Get Schooled

By laydeeliberty

July 17, 2008 9:03 AM | Link to this

New slogans and logos are only useful if there is an actual policy or change in policy to back up the promise made in the slogan. Involved parents care about results and keeping their child motivated and excited to learn, not empty statements or pretty symbols.

That said, this question is off-topic, but I wanted to get the opinions of teachers in regard to what I should do.

My daughter will be starting kindergarten next year in fall 2009 in East Cobb, so I went to the website of the elementary school, went to the kindergarten teachers’ blog pages, and looked around to get a feel for what they teach, see pictures, etc.

While looking at the page of one of the six kindergarten teachers, I noticed that there was a recurrance of incorrect punctuation (“the butterfly flapped it’s wings”) throughout the page.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a documentation editor by career, so I know that I tend to see things that the next 100,000 people after me wouldn’t see. That said, I am really surprised that a teacher would get something so basic and simple wrong.

My question is - should I let the teacher know about the errors I found on her page, so she can correct it, or do I just brush it off as “something insignificant” and let it go? It feels petty and important all at the same time.

Thank you for your opinions!

By Old School

July 17, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this

laydeeliberty @ 9:03 a.m.: I’m all for letting the teacher know about the errors but sadly, you better be prepared for some backlash. I’ve had some emails come my way for various “offenses” and the ones I actually responded to were the ones that tended to follow the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, some of my worst flubs were called to my attention in kind, almost gentle words that neither blasted my idiocy or talked down to me.

As a result, I correct the mistakes and respond with a truly heartfelt thank you. The hurtful ones I usually ignore and move on. I suppose some of my postings grate on the sensibilities of those far more grounded in grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. than I but I actually can take criticism when offered humanely.

I make typos. I type too fast and do not always go back and fix my postings. Offer an olive branch and correct me with humor and I’m your buddy for as long as both of us can stand it!

By em

July 17, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

I noticed a shift in public schools to emulate the business sector shortly after changing careers fifteen years ago. One of those shifts was incorporating a “snappy” slogan in order to “sell” the school. Unfortunately, most of those attempting to emulate business models have no experience in the private sector. These catchy school slogans are implemented with little or no other changes; therefore, for the most part, these school slogans merely project image but no substance. Maybe if public schools focused on a quality education rather than wasting resources on marketing gimmicks, they would not need a slogan. People know which schools are reputable and which are not. “Word of mouth” is a powerful method of advertising. By the way, laydeeliberty, I would point out the error especially since it is on the school’s website.

By Old School

July 17, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this

We had a principal who seemed to believe that snappy slogans and ideas borrowed from other schools were excellent ways to improve our own school. Yeah, that works! It didn’t matter to him that teacher morale was so low it hadn’t seen daylight during most of his tenure. If it worked for a school with completely different demographics, it would work for us.

Snappy slogans and maybe a peppy new mascot…

…that ought to do it.

By HS Teacher, Too

July 17, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this

laydeeliberty, Old School is right that you first of all, should tell the teacher, but second, should more than likely expect some backlash. That being said, perhaps diplomacy is the best approach — telling the teacher that you noticed some typos on her Web page and you’re certain she’d want to address them with the person who is in charge. That deflects some of the blame, and gives the teacher a chance to correct them without feeling as though a parent called her an idiot.

My two cents … it is definitely something that bothers me terribly as well, and I have been known to send back memos with the mistakes circled. (THAT has not gone over well, I might add!)

As for the question for today, I’m not sure slogans matter either way, except for the cases where the morale is already so low and the slogan so inapt, that it stands as a symbol of all that is wrong with the school (or system) and not as a symbol of “policy” and aspiration.

I know that in Gwinnett, no one really paid much attention either way to their “world class schools” slogan, except when touting something new, or if teachers were making fun of whatever it was they wanted to make fun of about the system. Now, that may not have been the case at the administration level, but among teachers it certainly didn’t stand as inspiration and a guiding tenet as we went about our daily teaching, planning, etc.

By WhatWillLauraDo?

July 17, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this

Here’s a slogan: When our teachers get brutally assaulted we can count on Laura to make sure there is no follow up story.

Or maybe: Laura makes a mockery of the role of the free press when she doesn’t follow up on stories of what the public schools do, or don’t do, when teachers are brutally assaulted.

By jim d

July 17, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this

HS Teacher, Too

“world class schools”

I can tell you as a Gwinnett parent and taxpayer that I wanted no damn part of a world class school when the world is predominatly 3rd world.

Primary and secondary education in the US has slipped into that 3rd world category when we at one time, not long ago, led the world in education. Why in heavens name would we strive for mediocrity rather than leading the world into the 21st century with the best education money can buy?

