You would lose your mind reading the kind of student papers I get from college juniors and seniors.
WHO THE HELL IS TEACHING THE CHILDREN????
Welcome to the brave new world of:
1) Post-Prop 13 de-funding of school districts 2) No Child Left Behind focus on "fundamentals" with scant focus on basic writing skills
Some of my students are former ESL kids but overall, the writing is UNIFORMLY TERRIBLE. It's so obviously a product of the K-12 system here in CA. I'm sure Joel or Anna could elaborate further.
As well, the college doesn't make writing a major requirement for matriculation either.
It's not just an American problem either, I get far too many kids come through my classes who are so used to using a computer that they just can't write by hand, it's totally illegible. I just don't believe they are getting the basics, I ask them to copy something by hand & they immediately want to get their laptops out & when I specify pen & paper it's almost like I've slit their throat. Spelling, don't even get me started....
Yeah,thank's "0-DUB" for that nice comment and support for FAUX
That's coming from a guy(me) that's been reading your blog since you were showing rare records and giving reviews about them..So,that's what,6 years or so
Again,Thank's for the support "0-DUB" keep up the good work
You gotta call me man/ I'll be the biggest fan you'll ever lose / Sincerely yours, Stan / P.S.: We should be together, too
You would lose your mind reading the kind of student papers I get from college juniors and seniors.
WHO THE HELL IS TEACHING THE CHILDREN????
Welcome to the brave new world of:
1) Post-Prop 13 de-funding of school districts 2) No Child Left Behind focus on "fundamentals" with scant focus on basic writing skills
This is not a new problem....in my first year of college at CCNY I had an English teacher that on the first day of class assigned us a project of writing one page on "What I did over the Summer".
This seemed like a 3rd grade assignment and on the way home that afternoon I finished the task on the subway.
The week after we turned these in the teacher calls out my name and asks me to come to the front of the class and read my story.
"Damn" I thought, I should have spent more time on that paper, now I'm gonna look like a fool.
I read the paper, sit down and the teacher says.... "In my 8 years of teaching at this school that is the first paper that was turned in with 100% correct grammar!!"
I was shocked.....the teacher asked me to stay after class and told me I didn't have to attend the class again other than tests!!
I asked how the level of writing could be so low and she told me....
"We only require a 6th grade reading level to get into this school, supposedly because we have so many foreign students. But the truth is the American students writing skills are much more inferior than the foreign ones".
Comments
as opposed to my school, which made me waste ALOT of money on a full year's writing 101 deal, when a simple written test would have sufficed...
You gotta call me man/ I'll be the biggest fan you'll ever lose / Sincerely yours, Stan / P.S.: We should be together, too
Aha,i didn't mean to make it look like a ZERO
Respect to O-DUB..I've always liked his music blog
This is not a new problem....in my first year of college at CCNY I had an English teacher that on the first day of class assigned us a project of writing one page on "What I did over the Summer".
This seemed like a 3rd grade assignment and on the way home that afternoon I finished the task on the subway.
The week after we turned these in the teacher calls out my name and asks me to come to the front of the class and read my story.
"Damn" I thought, I should have spent more time on that paper, now I'm gonna look like a fool.
I read the paper, sit down and the teacher says.... "In my 8 years of teaching at this school that is the first paper that was turned in with 100% correct grammar!!"
I was shocked.....the teacher asked me to stay after class and told me I didn't have to attend the class again other than tests!!
I asked how the level of writing could be so low and she told me....
"We only require a 6th grade reading level to get into this school, supposedly because we have so many foreign students. But the truth is the American students writing skills are much more inferior than the foreign ones".
Sad but true.....this was 30+ years ago.