And her name is Amber for goodness sake.
My 5 year old daughter is named Amber, after my grandfather Ambrose who passed away too young... While I don't feel the emailer's mode of contact was appropriate, I hope that people are not screening out applicants based on the name their parents chose for them.
I think the point in mentioning the girl's name was to add fuel to the theory that she is NOT foreign and that English would be her first language. Many people have mentioned they felt English was her second language, which "makes up" for the poor spelling and grammar.
I did not, for one second, believe they were saying that anyone named Amber should be dismissed based on the name.
Although we've gotten off her original rant, this made me laugh. My sons used to read our local paper together and circle all the mistakes, including putting remainders of columns on the wrong page.
]
I apologize on behalf of the journalism world. 
However, they might be as short-staffed as we are ... or have the problem that the bosses no longer hire people who can edit, but people who can make things look pretty. 
Yeah, we have lots of in-depth graphics, but no one can use "it's" and "its" correctly! 
I've actually had an editor tell me "no one notices that stuff anymore anyway." 
It's like having a beautifully decorated birthday cake ... with the person's name spelled incorrectly. It's so frustrating. 
Yeah, I'm "old-school" at the whopping age of 34.
I have to share this story, because it haunts me (and terrifies me) to this day.
I was writing a story for our IT department to be placed on the main Web page newsroom. Before our area publishes anything at all, we go through a huge round of peer reviews and then content reviews with the IT folks. Throughout the process, it went from a MS Word document to plain text within an email. I had spell check disabled in email because we use a lot of acronyms that can be misspellings, and it can take forever to send an email. Well, it came back to bite me right on the heinie!
As approvals came back, I published the article, but I did not place it on the main Web page. I sent the link out so some areas on campus could receive advanced notice, and it got back to our CIO (Chief Information Officer). His first comment? The word permanently was misspelled. I nearly died of embarrassment, shock, and horror!!! I cried (because I couldn't believe I would make such a mistake) and then misspelled the word thoroughly when attempting to assure him I would be making sure to check my work "thouroughly" before publishing anything else.
Yes, he did mention that as well...while copying at least 10 people.
Needless to say, I deal with the hassle of email spell check and the CIO hasn't seen a need to call me out on mistakes since.
That being said, it can happen to the best of us!!!
I once had a student turn in a short story that contained the sentence, "They threw penis at the beggars." Yeah, he thought he was spelling "pennies." I tell that story every year when explaining the difference between spell check and good old-fashioned proofreading. It never fails to make the point, and get a laugh. 
I've seen multiple posts on this website from people that are much older than 16/17 that have horrendous grammer - worse than this teenager. I read a post the other day that was an entire long paragraph - with only one sentence!!! I could harldy read it.
I don't believe this issue is just related to today's youth!
At my school we call NCLB no teacher left standing! I would have no issue with being held accountable for my students' performance....if their PARENTS were held accountable too!
Jodie
There is a little girl in my son's kindergarten room who started the year not knowing her basic colors and shapes or even the letters in her first name. How little she knows is so obvious that my child came home the first week telling me about the little girl who couldn't figure out which crayon was yellow.
From little things I have has no learning disablity.
Under NCLB it is the school's fault when she doesn't test at grade level.
I have to agree with Stefy. Every time I see the word, "marshmellow" I want to scream, "It's marshmAllow!" 
But then again, while I have a mean vocabulary, I can't do math beyond basic algebra and geometry to save my soul.
It's like my aunt told her husband, when he complained that she can't cook: "Well honey, I can't be good in EVERY room!"
OOOHHH. That makes more sense. I'm sorry summernoelle for reading your post wrong.
And her name is Amber for goodness sake.
My 5 year old daughter is named Amber, after my grandfather Ambrose who passed away too young... While I don't feel the emailer's mode of contact was appropriate, I hope that people are not screening out applicants based on the name their parents chose for them.
I think the point in mentioning the girl's name was to add fuel to the theory that she is NOT foreign and that English would be her first language. Many people have mentioned they felt English was her second language, which "makes up" for the poor spelling and grammar.
I did not, for one second, believe they were saying that anyone named Amber should be dismissed based on the name.
I've seen multiple posts on this website from people that are much older than 16/17 that have horrendous grammer - worse than this teenager. I read a post the other day that was an entire long paragraph - with only one sentence!!! I could harldy read it.
I don't believe this issue is just related to today's youth!
Stefy - In regards to the post the other day that was an entire long paragraph with only one sentence. When I read it - it seemed to me that the person who wrote it is deaf. My sister-in-law is deaf and when she sends me an e-mail she does not use punctuation. When a deaf person signs they use facial expressions and body language to express punctuation and emotions.
And her name is Amber for goodness sake.
