Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Does Spelling Count?
Doctor G: It happens every time. As I hand the test out to my middle school students, one of them will invariably look up, pencil at the ready, and ask, “Does spelling count?”
Let’s ignore the fact that my students should know better than to even ask this question in the first place. I’ve answered it more times than I care to remember, usually in the fall of the new school year, and it goes something like this:
Yes. Spelling counts. I have lots of witty quips loaded up in my quiver about why it counts, but my new favorite comes from homeschooling mom of four Jodi Jackson Stewart who tweeted me with her answer to this question: “Spelling counts here because spelling counts out there.”
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6 comments:
I enjoyed this article. I think the mindset that spelling counts now because it counts out there is extremely important. Honestly, I don't see how spelling is such an issue. Granted spelling is not my strong suit but with all the technology we use handwriting is becoming more and more obsolete.In something like a college essay where you are required to type it there is not excuse to not spell correctly. I thought it was strange how the article transitioned from spelling to "slut shaming" but whatever.
This is one of the most relevant articles I've read in quite a while. Relevant to what, you might ask. Well, to everything. Spelling is only a tiny fraction of what we present to the world on a daily basis, and this teacher is right to emphasize the importance of presentation. Everyone judges based on appearance, without exception, because it's part of our society to associate ideas with someone's look, accent, or spelling mistakes. Now, we may not always act upon that prejudice, but it's always present somewhere in the back of one's mind. I think this teacher is absolutely right to teach her students how to be heard, recognized and respected in mainstream society, and I wish this would be taught to all students everywhere.
I completely agree with this article. And I am also guilty of being a horrible speller. I have struggled with it my whole life, and while I have gotten better I still have quite a ways to go. Its unfortunate, because like the article said, we are judged so harshly for it out in the real world. You could be an absolute genius but if someone sees your writing and you have made more than two or so spelling mistakes no one will really believe you know what you are talking about. We really are a society that judges all books by their covers, even if we don't set out to do that, its still always true.
Also I think another part of spelling is if you have mistakes it makes it seem like you put in less effort, like you didnt take the time to care what you were doing enough to check you work, and that can say a lot about a person as well. But then again someone who is a good speller could have rushed even more and it might just not be readily apparent. I guess we just all have to pay attention.
First I'd like the thank the author of the article for being a teacher that actually really cares for her students. If I hadn't had teachers like this when I was younger I wouldn't be at CMU. I think she's absolutely right about everything that she mentioned in her article, and I hope her students realize that at some point. I definitely feel for those kids who struggle with spelling because I'm also horrible at spelling, but it is such an important skill. I never realized how relevant those spelling quizzes were in the sixth grade that i found so obnoxious until I started writing my college essays. Luckily, for the laziest of human kind, technology is getting increasingly better at correcting our spelling mistakes to a point where people can't even tell how many they are making. So for those students, maybe they won't have to learn to spell, but it won't be because they are part of a progressive world.
Like everyone else that has posted above, I completely agree with what this teacher is teaching her students. Today, teachers are often forced to "teach to the test." Teachers spoon feed their students information simply because the state test will most likely ask for it, and scores are all that matter today. It is great that this teacher takes issues like spelling and appearance so seriously. Spelling is an issue that may come of use to students during a state test, but it goes so far beyond that. Even in college, we are still learning how important spelling is. As Camille said, we live in a society obsessed with appearance, and this is something about out society that will probably never change. Spelling, although tedious and frustrating for some, is a part of a person's appearance, and is important on so many different levels. This teacher has it right.
As a child I could not spell to save my life. I still I have trouble with spelling and other grammar rules and conventions. Although when I run into words I cannot spell I spend the time to google the word and read the definition. This has helped me more than any teacher I have ever had. I have had several teacher that answered that question with yes and several with no and many more with "just get as close as possible." And after all the experiences with these responses I found that there is no correct answer to this question because, in the end I was the one to have to learn to spell the word and remember it and remember to spell it right from then on and remember to look and see if my hand slipped and spelled it wrong or any other word that I would have typically spelled correct. Now I have a whole long philosophy of how the school system should work but I am not going to tell the entire thing, but in short it is the realization you made a mistake and the effort from then on (not a effort but a constant effort) that really counts and when a teacher grades and makes me down in middle or high school for words that I maybe only heard never seen or read that I get frustrated and would rather have had spelling test like in elementary school to spend the time learning words. everyone is on a different playing field when it comes to spelling I think that "having spelling count" is not the issue and teachers should spend the time to help those students instead of removing points. Teachers have to read the entirety of essays for ideas so why not spend that time trying to help students learn the words they misspelled afterwards.
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