Does Spelling Count?

Test-taking children evrywhere have to know.  What say you?

No, really, I'm seriously aksing you.  What would your response be?

Think of your response.  Does it depend on the situashun?  On the word in question?

The idea here is going to be that many things seem simple, but few things are.  Are you ready?  As a teacher, you must always be prepared to give an anser to every student who asks you to give the reason for the answer you gave.

The first few months of teaching, I good-naturedly feilded "Does spelling count?" (hereafter referred to as "the question") during every test, assuming that it would die out once I had responded consistently in each section.  It didn't.

Off-hand, I'd say the questian is asked approximately 1.31 times per test, and .43 times per quiz.

My initial instinct, when asked the question, is to explain that I shouldn't have to answer.  It is an exersise in futility — does my answer change their behavior?  No. ("Oh, it counts? I'm going to spell harder now!! -student's inner dialogue)  I have found, however, my initial instincts are not always the best instincts to follow in a junior high classroom.

So, the answer probably shood be an answer.

Effective teaching, in many ways, is about making things simple.  Clarity and repetition are essential in the learning process.  I have had to comprimise in these areas, since I prefer making people actively think in order to understand what I'm saying, and I hate repeating myself.  This approach has only limited success even when my interactions are primarily with reasonable/educated people.  That success rate plummets when my interactions are with anything less, and junior highers most certainly are nothing if not something less.

So, the response probly should be simple.

Effective teaching is also about repitition.  One of my econ professors at Hillsdale, Dr. Wolfram, would start every class by covering the last 10 minutes of material from his last class.  He never openly acknowledged that he did this, but it was hard to overlook.  Though it wasn't ideal from an entertainment perspective, it was effective.  Essentially, his approach forced students to review the material, and the material they were reviewing was the portion where they were likely the least focused (beginning and end of class).

I learned a lot from Dr. Wolfram.  He knows economics, and he's had success at many levels in many areas, both public and private sector.  He is also the go-to professor for when Hillsdale needs a public speaker on economic matters.  He's great at simplifying ideas and mainstream humor, therefore crowds love him.  He's well-known for catchphrases such as "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining," and "Shift happens."  Unlike most economists, he's willing to simplify his personality in order to market himself and benefit, and that's just as rationale as rejecting the urge to conform.

So, the answer should probably be easily repeated.  (What would Dr. Wolfram say if someone asked him the question?  I don't know.  I might ask him when I vissit Hillsdale later this week)

So, you still think I'm silly for over-thinking such a simple question, huh?  Well, try answering this question... Isn't every word just a mispelling of every other word? or... At what point is a word misspelled so badly that is becomes a different word entirely?  A clever student could argue that Clovis is just a misspelling of Constantine.

Think abowt it.

The problem is, the answer to the question can't be "Yes", "No", or "Maybe", or even "Sometimes".  Those answers only make more work for yourself, as you are flooded by follow-up questions.  Similarly, you can't stop class every time and explain your rubrick for determining at what point an almost-rightly spelled answer crosses the line to become a barely-wrong spelled answer.

So, since the spring semester of last year, I have settled into a slogan.  Every time I'm asked if spelling counts, I say the same thing:

"Spelling always counts, some times more than others."

It covers all the bases.  If it has a weakness philosophically, it has yet to be exploited.  Yet, it has not been effective.  My approach has not changed in 5 quarters, but they still ask.

I've printed the slogann on the front page of my last few tests, but they still ask.

I'm offitially declaring war on the question.  When I come back in the second quarter, it's going to printed on a poster at the front of the room, AND it might even be the answer to a bonus question on the first few tests, WHILE it's printed on the poster at the front of the room.

I'm willing to make a bet somone would miss that bonus.  Any takers?