tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post4873119225472859585..comments2024-03-08T00:17:09.224-08:00Comments on The Daily Grind: A Dose of RealityMr. McNamarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03062641578010808106noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-78213855406742685572007-04-04T05:19:00.000-07:002007-04-04T05:19:00.000-07:00My 9th grade English teacher gave two grades for e...My 9th grade English teacher gave two grades for each essay - one for mechanics, and one for content and analysis. He would then average the two grades together to come up with the assignment's final score. His students quickly noticed that their otherwise A papers were being dropped down to Bs and Cs due to misplaced commas and incorrect tenses. There were some complaints about it, but he could easily turn around and say, "You think I graded you unfairly? Hmm, maybe that A for content IS unfair..." and that would put an end to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-26710173427075947142007-04-04T03:26:00.000-07:002007-04-04T03:26:00.000-07:00Don't cave, sir!I wish one of my teachers had done...Don't cave, sir!<BR/><BR/>I wish one of my teachers had done this when I was a senior in high school. I was the best writer in my graduating class. Imagine my surprise when my first college paper looked like the TA had opened a vein and bled on it! I ended up learning a lot from him, however, and I credit him with really teaching me the questions I needed to ask myself in order to become a better writer.<BR/><BR/>I used to be a TA for first-year writing courses at <A HREF="http://www.hiram.edu" REL="nofollow">Hiram College</A> (the school that basically invented "writing across the curriculum"), and I wish that every last one of my students had had a teacher in high school who did exactly what you did. They were all pretty shocked when they received their first papers. For my students, though, the issue wasn't just grammar--a lot of the time it was a misunderstanding of audience. When they had to write an analytical paper on something we all had read in class, they spent over half of it summarizing the book. I explained over and over that I had <I>read</I> the book. I wanted to know what they were thinking while they were reading. On another occasion a student turned in a paper that actually contained "l33t," as if she were texting to her friend about <I>Jane Eyre</I>.<BR/><BR/>Stick to your guns, _don't_ let their laziness win! College-level standards are just that--they are standards, and they're very similar from one "teacher" to another.Ailihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15778690707580603910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-35450954028451680412007-03-31T17:35:00.000-07:002007-03-31T17:35:00.000-07:00It's Liz from I Speak of Dreams. While lax or ind...It's Liz from <A HREF="http://lizditz.typepad.com" REL="nofollow">I Speak of Dreams</A>. <BR/><BR/>While lax or indulgent parenting certainly is a part of a student's sense of entitlement, I suspect this attitude also has some of its roots in the constructivist theory of education. <BR/><BR/>If a student is taught that reading (and therefore writing) is "naturally acquired", and all meaning is constructed in the mind of the learner, whyever should a student pay attention to details like commas, if <I>the student</I> understands the meaning of what he or she has written?<BR/><BR/>If the teacher is assumed to be "the guide on the side" rather than "the sage on the stage", doesn't that imply that the student may well assume that his or her opinion is equal to the opinion of the guide?Liz Ditzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03455722013211350247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-89835224690052348572007-03-31T11:09:00.000-07:002007-03-31T11:09:00.000-07:00Nice.Don't despair, though; this little exercise m...Nice.<BR/><BR/>Don't despair, though; this little exercise may have shaken up the pretty little cocoons inhabited by a few of your students, and the lesson may make an impact upon them later."Ms. Cornelius"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16970201479637588558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-31761211772253239752007-03-25T17:57:00.000-07:002007-03-25T17:57:00.000-07:00Graycie...that was my intention, but I think my em...Graycie...that was my intention, but I think my emoticon should have looked like this: ;) in order to make the point clear.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-3849593057996088252007-03-25T07:31:00.000-07:002007-03-25T07:31:00.000-07:00Won't the cherub be surprised when he (or she?) fi...Won't the cherub be surprised when he (or she?) finds out that ALL of the teachers at college will have the same expectations of correctness?<BR/><BR/>Keith -- The proverb about the horse and the water is correct as stated: the single horse is an 'it' not a 'them.'grayciehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13188392312385509613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-28631704415922309102007-03-24T07:34:00.000-07:002007-03-24T07:34:00.000-07:00And in reality, that "child" just paid a lot of mo...And in reality, that "child" just paid a lot of money for that course "he or she" dropped and will have to take the class over next semester because add/drop is over. Sad...Jessiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08763332265684824622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-24998084789867018692007-03-23T13:46:00.000-07:002007-03-23T13:46:00.000-07:00Um, "a kid" is a baby goat. Using it to refer to a...Um, "a kid" is a baby goat. Using it to refer to a human child in a formal paper is akin to using slang terms. That's why. <BR/><BR/>Wake up and smell the reality, kid. ; )Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-37540298234495710212007-03-23T07:46:00.000-07:002007-03-23T07:46:00.000-07:00I wish him or her luck in "getting another teacher...I wish him or her luck in "getting another teacher." Or should it be, "I wish them luck?"MountainLaurelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10512030002803787636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-17087209071809747792007-03-22T18:23:00.000-07:002007-03-22T18:23:00.000-07:00Oh, I just noticed a grammatical error in your las...Oh, I just noticed a grammatical error in your last line...shouldn't it read, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make <B>them</B> drink"? :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-81300228799017805542007-03-22T05:08:00.000-07:002007-03-22T05:08:00.000-07:00Unbelievable...Unbelievable...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-84202165638193401722007-03-21T20:57:00.000-07:002007-03-21T20:57:00.000-07:00And it's this attitude that is causing me to leave...And it's this attitude that is causing me to leave the only profession I ever wanted to do. This attitude of entitlement, this attitude of "it's someone else's problem." It saddens me.Kristie Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04307514462144293640noreply@blogger.com