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

I'm 25 and I text in complete sentences and ignore anyone who doesn't.


I also got my first job at 17 when I showed up in dress slacks and a button up blouse and had my hair pulled back. I went in only to fill out an application and they said they were amazed to see someone my age so appropriately dressed and well presented that they couldn't let me go anywhere else.

I also got a job when I showed up in jeans and a tshirt only to fill out an application. I was interviewed and hired on the spot. When I explained that I hadn't planned on being interviewed or I would have dressed nicely (this was applying at a grocery store, and I knew they were busy) they said they wanted to interview me because I was polite and had grammatically correct English.



All that aside, I have a 22 year old brother who can't spell basic words like ''hammer'' or ''magnet''. I'm not kidding. He's dumb, plain and simple, but his teachers passed him just because they needed the graduation rates for NCLB.

He's dumb enough that he lost his job as an HVAC apprentice because he couldn't add 1 + 2 (he said it was 12. Seriously), and now he's in the Navy because he was running out of options.

*sigh*


My autistic 4 year old taught himself to read 2 years ago. He can also spell ''abbreviate''.


What all this is getting at is that they're only ''dumb'' if we keep telling them it's ok to be so.

I do think this is very sad. People always text everything, what happened to talking with someone. People don't have conversations anymore, they have text talks. I feel that as much as people want to blame our school systems, we need to look at parenting. Somebody wrote earlier about public schools are like a glorified babysitting services, I feel that the parents have turned it into this. Parents want to be a friend to their kids and not sit with them while they are doing their homework or a paper. I have a few friends that are teachers and who also taught my oldest son, one of which is a kdg teacher in our district, there are nights I drive by the school at 8 or 9 and she is still there. Our schools and our teachers can only do as much as our parents will help them enforce at home. Private schools are fine but I also know plenty of people who went to private schools who would still send this kind of a text. It's just SAD. I can only instill in my 3 children that this sort of thing is not acceptable.

Hey cinder, can my kids hang out with your kid? My daughter is 3, no where near reading! Maybe he could teach her.

I have to say, I'm 21 and I'm still appalled by that. I'm only a few years older than her and I know that that's not how you apply for a job. But then, I'm one of few in my generation that can't stand text speak or bad grammar so maybe I'm not a good judge.

I guess I need to let everyone know that I don't mind texting, I just think there is a time and place for it. Inquiring about a job is not one of those. I just think it is sad that this is the primary channel for conversation. I am not trying to upset anyone, just saying what I feel.

Due to NCLB and other pressures to improve scores/grades/graduation rates our school has a policy that allows students to retake/redo anything except for the final exam! The sad truth is that they are not being prepared for the real world. A real world employer is not very likely to allow every single task they are given to be redone at any point until it is finally completed correctly! Student responsibility has been lost entirely in recent years.

Today I spoke with a parent who is upset that her son is failing in my class. He is a challenging student who comes late every day to class, is completely unprepared, doesn't attempt the work at all ( or pay attention to any notes/directions/etc). This student agreed (after mediation) to attend a tutoring session twice weekly for half an hour each time. In 4 weeks he has come in twice, for a total of about 35 minutes. (He even came late to tutoring!) He now has his mother's permission to not do the tutoring as it isn't helping him! Of course, according to his Mom, this is all my fault that he isn't improving!

Please do send the note you wrote to Amber. Hopefully it will be a reality check as to what the world is like outside of high school!

I work with adults who have mental illness. Many were in learning support classes and pushed through long before NCLB was enacted. I have some transitional aged people also, 18-21 who were likewise pushed through. Don't get me wrong many of these people are extremely capable of working, at least part time. The people I work with may not be the best spellers or have a good handle on grammar but they will work to the best of their abilities. Personally I'd rather have a good worker who is willing to put their best efforts into working for me, then one whose grammar is perfect.
To get to my point, we don't know the extent of a person's education or possibility of learning disabilities when people apply for employment. The young women may have dyslexia or another form of learning disability. That doesn't mean she wouldn't be a hard worker.

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.

A girl who sits next to me at work asked how to spell some infrequently used word...when I told her off the top of my head, she was amazed. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling her that I used to participate in spelling bees in school.

Now, instead of trying to spell the word so she can get help from spell check, or using the dictionary, she asks me how to spell everything.

Last week, she asked me to spell inundate, and it was the final straw. I told her use spell checker. She said she didn't even know where to start. Hello! Spell it phonetically. I wasn't sure if the first n was double or not, and you know, spell checker cleared that right up for me!!!

Some people would just rather have it always done for them, rather than put effort into it.

I did not read every reply. However, I was very young and had a similar situation.

I want to mention again that I was Extremely young when this happened.

I was very interested in photography and photographing for a local "PA" magazine. I thought this magazine was geared towards general visitors and would "need" photographers and was not extremely worried about crudentials. (Enter in my immature ways) So I sent them an email, stating I was interested in finding out more information about how to send them my photographs. It was not my spelling that was horrid, and not my grammer, it was my pure lack of experience. Lack of experience in sending information about myself and my work, Lack of experience in how to get my information across... etc.

I was politely replied to after this instance, and was told how I would go about "sending in information for possible publication"

It started out as the following:

Thank you for sending me your information and wanting information about our magazine, You must be a very young person, with little experience and I would like to explain the proper way to handle a situation such as this.

(and she went on to explain in photography (and other positions) you may want to include this information or that, and do things a little differently)

I appriciated the information, I never went into photography, however, I do enjoy shooting every now and then.