My 5 year old daughter is named Amber, after my grandfather Ambrose who passed away too young... While I don't feel the emailer's mode of contact was appropriate, I hope that people are not screening out applicants based on the name their parents chose for them.
Totally guilty. Examples of names I wouldn't hire
Bambi
Cindi(spelled with an i)
Winter
naomi(I would look at her and think I moan backwards everytime)
Bunny
Feel free to continue
Speaking for all women who were named after seasons, I am deeply offended by this statement. It's nameist!
I am completely joking, of course.
i have a friend named summer and her sister's name is autumn. i have another friend who's name is wendy..her mother originally wanted to name her rainy, but her family talked her out of that one, luckily. my name is starla, and people often think (obviously before they've seen me" that the name is a stripper name!
I don't know if anyone has jumped in to say this yet, but the sent from my Ipone is kind of meant as a heads up as its really hard to type in an iphone. It auto corrects and chooses words for you automatically. You don't get to say okay. You have to go back and retype the whole thing. Should she have read her email before she sent it? Yes. Should she have sat her butt down at a computer instead of being lazy and going the convenient route? Yes. But I wanted to at least help you all understand that I doubt she seriously spells that way.
I'm a public school teacher near Dallas. I teach HS math. I graduated in 97 as well, under TAAS. Its way different. But TAKS is going away and I think things will really improve. We don't teach to the test though. We have a curriculum that is lined with the state guidelines. There are tons of things we teach in class that never come close to being on TAKS.
Having said that, I have heard horror stories and I worry as well about putting my near 4 year old in public school in 18 months...
Starla, My DH says he gets that ALL the time when he tells men what my name is. Makes me pretty mad. 
He will just say "Oh, and my wife's name is summer" and they will say "That's a stripper name!" Grrrrrrrr.
I've seen multiple posts on this website from people that are much older than 16/17 that have horrendous grammer - worse than this teenager. I read a post the other day that was an entire long paragraph - with only one sentence!!! I could harldy read it.
I don't believe this issue is just related to today's youth!
Totally agree. I find it nearly impossible to read many of the posts on this site, and they usually come from grown adults.
And, just to add my two cents, I went to public school and got an AMAZING education in good ole "muurland"
When I was 12 (yes, really) I went for my first job - waitressing for weddings and other posh functions. Can't believe they hired me, I could hardly lift the trays, but I guess I was cute and willing! My mother told me then, and now I'm telling my own daughter, "Dress as nicely as you can, speak nicely, write a good letter, because that's all they will see of you. They don't know that you have a good outfit hanging up at home, they need to see you in it. You need to look, sound and behave the best you can."
My daughter has hair in that style they all seem to have - long and straight and covering one eye (it would drive me insane!!). I've already told her that if she goes for a job at A&W she'll need to tie her hair back and tone down her make up. She looked at me sideways, but she'll do it. I guess some of these kids don't have a parent at home who knows how to go about getting a job...
I do think that a lot of parent involvement is lacking. I get this from some friends who are teachers to watching my own nephew and just working with the kindergarteners that I teach.
Names really have nothing to do with it, I don't believe. My best friend, Summer, was valedictorian, first female from Arkansas to go the Air Force Academy and just retired as a Lt. Col. Her name didn't hold her back. I have friends named Sundi and September. None are strippers. LOL
One of my co-workers on my team is pregnant with a daughter and happens to be black. One day last week, we were trying to come up with names for her baby. We are all good friend and one of the guys was coming up with crazy names. She made it clear that she didn't want any "ghetto or ethnic" names at all. She made it clear that she didn't want her daughter to be judged by her name. I think that is smart because I've personally seen some names in poor taste. For example: Ima and Ura Pigghee and Hunter Green.
Story that gives me hope: I teach kindergarteners during children's church on Sundays. Each month, we have a new Bible verse we learn and I write it up on the board. I was at Austin on March 1, but was back last week and asked the kids if they remembered their Bible verse. One of my boys turned around to the board and said "He cares for us. 1 Peter 5 7". I said "Cody, did you read that?" He said "yes" and turned around and read it again. I was blown away. He gives me hope.
And, just to add my two cents, I went to public school and got an AMAZING education in good ole "muurland"
Yep...so did I, it's just too bad I had to duck when someone shot at a school bus on the way home. Yep, good ole Murland!
And, just to add my two cents, I went to public school and got an AMAZING education in good ole "muurland"
Yep...so did I, it's just too bad I had to duck when someone shot at a school bus on the way home. Yep, good ole Murland!
