School Essays

[Chase Keyhole]

Wow. I hope the essay wasn't for English class, they are supposed to check spelling, punctuation and grammar. x.x  

[Kukushka]

dameonmac5918

Most of these students, in high school, were given A's and B's for flawed papers, and now they're failing, because the reality is, no professor will tolerate any misspellings or grammar errors.

That's a huge issue in my University because you have to get A grades to get in. Once in, C is the average. That means that a whole lot of people who are used to getting As aren't getting them anymore. Like you said, the teachers just don't care about your self-esteem (well, they care, just not when marking). If you do something wrong, they mark you down for it. No p***y-footing around. As a result, there's a huge drop-out rate that my University is trying to counter. Their solution? Make the work easier. stare

That's right - High Schools are failing to prepare kids for what comes after so they are shocked when they get there. And the only thing my school can think of to fix the problem is to also fail to prepare kids for what comes after. Great job, guys! It makes me worry about how much my diploma will be worth in a decade. The last thing I want is to have lived through four years of working my butt off only to have people laugh at me for having attented a "party school."

dameonmac5918

In college, no professor has the time to care if you do know, nor teach you if you don't, proper grammar. They want to see your writing, and they expect for you to already know what a semi-colon is, and how to spell, and how to write properly.

Eh, that depends. I've had plenty of professors who will offer to review your essays before your final hand-in. I've had a lot who will write you extensive feedback when they hand your essays to you. Most of my professors have made themselves available to help students in some way (even if it's just to tell them to go to the Writing Tutorial Services).

But you are right to say that when you actually hand your paper in to them, they don't give a flying flip who you are. They will mark what is given to them by academic standards. Don't live up to those standards? You won't do well on the paper.

dameonmac5918

That's why high schools should teach that, not pity. This is not to say to put a student down until they feel suicidal, but this does not mean giving an A to a paper that clearly doesn't deserve it.

Agreed. Mark what's given to you, not who the student is, how much he/she has improved, how much you think he/she will appreciate a good mark, or whatever. If they are suicidal, don't mark the paper and instead send them to get help.  

[Mrkurosakie]

SilverMaple

Obivously, your teacher thought that the content of his work and his meaning was absolutely correct and overrode the fact that his grammar sucked.

For God's sake, why can't teachers understand that English class includes GRAMMAR and SPELLING? scream In my English class, that paper would FAIL. FAIL, I TELL YOU! scream *Takes deep, calming breaths* Forgive me, but I cannot stand the unfairness of it. mad

if, and when I become an english teacher..I'm doing things way differently. If the student has such disastrous grammar, I'd either fail the student in question, or would give them a bad mark..I mean that's the whole point of English, am I correct people?  

[Kukushka]

YasuoIV

if, and when I become an english teacher..I'm doing things way differently. If the student has such disastrous grammar, I'd either fail the student in question, or would give them a bad mark..I mean that's the whole point of English, am I correct people?

It's harder than you might think. Teachers are actively discouraged from making students "feel bad." Depending on how "fuzzy" your school board is, you may not be able to actually teach your subject because it would make the students in the classroom who don't already know it feel bad about themselves.  

[Patron with a Mission]

Kukushka

dameonmac5918

Most of these students, in high school, were given A's and B's for flawed papers, and now they're failing, because the reality is, no professor will tolerate any misspellings or grammar errors.

That's a huge issue in my University because you have to get A grades to get in. Once in, C is the average. That means that a whole lot of people who are used to getting As aren't getting them anymore. Like you said, the teachers just don't care about your self-esteem (well, they care, just not when marking). If you do something wrong, they mark you down for it. No p***y-footing around. As a result, there's a huge drop-out rate that my University is trying to counter. Their solution? Make the work easier. stare

That's right - High Schools are failing to prepare kids for what comes after so they are shocked when they get there. And the only thing my school can think of to fix the problem is to also fail to prepare kids for what comes after. Great job, guys! It makes me worry about how much my diploma will be worth in a decade. The last thing I want is to have lived through four years of working my butt off only to have people laugh at me for having attented a "party school."

dameonmac5918

In college, no professor has the time to care if you do know, nor teach you if you don't, proper grammar. They want to see your writing, and they expect for you to already know what a semi-colon is, and how to spell, and how to write properly.

Eh, that depends. I've had plenty of professors who will offer to review your essays before your final hand-in. I've had a lot who will write you extensive feedback when they hand your essays to you. Most of my professors have made themselves available to help students in some way (even if it's just to tell them to go to the Writing Tutorial Services).

But you are right to say that when you actually hand your paper in to them, they don't give a flying flip who you are. They will mark what is given to them by academic standards. Don't live up to those standards? You won't do well on the paper.

dameonmac5918

That's why high schools should teach that, not pity. This is not to say to put a student down until they feel suicidal, but this does not mean giving an A to a paper that clearly doesn't deserve it.

Agreed. Mark what's given to you, not who the student is, how much he/she has improved, how much you think he/she will appreciate a good mark, or whatever. If they are suicidal, don't mark the paper and instead send them to get help.

You made a very good point. At my college, though, I have seen professors who put down students, and then when they come into the center, they put themselves down, and it shows. It's truly sad to think that the putting down wouldn't have happened if they had just learned these skills in high school...  

[Subservient Nonentity]

I could only imagine the stuff you'd have to put up with in the English teaching profession...

All of the improper grammar, the horrendous punctuation, the endless spelling errors... I've never had to deal with the whole 'The incompetant student got a better grade than the brainiac' scenario... but I might think that the teacher might have started out strict, but as she neared the bottom of the stack, she started giving up. My aunt is an English teacher... and I must say that there are quite a few children in her class that find all of the txt-tlk and improper grammar 'cute' and won't revise their papers. Sometimes there are students who will not change their writing habits to save their lives.  

[SilverBellsAbove]

Indeed. When I hear stories like this, I begin to explode. See, there are just a few teachers that pass kids because they don't want to deal with them again next year.

And these teachers, these are the ones that piss me off. They aren't doing their jobs.

And for the people who find 'txt tlk 'cute', they need to get lobotomized really, really quickly. When college applications roll around, when someone sees 'i rly luv 2 ply sprts', they are going to burst out laughing. Not think 'Oh, he/she has a sense of humor! I'll let him/her into Yale!'

I think all of this boils down into two, big, green, angry words.

GRAMMARIAN SMASH!