Red, White and Roux

          We have a new verb at Franklin County Schools - Deeoeed.

            For example, "Were you deeoeed today?" The translation is, "Did representatives from the state Department of Education visit your classroom today?"

            In addition to lesson plans, teaching, required administrative paperwork, and classroom management, we now have the big state bosses on the premises every two weeks.

            We start getting the announcements a week ahead of time over the intercom. "Teachers, just a reminder, DOE will be in the school on Thursday."

            I know teachers who stay late the day before a visit to make sure their classrooms are up to snuff and their lesson plans are perfect. We never know what the state guys are going to do. Will they ask to see our lesson plans? Will they question students about the lesson of the day? Will they observe us teaching? Will they look to see that students are all engaged? Will they judge how we organize our class library? Do we get dinged if one kid has his head down? And what about those teachable moments? We might stray off-topic if students have an issue that needs discussion. Is that verboten?

            The stress level, even for experienced teachers, is off the charts. I am striving to maintain certainty that I consistently do what is best for my students. It might not always be what DOE thinks is important.

            We are primarily graded and judged by student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The federal law dubbed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates testing through eighth grade. Florida is such a good little DoBee (remember Romper Room?) that we mandate testing in 10th grade. Passing the test is a graduation requirement. Do we teach to the test? Of course.

            Ah, but therein lies the rub. The writing portion of FCAT is an essay. It is not a graduation requirement, but it does count toward the school grade. The scorers hired by the testing vendor are instructed to view the essay as a draft. Students have only 45 minutes to write and so grammar, usage, and mechanics errors are somewhat, though not completely, forgiven. To be honest, top-scoring essays have relatively few errors.

            Where is the impetus for teachers to focus on grammar?

            Hard to find.

            Unfortunately for the children, college teachers didn't get the memo. They still rage about comma splices, subject verb agreement, consistency of tense, change in point of view, active versus passive verbs, and the willy-nilly use of apostrophes.

            The College Placement Test, the ACT, and the SAT still reflect an emphasis on grammar skills. As a teacher, do I have to choose between preparing my kids for the almighty FCAT, or do I get them ready for college?

            College is all about writing. My son, who is a sophomore at Georgetown, has only one actual test as a final this semester. All of his other classes require papers.

            So, I take a deep breath and make a decision. My kids have to know grammar. Believe me, this is heresy.

            Back in the day, when I went to school, we spent half of the year on grammar and half of the year on literature. Thanks to Betty Brown, Jean Gander, and Susan Galloway I get how to punctuate dialogue and when to start a new paragraph. Everything I know, I learned from them.

            In college during the Seventies, transformational grammar was the rage. It was all about the structure of the language, ignoring what is correct or incorrect. Methods classes in education bemoaned the drill of grammar worksheets.

            I have seniors who turn in papers consisting of a single, two page paragraph. They put apostrophes on simple plurals. They use the lower case "I" in contractions like "I'm," and "I'll." They switch point of view from first person to second person. For example, "I walk down the halls, you can see everything." These kids are not ready for college.

            So, I am doing what is necessary. I am getting my students ready, despite the Sunshine State Standards. I will jump through all the hoops set up by DOE, but I have a secret agenda. My kids will face life after high school with the skills they need.

            Denise Roux is a regular columnist for the Apalachicola and Carrabelle Times. To reach her, email her at rouxwhit@mchsi.com