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Were-No-1-Md-Public-Schools-Ranked-Nations-Best.html?corder=&pg=1
Whoa where were YOU living!? I live in Southern Maryland, it's a small-town type of place.. very community oriented. When I was younger I lived in Howard County, 10 min from Columbia, 20 min from Baltimore, and that was another great place I lived.. no shooting experiences here
And, just to add my two cents, I went to public school and got an AMAZING education in good ole "muurland"
Yep...so did I, it's just too bad I had to duck when someone shot at a school bus on the way home. Yep, good ole Murland!
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Were-No-1-Md-Public-Schools-Ranked-Nations-Best.html?corder=&pg=1
Whoa where were YOU living!? I live in Southern Maryland, it's a small-town type of place.. very community oriented. When I was younger I lived in Howard County, 10 min from Columbia, 20 min from Baltimore, and that was another great place I lived.. no shooting experiences here
LOL! I used to live in Prince George's County (on the border with Southeast DC). I went to Crossland High School (graduated in '96), turns out the guy who shot at the bus was a friend of mine. He ended up in Hagerstown for about 10 years for that. Greaaaat memories.
Yeah.... PG county. I used to have my track meets there.. ALWAYS an interesting experience.
i have another friend who's name is wendy..her mother originally wanted to name her rainy, but her family talked her out of that one, luckily
My DH says he gets that ALL the time when he tells men what my name is. Makes me pretty mad. He will just say "Oh, and my wife's name is summer" and they will say "That's a stripper name!"
While pregnant with my first child, my mother tried to get me to name my daughter Raven. I said, "That's just what she needs, a stripper name." Then, I named her Raine.
(It's pronounced "rain")
Story that gives me hope: I teach kindergarteners during children's church on Sundays. Each month, we have a new Bible verse we learn and I write it up on the board. I was at Austin on March 1, but was back last week and asked the kids if they remembered their Bible verse. One of my boys turned around to the board and said "He cares for us. 1 Peter 5 7". I said "Cody, did you read that?" He said "yes" and turned around and read it again. I was blown away. He gives me hope.
I think I would have been more blown away if a kindergartener COULDN'T read that by this time of the school year.
Your area might have different standards but that's expected here by spring. Our teachers are only really impressed by kids who are reading words like "hibernate" in kindergarten.
I think if you look back a few decades, parents were discipline in teaching their kids right from wrong, manners, help with homework. I believe parents now a days want a better "life" than what they had and they give their kids everything that they did not have and some parents don't believe their kids should be discipline, talked to in the wrong way to hurt their "self esteem" and I noticed some school systems are the same way. I believe this is a disservice to the kids as they grow up because they don't know how to take care of anything because if they don't buy it and work for it to get, how do you expect them respect and take care of what they got. Everything is handed to them and not made accountable for it, and they don't know how to handle failure or rejection and this is part of life as we grow up. Kids don't know what "no" means anymore and they know how to manipulate the parents into anything. I 'm not saying it is bad for parents that want their kids to have a better life than they did but I also think parents need to step up to parenting again instead of trying to be their "best friend" and teach them how to handle rejections and a lost game. And not feel that the teachers and others have to teach their kids about manners and the alike. I was in a store the other day and a young child told the mother "thank you" and the mother said he did not have to say that to her. I about fell over. Hello! yes he should have.
About public schools...my DH and I were very seriously considering private schools for our son next year. But they are very expensive, and with the economy I'm not sure it is a good idea. So what we decided to do (for now) is to buy the same materials the school uses (phonics books, flash cards, etc) and supplement our kids' educations with that. SO much of what they learn is based on their home lives, and what their parents help them do.
He is starting Kindergarten in the fall, so I am hoping to put cakes on hold to teach him as much as I can before he starts. That way he will have a head start, and a better foundation.
It is called home-schooling... And trust me you can get much better curriculum than the ps uses. You will spend the same amount of time teaching them as you would doing homework, and you will actually have intelligent kids.
My homeschooled smarties (in more ways than one
), feel sorry for the ps kids siting in a "dummy school" while they are having a life.
My middle son (turned 18 in January) Proofreads papers for classmates in his comp2 class at Weber State. He is shocked that adults can't see how poorly they write. He has consistently received higher marks than the "English major" in the class (he has ds proof read for him now, too).
He was educated in TX. Thankfully, home schools are considered private schools there! He was admitted to a large community college in central TX at age 15. His counselor commented that his test scores were in the top 5%. That's not too shabby. *lol* When we moved to UT, he transferred 32 credits at age 17.
Yea, I think I'll continue homeschooling my 11yo (6th-7th grade, but would be 5th if he was in public school). *lol* At least this way I know he will be getting a quality education... and he has plenty of time to play since it rarely takes over 4 hours a day to get in a good, well-rounded education. To make it better, I pay less for school books and materials than I paid for his eldest brother's "back to school needs" such as school supplies and school uniforms/ clothes.
