Addendum

Oh, while I'm at it....

I heard on the radio coming come from running with Michael Holmes (my blind buddy) some talking head who really didn't speak English very well--not properly, not very descriptive. I thought this odd, seeing as the guy makes his living through "communication." Hmmmm....

Anyway, this reminded me of a conversation I had with another teacher a few years ago, just before I retired. I mentioned one of my pet peeves (OK, so it's not a big thing) in student writing. This teacher, in the English Dept (Oh, I'm sorry, the "Language Arts" Dept), you know, the one dedicated to communication, didn't agree with my "peeve." I remember her exact words, "Oh, that's not important." For whatever reason (likely because at the time, I thought it would be a waste of my time), I didn't contest that response. But, I have thought about it more than once over the years. "Oh, that's not important." My concern was what she thought was "not important" was the use of a word that would make writing or speaking just a little more precise, a little more accurate in description. How odd, that an English teacher (yes, English!) would think it "not important" to be more precise, etc. in the use of language. And, again over the years, I remember similar comments, from history, math, etc., as well as English teachers. I wonder how many administrators ever think about these things. Well, actually, I don't really wonder because I'm pretty sure I know.

Perhaps that's the problem. Those in education don't have the background, the discipline, the knowledge to teach little things. They don't even think about them. I am reading now Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point. He certainly wouldn't argue that little things are "not important." Again, and I know I harp on this, perhaps so incessantly nobody listens, this is another thing wrong with education that those in charge of it have no ideas about.