Standardized Testing

As North Carolina chooses more and more standardized testing as the way to measure student growth, a few subjects are getting lost along the way. A friend of mine who teaches at an elementary school was reprimanded recently for teaching science and social studies because those subjects are not on the End-of-Grade test. Unfortunately, spelling and grammar are getting lost along the way as well. After all, if we tell a child how to use correct grammar, we are damaging self esteem or being unsympathetic to cultural language development. What matters is the ability to clearly communicate so that people do not judge you based on language. It's sad to think that a brilliant mind is hiding behind language that is being hindered by a number two pencil.

Holding Our Tongues

I taught English in Eastern Europe in the 90s, and I became accustomed to the snail's pace of Budapest's public transportation system. When I returned home to the US, I found that I moved more slowly, was more patient with pokey drivers, and didn't mind the wait for a mechanic to finish the job. I did find, however, that the 280 million who had stayed behind were strikingly rude when it came to the road. For months after returning, I was flipped off, cursed, honked at, and tailed at alarming proximities. I found that I had to speed it up to avoid the abuse.

This morning I discovered that I was, sadly, thinking again as an American. Waiting at a stoplight near my home, I looked up, noticed a clear intersection, and proceeded to turn right on red. The woman behind me had decided in the mean time to go around my car and turn right in front of me. By the time I realized what she was doing, I was already turning. We avoided a collision, but I got the impression that she considered the fault to be mine. No wave. No shoulder shrug. No nonverbal apology. I was entitled after all, right? Of course I was! Her impatience had almost caused a wreck. My entitlement led me to try to come alongside her to give her one of my looks, those stares of terror I often use to replace the bird I just can't bring myself to flip. It was not to be. For five miles, she would not allow me to pass. Every time I changed lanes, she swerved to pull in front of me. So for five miles, we played cat and mouse. I would change lanes to pass her, and she would swerve. It was ridiculous, infuriating, juvenile, ungodly, and rather American. I seriously considered following her to share with her some of my articulate verbage that I tout so well!

When I arrived at my 7:15 am meeting today, my colleagues met my story not with shock and horror at her behavior but rather shock and horror at mine. Who was this raving madwoman flailing her arms telling the story of someone else's atrocious behavior? For the value of a good story, I'm thankful to the woman in the yellow jeep. For the value of good friends who will will tell you when you're being ridiculous, I'm thankful to my LT gang.

Taking Care

I have found it of value in my years of teaching and writing to give people as little ammunition as possible in their attempts to criticize me. I now place great emphasis on simple proofreading. Life is not so busy that we cannot look over an e-mail one time before sending, particularly if that letter is being sent to a customer or potential client. If you do nothing else, look to see that your your isn't a you.

Body Language

Although I usually write about spoken and written English, I'm devoting a little space to body language today. It matters. I've noticed in the last seven or eight years that employees, particularly in the retail industry, have stopped being careful about the messages they send. Undoubtedly, 90% of communication happens non-verbally, and the messages I'm getting are in the neighborhood of I have better things to do, You bore me, and Do you actually expect me to move?. Eye rolling, lip smacking, and a good heavy sigh brought me to ask for a manager at a local fast food restaurant, and the woman about whom I was about to complain actually said to me, "When they pay me enough, I'll be polite to you."

And and But

I'd like some opinions about the use of the coordinating conjunctions and and but at the beginning of sentences. I recently finished an editing job, and the client wanted me to use The Chicago Manual of Style as a reference, which encourages consistency over tradition in this case. As a reader I'm distracted by the inevitable choppiness this stylistic choice creates. I wonder if there are any other readers out there who are bothered as well.

I'm sorry

I've been outraged for years about the rudeness of retail and restaurant personnel in my town of Greensboro, North Carolina. (In fact, there's probably another blog in it.) After suffering the smoke and eternal wait at an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day, my husband and I left to find another place to eat. We ended up at the Lone Star steakhouse on Battleground Avenue, and I was quite surprised by the kindness of the staff. The wait staff smiled, made eye contact, and dealt professionally with a minor complaint we had about the meal. With the understanding of the power of our language, two people sincerely apologized for something that was worth an apology. If you're around here, give these people your business! They know what it means to treat a customer well.

Your

I returned recently from several days of sick leave with a combination of the stomach AND the respiratory nasties. On my desk was a precious, stapled card from my students, my AP students who read better than I do, my 10 Honors students who work so hard, and my EC/ESOL inclusion students who truly do the best they know how. The climactic turning of the title page to reveal the sweet words I needed brought more dismay: EVERY student who had written a sentiment related to "Hope you're feeling better" had spelled the contraction YOUR.
AP. Honors students. ESOL students. It didn't matter. Each one had made the error. The card meant just as much as it would have grammatically perfect, but I knew a tiny failure right then. How many times do I have to teach this rule???!!!!