I have the pet peeve of misspelling marshmallows (amongst others), but would never point it out to someone in a forum. I figure that I never learned to type (never took a typing class or used a typing program) so I tend to have fingers that have a mind of their own. I have constant reversals of letters (teh is the worst, followed closely by jsut and liek!) and wouldn't like to have my writing nit-picked.
All that said, the original text message would have pushed me over the edge. I would have probably responded with, "What are you talking about?" or maybe I just would have deleted it.
There are some very fine public schools with excellent teachers and fantastic students. We happen to live in an area with a highly educated population which expects students to perform well. As a result, many do. I'm surrounded by kids who are extremely well educated and high achievers in every way and are the product of public schools. They are not the ones who can't spell and aren't polite and don't know how to dress for an interview. They learn these things at home, no matter where they attend school.
As long as we are making generalizations: if you find parents who care, you'll find students who do well. That is the most important part of the formula.
As long as we are making generalizations: if you find parents who care, you'll find students who do well. That is the most important part of the formula.
I agree 100%. I actually found my home schooled friends (that I met at the local community college) were a bit naive to the world. You all have made generalizations about those who go to public school, so that is my generalization about those who are home schooled. I have no problem with people home schooling their kids, yet I do not think those kids are any smarter or better educated than those who go to public school that ALSO have parents that care about their education.
My parents cared about my education, put my in public school, and stressed the importance of education. I had my AA before I graduated highschool and graduated magna cum laude at a prestigious business school for my B.S. (that happens to be private). Home schooling is not the solution (IMO). I believe kids can be just as smart and will receive a fine education as long as they have parents supporting them and raising them correctly at home.
As long as we are making generalizations: if you find parents who care, you'll find students who do well. That is the most important part of the formula.
I agree 100%. I actually found my home schooled friends (that I met at the local community college) were a bit naive to the world. You all have made generalizations about those who go to public school, so that is my generalization about those who are home schooled. I have no problem with people home schooling their kids, yet I do not think those kids are any smarter or better educated than those who go to public school that ALSO have parents that care about their education.
My parents cared about my education, put my in public school, and stressed the importance of education. I had my AA before I graduated highschool and graduated magna cum laude at a prestigious business school for my B.S. (that happens to be private). Home schooling is not the solution (IMO). I believe kids can be just as smart and will receive a fine education as long as they have parents supporting them and raising them correctly at home.
I'm definitely making generalizations! I got a quite excellent public school education! I don't think my kids are better or smarter, but I do believe they have opportunities that are to their advantage, and yes, they are getting a top-notch education. They could get a top-notch education in public school, too, but I opt out of that choice.
It's kind-of funny... I have had several really good friends who are public school teachers. One even wrote curriculum for the elementary school there in TX (it was a good school, too imo, but my kids were getting a better ed at home.. that school had the highest rating possible in TX). We had a lot of really good conversations about education. Many educated people can rationally discuss educational decisions, and look at what is best for individual kids and families. Some can't due to the concept of "professional" education and can't see past that.
There are people who are good at homeschooling and some that aren't. There are good teachers (professional), and there are bad ones. In both cases, the majority are good. Homeschoolers have a tougher line to tow, though. We are dismissed as substandard of we don't have a teaching degree, by the "professional" education world. Anything that is not mainstream is considered weird. Performance-wise, we are doing quite well.
As far as "real world' goes, I don't see public school as the real world. It is an artificial environment set up to educate a lagre number of kids at one time. The community college early admission counselor commented to me that she liked admitting homeschoolers because the seemed to be better prepared for learning in the way expected there (not my words, they were hers!).
There are "freaks and geeks" in public school, just like the homeschoool world. Many have trouble in public school and do great once they are in college. There are well adjusted public school kids who suddenly don't do so well once they are in college. There are some homeschoolers who do well homeschooling then have a horrible time adjusting to college life. There are a lot of generalizations that can be made, and all can be rationalized to meet whatever adgenda that is desired.
I am still thankful that I can homeschool my kids. Homeschooling definitely isn't for everyone. Public school isn't either. I don't fault my friends who send their kids to public school and they don't fault me.
oh... and I have a high school diploma (it didn't keep me from teaching high level high school classes, though! I never took calculus in high school, but ds and I learned it together, and did quite well according to his test scores!). It is just a piece of paper, just like any other degree. What a person is and knows is within them. A person can learn anything they set their mind to learning, and all learning doesn't take place in a structured classroom setting.
The true key, as a couple of you pointed out, is parents that care!
If either of my posts are offensive to anyone, it is not intentional. I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone who disagrees with me or chooses differently. I do feel strongly that freedom is very important, and believe it would be bad for all if homeschooling (or private school, or charter school, or public school) weren't an option.
((hugs))
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