Indeed Napoalvin has led GCPS into the millenium with some of the highest cost per student expenses, providing a mediocre product at best. But hey, he’s got the taj mahal over on old ptree and taxpayers have an additional 26 + million dollars worth indebtedness without a constitutionally mandated referendum.

Yep, world class alright —- don’t get me started on some of the shyster deals going on behind closed doors in Gwinnett County.

By jim d

July 17, 2008 11:40 AM | Link to this

Here’s a new slogan for the GCPS system “Get out the lavender lube, here we come again”

By luvs2teach

July 17, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

OMG, jim d I am ROTFLMAO!!!

Hee, hee, what else is there to say.

Personally, I think they are stupid.

Educate, not advertise (how’s that for slogan-esque…not as good as jim’s though…:-p).

By catlady

July 17, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this

We have a mascot, a motto, guiding principles, a vision statement, a mission statement, several strategic plans for different areas, and I am expecting any minute a secret handshake, a system “bird” and “flower” and “tree” and “song”. :)

After all, it is more fun for the CO to spend time devising such things than to actually address the very important, real problems. :(

For Laydee, I would call it to the school “principles’s” (sic, sic) attention. One mistake is forgiveable, but if you saw several and they are obviously not typos, the principal should be made aware. Of course, s/he might not see the problem!

By SallyB

July 17, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

laydeeliberty I like HSTeacher Too’sadvice about deflecting blame. However, I would definitely expect backlash. It really bothers me, too, when a teacher , any grade, any subject makes obvious errors in grammar and usage. I can’t help regarding it as a deficiency [not talking about typos, here] and I colors my opinion of his/her abilities.

I have said here before, I had one principal who mandated all written communication go over his secretary’s desk before being sent or put on websites.

By catlady

July 17, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this

Here is my definition of typo: her for here. But hear for here, or there for their or they’re is NOT a typo. Principle/principal or its/it’s mistakes can be assumed (at least here in Georgia) to be an error, not a typo. This stuff is taught in third grade.

The reason I would alert the principal is because when things go out like that it makes the whole school look bad. I would do it in a gentle, self-deprecating sort of way, of course, mentioning that I am proud of the school and want it to maintain its good reputation in the community.

By jim d

July 17, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this

Luv,

The folks over between the toxic landfills are not laughing!

By luvs2teach

July 17, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this

Just a thought (and I’m not a K teacher, so I really don’t know) - any chance that the stuff on the blog was student work (and therefore not corrected) - you know let the kids have authorship, and all that?

I would rather know I made a mistake than let the mistake stay. I’m usually pretty good (I always loved grammar, strangely enough), but I miss things - sometimes, you miss things that are glaringly obviously, too - you need a fresh set of eyes. Spellcheck doesn’t catch things spelled correctly either, like your/you’re - or even write/right.

I am a stickler for their/they’re/there but in the heat of typing, I’ve typed the wrong one (I am a TERRIBLE typist, and my head often gets in front of my fingers). I would look for patterns - if it’s always wrong, then someone doesn’t know the rule. If it’s usually used correctly, then it may be a mistake.

By luvs2teach

July 17, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this

jim d - sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying - they say the best humor comes from pain - you all in Gwinnett must really be hurtin’!

By jim d

July 17, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this

Yo Luvs,

I really thought that comment would slide by without anyone catching it. :-)

You never cease to amaze.

By Gwinnett Educator

July 17, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

OFF TOPIC—what scares me…I love Gwinnett compared to what I dealt with in Dekalb County.

By jim d

July 17, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this

Gwinnett Educator

You should be very afraid!

And how long have you been teaching in Gwinnett?

By laydeeliberty

July 17, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this

Thank you, everyone! I very much appreciate the advice and insight into how to handle the situation.

The writing was definitely done by the teacher and not the children, as she talked about “my students” and “my kids” throughout the web page. I honestly didn’t look for anything additional to the misuse of the apostrophe in “its”, after seeing that in three difference places.

I think you would all be very surprised and somewhat disgusted by the lack of correct grammar and use of the English language by executives in the corporate world. I’ve found a direct correlation to the size of an executive’s salary and their inability to write a grammatically correct document. I don’t ever begrudge someone making a large salary, but I do expect there to be a level of basic knowledge of their own first language when someone has risen to that high of a position in a company.

I will definitely handle the situation with diplomacy and gentle words, and not attack anyone by any stretch of the imagination. I do understand that we all have our strengths and weaknesses, but I suppose I tend to hold teachers to a higher standard of knowledge in terms of the English language, so it is very disappointing when I see this kind of thing.

Thanks again for all the wonderful words of encouragement. I will return and let you know what happens, and what kind of backlash, if any, I incur.

Have a great day!

