School, Parents At Odds Over Spell-Check Devices.
HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Are electronic spell-checkers educational? School administrators at Poynter Middle School in Hillsboro are asking parents to buy spell-checkers for class. Although spell-checkers can be handy when writing, not everyone is thrilled with the idea and some said it's a crutch. In a letter sent home to parents, the school asked parents to purchase one spell-check device for their children and one for someone who can't afford it.Wait a minute, isn't it the teachers job to teach students how to spell? Or maybe use dictionaries? Isn't that what a dictionary is for?
"What's the difference between that and a calculator? Don't they get to use calculators on math tests?" said a third parent.I don't understand why they are using calculators on math tests either. Isn't a math test done to figure out if your child knows how to do math? Why are they using a calculator? That's basically letting the students not know how to do the math, and they will all get good grades on the tests because the calculator is giving them the correct answer.
Instead of buying a spell check device, why not buy each kid a dictionary, and have them look up the word to get the correct spelling and usage, and what the word means?
Why are we not teaching them how to spell?
They aren't learning anything if machines are doing all the work for them.
And what is with this buy one for your kid and one for another kid stuff?
As most parents here where I live know, each year our kids bring home within the first few days of school, a huge list of supplies and the majority of them are for the teachers use, they are not all for our kids use.
Sarasota wastes so much money on statues and repaving parking lots, and growing grass or planting trees in medians, instead of on the schools which is what they tell us the money is going to go for when we vote.
Just the other day, we voted on the penny tax, they told us the money would be used for both the schools and town improvements, but the majority of that money is spent on art to beautify the downtown area or beaches to help with tourism, make people want to visit, while our schools have asbestos in the walls and our kids are in portable classrooms, and then they ask us to foot the bill on supplies and machines, instead of actually teaching.
We are a dumb downed society because we rely too heavily on machines for the answers instead of working them out as we should be doing.
Comments
Funny thing is teachers use it and seem to forget that it is ONLY spell check, NOT word check. Heck even our superintendent used the wrong word in a magazine article (front page!) and it slipped by him because presumably he never proof read. People think spell check means NO proof reading needed. WRONG! We are fast becoming a nation of illiterates.
Posted by: windyridge | November 10, 2007 9:10 AM
Yeah, if only school were that easy back in our day. Have you heard the newest must have, most important thing that St. Pete wants to spend money on? A new stadium for the baseball team. Why yes, they currently do reside in a stadium that's younger than our children. And yes, we still have plenty of portables and me and you are still buying our kids tons of school supplies. Hey, I think they're almost finished installing that new line of $10,000 a piece palm trees. Maybe they'll all live this time.
Posted by: chris | November 10, 2007 10:04 AM
I don't get the buy one for a kid who can't afford it. This crap starts in preschool already. It irritates the hell out of me. I can barely afford the one "whatever" I have to buy and I have to subsidize somebody else?
Posted by: Lisa | November 12, 2007 8:05 PM