Educators who can't spell

[elbert]

When looking at preschools for DD years ago, there were multiple mistakes in an email from the director of one of the schools we liked. I'm notsure if they were typos or spelling/grammatical errors, but I crossed it off the list just for that. I know mistakes happen (I make plenty and often cringe) but clearly sometimes it's hard for me to accept and move on...


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[BunnyBee]

I would cringe, too. I've actually cringed often with my district.

And I hate the confusion folks have between "sight"/"site" and "peak"/"peek" ... didn't they study homophones when they were children?

People with dyslexia have a really hard time with homophones. They’re not caught by spellcheck. I have a dyslexic kid, and it has really opened my eyes to things that used to drive me nuts. I personally have had more homophone errors in my writing *with* spellcheck because my phone will switch what I type correctly to the more used word. Especially its and it’s.

[AngB]

Our new principal sends almost everything riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, including our student handbook, etc. It drives me crazy but he is a crappy principal for so many other reasons (and this with a kid who never gets in trouble and is low maintenance..I am dreading next year because DS2 will be on an IEP and is rather high maintenance.) His secretary sent out an email that was one sentence (with no punctuation at all), in all caps, to the entire school. And it wasn't even relevant to most students (about IEP goals being sent home with students), it was so incredibly tacky and unprofessional, I have saved a screenshot and will be including it in our parent survey about schools at the end of the year [survey goes to superintendent and school board]. (This is more the norm for this school then not and the secretary is a real peach.)

Not surprisingly, DS1's first grade teacher also has sent quite a bit of paperwork home with errors. I roll my eyes and move on because she's a first year teacher and it's first grade. I have a lot of things I can't stand about the school but his teacher is okay.

[MMMommy]

Would it be horrible to reach out to the principal about something like this? Maybe to suggest she recruit a proofreader for this sort of email? Maybe even a small group of students, though I'm not sure many middle schoolers would sign on for that.

All her emails are sent from a no-reply address, so I can't respond directly.

I would be slightly annoyed by the error, but I wouldn't bring it to the principal's attention. I think it would be awkward to bring up. Like PP mentioned, the principal will not forget the parent that called her out on this.

[doberbrat]

I was trying to write archaeologist & paleontologist on a board yesterday during an exercise and was pretty sure it was wrong. The lead teacher told me just to write it on the board and fix it later if needed and I refused. I know the kids would not have known the difference - they have trouble spelling even the most basic words like 'who' and 'the' but its the principle of it!

Spelling/grammar errors really bug me. I will say that I have much more trouble hand writing and being sure things are spelled correctly vs on a computer b/c I'm not used to seeing my handwriting anymore. All that being said, I would NEVER EVER point it out to someone unless asked by that person. No good can come of it. Its the sort of thing you could do to a close friend or family member maybe but not a principal or teacher you dont know well.

[lizzywednesday]

People with dyslexia have a really hard time with homophones. They’re not caught by spellcheck. I have a dyslexic kid, and it has really opened my eyes to things that used to drive me nuts.

I didn't know that about dyslexia; I've now learned something new. Thank you.

I personally have had more homophone errors in my writing *with* spellcheck because my phone will switch what I type correctly to the more used word. Especially its and it’s.

I actually turn off spellcheck/auto-correct on all my devices because it doesn't check context. For more formal writing, I proof it before I send.

For texts, my sister tells me she can always tell if a text is from me because it's appropriately capitalized/punctuated and everything's spelled correctly.

[dogmom]

I would cringe, too. I've actually cringed often with my district.

And I hate the confusion folks have between "sight"/"site" and "peak"/"peek" ... didn't they study homophones when they were children?

I have to admit when people type stuff like this is FB other places and say crap like "Don't the know the difference between their and they're. They are so stupid!" I want to reach through the digital media and strangle them. I completely know the difference, I'm not confused, but I cannot see the differnce unless it put something aside and look at it the next day, which honestly, often I don't have that luxury of time. My daughters got the same thing going on with her spelling. She's a fast reader like me and we both read whole words, have good comprehension and such. However, once I read a word and "hear it" in my brain it is very hard to actually see the difference on the paper. I don't know how else to describe it. It is dyslexia, but people think that's has to do with just mixes up letters, it it really has to do with a language/auditory/visual processing interface. If some gives a phone number to me over the phone I have to remember the number, their write it down. I can't go directly from hearing to writing, it's a pretty common thing. It used to drive my husband crazy when practicing my daughters spelling, "why can't she just tell memorize how to spell a word?!" And I would be, why can't you just write with your right hand? (He's a lefty)

And something I just learned was those stupid "math facts" they keep harping about actually have nothing to do with mathematical computational ability and is really in the same realm of spelling. Which makes me want to go back and strangle my DDs 4th grade teaching who "taught" her she was never going to be good at math because she was slow at math facts.

[mom_hanna]

Well my dd's 3rd grade teacher (she's now in 8th) used to send home spelling lists with incorrectly spelled words! I would correct them and send the list back. Probably snarky, but really, I wanted my daughter to learn how to spell correctly and that wasn't going to happen when she was given the incorrect spelling!

[lizzywednesday]

I have to admit when people type stuff like this is FB other places and say crap like "Don't the know the difference between their and they're. They are so stupid!" I want to reach through the digital media and strangle them. ... However, once I read a word and "hear it" in my brain it is very hard to actually see the difference on the paper. I don't know how else to describe it. It is dyslexia, but people think that's has to do with just mixes up letters, it it really has to do with a language/auditory/visual processing interface. ...

I am learning a great deal about dyslexia from this discussion; thank you.

I'll admit that I didn't think it was just about reversing letters, but I do realize every day, especially from wonderful people like you, that I do not know as much about it as I ought to in order to be a more generous and patient person regarding written/spelled words.

[dogmom]

I am learning a great deal about dyslexia from this discussion; thank you.

I'll admit that I didn't think it was just about reversing letters, but I do realize every day, especially from wonderful people like you, that I do not know as much about it as I ought to in order to be a more generous and patient person regarding written/spelled words.

Don’t get me wrong. There should still be standards. Like the pp that said a spelling list went home with errors! But, I think that is different that a quick email or a post.