English teacher who regularly misspells words

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would bother me, but I wanted to note that correct spelling isn't a sign of an English teacher's expertise in their subject matter. Spelling is for everyone, not just people who teach/study literature. Do you think these are typos, the product of rushed work or a lack of knowledge?

Anyway, it would bother me, but I've put my share of typos in comments to students when I have a huge grading pile, so I'd try to let it go.

--English teacher who's never been a great speller

An English teacher who can’t spell is like a math teacher who can’t add numbers. It’s not a “sign of expertise” to be able to do it correctly, it’s a completely necessary and basic part of the job that other things build on.

That's true regardless of subject matter.

This is just false. Nothing about what I teach as a middle and high school English teacher builds on spelling.

Exactly. Everyone needs to spell well to communicate effectively. You need accurate spelling in History and Science as well as English. Don't judge an English teacher more harshly than others over spelling.

A history teacher is supposed to have a wealth of subject matter knowledge in addition to being able to spell and write. English teachers don’t do much except try to teach kids to communicate effectively. They can’t do that if they’re teaching kids to misspell words. And yes, when you consistently misspell words, you’re teaching the kids to misspell them too. The fact that some of the kids are smarter than you and know that you’re wrong and so resist this lesson should be embarrassing, not an excuse to continue.

This is not true. In secondary schools, unless your child is remedial classes, the focus in English is on literary analysis and argumentative writing. The internet has proven that spelling errors do not stop people from communicating effectively. In fact, Typoglycemia is a half-joking term for the fact that are brains are capable of reading misspelled text.

And get a pass on spelling, punctuation and grammar right?

Because that’s the standards and equitable way, right? Too much to expect a teacher or student in America nowadays to write about a book but checked and correct spelling, right? Maybe they can do a retake or two or just who cares. Just turn in something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not elementary school. Would this bother you? Don't teachers need to have basic knowledge of the subjects they teach?

Yes is photo them all and mail to the superintendent about how embarrassing and bad role model that is.

If the curriculum doesn’t including spelling, you’’tenor proving anything except how desperate you are for something to criticize.

I’d like to know so I can avoid moving to a public school district that doesn’t teach.

[Anonymous]

This is why most public country teachers send their own children to catholic schools at least for k-6 or 8.

Time tested and effective curricula and skills taught.

[Anonymous]

A lot of current teachers came of age during the whole language movement. For example, I remember having a spelling list about everything in a firehouse. Now those 80s and 90s kids are teaching. I’d be more bothered by grammar mistakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of current teachers came of age during the whole language movement. For example, I remember having a spelling list about everything in a firehouse. Now those 80s and 90s kids are teaching. I’d be more bothered by grammar mistakes.

Tests are unfair or racist to those who don’t study.

[Anonymous]

Look at the messages that come from MCPS, the principal, he teacher. Look at the curriculum even. There are grammatical errors and typos in everything!! Disgusting!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would bother me, but I wanted to note that correct spelling isn't a sign of an English teacher's expertise in their subject matter. Spelling is for everyone, not just people who teach/study literature. Do you think these are typos, the product of rushed work or a lack of knowledge?

Anyway, it would bother me, but I've put my share of typos in comments to students when I have a huge grading pile, so I'd try to let it go.

--English teacher who's never been a great speller

An English teacher who can’t spell is like a math teacher who can’t add numbers. It’s not a “sign of expertise” to be able to do it correctly, it’s a completely necessary and basic part of the job that other things build on.

This is just false. Nothing about what I teach as a middle and high school English teacher builds on spelling.

And this statement indicates a problem with education. The point of English classes is to teach kids to read and understand other people's writing, and to create clear writing for themselves. In other words, to communicate with others using the English language. Writing which includes misspellings and grammatical errors is not clear and effective communication.

Teachers also fail to correct grammar/usage errors and then use the excuse that "language continually changes." Well, yes, it does if you fail to teach correct usage to students. See "loose" for "lose", etc.

- AP Lang teacher

[Anonymous]

If you want teachers who use proper grammar and spelling, you need to pay more. Not many private school grads go into teaching. That’s where they learned proper grammar and spelling.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on whether I thought the teacher really didn't know how to spell words, or if perhaps they were just a very poor typist. I'm an English teacher who misspells things and makes grammar mistakes often in emails and dcum posts, but it's mostly because I broke my glasses last year, never bothered to get new ones, and can't see the screen. And I am hopeless at thumb typing on the phone, so they may also be doing that. So I wouldn't be too quick to judge, but if it's clear they really don't know its from it's then I'd be a bit bothered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would bother me, but I wanted to note that correct spelling isn't a sign of an English teacher's expertise in their subject matter. Spelling is for everyone, not just people who teach/study literature. Do you think these are typos, the product of rushed work or a lack of knowledge?