This young girl needs to be made aware of the error of her ways, apparently her school and family are not teaching her the correct way to apply/ask for a position.

Be polite, and understanding, she is probably a good person, however doesn't understand the correct way to deal with this type of situation.

However on the other hand, you may want to tell her to go to school if she wants to start her own business, she will gain more experience there and be able to gain not only skills but essential knowledge that she apparently needs.

Where I work I am the first point of contact for all aplicants and most do just fine. Today I called an applicant that left me a message to inform them that they have not finished the application process. Where I work you have to apply online, we have computers that applicants can use as well. The impression I had of this lady I called was that she was older than me and I am 42. She kept repeating that she had applied at least four times to me, she was getting very argumentative with me. I finally just told her that we appreciate that she is interested in working for us but until she completes her application she will not be considered for employment. I even had my manager standing right beside me and he could not believe how many times I had to keep repeating myself.

It is not just young people that don't seem to understand the process, there are several generations out there that are confused.

It does not help being rude to the person that can get you on the interview list.

Good gravy!! It has been awhile since I was 17, but even back in 1985 we had a career training class. None of us would have dreamed applying for a position in that way. It goes to show ya what the world is coming to. In my opinion, these kids have such a sense of entitlement that they should get the position simply because they WANT it. I don't know.... just sharing my thoughts.

I haven't read all of the responses but I've read enough to get the general idea of where most people's opinions are on this subject.

That being said, I think we need to remember that it's not just the '17 y/o's' that have horrid grammar, poor etiquette, and a general lack of class. I'm 21, have graduated college ( where I worked full-time and still gradated w/ honors), have an excellent career with the government, and fully understand how to apply for a job... and I'd say the majority of my friends fit this same description.

Additionally, I have experienced just the opposite of what most people here are describing. While in college, I was a manager of an upscale gym and one of my responsibilities was to hire people. The majority of the applications I received were from people in their mid 30's and let me tell you.. I have NEVER seen such horrid applications. Poor spelling, no sentence structure, unprofessional attire at the interviews, and a general lack of respect. On the other hand.. the teenagers were SO SO SO respectful and charming.

Another example of this is the people in my master's class. Most are in their 30's-40. Last week we had a 30 page group paper due and I was astonished at the work they submitted to me (I was group coordinator). Half of the stuff was plagiarized and the other half was so horribly written that I couldn't even understand what they were trying to say. It seemed they never learned the simple essay format of intro w/ a thesis, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. When I edited their paper they threw the same style hissy-fits that would normally describe an 8 year old child.

So before everyone goes knockin' my generation, just remember, you have some tards in your generation as well.. and PLENTY of them.

=)

I don't think anyone is knocking a whole generation here. I think what most of us feel is that in a text-happy society, communication is disintegrating. However, it's been happening for quite awhile. Look at the wittiness of Jane Austen novels, and how they speak to one another, compared to most of the things we use for entertainment today. The shows we watch, the movies, even books.
This girl couldn't even get a sentence out. While we have to ability to communicate more, we actually communicate less, and much more poorly.
While she may have been nice, I won't be hiring someone who cannot spell to decorate my cakes, especially if they need writing on them.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JillK

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef_Stef

Duplicate post.

What I should add is this: Be very careful about writing her back even a NICELY WORDED note about improving her writing skills etc. Kids are so coddled any more, you'll very likely end up having a "visit" from one or both of her irate parents, wanting to know where the blankety-blank you get off, telling their daughter she's no good? Don't you know she's got potential and is worth at least $15 an hour, starting wage, even as a beginner? And how dare you correct her spelling? And how'd you like them to do a write-up on you in the local paper, telling everyone what a mean-ie head business person you are, not giving these wonderful ambitious kids a chance? (insert heavy sarcasm in the above scenario--WE know you'd be just trying to help this person improve her future job skills, but her parents will see it otherwise).

Trust me---I've seen this happen.

I can buy the irate parents showing up, but .... please tell me your local newspaper didn't really do a story like this. Please?

You see, I work for a newspaper. I fight a pitched battle every day against the horrible content of some of the letters to the editor and community submissions we get. I hate to think any paper would play into this mindset.

Oh, the stories I could tell. Like the local politician who spelled the governor's name wrong throughout his letter. I really wanted my boss to let me run it as-is with a disclaimer, but he wouldn't go for it.

Speaking of lowered standards, in Indiana, we have the ISTEP test. When my son was in high school, he said he and his friends called it the "Indiana State Test Everyone Passes" because he said it was written so that even the worst students could pass it.

It's sad to read in our paper how many kids don't pass this test.

And that's what happens when you have people who know hardly anything about education, and who haven't set foot in a classroom since their senior year, making decisions and policies that determine how entire school districts operate.

I have several friends who are teachers and the number one thing they all complain about is parent involvement, or I should say, lack thereof. My best friend began teaching straight out of college, and she has taught middle school, high school and elementary in both public and private schools (she even taught at a boarding school in Taiwan). In all of her teaching experiences she says that the common thread that made them horrible were the parents.

Apparently parents want to blame the teachers for everything that is wrong with their child's education, and never at any point think "Hey, maybe it's my KID that has a problem". When did this mentality start? When I was in school throughout the 80's and 90's, kids still feared their teachers. Parents punished kids for acting out in class or making bad grades. Teachers' opinions were valued. When did it become acceptable for kids to do whatever they want without any kind of repercussions?

Ugh.