Monday, March 28, 2016

Does Spelling Count?

     One of the comments on my post about cursive writing was on spelling. The comment was on her poor spelling.

     Now before I start off there's a caveat. I'm not a good speller.

    The comment was in reference to the use of spell check and that there was too much reliance on spell check.

    Spelling has become something very different since I taught language arts in middle school. Texting (Texting isn't on spell check) has brought about all kinds of weird inventions and shortcuts. I have trouble reading most text messages.

    Now I was one of the last to teach spelling. I thought spelling was important so I used spelling texts, rules and bribery. I had the usual test on a word list each week. If you had all words correct you got 110% . If you got three 100's in a row you could skip the next  lesson. I always had people who wanted to use the system. I was asked if they could get over 100% on their report card if the bonuses pushed up the average. I was the last teacher teaching spelling and I think it was important to give people spelling rules and skills. Many times people are baffled by spelling. For most things there is a rule.

     Now when it comes to blogs,
spelling errors are allowed. We are blogging for pleasure, not for marks! When we're using the computer , by all means use spell check. Keep on trying the choices until you find the correct spelling. 

      Some people write the way they speak which makes for an interesting realistic blog. They tell their stories from their own point of view and expression.

    Mostly , enjoy your writing. Have fun telling your story. Use the type of language and expression that gets your story across.

    Now when I gave assignments, I was often asked,"Does spelling Count?"  I had to say yes and no. You're not getting marked for spelling but good spelling goes a long way to a better assignment.

     Where do you stand on the spelling issue?

     Find any spelling errors in this post?


30 comments:

  1. No, did not find any spelling errors.
    I do rely on spell check quite a bit. I find that my brain has gotten lazier when it comes to spelling. And then there are words that come up that are more current, were not used during my "writing" years, and while I read them often, I have seldom written them.
    I do think spelling is important, and even though I text sometimes, I write real words.

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    1. You bring up another interesting point. we can read far more words than we can write!

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  2. I have a hard time catching all my errors, even with spell check. I use a proof reader for large writings.I think it is part of our knowledge to use the language.Another plus is you may be invincible at the game of Scrabble.

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    1. I also have a hard time picking up errors. When I marked papers I told the kids I'm looking for what you can do rather than what you can't do.

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  3. No spelling errors, Red, but we all have them now and then, and I'm a good speller. I loved spelling bees when I was in school and often won often enough to get onto a stage in order to embarrass myself with a misspelled word I should have known. You are one of those people who writes like you talk. I say that and I've never met you past the written word. I wonder how I know that? :-)

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    1. It's great to be a winner of a spelling bee but we quit using them as the poor kid who dropped out first was devastated.

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  4. I used to be an excellent speller, but for some reason my brain is slowly failing me with many words. It is the beginning of a type of senility. I love spell-check and have to use it. That is why my phone messages are so bad, because spell check takes over and writes what it wants.

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    1. When we retire we don't use our skills as often as we did. One of the reasons I started blogging was to keep writing.

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  5. I turn spell check off on my devices. I do not like it, because I am such a wonderful speller. ha,ha Its true though. It saddens me that cursive writing is changing in most schools. Our schools prefer that one use their devices to write and spell?? Its OK, if you learn, but the devices make people lazy because most young people just want to get the job done and they rely on the machine and many do not retain the correct spelling. I find today everything mostly is abbreviated sentences and a new language of spelling is forming. Do u gt mi drft n twyl. h-m-m-m and these few words are very mild. I like your paragraph "Some people write the way they speak which makes for an interesting realistic blog. They tell their stories from their own point of view and expression.", and trust me, Red, that is usually how it comes from me. Thanks for this most interesting post. :) sylg

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    1. I didn't know you could turn spell check off!

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  6. Fortunately I've always been a pretty good speller. My grammar can be shaky, but my spelling is usually spot-on. In fact, I won third place in the county spelling bee in 1979! As for texting, I text using complete words and sentences and even capitalization, which a lot of younger people think is completely crazy.

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    1. You know, I think people who are good spellers are usually good at many more things.

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  7. I'm also a terrible speller and seldom find misspellings in the writing of others. I do have Mrs. Chatterbox, a college English major, proof my posts before I post or I'd really embarrass my self with poor spelling.

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    1. So you paid for the spell check and can't use it. It's good that Mrs. C participates in your blog.

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  8. i cringe when i read messages from folks who abbreviate too much or use wrong versions of words all the time. i'm not perfect, either, but i try to correct before i send. still, it's a fast world these days...

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    1. Yes, there's some pretty scary stuff out there.

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  9. I used to be a terrific speller. Nowadays I have lapses due to poor concentration at times. I do use the spell check feature but I don't like it so much. It gives American spellings which as you know are often different from ours eg. colour vs. color. I'm beginning to forget how we spell things "up here".

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    1. One of the reasons you write a blog is to maintain your skills.

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    2. Actually I've never thought of that as being a reason I write a blog. In fact most of my posts have little writing in them. I try to avoid that, lol. But since you've mentioned it as a reason, I guess you are indirectly correct since I do try to maintain our country's unique spelling of words, albeit not all of them. By the way, I forgot to mention I didn't find any spelling errors in your post ;-)

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  10. My spelling's fairly good. I find it irritating on social media when someone goes on about stupidity and misspells every second word in their sentence.

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    1. There are some pretty good examples of poor spellers from people who should know how to spell.

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  11. As a teacher, I was big on spelling also. In general if people want to be taken seriously and sound as if they know what they are talking about, words must be spelled and sentences formed correctly. Blogs are informal and fun, and I agree, I am not looking for perfection here in Blogland. That's my two cents!

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    1. you make an excellent point about the skills that make people respected.

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  12. Text speak is, I think, passé amongst the youngsters I know because they all have smartphones. I believe that spelling and grammar are important but grammar is forever changing gradually. So, for examples, the split infinitive or the sentence ended with a preposition are now accepted. I find that most of the spelling errors in my writings are, in fact, really checking errors rather than indications of an inability to spell. Even, on occasion, the confusion of, for example, its and it's is not a matter of ignorance but one of carelessness.

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    1. Carelessness certainly applies to me. I'm really glad to hear that ending a sentence with a preposition has become acceptable as it's one of my bad habits. Let's see. did I use the right it's?

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  13. I have always been a pretty good speller but one gets by every now and again, even when I read something through a couple of times. I am also a fast typer so type as fast as I think and sometimes my fingers type faster than my brain ;)

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  14. I try my best to spell properly but I'm sure I make many mistakes. And I'm not bothered by how other bloggers spell. Blogging is, as you say, for pleasure.

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  15. How funny that I was getting ready to write a post later about my granddaughter's spelling test. I'm glad she is being taught spelling so she'll know the difference between your and you're. She can't do everything by computer. I remember Art telling me that when he was hiring people, he was appalled at some of their spelling. It didn't make him want to hire them. I try to not misspell words on my blog, but I always manage to find errors AFTER it's been posted.

    No I didn't find any errors in your post. :-)

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  16. Love that photo of you, by the way. I'll do a post sometime of my school photos. It's fun to see ourselves as we age through the years.

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  17. No misspelled words in your post! It never bothers me when someone spells a word incorrectly, but it drives me crazy to look back and find that I misspelled a word.

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