Hello, hello.
I feel a bit somber today after the tragedy yesterday in Boston. The very idea that another human being can have the capacity to do something like that scares me more than anything. I pray for those victims but try to keep my mind off of that terrible event at the same time. I hope you are finding healthy ways to cope.
Today’s post is all about communication. I tell my kids every dang day, “you need these skills for the real world!,” “do you want people to think you are not as smart as you are??” But, alas, I do fear it goes in one ear and right out of the other. Such is life. BUT I have had some interesting encounters with adults lately that have made me believe what I say is true.
College degress are not a requirement for many positions, so the seniors that leave my English classroom can literally walk into a place of business and be expected to communicate; not only with peers, but bosses, other businesses, etc. In their day to day writing, the purpose will change, the audience will change, and the format will change. What if these “students” are not ready? Who’s job is it then? The businesses’? Their own? Who picks up the bill on that one?I am interested to hear from those of you who work with adult learners or who may struggle in your own workplace with communications within your business.
Since the prevalence of email, spell checker, texting, social media postings, etc., I think the emphasis on the importance of communication has shifted. Now, do I think this is a 100% “bad” shift? No. Do I think this is a 100% “good” shift? No. I think that with developments in technology, we inevitably change the way we communicate. For example, for a business looking to hire new employees, knowledge of the structure and format of a business letter may not be as essential as email etiquette, or maybe the use of social media as a marketing tool. So, why are we only teaching MLA format and formal research paper writing (mostly) in our high school classrooms? Why not teach business to business writing, technical writing, or how to use social media for branding? I am sure there are quite a few teachers out there doing this already, and bravo to you, but I would not say you are in the majority…..
The way we communicate is changing, yes, but the manners by which we communicate should not. I have a sense that everyone and everything is just really informal now. I think the fact that we can email and text and tweet and Facebook at any time and expect someone to notice us is, well, egotistical.
When my students email me, I will NOT reply if they send me a poorly written email. I teach them email etiquette within the first
week of high school, and I expect them to use what I teach them. College professors and/or managers will thank me someday, I am sure. I remember being SO afraid to email my English professors because I knew they were probably critiquing everything that I wrote. I would spend obsence amounts of time proofreading emails, but I think that is a good habit to have. We may have spell checker on email but we do not have grammar checker, or “hey that sounds pretty dumb” checkers. Just saying….
Thanks for listening to my little rant 
Join the conversation below and let me know what ya think!
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