I've spent my forty years learning the English language, relishing in the fact that I speak and write it very well and trying my darnedest to help students, and now my own child, learn to speak and write correctly.
It still grates on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard to hear one of my colleagues, an educator in his or her own right, to butcher the English language, especially in front of other teachers. If I hear one more 'between you and I' or another subject-verb disagreement come out of the mouth of another classroom teacher, I think I'll scream, or explode trying to hold in the frustration and anger.
How can teachers expect their students to grasp the finer aspects of grammar when they themselves misuse words all the time?! And how can I as a former English teacher sit back and allow said teachers to throw around their misplaced modifiers?
While email and other technology has improved communication from teacher to teacher, it has also brought about a lack of professionalism, I think. The quickly typed email with misspellings and lack of punctuation or the abbreviated 'text type' makes me shake my head with disappointment when I find those in my inbox. It only takes a second to spellcheck, folks!
Mama always told me that it was inappropriate and rude to correct other people's grammar. She was referring to the adults who misspoke and my quick remarks to her about their faulty language. She reprimanded me more than once when I tried to correct family members.
Perhaps one of my great goals in life as an educator is to help young people speak and write clearly, effectively, and correctly. I wish my other colleagues would get on board and get it right!
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