Cranky Journal Entry
I'm feeling more irritated than usual lately. We're breaking records for heat, the air is smoky every day now, and I'm getting lupus symptoms like rashes again.
So I'm going with it, I feel a rant coming on...LOL...beware!
Locally the school authorities are demanding that the passing grade for the FCAT test be lowered. Their logic is that if most of the kids are failing, the test is too tough. Apparently it has not occurred to them that the kids are not learning enough to pass the test. They always blame the test, saying that they spend too much time drilling specifically for the test.
I don't know, that sounds like cheating to me. They shouldn't be drilling for the test, they should be teaching the basics of English and math so the kids have no trouble with a simple proficiency test. Drilling for tests is cheating.
I think part of the problem is that the educators don't know the material, so they can't teach it. I've heard high school principals make stupid grammatical errors repeatedly in their public statements, there's something deeply wrong with that.
I've been watching the series "Sherlock" on PBS. It's an updated version of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tales of the strange and brilliant detective. The whole point of the character development is the unique mind of Sherlock, who loves detail and intellectual challenge.
Here's what drives me batty about the show...Sherlock is making dumb grammatical errors in his speech. I thought this was an American problem with illiterate script writers, but apparently the British are not immune.
I like detail too, so here's an example. Sherlock made himself and another person the object of a preposition in a sentence. Now this is grade school stuff, I think I learned this in about the third grade. The personal pronoun should be in the objective case as in "to me" or "with me". Instead the writer used the personal pronoun "I".
To ignorant people, the pronoun "me" is lowbrow, the pronoun "I" is high-class. So they almost never use "me", it's always "I" no matter what the sentence structure might be. The classic example is "Who's there?"...answer: "It's me". In French it would be "C'est moi."
But instead the writers put on airs and make fools of themselves by having the characters say "It is I". That's not wrong, it's just silly. It's even been used as an example of foolishness in textbooks of English grammar. It's referred to as "pedantism", which is trying to sound educated when you are really quite ignorant.
But using "I" as the object of a verb or preposition is not silly, it's atrociously bad grammar for a supposedly educated person. The way you hear it in the media is..."John gave the key to Betty and I, so we could water his plants." Anyone who has a fifth grade education would know that's wrong, it should be "Betty and me".
I'm not exaggerating this, the educational system is failing. It doesn't "need tweaking", it's a disaster. Lowering the passing grade is not fixing the problem.
So I'm going with it, I feel a rant coming on...LOL...beware!
Locally the school authorities are demanding that the passing grade for the FCAT test be lowered. Their logic is that if most of the kids are failing, the test is too tough. Apparently it has not occurred to them that the kids are not learning enough to pass the test. They always blame the test, saying that they spend too much time drilling specifically for the test.
I don't know, that sounds like cheating to me. They shouldn't be drilling for the test, they should be teaching the basics of English and math so the kids have no trouble with a simple proficiency test. Drilling for tests is cheating.
I think part of the problem is that the educators don't know the material, so they can't teach it. I've heard high school principals make stupid grammatical errors repeatedly in their public statements, there's something deeply wrong with that.
I've been watching the series "Sherlock" on PBS. It's an updated version of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tales of the strange and brilliant detective. The whole point of the character development is the unique mind of Sherlock, who loves detail and intellectual challenge.
Here's what drives me batty about the show...Sherlock is making dumb grammatical errors in his speech. I thought this was an American problem with illiterate script writers, but apparently the British are not immune.
I like detail too, so here's an example. Sherlock made himself and another person the object of a preposition in a sentence. Now this is grade school stuff, I think I learned this in about the third grade. The personal pronoun should be in the objective case as in "to me" or "with me". Instead the writer used the personal pronoun "I".
To ignorant people, the pronoun "me" is lowbrow, the pronoun "I" is high-class. So they almost never use "me", it's always "I" no matter what the sentence structure might be. The classic example is "Who's there?"...answer: "It's me". In French it would be "C'est moi."
But instead the writers put on airs and make fools of themselves by having the characters say "It is I". That's not wrong, it's just silly. It's even been used as an example of foolishness in textbooks of English grammar. It's referred to as "pedantism", which is trying to sound educated when you are really quite ignorant.
But using "I" as the object of a verb or preposition is not silly, it's atrociously bad grammar for a supposedly educated person. The way you hear it in the media is..."John gave the key to Betty and I, so we could water his plants." Anyone who has a fifth grade education would know that's wrong, it should be "Betty and me".
I'm not exaggerating this, the educational system is failing. It doesn't "need tweaking", it's a disaster. Lowering the passing grade is not fixing the problem.
Replies
Hello Richie! It is I!! LOLOLOLLLL!!!!
Yes, there are many grammatical errors made by people who should know better. Some people can\'t spell potato either!!
You are right that the test isn\'t too hard. And kids aren\'t being taught well anymore. I don\'t know what has happened. Teachers aren\'t held up to the high standards of education anymore. They seem to be on their own as far as what comes out of their mouths. And beyond their lack of intelligence and capability, is that their moral conduct is reprehensible! The teachers sleeping with 14 year olds is becoming common practice these days. Totally disgusting....and part of that problem, is that we\'re so used to hearing about it, that we almost condone it by not punishing these perverts to the fullest extent of the law.
