Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Concerned parent or just a pain in the ass?

While going through Sister's backpack yesterday after school, I happened to pull out an activity sheet given to her by the librarian--oops! I mean "media specialist"--at her school. At the very top was the heading "Media Center Scavengar Hunt." A spelling error on a library work assignment?! Fer chrissakes. I look further down the sheet and read the question, "In which Nonfiction section did you find it in?" This question was written the same way not once, but three times. She almost got the prepositional usage right and then had to go ahead and let that participle dangle there anyway, didn't she? Damn it. This reminds me of Sister's teacher last year who I noticed spelled "canteloupe" incorrectly on her chalkboard for God and everybody to see during a lesson on fruits and vegetables. That's a tough one for many people, so I let it slide. But this library work sheet bugs me. I really shouldn't mention it though, huh? I mean, doing so is just going to piss someone off. No one in our school is going to appreciate me being the spelling and grammar police, even if they are charged with the education of my daughter IN THE TOP SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE STATE and presumably want to be teaching correct information. (And believe me, I know the REAL grammar hounds of you out there could probably find a bajillion errors in my prose, most probably in my comma usage.) But a spelling error right there on top of the frickin' assignment...!

7 comments:

Mommygoth said...

No, no, it wasn't a spelling error, she didn't mean scavenger, she went scavenGAR. Hunting for scavengars is a time honored Southern tradition, right up there with snipes and b'ars.

Julie Marsh said...

Well, I am a pain in the ass, so I wouldn't hesitate to bring it up. It's no wonder that bad grammar, misspellings, poor punctuation, and so-called alternate pronounciations are becoming so prevalent - nobody's saying anything about it!

Anonymous said...

That would bug me, but I've seen examples of the misspellings all over my daughters' day care. One week they were doing "j" words and there were all sorts of misspelled words on the list -- I think one was "jealous" spelled as "jalous". I told my husband, "oh, maybe they're teaching the kids the French spelling now!"

I don't say anything in the day care, because many of the teachers do not speak English as their native language. However, I do try to point out improper grammar or spelling (we're not at that point except with very simple words since my daughter's just turning 4) to my older daughter just as a learning experience.

Anonymous said...

As a fellow pain in the ass, and a librarian, I would definitely say something. Sadly, I am also a coward so I would probably put an anonymous note on her circulation desk.

Ortensia Norton said...

As a teacher I try really hard to catch my errors and I'd feel so dumb is someone pointed it out, but on the other had she could have hit spell check. So does this display our poor education system that hires inadequate teachers, or a system that overworks teachers who then can't hit the spell-check?

I hope that paragraph had few errors in it:-)

Erin said...

That is just ridiculous. I'd bring it up. If not to the librarian herself, to the principal. She's a librarian for chrissakes!! She should know better!!

Anonymous said...

Say something - directly to her. And you can most certainly say it in a way that doesn't make you seem like a pain in the ass. Just think how you would like to be approached if the roles were reversed and do it that way. Personally, I would much rather be told so I could correct my mistakes than not. Good luck.