By OldSchool

July 17, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this

Sometimes the principal or his/her underlings are the guilty parties. Once a secretary “corrected” a letter I had written by replacing a perfectly good sentence with her slaughtered version. The person who got the letter called me and asked if that particular secretary had done the deed as he had gotten several of her corrected versions from other instructors. No big surprise- I heard her answer the phone one time with “No, he haven’t came in yet. Whachu want?”

Unbelieveably, the one we have now is infinitely WORSE!

By HS Teacher Too

July 17, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this

Gwinnett Educator,

Jim d is correct; however GCPS loves people like you … people who think they have it good! :)

Just kidding — I’m glad you enjoy your new home, and I hope, on the one hand, it takes you a lonnnnng time to get sick of the GCPS bull. On the other hand, we need experienced teachers like you to call GCPS’ bluffs …

Wait, that’s a lot of bluff-calling. You might not have time for anything else!

jim d, I’m with you on “world class,” but remember, “Gwinnett is GREAT!”

By Gwinnett Educator

July 17, 2008 3:06 PM | Link to this

This is my 2nd yr and more than likely my last. LOL. I have decided to purchase my home in either Union City or Fairburn. I want to be near the private school that I want my daughter to attend when she becomes school age. I have even contacted one of the adminstrators about future employment. (she even remembered meeting me March 07) I have a neice and nephew that attend the school.

Im just taking a proactive role in my child’s education. As a single mom, I have to plan for things waaaaaaaaaay ahead of time. (she will be 2 next week).

By Gwinnett Educator

July 17, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this

HS teacher..I forgot to tell you, while I LOVE the way the system handles business (compared to Dekalb)..my principal leaves a LOT to be desired. I know teachers who are transferring after this yr because it will mark 3 yrs. I came in with about 33 new people. Asst principals have moved on. I hear that we have about 30 new people again. It’s crazy! Leadership skills are NON existent. We have a slogan for the new school yr but I said to myself..if you put some ——(fill in the blank) in a can and label it Cream…it’s still ——.

By HS Teacher Too

July 17, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this

Gwinnett Educator, That is pretty funny … from the outside. I’m glad you can laugh, too — it’s tough, sometimes, choosing every day to laugh instead of cry!

I agree about leadership skills. (As jim d calls him,) Napoalvin really prefers marionettes. Paint that smile on, and do as you’re told. If you can’t do, that’s okay — that’s WHY you’re in the position you’re in! Remember the old “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition?” Here’s my version for the admins: “Pass the buck, and blame the teachers!”

By Teacher, Too

July 17, 2008 4:15 PM | Link to this

I am so glad I made the decision to leave Gwinnett after teaching there for six years. It wasn’t my first choice to teacher there; one of my friends who was an admin at the time convinced me to apply - my mistake!

Regarding the grammatical mistakes on the website— I would definitely let the teacher know, but in a kind manner. I have been known to e-mail companies’ webmasters when I’ve seen mistakes on websites. Most times, I usually get a thank you. I even contacted my county’s webmaster when I spotted a mistake on our website. A county’s website should not have grammatical errors!

One quick funny— I make very clear my plagiarism policy. One of my students told me that his parents said that I misspelled plagiarism. I suggested that we look the word up in the dictionary. We did, and he saw that I had spelled it correctly. I also suggested that he tell his parents that the word was not misspelled.

By luvs2teach

July 17, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this

Teacher, Too - your plagiarism story reminded me of the time a parent chatised me for saying “between you and me.”

I don’t even remember what we were talking about, but I said that, and the parent said, “Between you and I…” That stumped me for a sec, and I paused. He then said, “As a teacher, you should know that it’s ‘between you and I.’”

To which I replied, “Well, I’m not a Language Arts teacher, but I’m pretty sure that ‘between’ is a preposition - so for your object of the preposition, you want the objective ‘me’ and not the subjective ‘I’”

To which he replied, “It’s an exception to that rule.”

Wow.

By mom3boys

July 17, 2008 5:56 PM | Link to this

luvs2teach: I love that story…do you hear that siren?? It’s the grammar police!! Last year I tried so hard to get my LA students ready for CRCT…we reviewed pronouns like crazy…and they just would not let go of what “sounds” right. Prime example (and I see this all the time from parents and teachers): Everyone should do their best. ARGHHHH!!!!!!

By luvs2teach

July 17, 2008 6:12 PM | Link to this

mom3boys - The “everyone/their” non-agreement is a definite bugaboo because it’s so often used, and writing just “his” is un-PC, and writing “his or her” is unwieldly. I actually will rewrite my sentences to avoid that.

