"Will spelling count?"

Whether you said it out loud or thought it in your head, whenever there was a writing prompt given in class, the looming question always was, "will spelling count?" Does it count? I'm not really sure now.

When we were kids it was always a toss up. If our teacher wanted us to just get the words out and the prompt was for the sake of us getting the ideas down, the answer was usually, "no." If the prompt was in any subject other than reading or writing, the answer was usually, "no.' In retro-spec, the later has the implication that spelling only counts when you're writing about something language specific, which, in my opinion, completely sends the wrong message to students because of course spelling counts in science, and in math, and in social studies.... and in life.

...But we don't think that way anymore. We definitely live in a world of auto-correct and spell-check and, "who even knows how to spell that word anyway?" Well shouldn't you? I think so.

I struggled with to, too, two, which, wich, witch, and I distinctly remember being called out in front of the whole class for spelling "America" wrong in 5th grade. Spelling was really difficult for me, but now, I find that when I spell things out loud (people who babysit know what I'm talking about) I find people really don't know the basics. C-O-O-K-I-E took you more than 3 seconds to figure out? Really? Maybe it's because we're not writing as much as we used to, but I think it's because we've become so dependent on technology to fix things and finish things for us that we sometimes don't think to do it ourselves.

We definitely don't need to be crazy spelling drill sergents in our classrooms, having spelling tests every week because as we've discussed and know from experience, that definitely doesn't help anyone. But what does help is making sure that students understand that spelling does count. Pointing out words students consistently spell wrong and having those words be their "buzz" words that they focus on in their writing should become their key words so they don't continue to spell them wrong in the future. Making the word wall full of words that students use, and also of ones that they should aim for using so that they can refer to both the word and the spelling will help commit them to memory.

In my practicum, there really isn't enough dedication to spelling. My students use Words Their Way and they do great with it, until they have to apply it. None of them see the connection, so it's seemingly a waste of time. Their writing has a ton of mis-spelled words that they learned in prior years or that they are even working on that week! And I'm not so sure that my teacher is pointing it out to them. So at the end of the day, I really feel that unless it's a brainstorm, spelling should always count.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

With this week being "Banned Books Week," I thought that it would only be fitting that I write about two of my favorite books of all time. Both The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger have been repeatedly brought to the American Literary Association and have been banned in school districts since their creation. Many would argue that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is simply a modern day version of The Catcher in the Rye and it is, therefore, not surprising that they raise similar concerns by school districts, teachers, and parents for sexual content, drug and alcohol references, adult material, implicit and explicit homosexual references, among many other controversial issues. What I find to be interesting, however, is how people sometimes get upset when they read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, because they think that the writing sounds too similar to The Catcher in the Rye.

According to Wondrous Words, we should be emulating great authors and authors who use words well and have a good sense of craft. J.D. Salinger isn't just known for his controversial writing, but he is known for writing good controversial writing. If this is the case, what's so wrong with the two books having a similar sound to them? The story line of the two books are clearly different. The similarities are that the main characters are two males trying to find their way in the world, but everything about the characters from where they live, who they are as people, to the people around them could not be more different. In other words, the stories could not be more different.

I wonder if people are just not used to the idea of emulating great authors, or if it's the fear of not doing it well that is scary to writers. I think that it's important to point out to our students that trying to emulate other author's is not a process that is easily perfected, and it's not one that is expected to be perfected. It is difficult to do well, and even when it is done well, not everyone is going to like the way it sounds. The most important thing about emulating other authors while you write is to chose an author that appeals to you and to always keep in mind why that author was interesting to you in the first place. Was it the author's choice of words? Was it his or her way of starting sentences? Or, going back to the banned books topic, was it the fearlessness in the topics he or she wrote about? I know with the new curriculum and as a new teacher, taking time to visit banned books would never be a skim-able subject, but I hope that one day I can have at least a mini-lesson on what the week is about and why banned books are so important.