Well, I certainly was called out, wasn't I? I will admit that it has been nine days since my last post, and my goal with this blog was to write at least once a week. So, I cannot be too upset that my friend and colleague, Samantha Neill, called me on the carpet since she and Greg Freose both have blogged in the last 24 hours. (We will let it slide that Mrs. Neill went 10 months between blog posts before dropping two in the last month. :))
My problem is that while my mind seems to swirl almost constantly with ideas and thoughts, sometimes like some mental toilet with a valve stuck open, I often do not find those tidbits deserving of public inspection, as one would gather from that oh-so-pleasant simile. I don't want to write about something just because it floats; there needs to be more substance. I suppose I could discuss politics. That is always fun and not depressing at all. I wonder why the toilet bowl simile led me in the direction of politics? Anyway, the Honorable Steven Becker of the Kansas House of Representatives attended our Summer Advance planning meeting earlier this week to present Cindy Couchman with recognition by the Kansas State House of Representatives. I use Honorable in a completely sincere manner here and not sarcastically, as the term is so often used in reference to our present politicians. He seems to be one of the good ones though, and by good ones, I mean one of those elected officials who still seems to think about issues and how they affect the state and its residents rather than blindly following a herd of sheep, which can be found on either side of the aisle, off some dogmatic ideological cliff.
Maybe politics should be saved for another time.
I could discuss how lost our youth are today, but as my daughter belts out lyrics from a variety of Green Day songs, I have to smile and admit that there is hope. Besides, even on the most frustrating days I have as a teacher and coach, some kid says, does, or writes something that renews my belief in the future.
So, here I sit, on the couch in case you were wondering, and I need a topic. I will once again turn to Samantha Neill. Her most recent blog mentioned, among many other points, Common Core and the common misperception many people have regarding the standards. Let's go with that little bit of little fare.
Just kidding.
Sam really just used the CCRS as a jumping off point, and I enjoyed reading her blog this morning. Go read it, after you finish here of course. (Link to Samantha Neill's blog)
I could use another friend and fellow BHS ELA teacher as inspiration. He started a blog today, and mentioned our ELA Team, so I could write about how the effect being around intelligent and creative people has on my own creativity and desire to write, read, respond, and create. That might be interesting. Both Sam and Greg wrote of how incredible our fellow teachers are, and they are entirely accurate in their statements. I work with inspiring, creative, and intelligent people. Sometimes, I am amazed by how far some of them will to positively impact young people. By the way, you should also go read Greg's blog. He is entirely comfortable with having as many people as possible join him on his blogging journey (Here is a link to Greg's blog. Andrew Bauer also blogs, and he blogs well. Read his too.). Of course, you should finish reading this post first.
I think I will hold on to that topic. A look into our little family we call THE BHS ELA TEAM deserves a post all its own, as opposed to a post which most people abandoned long ago as meaningless and without direction.
No, today I will address a topic that that very team has discussed on several occasion. This is a subject that has led to shouting matches and more than one fistfight. A point that led, if I remember correctly, to my sister calling me an "ass". I know; that is just rude.
If you have not yet guessed it, the topic is none other than the Oxford Comma.
I am sorry if the mere mention of the Oxford Comma sends you into shell of terror due to horrifying past experiences. I apologize if i offend any of you. Maybe I should have stayed with politics. Or religion. I tell you this: the Oxford Comma is an explosive subject.
The Oxford Comma, or serial comma, is the comma found just before the conjunction in a list. You have all seen it, and most of you have even used them. You should not be ashamed. The Oxford Comma is correct. "I bought apples, aspirin, and bleach at the store." That last comma is the Oxford variety. For some reason, those of a journalistic ilk seem to feel that they do not have follow every rule of Standard American English if they find them inconvenient, and they choose to omit the Oxford Comma. My sister, one of those journalism people, informed me that omitting that comma stems from the need to same space, and Oxford Comma takes up too much space. (I have noticed that journalists tend to "inform" us, the unclean masses, as opposed to "discuss" topics.) Well, I find that taxes take up too much of my paycheck, and I would like to simply omit that inconvenience from my life. Sorry folks, it just does not work that way! We have rules! This is not 'Nam. (Yes, that is The Big Lebowski.)
For some reason, this issue gets under my skin. I am pretty laid back. I take the world as it comes, gather up what I can, and try to build something worthwhile from it. My brother, at his high school graduation, uttered the mantra "Don't sweat the small stuff." The Oxford Comma, or the omission of it, should not bother me so much. I am blaming Kiley Porter. I do not have a reason, but I am going to blame her. Earlier this week, an educator moved through a truly interesting and engaging presentation. However, at one point, on the screen there appeared two sentences. Each sentence contained a list of three words. The first utilized the Oxford Comma. We will call that the correctly written sentence. The second sentence, located at the bottom of the page, contained a three word list, but the Oxford Comma was omitted. Let's just say that this omission triggered my level 2 energy. I fixated on that little punctuation mark. No, I fixated on the lack of that little punctuation mark.
I know some of you (the ones who are wrong) are thinking that this is ridiculous. However, it is not. If we let the Oxford Comma go, what will be next? The next thing you know, journalist will start putting book titles in quotation marks instead of putting them in italics.
What is that you say? Well, crap.
No comments:
Post a Comment