National Teachers Week

National teachers' week this year was May 7th to 11th.  Who knew we had a teachers' week?  Isn't every week teachers' week? Shouldn't it be?

We don't much care about teachers in the US.  We want babysitters for children. As far as learning, we want mediocre.  We like mediocre. After all, folks who don't think are easier to control by the institutions that run the country, so keeping complacency and apathy as something to aspire to is important.  Being intellectual is considered slightly peculiar and something to avoid.

We have not respected teachers in our history. Teaching was relegated to women and historically women's jobs have been underpaid and pushed to the bottom of the professional heap.  

I wish that education was prized in the US.  I grew up in the 40's and 50's when going to school was something we looked forward to and couldn't wait to do.  In my little town in Michigan, teachers were looked up to and admired.   I was taught and I learned. By fantastic teachers.

I had teachers who expected all of us to learn, to pay attention and to treat the classroom as a special place, an honored place, a place to have fun and respect everyone else in the classroom, including the teacher.

My parents were deeply involved in my education, meeting my teachers. They were concerned about how well I was doing in school.  I learned.  I made it through the necessary classes with tough teachers who would not accept anything except the best I could do. 

Because of teachers, I carried on in school until I got a terminal degree in philosophy. My teachers were so impressive that I wrote thank you notes to my teachers that inspired me throughout my elementary and secondary school years.  They were incredible.  

Wouldn't it be great if we as a country felt that way?  Respect teachers. It's good for your kids, good for the family and good for the country.

And because of those teachers, I have written a book.  A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond is available here:

You can get more pond information at my website here:

pondlady.com

The Grammar Police

C'mon people.  Please start learning and using good grammar and spelling. We can't understand what you want to say when you use loose instead of lose.  Or their instead of there or they're.  Learn the difference between hear and here.  And fergawd's sake, no more apostrophe esses on the ends of words unless it's a contraction. See: It's. Contraction for it is.  Easy, right?  Well do it then.

Teachers, are you teaching grammar?  Do any of you teach your students about hour and our, affect and effect?  Do you know the difference?

Is it because I write for a living that I object to your bad grammar and spelling? I don't think so. I think it's (see, a contraction again.) because I want to understand what you are writing and I simply cannot do it when I see your instead of you're.  It distracts from what you are saying and makes us look at all your mistakes instead of reading what you have to say.  It also makes us think you really don't know what you are talking about because you don't know how to tell us what you are talking about.

Do you just not care? If you don't care, stop writing.  If you didn't learn, start now.  Read. That's a good way to learn good grammar.

Stop foisting your words on us if you want us to stop laughing at you. Or simply not understand what you are trying to say. Stop writing in code unless the rest of the world uses the same code you do.

End.