guidelines' How DARE 'they' decide that our children should not be taught correctly, and how humiliating for our children not to know, when they were perfectly capable of learning. OHHHHHH Jackiex I will stop ranting...I will stop ranting....Iwill stop................glug, glug.....ummmm Edited to say, My sincere apologies to all the excellent teachers who tried to do their job and were forced to follow 'guidelines' that made them look incompetent. I did not know and I hold myself entirely responsible for not questioning enough. 'guidelines' I was not aware of. Edited October 27, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Oh heck, I think I've upset Jackie!!! Get a stiff drink girl!! Things may have changed since then, I was teaching in 92-93 but we were also taught this in teacher training. I absolutely hated these guidelines and couldn't understand how a child could learn from their mistakes if they weren't aware of them!! Are you calm yet?.....deep breaths..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackiepoppies Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Omletina, YOU haven't upset me Losing your talent and honest approach to teaching has It's the morons who decided our children didn't deserve the very best education we could give them......and how are they going to learn if they're not corrected Jackiex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I don't mark in red pen - I tend to use green and it is mentioned in school policy not to use red but I never have so I took little notice. Sometimes I just circle the errors as I spot them but don't know the correct spelling myself without looking it up. Sometimes I have so much marking that I just speed read it and tick off the valid points without ever taking in the use of language and construction of sentences. Thats because our school has a stupid policy of us having to set homework once a week which for KS3 means EVERY LESSON - I don't think it's fair on the kids not to mark their work promptly. I've never been advised on number of mistakes though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I'm not actually a teacher, but in our school we're not supposed to use crosses for a wrong answer. It has to be a dot which can then be turned into a tick when it's corrected by the child. We can't have a child traumatised by a cross beside a wrong answer . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I believe this is evidence by the majority whochose not to contribute to the thread rather than ruffle any feather (pardon the pun) But there have been lots of people contributing to this thread - as many as would any other thread....... You will never get every member adding to every thread - some things just don't appeal in the same way as others Some will always avoid some topics - I know there are some threads I never go near, like the football ones for example I like this thread.It is thought provoking,interesting & obviously appeals to all those who have made thoughtfull & intelligent contributions At the time of writing this response this thread has had 964 views and 129 posts up to the point where I expressed my view there had been 27 contributors including myself Ginnette & Revnev were the most prolific posters. Yes I am sad enough to check, my English may be rubbish but maths & statistics are my thing. I personally took no offence at the topic or opinions of others I did not feel anyone was suggesting they were superior, more intelligent or better than anyone else, I merely put across my point that others may be more sensitive. What I do find condescending is your response of “I like this thread. It is thought provoking, interesting & obviously appeals to all those who have made thoughtfull & intelligent contributions" Are you suggesting that the 835 people who viewed but chose not to contribute or those who thought to express their opinions as un thoughtful & un intelligent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Sorry you feel like this about Cinnamons post, sadly she isn't around to post a response but I thought I could perhaps ease the situation. I think Cinnamon was suggesting that the contributors are enjoying the thread and this was evident by their posts. I haven't posted before today as I didn't have anything meaningful to add. Anyway the mods are happy to leave this here in NB, if the forum is happy for it to remain and the tone remains friendly. Buffie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clootie Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Well, I for one feel it's important to have open and friendly debate and I also feel that Keyhole's post should remain. We don't agree with everyone all of the time and we should be able to offer our own honest opinion, it makes things interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I just wanted to add a light-hearted and affectionately posted picture of a sign that tickled me at our allotment site recently. I know this is not directly relating to this thread, but for more information and a look at one of my fellow allotmenteer's photographic diary please have a look at the website we have set up http://courtlaneallotments.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Great picture! Brings a wonderful image to mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Smashing allotment site and great picture, MedusA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Are you suggesting that the 835 people who viewed but chose not to contribute or those who thought to express their opinions as un thoughtful & un intelligent? I thought the 835 people weren't people but views - as in I've viewed lots of times and had a chuckle at the new updates but haven't had anything to contribute. Perhaps it is that they are the thoughtfull and intellegent ones who are thinking rather than expressing! Interesting to find someone who is interested in stats stuff - I find it interesting myself but not good enough at maths to draw many conclusions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 For more misspelt signs and "Engrish", check out the same site that does the funny cats: http://engrishfunny.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paola Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 This was sent to me today from my 17 year old niece Yeh of corse u do. U all need to come down and visit soon we havnt seen u in ages My sister spent a fortune and went without so that she could have a good private education I never really realized how much it annoyed me until now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 The computer pixies look to be at work! I posted earlier, then our internet connection went down and it disappeared I am another one who scans threads, but doesn't necessarily post just because I don't have anything useful to add, so that would push the viewing numbers up. I wouldn't therefore use them as an accurate benchmark as to how many peoople view a thread and whether or not they like it. When I log on of a morning, there are often so many red stars that I am tempted to mark them all as 'read' I try to go through as many as I can to check for any glitches, but don't usually get too far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 What a great thread! I have only just got round to reading it. All ten pages! A few observations: As a teacher of young children, marking their work is an incredibly emotive thing. It really does depend so much upon the individual child: For example, if I was marking the work of a dyslexic child, or one for whom writing was very difficult, I would not correct every mistake they made: They would find that demoralising and next time would probably choose to write less, or play it safe with less adventurous words and phrases in an attempt to get less "red pen". The converse of this of course, is the parents' evenings where the favourite sport of some parents can often seem to be "find mistakes the teacher has made or things they failed to spot" Regional accents are also amazing. Being here in Wiltshire I am constantly fighting the children in the use of "are" and "our", as the latter simply does not exist in written or spoken form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I'm another one who views this thread but doesn't post much......I'm too scared to since Clare very kindly included my name in the title!!! I'm interested in the stats. as well but I think the average ratio of replies to views is approximately 1:8. This thread is no different to any of the others in that respect. I love the photos - are there any more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I'm interested in the stats. as well but I think the average ratio of replies to views is approximately 1:8. This thread is no different to any of the others in that respect. I love Statistics too! That's a really interesting observation. How many threads did you check Lesley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 OCD Lesley? Far too many probably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I only looked at about 5 of the larger threads this morning Ginette They ranged from 1:6 - 1:12 When the forum was still small I noticed that the percentage of replies to views was about 10% - I was feeling paranoid one day about something I'd posted and had very few replies Christian! - I've been away for the weekend......by the time I'd straightened all the pictures and the books on the bookshelves, tidied up all the blinds so the slats matched, re-arranged ornaments so that they were in straight lines and organised the kitchen cupboards......it was time to come home.......... Then I did it all again as my son and girlfriend had been staying here to look after the farm (I have to admit that my son had most things right as he knows me too well ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I hope the toilet roll was round the right way Lesley? Sorry back on topic.......Lesley you always derail threads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I hope the toilet roll was round the right way Lesley? Sorry back on topic.......Lesley you always derail threads It was when I'd finished changing it Sorry.........back on topic......you can criticise my over-use of ...............................s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
