Life as an Educator

Yeah, so...I'm just going to start posting some of these situations on my blog just to see whether I'm sane or not. In retrospect, this one is minor in comparison but this is the e-mail my colleague received from a parent today. Now, keep in mind that we are requiring our 8th graders to memorize the pronouns (yes, 8th grade---don't even get me started on THAT!) But one would assume that it is also important to understand the differences between the possessive pronoun "their" and the word "there." One would also assume that ANY 8th grader (with an IEP or not) should be able to learn the difference between the spellings, especially in the case these two particular homophones. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe we are just expecting too much from out 8th graders.

Mrs. X

My son Bobby is in your language arts class. He had a test on pronouns and he got 4 wrong because they were misspelled. Our, ours which he spelled ower and owers and their and theirs which he spelled there and theres. In his IEP it clearly states that he is not to be downgraded for spelling errors an if you do not know what he wrote he is to be questioned before it is wrong. I have the paper at home and will send it in Tuesday to have this explained to him and so you can see it as well. Thank you for your time and help. If I am mistaken please let me know, otherwise I will assume his grade for that test should be changed. Thanks again.

Bobby's Mother