Listen, are we taking off for spelling or not? You parents are all alike.

70% of the student population here are over the age of 25. Anecdotally, they tend to be far worse at written communication than the traditional-aged ones. That's just here. I couldn't speak for the rest of my locale let alone the nation.

dicks are no joke to monty.

I got an experienced loller on that.

The only reason I am pro-govt health care is because I think our education system is garbage. Most of America is in no position to compete economically in the modern world.

Huh. I was just about to post something similar. I'm not in the education field but part of my work involves a lot of writing and I'm one of the few I know of that still does a lot of writing long-hand--in large part because my thought organization is a lot different (and a lot more comfortable for me) if I write by hand for an initial draft. There seems to be a shift in how thoughts are expressed between the two avenues and I'd be willing to bet that has something to do with the change in peoples' writing over the years (likely not fully explanatory as is usually the case in these complex scenarios).

That's incredible.

Why I love (to teach) political cartoons.

I do get a kick out of how many people I overhear complaining about the standards to get into kindergarten these days. "What? Why should I teach my kid how to tie his shoes. That's their job."

My mother (a teacher and lifelong bad speller) frequently defended my inability to spell against history and social studies type teachers. I can't spell, will never be able to be a good speller and while a lifetime of incremental improvement and spell check have helped the situation I still spell things in incredibly convoluted and sometimes hysterical ways. That has nothing to do with the ability to communicate if a student knows the subject being discussed. Should the fact that I spell bad mean I'm doomed to only get good grades in art class? If I understand the subject I'm writing about why does it matter that I can't spell?

(this only applies to written tests, if you are writing a paper at home on a computer you have no excuse.)

Obviously class rooms of the past didn't churn out 30 Evelyn Waugh's every year but from what I hear the best kids leaving school to go into higher education have much poorer standards of literacy than was previously the case.

My old professor blames the increase of mixed media. He says kids come to university knowing a lot but not necessarily having read a lot. They gain their knowledge from computer games, internet, movies and television and as a result don't know how to communicate via the written word. He also says undergraduates have much narrower fields of interest which further limits the type of books, if any, that they actually read.

My own opinion is that reading and writing are inexorably linked. I only really had a primary level education when I was younger, partly because I was a punk kid that didn't turn up at high school very often and partly because the school was essentially a holding pen between primary school and employment in the steel works; there wasn't much educating going on anyway. However, I do know that as I developed an interest in reading in my late teens I went from being more or less illiterate to being able to write at a reasonable standard. I didn't intentionally teach myself, my ability to write evolved as a consequence of reading novels and increased with the quality of prose that I read.

My own personal motto would be 'read what you can't write yourself' and perhaps by challenging myself in that way I'll one day be able to produce a standard of writing that I'm happy with.

I find it pretty disheartening that '50 Shades of Grey' is now the highest selling book of all time in the UK but I'm taking my mind of it by reading the letters of Mary Wollstonecraft.

In my high school we were required to write a term paper each year. As you progressed, the length and requirements became more stringent. For example, freshman year it was to write a 5-10 page paper with sources. By senior year, it was 20-25 page paper with all types of requirements that escape me. I do recall however, that we needed to use at least 10 sources, interview 3 people, etc.

When I walked on a college campus after graduating, I had tested out of all the English classes set up for general studies. To fulfill my requirements I was placed in English major classes. The big project for the year? A two-page paper, no sources/annotation required. I thought it was a joke, but most of those students (who wanted to teach or write) were slogging through it.

While my high school was a "college prep" and granted, a private school, I feel like that method worked in creating students comfortable in writing. Do most high schoolers still write papers? The ones I come in contact with say they do not. But that could be this area.

For me, when I write by hand in draft form, I'm reading it out loud more. When I'm typing, it happens so quickly that I'm not necessarily doing the same kind of editing. Writing by hand slows you down, and makes you choose your words more carefully instead of having your brain vomit on a screen.



and I was just joking, because I understand there are actually people with dysgraphia, and other disorders. However, I think there is worth in improving at things that don't necessarily come easily to you.

Senior year of public high school, I had to do a 25 page analysis of symbolism in King Lear in english.

it's cool, I wasn't offended. I like talking about education and the different ways people learn.

I think it's good to improve as well, and obviously there is overlap of skills from one class to the other. Even in art class you need skills other than making the art. You need to communicate your project to the class, you must learn to hear and give criticism and be able to tell a story. Studying History without a good language background is impossible.

I feel like I have more to say here, but dinner is almost ready.

As an English major, most of the writing I'd seen from my classmates was at least acceptable, and often better than acceptable. Though a couple of weeks ago I got this facepalm-worthy email in my inbox:

"Hello Everyone,

My name is (name removed), I am a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership. I will be overseeing the Poetry Slam this year. i am completely new to (school name removed) and I would love people who want to get involved. For those who don't know Poetry Slam will be an open mic night focusing on the arts but usually poetry as the foundation. Music, art and drama will all be okay but there will be a focus on poetry. Now this when it will be.

This year the Poetry Slam will have a new look. We will be aiming to meet the 2nd Sunday of every month in (location name removed) at 7 pm. This may change depending on how our first outing goes. On 9/9/12 We will have the first Poetry Slam. This is what I need from you.

Each month I was hoping to aim for a theme to the Poetry Slam. This month will focus on Hispanic Heritage Month. now just because the theme is hispanic does not mean that the only people who get involved have to be hispanic. It just means that the material and content should have a Hispanic focus. Anything that focuses on Latin America and what it means to be a Latin American would be a great focal point.

Thanks for your participation, openings for participation book up fast so contact me as soon as you can for slots. Since this is the beginning I am looking to give each group a 5 minute slot and hoping for 15-20 performances taking place. I am also looking for an MC for the night so please respond quickly.

I look forward to hearing from you."

I've largely been dismissive of claims that writing is getting worse and worse, but that a graduate student produced that--and is representing the university--makes my stomach lurch.