-tictech message:
Mark et al:
This is only one of the reasons why are seeing the twilight of public
education in the United Sstates and the dawning of privatization of
education. Students are not even given a choice. This is clearly not about
education but control.
This is so laughable. Who the #$%#@ do these Ph.D's who think up this #$^(%
think they are???????????????? Why don't we require it to be done with
fountain pen??????????? and blotters????????????? or
chisels??????????????? or in cuneiform??????????????????? on clay
tablets??????? retrograde.
This is clearly , totally unjustifiable! Man the way you teach your kids
you are corrupting the youth. I say every one of you should be made to
drink the hemlock who lets those kids use spell check. You all remember the
start of the old poem when spell checkers first came out????
Eye ave a spell ling Czech oar,
Hit came awn mi pee see,
Barry Craig
btcraig@seattleschools.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Ahlness, Mark
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:34 PM
To: tictech
Subject: tictech: DWA comments
-tictech message:
(Sent to tictech last week, I thought it best to think on this message for
a while before approving. A week later, my feelings have not changed. -
Mark)
Hi All,
I'm in a haze from a staggeringly difficult afternoon reaching consensus on
a school budget for next year. But my third graders completed the DWA
(Direct Writing Assessment) today, and I simply have to make a few comments.
Those who've been on this list may be rolling their eyes at this point,
remembering seeing my thoughts on this in years past, but if you're
interested, read on...
So why am I writing? The test is over. The rules can't be changed. Well, I
guess I just wanted to publicly register my outrage at the rules that govern
the use of word processors on this test of writing.
The directions state that word processors may be used, but that spell check
must be TURNED OFF. Some might think this is only common sense, given this
test scores students in a number of areas, including conventions.
I suggest that in 2003 this is totally unrealistic and is indeed punitive.
My kids write better on a computer than on paper - almost all of them. Their
writing on a computer is more complex, longer, better organized, and easier
to read. They are more at home in front of a word processor than with a
piece of paper. I have 14 computers in my classroom, and all my kids write
on a computer daily. Spell check is ALWAYS ON. They become better spellers
as a result of having it on. They LEARN from it. It's as accepted as an
eraser on a pencil.
When was the last time anyone reading this message turned spell check OFF?
Has anyone ever taken an online course or test where spell check had to be
off? Was spelling considered in that online course or test? Of course it
was. These are simple, rhetorical questions that it seems have not been
considered by the people who set this ridiculous rule for the DWA.
Please remember, dictionaries ARE allowed on the DWA, just NOT spell check.
In the directions for administration of the DWA, teachers are asked to
recall (regarding the use of computers) that word processors are not going
to be allowed on the WASL next year, either. Kind of like it's ok to go
ahead and use a computer, but realize you might not be preparing your kids
in the best way for yet another test that does not make any sense. Great.
Ten of my 21 third graders wrote their DWA on a word processor - with spell
check turned off. They were the brave ones, lugging these big old honking
dictionaries over to their computers, juggling them on their laps or
wherever they could find a space. They did it because I told them it was
"the rules". They were tomorrow's writers, using today's tools, taking a
test designed by yesterday's thinkers. This needs to change, now. - Mark
Mark Ahlness
mlahlness@seattleschools.org
Arbor Heights Elementary
www.arborheights.com
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