If You Can Read This--

I don't have any children, but I have a deep appreciation for this quote and for teachers. Maybe it's BECAUSE I don't have kids that I can stand on the outside and look in.

I see teachers like my friend Kevin <3 as unselfish people, motivated by the love of children and learning, and it's NOT a job I would ever want.

Actually...There was a time I wanted to be a teacher, specifically English or Language Arts. I thought sure, the money wouldn't be that great, but I'd spend my days teaching others about the beauty of reading and writing. I could teach them the importance of an idiolect and explain what it means to 'coin' a word. Plus I'd get my weekends and summers off. I could hand out cute little stickers for good work and change lives. That sounded pretty cool to me.

Then as I got older, I realized I didn't like children much. AND that I wasn't selfless enough. (I'm incredibly self-absorbed and was born without patience. I'm like Lumpy Space Princess.) 
I found out that teachers make next to nothing these days, especially in comparison to the ACTUAL hours they put in, and that they spend their own cash to dole out those cute little rewards, after they've spent their evenings correcting countless papers.

It occurred to me...Who in their right mind goes to university for four years to make a piddly wage that requires them to be a glorified babysitter five days a week? Keeping an eye on 30 kids at a time? They're also charged with educating these children on top of that. That's a heavy responsibility.

What if every teacher threw down their sharpies and pens and said "Screw this! I want to do something else for a living. I can make better money selling Mary Kay." Where would we be? Oh yeah...Home school. Not for the faint of heart, light of brain or the impatient.

I know some people who home school their kids, like my friend Natasja, and they're pretty good at it, but I don't think that's an option for everyone. Not everyone has the kindness, patience and perseverance Nat has.

Put it this way...Do you really want to spend all day with your kids? Every day? Trying to drum lessons they may not feel like learning into their inattentive minds? Yes? For how long?

I'm saying pay teachers more, and cut them a little slack. It's a thankless job, but someone in the village has to do it. Better them than you and me. We're not qualified.

Thank you , teachers. I will always appreciate the work you do.

Language Arts for YOUR Information--Part One

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When I was in Grade Nine I had a fantastic Language Arts teacher named Dixie Stickel. She was one of those teachers that had a gift for education and truly loved the kids she worked with. I miss her, and I wish I could find her and tell her I became a writer. I'd like to thank her for her valuable lessons.

The one I remember the most is the meaning of an 'idiolect'. I'm one of the few people I know that often contemplates what it means, so indulge me as I tell you...

An idiolect is the manner of which an individual speaks to the people in his or her life. You don't walk up to your priest and say "Duuuuude! How's it hanging?" Just like you don't saunter up to a chick in the bar and say, "By all intents and purposes, I believe you might possibly be the most divine woman I have ever gazed upon." But I'd be curious to see if that worked.

ANYWAY she used to teach little memory tricks to help us recall answers. For an idiolect, that meant FEAR HERO. It stands for Family, Ethic group, Age, Religion, Hobbies, Environment, Region (?), Occupation. Hey---It's been over 20 years. But you get my meaning, right? If you're a writer at a convention, you've probably notice we all start speaking using larger, more descriptive words.

So I thought, 'There's got to be an easier way to teach people the difference between commonly misspelled words...like two, too, and to. And there versus their. LOTS of people have misunderstandings of these words. It's not at all uncommon.

Today, I thought I'd start with the difference between 'your' and 'you're'. One is a contraction and one demonstrates possession.

Your is the one that demonstrates possession. The simplest way I can think of to understand this one, is that its spelled with Our in the middle. If it isn't mine, or ours, it must be yours.

You're is a contraction for you are. As in "You are in my spot." (I love Sheldon Cooper) It becomes "You're in my spot."

A quick thing to think about when you're writing--Whenever in doubt, interchange them. Does it make sense?

If you've written "Your in big trouble." and you read it again as, 'Our in big trouble." and again as "You are in big trouble." which one is correct? Simple, right?

I hope you found this helpful. I'll be writing other blogs later about the 'theres' and the 'twos' and I hope they're helpful as well <3

That Illuminating Big Word...

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Does anybody remember when they actually learned to read...? That pivotal moment when  the world of books opened up to the magical realms of endless pages?

Maybe I'm lucky, but I remember that exact moment. It changed my young life.

I was in grade one, and I had a fantastic teacher named Miss Nora MacNeil. She was a dedicated woman, so loving and encouraging--a stellar example of professionalism and sweetness. I loved her dearly and still wonder to this day how she is.

I did really well in her class, especially in phonics. The fundamentals came naturally to me, and she never failed to gently push my limits.

We started with Mr. Mugs, remember him? The cute cartoon sheepdog? He was right up there with 'See Spot Run', and I went through that series quickly. So she challenged me.

She gave me a new series...something to do with a girl and her horse. (My publisher's company is named after a horse. Sign of things to come?) I don't remember the name of the girl, the horse or any of the books.

I remember THE WORD.

My mother sat with me, night after night, coaxing me to sound out the vowels and syllables. Most of them were reasonably easy. I just sounded them out.

Then came a word I'd never seen before. It was the longest one I'd ever tried to read. I was intimidated, but determined. After all, I liked reading, and I wanted to be good at it. Not just for me, but for my family and Miss MacNeil.

"Use your phonics," my mother said. "You can do it." There were two syllables, but three phonetic compounds to concentrate on. The first two I didn't have much trouble with--I knew what they meant and what they sounded like. The third one...trickier, but I knew it was supposed to say it almost  like 'Yite' when I read it...

 Fl-a-shh....lll.....FLASHLIGHT!

My mother's reaction was explosive. "Way to gooooo!" She squeezed me hard and gave me a smacking kiss on the top of my head. She was incredulous. "That's a big word for a five year old!"

I giggled, but my eyes were transfixed. All the words ceased to be a bunch of vowel sounds and syllables. I understood them ALL. They were real! And I could really READ! I couldn't wait to tell Miss MacNeil!

The good news is, at the end of the year, I got an award and a gift for reading more books than the rest of the class. I got a homemade card from my beautiful teacher and a record/book called "The Tawny Scrawny Lion."  It would signal when to turn the page by the lion saying "Rrrrowr!"

The bad news is, I took to reading the ingredient lists on my morning cereal to become a better reader. My mistake. My proud mother decided that if I couldn't pronounce it, my sister and I shouldn't be eating it. Goodbye Frosted Flakes, hello Puffed Wheat. Oh, well...

Does anyone else have a story like this? I can't be the only one. If so I'd love to see it in the comments below!