Anyway, it would bother me, but I've put my share of typos in comments to students when I have a huge grading pile, so I'd try to let it go.

--English teacher who's never been a great speller

An English teacher who can’t spell is like a math teacher who can’t add numbers. It’s not a “sign of expertise” to be able to do it correctly, it’s a completely necessary and basic part of the job that other things build on.

This is just false. Nothing about what I teach as a middle and high school English teacher builds on spelling.

And this statement indicates a problem with education. The point of English classes is to teach kids to read and understand other people's writing, and to create clear writing for themselves. In other words, to communicate with others using the English language. Writing which includes misspellings and grammatical errors is not clear and effective communication.

Teachers also fail to correct grammar/usage errors and then use the excuse that "language continually changes." Well, yes, it does if you fail to teach correct usage to students. See "loose" for "lose", etc.

- AP Lang teacher

Language does change. Grammars are descriptive, not prescriptive. So if educated native speakers are widely using who instead of whom (which they are), then who is now correct and whom is "bookish." You can't fight that and win. But loose and lose? So far as I know, those are still different words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of current teachers came of age during the whole language movement. For example, I remember having a spelling list about everything in a firehouse. Now those 80s and 90s kids are teaching. I’d be more bothered by grammar mistakes.

Tests are unfair or racist to those who don’t study.

I’m not sure you’re understanding. Phonics-based spelling tests might cover three letter words with a short e. When I took spelling tests during the 90s, they were thematic. So maybe I was given a test on animals, but no specific phonics skill. Brute memorization is a terrible way to learn spelling, even if I did do well on the tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many dyslexics are terrible spellers. That doesn't mean they can't read or are bad at teaching.

Without knowing exactly what words are being misspelled or any real details on the situation, it's hard for me to comment.

Sorry, but if any teacher (ESPECIALLY an English teacher) is regularly misspelling words that the kids see then they are a terrible teacher. First, do no harm. Even if they never actually teach anything, at least they shouldn’t be teaching students incorrect spelling. We want our kids to respect our teachers and believe them when they say something or write something. Regularly misspelling words is 100% unacceptable. And yes, I would get my kid out of that class and tell everyone why.

It’s shocking that we even need to point that out.

I agree wholeheartedly. The eratic misspelling or typo here or there isn't a problem.but abuse of the English language is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of current teachers came of age during the whole language movement. For example, I remember having a spelling list about everything in a firehouse. Now those 80s and 90s kids are teaching. I’d be more bothered by grammar mistakes.

Tests are unfair or racist to those who don’t study.

[Anonymous]

I read a study years ago that most teachers weren't very smart outside of their subjects. They skewed toward being very smart in their subject but when looked at individually as an academic whole, teachers tended to have lower scores, GPAs, and overall grades than most other majors. The same was true for elementary teachers who taught many subjects. When second grade teachers were given basic tests that everyone who completed elementary school should score well on, they scored highest on the materials that were covered specifically during the second grade.

I found it really fascinating because growing up, I always thought my teachers were the smartest people.

I will say that I've found that society, as a whole, has become terrible at spelling. Definitely a byproduct of so much time spent on our devices and of text-speak becoming more socially acceptable in our day-to-day lives, especially at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read a study years ago that most teachers weren't very smart outside of their subjects. They skewed toward being very smart in their subject but when looked at individually as an academic whole, teachers tended to have lower scores, GPAs, and overall grades than most other majors. The same was true for elementary teachers who taught many subjects. When second grade teachers were given basic tests that everyone who completed elementary school should score well on, they scored highest on the materials that were covered specifically during the second grade.

I found it really fascinating because growing up, I always thought my teachers were the smartest people.

I will say that I've found that society, as a whole, has become terrible at spelling. Definitely a byproduct of so much time spent on our devices and of text-speak becoming more socially acceptable in our day-to-day lives, especially at work.

Trust me, not all teachers are “very smart” in their subject area either. But then, most people are of average intelligence, so they won’t notice. - Teacher