i like scott adams' rendition of the individual--"induhvidual."Originally posted by virividox
probably a joke hehe pretty funny tho
i like scott adams' rendition of the individual--"induhvidual."Originally posted by virividox
probably a joke hehe pretty funny tho
Originally posted by shadowfax
personally, i think blaming computers for people's laziness is kinda cheap. i use a spellchecker in word, but not online or anywhere else. and i don't misspell words; i rarely even "commit" typos. i don't capitalize here and in some of my writing (and on AIM) as both a convenience and a stylistic element. when i write my dad an email, i always go back and make sure everything is properly capitalized. I don't think that computers should be the cause of such a thoughtless backsliding, and i don't think they really are. our education system was slacking in value long before every paper became word processed. computers are a good thing. you can edit your writing without turning your paper into a palimpsest or filling the page with scratchouts of mistakes, or (oh evil!) writing your paper all over again from scratch. I know oxford stands by the rewriting principle, but it really is just a bunch of BS. people should learn how to use computers to their advantage rather than use them to slack off or blame them for their stupid problems.
you make them sound evil.Originally posted by kingjr3
Computers are making people lazy, why bother learning math when a calculator can do it? Why bother learning to spell or how to make a complete sentence when a spell check or grammar check can fix it?
Originally posted by shadowfax
you make them sound evil.
you're wrong. i was using a personal example to show that it's PEOPLE who are lazy. tools just facilitate that better. you can't blame a TOOL becuase your kids are f***ing dumbasses. they do that to themselves.
make sure you say "Laziness begets inventiveness." you can't separate a subject and a verb in a sentence except by some kind of parenthesis (like an appositive).Originally posted by Opteron
Laziness, begets inventiveness (I should use that as my quote.)
Originally posted by kingjr3
I could buy the phone argument since keying in a message on a phone is tedious, but not for keyboard input. To me -- its lazy.
IMO, if someone wants to fill the stereotype of "stupid American" tehy can, but I will, at a minumum, try to spell words correctly.
what grammatical error? i see some poor comma usage, come to that--is that what you're talking about? all i see is the typo.Originally posted by jelloshotsrule
i count at minimum two mistakes there. at least one of them i could say is grammatical, with the other being a typo.. along with (as someone pointed out) the acronym usage which to me, is lazy...
god forbid we get technical and actually become better writers!Originally posted by virividox
now we are getting all technical.![]()
Originally posted by shadowfax
1: make sure you say "Laziness begets inventiveness." you can't separate a subject and a verb in a sentence except by some kind of parenthesis (like an appositive).![]()
2: i know that computers make people lazy in the sense that people (quite stupidly) take advantage of those technologies to forego knowing even the most basic things
3eople still write like crap on the computer with the spell checker and THEY DON'T CARE. bad spelling, if it were the only problem, could almost reasonably (though still wrongly) be blamed on technology.
4:as to math... FOIL makes any 2 digit and most 3 digit multiplications easily performed as a series of shamefully basic additions
(10 + 7)(10 + 3)=100 + 70 + 30 + 21
its just family problems with my dad and grandparents,my bunny dieing ok thats like a person dieing to me because my animals are mine and something i take care of and make me smile and thats a big thing for me and i lost it,ok and then i hate school because i feel like im failing in some classes already and i really cant stand anyone i hangout with anymore i just cant stand to even look at them and i hate that so much,theres just nothing to be happy about anymore,theres just so much running through my mind and i cant take it anymore but im just sick of everyone
when a teacher asked me a simple ? today i couldnt even answer it because i cant think.
Originally posted by rueyeet
I once came across an article about a middle- or high-schooler who had complained to the school system about not being allowed to use AOL-speak in her essays. Makes you feel all warm inside, doesn't it?
Originally posted by shadowfax
god forbid we get technical and actually become better writers!![]()
Originally posted by shadowfax
what grammatical error? i see some poor comma usage, come to that--is that what you're talking about? all i see is the typo.
Originally posted by kingjr3
So my wife is a teacher in IL and the state often applies pressures to sub-performing districts to drive up test scores or face some penalty (whatever that may be). So in order to do so, they often focus on subjects they know will be on the ISAT. I am sure other states have similar states have similar tests and mandates.
Unfortunately, this teaching style comes at a cost. It seems nowadays, that American's abilities to speak and spell is going to the sh!**er. I have helped my wife grade short essays and other papers from her 6th and 7th graders, and I must say it was an eye opening experience. The errors these kids are making wouldn't have allowed me to graduate....2nd grade!
Why the rant???
I'm a devoted Mac owner and fan and I visit this site often. After reading hundreds of the posts I realize how bad its getting. I'm not picking on anyone in particular, but it seems the spelling on this very site is especially horrendous! Granted quick typing causes some errors, but most of the errors are just unacceptable. I myself have made several grammatical and spelling errors in my posts, but I consider myself somewhat edu-ma-cated!
I understand that the community in this forum is international, but I am seeing people from the US misspelling EASY words! The best are the phoenetic spellings. I don't think I need to list them (as I don't want to single out anyone), as we all have seen them. You can almost figure out the age of some of the users of this site based on their grammar and spelling. Sometimes I will politely remind people how to use the english language, but most times I remain silent. Heck, Im sure someone may even find an error in this post![]()
I can only think that with the advent of computers and technology and teachers now "teaching to the test", we are sacrificing our abilities to communicate effectively through words.
We, as Americans, seem to be falling more and more behind other countries with respect to education and this very forum is a living example.
Thoughts?
kingjr3 said:We, as Americans, seem to be falling more and more behind other countries with respect to education and this very forum is a living example.
Thoughts?
Another problem with the NCLB, is that it focuses on the "core" subjects - English, math, science, and probably something else that I'm forgetting. It doesn't provide much support for fine arts, where some students find great comfort which can keep them in school, and learning of the arts (visual, performance) can also help students learn better outside of those subjects.maxterpiece said:The second factor I believe is a symptom of the first, but deserves independent comment. The standardized testing imposed upon public schools by nclb is a copout by the federal government in terms of education. It was Bush's way of trying to wipe his hands clean of the entire education question. He played the whole thing off like he was putting the onus on the schools - he "had provided adequate resources for success", now the schools had to perform. What ended up happening is exactly what the creator of this thread was talking about - teachers are being forced to focus on these BS exams instead of on what they know their students need. And think about it - what could be more of symbolic gesture that school is BS than your teacher more or less saying, "alright class, even though we were working on important stuff, we have to stop now and try to teach you strategies for this standardized test. You won't be able to use these strategies at all for the rest your life, but that's the way the school system works." I mean, no the teacher isn't going to be that blunt, but they are going to say something that suggests exactly that.
kiwi-in-uk said:Interestingly (and back to the article, finally) this is a rural school with a de facto monopoly. There are no local alternatives ... no competition ... and little objective involvement by the mandarins in the state's education department. It certainly sounds like some of the situations described in the article!
Sorry about the long post. As you might understand this is a topic that concerns me enormously.
coolsoldier said:I think most of school performance, in public or private schools, has little to do with the school itself; it has more to do with the motivation of individual students. I went to public school for high school, while a few of my friends went to private school. While the private schools were considered "better," I came out knowing just as much, and in some subjects more, than my friends in private school. I conclude that private schools perform better not because they are better schools, but because they select better students. I personally oppose the existence of selective high schools completely