Teachers Are Sharing The Basic Skills They NEVER Thought They’d Have To Teach Their Students

Hi. My name is Alexa, and I used to teach high school English Language Arts. It’s a piece of lore I try to forget about — mainly because, among many frustrations, the school actively worked against its students.

You see, as sophomores, my kids had no idea how to use any punctuation, and it was a clear issue in their writing. However, our vice principal, who approved or rejected my lesson plans, refused to let a grammar lesson go through because the state “did not test for grammar” at this grade level, and teaching to the test was prioritized. 

SO, that left me with teens referring to semicolons as “that lil’ smiley face thing” because they were meant to learn punctuation in earlier grades, and I, as their teacher, was told to move forward (even if they didn’t).