*YOUR* GOOD

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

There have been many collective revelations over the past several weeks, but a new appreciation for teachers certainly ranks near the top.  Parents who have been required to work from home, with all the technological hiccups that engenders, have also been expected to home school their children.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that wine sales have soared in the past two months.  If I were the head of the teacher’s union I’d be forming a strategy for pay raises.  In fact, low pay was one of the primary reasons I decided not to become a teacher.  That, and I have little patience, which seems to be a requirement for working with six year old children.  Twenty years ago I was president of a non-profit organization that paired business people with local elementary schools.  We spent an hour a week reading to an underperforming child.  I loved it and an hour a week was enough to scratch my teacher itch.  But once a year we “played” at being the principal for a day.  I shadowed the principal, dealt with teacher/student issues, heard about heart-breaking home situations from CPS and tried to reconcile the annual budget.  I couldn’t even make it a full day.  After four hours I fled back to my comfortable office.  I am not proud of that, but it forever cemented for me that I had made the right career decision.

I had some good and bad teachers over the years.  I suspect that’s true for everyone.  Like any other profession, there is a wide range of talent and effectiveness among educators.  I was lucky enough to have three teachers whose examples, guidance and talent have stuck with me all my life.  Of the three, the very best was my high school English teacher, Bette Reese.  Until I landed in her class I was a middling student, with low self-confidence and grades to match.  I was more focused on boys and socializing than schoolwork.  Ms. Reese was a task master, constantly correcting grammar, spelling and composition.  She introduced me to Hemingway, Camus and Dostoevsky – pretty heady stuff for a high school junior.  I so wanted to please her that I found myself working harder and – miracle of miracles  – I became an “A” student.  Ms. Reese and I formed a friendship – I introduced her to Rod McKuen, the poet laureate of 60’s pop culture, and she took me under her wing, helping me to better appreciate good writing and the importance of using correct grammar.  I was lucky enough to be in her Advanced English class my Senior year, where my education was further honed by her unrelenting, steely resolve to make something of me.

 

I’ve been thinking of Ms. Reese during this lock-down as I have spent more time watching the news and reading social media.  I’ve been appalled by the number of people unable to write a cogent sentence.  In general, I am a bit of a stickler for grammar (although regular readers of this blog can attest that I make quite a few errors), but I’ve been brought to the brink of insanity the past two months.  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – they are all swamplands of bad grammar.   The most common mistake I see is people confusing “your” with “you’re”.  Clearly they were behind the schoolhouse door the day that contractions were discussed.  I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has posted “Your the best” or “Your going to love this!”.  Ugh. There is no escaping the your/you’re error.  We received an invitation to a tony club opening in Northern California where the front of the card screamed, “YOUR INVITED”.  How many managers had to review that advertisement before it went to the printer?  I decided if they weren’t smart enough to know the English language I wasn’t dumb enough to give them my money.   TV news readers make so many grammatical errors that I can’t decide whether they skipped journalism school altogether or their scripts are written by a third grade dropout.  Whatever the excuse, it’s clear they never learned the difference between “well” and “good”. The reports on the COVID pandemic have generated a common question asked of or by reporters: “How are you doing?”.  About 1,000 times in the past two months the answer has been, “I’m doing good.”.  OMG – NO!  “Good” is used only as an adjective, as in, she makes a good Christmas cookie.  “Well” is an adjective or adverb, as in, I don’t feel well after eating her damned Christmas cookie.  

I wish everyone had been fortunate enough to have had a Ms. Reese in their lives.  There is nothing better than a teacher who instills an appreciation for a subject that gets buried deep in your soul.  Ms. Reese left my high school two years after I graduated and became an English and Journalism professor at College of Marin.  She eventually became the faculty advisor to the student newspaper where no doubt she used her magic on many aspiring journalists.  Sadly, Bette Reese died in 1979 at the age of 44 from pancreatic cancer.  To this day the college awards the Bette Reese Memorial Scholarship to a talented journalism student.  I can only hope they are maintaining her high standards, but I’m not optimistic.  If Ms. Reese were still alive she could make a fortune correcting the grammar of most journalists.  But I guess the point of a good teacher is that we carry on for them, sharing the knowledge they so generously shared with us.  So in the name of Bette Reese I’m going to continue to scream at the infractions on the news channels and social media.  Somewhere, somehow, I just know Ms. Reese is cheering me on.

10 comments on “*YOUR* GOOD

  1. Really appreciated this, Suzannne!
    Most of us had several very inspiring teachers.
    Although I only taught at my old high school for two years while I worked on my doctorate,
    I am happy that I’ve stayed in touch with so many of my students through the years. And I am amazed at how many of them went into teaching, counseling, journalism. I taught English and journalism. Loved my kids!

    • Janet – thanks for the note! I’m sure your students feel much the same way about you. There is nothing better than a good teacher, and nothing worse than a bad one to guide kids in their chosen profession. Hope you and Mr. Wonderful are doing well during this COVID mess. Hopefully we could meet sometime this summer for lunch!

  2. Almost 12 years of Catholic school and menacing nuns, securely rooted good grammar in my brain. I cringe Too when I see some of the things you mention.

    I always knew I had no patience, But that character “flaw” has been reinforced by grandma trying to help her 5 year old granddaughter read. For starters, there is a direct correlation between keeping their bums in the chair and sounding out words. Concentration follows the bum. Bladder control is also directly proportional to the difficulty of the new words. The harder the word, the more they have to pee. Lastly, bribery can motivate most children and grandmas. I promise them a sugary treat and extra screen time and myself a run and Coke. 🧃🍹

    • Well, as usual, I got a good laugh out of your note! Your granddaughter is not only adorable (those curls!) but is very lucky to have a grandma like you. You can teach her math by having her count up all of your jewelry. That should take her into the 1,000’s!

  3. I’m cheering you on. Still. As a teacher in the classroom (or virtual classroom now) I can attest to the fact that teachers run the show and get little compensation or respect for it. Thank you for shedding light on a systemic problem that is becoming more evident every day. “Your” the best.

    “You’re” friend,
    Todd

    • First of all, I was so happy to see a note from you! Hope you and Robrt are doing well during all of this COVID mess. You are greatly missed, my friend. *You’re* students are very lucky to have you as a teacher. Take care – S.

  4. Suzanne: I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about! I see it all the time on emails and texts and even some bad grammar on TV. How about this? It’s going to be hot today and more hotter tomorrow. Yikes! I had very good English teachers also but have they discontinued “grammar” teaching in the schools since we were there?

    • Gayle – I’ve heard from a few teachers that tell me they are so busy and the classroom is so crowded that they don’t have time to teach grammar. Yikes!

Leave a Reply to Patricia Schwartz Cancel reply

Name and email are required. Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.