I\'m a parent. I raised my kid right! I taught her right from wrong, and how to love, and show respect. She never sassed me without a swat on the butt! She turned out well. ( or some others may say she turned out \"good\") you and I know that I\'m right here! Discipline is also lacking in the schools, and it\'s all about sexual harassment and blah blah, blah! People are totally missing the point! The teachers are not educated, they have no moral compass, they don\'t really care what they teach the kids as long as they get their paychecks. That\'s how a great group of them behave. I know you can\'t (and I don\'t) judge all the teachers by the few thousand bad apples.....but for goodness sake, I\'d be terrified to send my daughter to school these days.
I\'m agreeing with you Richie. Instead of lowering the standard of the test, they should raise the standard of the people giving it!!
Oh, also, about prepositions, they are not the right thing to end a sentence with! Right? Right!! LOL...
That bit about ending sentences with a preposition is just a usage thing in my opinion. Technically it\'s bad form, as the Brits say...but it\'s something that language scholars consider unimportant. Nobody follows that rule anymore, I\'ve seen some very prestigious authors of classical literature end sentences with prepositions.
We\'re not supposed \"to boldly go where no man has gone before\" either. I enjoy a good split infinitive now and then. Chalk it up to poetic license.
Double negatives aren\'t as bad as people think they are...as far as I know it\'s only English that forbids them. You\'ll find loads of double negatives in other languages.
The ones that irritate me are the blunders like using \"I\" as the object of a preposition or transitive verb, or the use of adverbs in place of adjectives...like saying you \"feel badly\". The verb feel can denote condition or the act of sensing. If you feel badly, that means you have numbness in your fingertips...it means you\'re having problems with your ability to detect things with your sense of touch. If you want to say that your condition is bad, like you have a headache, say \"I feel bad.\" But saying \"I feel badly\" sounds high-class...so much better...unless you\'re someone with a real education. In that case it sounds really silly and foolish.
It\'s another example of the ignorant \"putting on airs\". Nothing wrong with being ignorant if you\'re poor and working class, but it\'s very wrong if you\'re a college professor...or someone taking money from the taxpayers to teach children English.
I took a look at the FCAT test, it was absurdly easy for tenth grade. The newest one hasn\'t been published online, but I\'ll bet there\'s nothing difficult at all about it. It\'s not the test, it\'s not the students, it\'s the educational system. It\'s broken!
It\'s not that great at the college level either, I had some heated arguments with the professors on my committee in graduate school about their bad grammar that they tried to force me to use when I published my thesis.
Another example...Bob Dylan\'s song \"Tambourine Man\" isn\'t about dope dealers, it isn\'t a metaphor...it\'s a poignant song about something that is happening to the character in the song. If you can\'t figure it out, keep your mouth shut about it. I\'ve seen professors of English get that one totally wrong in print due to their blatant ignorance.
All it takes to understand the song is a knowledge of our cultural history and its roots in Europe. It all comes down to lack of education and a narrow, provincial view of the world...even among college professors.
Amen brotha!! Don\'t hold back! Tell us how you REALLY feel!! LOL.....you\'re a well educated man, Richie and you never cease to amaze me!!!
If there\'s one thing I\'ve learned in life, it\'s that you are better off keeping the truth to yourself and going along with things.
There\'s an old Armenian saying...\"The man who tells people the truth needs to have one foot in a stirrup.\"
I don\'t think you should hold back Richie :) I very much enjoyed reading this and Darla is right, although we have always known this you are a very smart cookie.
I had to have a giggle though about Tambourine Man..it\'s like...and while we\'re freaking at it, let\'s not forget Tambourine man!!! Hey!??
We almost have the opposite problems in some ways here in Australia with them wanting to raise the grading system to a level that is (i feel) unrealistic for the kids. As a result, only a select few kids are going to achieve at that level, and the rest will feel poorly. On the whole I would say our teachers are fantastic over here, of course you get the usual bad apple as you do anywhere, but many are highly educated with Masters or dual degrees.
Ahhh....college professors..well now they\'re another breed in my book I\'ve got to say. I think they need to get their butts out of the academic world and get their hands a bit dirty in the workforce outside of the university. Have a bit of a reality check, just my opinion.....
Ha ha about the one foot in a stirrup quote! So, so, spot on! Tell the truth and you will need to make a sharp exit!
I agree about that teaching to the test is cheating. It narrows the curriculum and therefore, learning. I\'m an ex teacher and I\'ve seen it in action. One teacher I knew cancelled physical ed. for SIX WEEKS, just so that she could prime her class of seven year olds to pass the SATS test. Good results are good for the school, which rises in the league tables. More parents send their children there, so the school stays open and well funded. All the teachers keep their jobs and the \'good\' results twinkle on their records. The children, however, have lost in terms of learning. It\'s a complete con job.
I\'m with YOU on \'me\' and \'I\' !
Also..........
The UK has altered its stance on the use of the double negative. It\'s considered acceptable now, as a way of adding emphasis. However there will be some who disagree! xx
That should read, \'I agree that teaching to the test is cheating.\'
Appalling grammar-sorry! ;)