Kids allowed to write slang in exams

I personaly think that if you are too lazy to write correctly, you should have to retake tests.

Every so often I will get papers written in IM-speak... "thru," "tho," "ur," etc. I also frequently get 's at the end of sentences. I make my students re-submit the papers with recognizable English.

The only time, IMO, that it appropriate to write slang in school is when a student is writing a report about slang, and uses those words in quotes. Another example is where they are writing a story, and the characters talk in slang. Any other use of slang in school writing is atrocious.

This is a hot debate in teaching (though not the MOST hot debate). And the consensus seems to be "Usually not ok, but sometimes it just sort of depends." If you are querying a mixed group of 4th graders on geometry content, it is most important to see what geometry they know, not how they spell.

Possibly, although it would be inaccurate to call the slang issue a matter of "spelling." It's about communication and how one presents oneself. When I tell students not to use the words "thru" and "ur," it's not because I care about their spelling; it's because I want them to know that if they ever used IM-speak in cover letters to potential employers, rightly or wrongly their applications would go straight to the waste basket. Better that they learn that in a protected environment like school rather than in the real world, where it will count.

Littlek, my daughter's teachers felt that way (that spelling wasn't important except during the spelling lesson)... The result is an 18-year-old who can't spell.

She leaves me notes telling me she's gone to the wods with a grope of her firends. She'll be back latter.

Nobody emphasized spelling except in the weekly lists in grades 1-4, so the kids don't carry it over into other parts of their work.

"When I was a youngster" (oh, god, am i that old?) a half-point was taken from the total score for every i dotted with a little circle (a feminine affectation not taken lightly by my teacher) rather than a round little dot. Let's not even mention misspellings!

My sister is a college professor, and doesn't offer spelling correction either, even though the collegians she's instructing can't spell either. She says it's the job of their elementary teachers to get them to spell correctly, and if they've not bothered, she can't help it. She's right, but how do you get the elementary teachers to teach it?

oh, we emphasize spelling in all written assignments. But, during tests, we don't take points off unless the test is testing spelling (and writing).

But, I get what you're saying, Wy. That's why it's a hot topic. And, to be fair, many people my age are crappy spellers and we did have to spell things correctly.

Mainstream students should at least appear to be trying to spell, though the emphasis is more on knowledge retention, rather than spelling accuracy.

No slang allowed except for the conditions stated above in Phoenix's post.

I was teaching indigenous students, and actually had to learn Kriol, and translate some of the English words into Kriol for the aural tests, (these kids were illiterate, despite nine or ten years of schooling).

Sad, really, but when I was at Darwin University, studying my advanced dip in adult education, the senior lecturer claimed that literacy and numeracy were no longer important with the computer taking the onus for accuracy and spelling.

I guess that's why I didn't last too long in the education field.

I'd be a little concerned if my daughter was going with a grope of friends.

Hehehehe, but did you see my intended gaffe? Aural, in place of oral?

Tehn tehre is teh shcool of tohgut taht as lnog as the frist and lsat ltetres are in teh rghit palce it's sitll radelbae.

I was reminded of this thread after reading this interesting article in the NY Times:


Informal Style of Electronic Messages Is Showing Up in Schoolwork, Study Finds