Grammar Wednesday

One of the things I love so much about Grammar Wednesdays is that, in teaching you things, I get to learn new things, too!
CaliforniaTeacherGuy sent me this on Sunday:
Dear Mrs. Chili,
Would you consider doing (or maybe you already have done) a rant about that seemingly ubiquitous and utterly abhorrent Americanism “to go missing”? Just a [...]

They Are Temporal Provincials!

Alternately titled: The Universe is NOT Subtle
I picked up Michael Crichton’s Timeline on Saturday; I’d caught a bit of the movie on the SciFi channel when I was surfing the other day, and it reminded me how much I LOVED the book (the film, however, was a huge disappointment; don’t bother). I’m reading some [...]

A Case for Gen. Eds.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the work that I do.
Most of you know, though some of you may not, that I teach English at Tiny Community College here in my New England hometown. All English courses at TCC – Grammar (a.k.a. Foundational English), Literature, Composition, and Effective Communication (a.k.a. [...]

I Take It Back…

… some of them DO get it.
Observe samples from two students who responded to my letter:
As for myself in today’s class, I had not had breakfast and I had just woken up so I was kind of a zombie and I apologize, but as for everyone else, they are just bitching. I’ve seen this in [...]

They Don’t Get It

Today, we went over two speeches in my public speaking class.  The first was Albert Speer’s closing statement in the Nuremberg Tribunal (the full text of which I can’t find in one place on the internet, or I’d give you the link), and the second was Reagan’s Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate speech.
I was absolutely [...]

Grammar Wednesday

The “is this the right word?” edition.
Kizz sent me a list of words yesterday and asked for some clarification. She reads an awful lot, and I gather that some of what she reads is of indeterminate quality, so she finds herself questioning what she sees; she thinks it’s wrong, but she’s not confident enough [...]

NICE!

This absolutely thrills me!
I’m a little more impressed with teacherscount.org than even I was before.  Not only did they respond to me, but they responded personally, thoughtfully, and promptly!  Check it out:
Dear Mrs. Chili,
Thank you for your compliments on our mission and also for your thoughtful feedback regarding the grammar in the Virginia Madsen ad.  We [...]

I Can’t GIVE Points Away!

This morning, in a fit of what can only be described as woe bordering on despair, I had a look at my hybrid students’ grades.  Let’s just say that they’re not good.  I WANT these students to do well; I’m invested in their success and I want them to pass, so I thought I’d give [...]

I Need a New Word….

….because “yikes” just isn’t cutting it anymore.
Observe this, submitted as homework for this week’s online class:
hi mrs chili.
im gonna write my speech about older drivers driving over an age like 75 they should renew there licence every year to make sure that they can still drive. They turn that age that they cant drive anymore. [...]

You Can Call Me Mrs. Chili

I’ve got a question to put out there to all of you whose opinions I value so much. See if you can help me figure this one out, please.
Most of you know, though some of you may not, that I teach in a small community college in my hometown. It is a two [...]