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Ha! - I've seen that quite a bit. If they always use "there" I suppose they have a one in three chance of being correct.
Like I said previously, they just need to memorize the short sentence "They're over there with their friends."
What is so sad is that our experiences chronicled here suggest no one has taught them the difference. Homonyms seem to be a big problem, apparently they're just not important enough to make it into even a little corner of the curriculum.
What is so sad is that our experiences chronicled here suggest no one has taught them the difference. Homonyms seem to be a big problem, apparently they're just not important enough to make it into even a little corner of the curriculum.
Even if homonyms are a part of the curriculum, failure to read (or, at least failure to read decent-quality periodicals & literature) on a regular basis will result in lack of reinforcement of what was--supposedly--learned. Unless skills/knowledge are periodically reinforced, the original, "learning", may...evaporate... over the years.
I really think that lack of reading on a regular basis is the source of many of these homonym problems, as well as other language mistakes.
I can recall, back in my early days as a teacher, asking students to tell me the names of the newspapers that their families read on a regular basis. In the blue-collar town where I taught, the vast majority read only the local, "shopper", which essentially consisted of press releases from local organizations, in addition to display ads for local stores. And, the text in that rag (The Atom Tabloid) was constantly littered with misspellings, bad usage, and other language mistakes.
If those students were giving me an honest account of the newspapers coming into their homes, then there really were few, if any, examples of decent writing for anyone in those homes.
my son had graduated high school when he used a word unknown to me. Turns out it was pseudo. He said swaydo and during ensuing years, I've heard others say it that way.
I can recall, back in my early days as a teacher, asking students to tell me the names of the newspapers that their families read on a regular basis. In the blue-collar town where I taught, the vast majority read only the local, "shopper", which essentially consisted of press releases from local organizations, in addition to display ads for local stores. And, the text in that rag (The Atom Tabloid) was constantly littered with misspellings, bad usage, and other language mistakes.
If those students were giving me an honest account of the newspapers coming into their homes, then there really were few, if any, examples of decent writing for anyone in those homes.
Interesting.
My home was blue collar. We got both the local paper (one of the larger Georgia cities) and the Atlanta Journal (back before it merged with the Constitution.)
Both of my parents, educated in rural Georgia schools in the 1930s, were literate, with a curriculum that I suspect was just basic three Rs. Neither of them went to college. Neither of them read heavily for recreation, but I had my nose in a book from the time I discovered reading. We had the World Book Encyclopedia, and if I did not have a book I would read that - just pick a volume and read at random.
I am afraid that a big part of the problem is the feeling that memorization is something terrible. We expect that a person who plays a sport or a musical instrument will practice. Practice puts those skills into memory. But somehow it should not be necessary to practice math facts or memorize homonyms.
One of my mother's teachers was Miss Regina Pinkston:
"[Miss Regina Pinkston]was my favorite teacher in high school. I had her for Geometry, Trig, and Senior English. If I had known how great she was, I would have taken Latin from her. I was told that she was certified to teach every course taught at our high school except shop.
I believe she had Macbeth memorized. I can almost hear her recite the part of the witches talking around the cauldron "double, double toil and trouble"*. I never had a teacher or professor who entranced me from the moment she began class until it concluded. My worst nightmare was being required to memorize a poem and reciting it in her class. My knees were literally knocking.
Year after year Miss Pinkston was chosen as the Teacher of the Year by the Valedictorian. After she retired from teaching, she wrote a comprehensive history of Meriwether County. I was told her father lived to 101 years old and walked to church every Sunday of his life. Perhaps he lived next door to his church. She was an amazing lady."
My mother, too, recalled her reciting from Macbeth, "Will all the water in the ocean wash this blood from my hands?"
Last night I was watching an episode of a TV show I like (the season is finally available to stream w/o commercials). Well, one of the characters, who is extremely intelligent in the show, talks about using a "parameterized...algorithm" except she pronounces it "parameeterized" - huh? Did I really just hear that?
That one blooper just tossed the character to the back of the class.
"...national wide privatization, school vouchers and chatters schools.."
Well, that person appears to have nailed the problem perfectly!
Those, "chatters schools", where the kids apparently are allowed to talk incessantly, are clearly not fulfilling their educational function.
And, then we have that problem of, "national wide", privatization...
As I observed many years ago, one of the richest ironies is that so many of those who hold themselves up as experts on the topic of education seem to have not had a whole lot of education.
"...national wide privatization, school vouchers and chatters schools.."
Hmm.
I sure wish I went to Chatters School in the 6th grade. Every quarter the teacher had to write , "Annoys others", on my report card. I was an A and A+ student in everything but reading, so I finished my work quickly. Then I would talk to anyone who was sitting near me... didn't matter who it was. I just needed to chat with someone.
Ah yes, Chatters School would have been a wonderful place for me.
I sure wish I went to Chatters School in the 6th grade. Every quarter the teacher had to write , "Annoys others", on my report card. I was an A and A+ student in everything but reading, so I finished my work quickly. Then I would talk to anyone who was sitting near me... didn't matter who it was. I just needed to chat with someone.
Ah yes, Chatters School would have been a wonderful place for me.
It doesn't sound like you needed schooling in chattering.
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