I had a wonderful teacher in the 5th grade - ex-nun - who was instrumental in getting all of us in class to appreciate the finer rules of grammar. Because of her, I began saying, “This is she” on the phone, among other things, a habit (no pun intended) I’ve kept to this day. She was also great about geting us to understand when to use ‘who’ and ‘whom,’ as well as ‘effect’ and ‘affect.’ However, try as I might, I cannot wrap my ears around “It’s I” - “it’s me” just sounds so much better!

By Maisy

July 17, 2008 7:01 PM | Link to this

This is one of my (many!) pet peeves. Why do we waste time and energy on slogans, mission statements, vision statements and the like when there are so many real problems that need to be addressed? This ranks nearly as high in absurdity as the ridiculous “pep rally” that we will be required to attend during pre-planning. I could accomplish much more and would feel much more appreciated by my employer if I were allowed to remain at my school and prepare for those hectic first days rather than travel 20 miles and waste 4 hours or more of pre-planning. I can’t speak for other teachers, but I believe our central office is terribly out of touch if they think anybody appreciates or benefits from a silly teacher pep rally, especially when our pre-planning days have been cut from 5 to 3.

By Tony

July 17, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this

I hate school slogans and “branding”. When you put a sign in the front yard of the place that has the word school in it one should automatically assume that teaching and learning is the business taking place inside.

Without substance backing them up, slogans are nothing more than empty words.

By Lee

July 17, 2008 7:46 PM | Link to this

Reckon when y’all get through slapping each other on the butt and coming up with catchy slogans you can actually - I don’t know - TEACH???

This coming school year, when parents drop their kids off, there is one underlying theme:

Is my child’s teacher worth a crap?

But I digress. You want a catchy slogan? How’s this:

“At least we don’t suck as bad as the school across town.”

By luvs2teach

July 17, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this

Lee - come on, do you really think the TEACHERS are behind any of this nonsense?

By Glanton Sandidge

July 17, 2008 8:09 PM | Link to this

Hey, Gunny: I did not know that you guys had Parochial schools in Vidalia. What about this slogan: “I create my world on cyber space”? I saw where “jr.” reached out and touched you. Boooooooooo…ooo…ooo… You are becoming such an authority on this “Dear Gunny” blog — but you are the only one asking the questions and answering the queries. Borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring.

By luvs2teacj

July 17, 2008 8:33 PM | Link to this

My name is Gunny…Gunny…Gunny. I am so tired of this. Yawn, yawn, yawn.

By SallyB

July 17, 2008 8:36 PM | Link to this

The idea that slogans for schools are important in any meaningful way is just nonsense!!!
If a school wants a logo/slogan….follow the example of stadiums and city buses, etc……. Find a business to buy in, cover the school in shrink wrap with their logo/slogan all over it and it will be just as meaningful!!!

By jim d

July 17, 2008 8:55 PM | Link to this

Have you guys noticed that catlady and I have no social life? Mom3boys and Clayton Taxpayer (of the Clayton.Talk blog, although he lives in Henry and teaches in DeKalb) and anonymously anonymous (although he is not anonymous in any way) have invited me over for a sleepover. They want me to walk their dog (a cute Palmeranian - sp?) Fee Fee and drink some bubblies with them. Frazier and Nyles are planning a dinner party for me to take place two weeks from Saturday. All of my friends on this “Guuny Blog” will show up, hopefully…Tony,luvs2teach, Lee, Maisy, Teacher Too, and HS Teacher Too, and even Sally B. I would hope that Frazier and Nyles would send our some invitations to old and current staff members at Columbia, King, Southwest DeKalb, Jefferson, Redan, Shamrock, Stone Mountain, and even Woodward. Lift my spirits so that I will not have to try to trash others on these boring blogs. James Brown, sing it: “Please! Please! Please!”

By love my 4 kids

July 17, 2008 10:32 PM | Link to this

In honor of the Beijing Olympics and as a source of inspiration for wannabe public school sloganeers, I give you Chairman Mao and Company’s top ten slogans :

For copyright requests go to http://www.sacu.org/slogans.html

By JackiO

July 17, 2008 10:52 PM | Link to this

*RE Laura’s question: “I’m wondering how they [slogans] make parents….. feel.” Well, they should be made aware of at least one of the downfalls of public schools. Get Burger King to partner up andSHRINK WRAP THAT SCHOOL IN “HAVE IT YOUR WAY”!!!

By love my 4 kids

July 17, 2008 11:10 PM | Link to this

Now here’s a slogan a parent can feel good about….

“Do we really think that a government-dominated education is going to produce citizens capable of dominating their government, as the education of a truly vigilant self-governing people requires?” [Alan Keyes]

By thomas

July 18, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this

This should be the slogan that says it all- “It’s all about the children!!!”

By jim d

July 18, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this

Thomas,

Thats the one Seckinger used to first get elected to the GCPS BOE—once elected he soon forgot it though.