Very Victorian novel!

Susanna, from reading your posts here and on other groups, I'd say the slow down in typing skills hasn't slowed down the flow of ideas at all! And update on the dear sudoku student, we followed up with an email exchange in which I informed him that further sudokuing would lead to failure of the class. He decided another semester of me was not what he would prefer and so reformed. A bit like a Victorian novel?

I was 37.

Yes, I'm doing much better now.

But I've never been so relieved as to realize, in the ER, that I wasn't going to have to relearn to read!

Susanna wrote: "I had it about 5 and a half years ago and think I am recovering fairly well.

My typing is better than my handwriting, I think - I do rather more typing.

Thanks!"


Susuanna, so sorry to hear about the stroke but really pleased that you have recovered so well. A friend of mine had one a few years ago when she was only 35 so it struck home then that this is not just something that affects the old. Glad you're OK now ☺

Susanna wrote: "I had it about 5 and a half years ago and think I am recovering fairly well.

My typing is better than my handwriting, I think - I do rather more typing.

Thanks!"


Susuanna, so sorry to hear about the stroke but really pleased that you have recovered so well. A friend of mine had one a few years ago when she was only 35 so it struck home then that this is not just something that affects the old. Glad you're OK now ☺

Gabriele wrote: "Some of you may have seen this before because it's been circulating on the Internet for a while. I was really surprised that I read this as quickly as a regular paragraph!

"fi yuo cna raed tihs, y..."

Gabriele, I loved that. Is it true about only 55/100 people? If so I am feeling particularly smug at the moment ☺

May I please politely request that posts on here are not either personal attacks or snipes at others comments or typing skills. Mistakes will be made (by all of us) and what is important is discussion / chat between group members not if someone has missed an apostrophe.

Please continue the chat and banter and joking by all means - it's all great fun. I just think that personal attacks of whatever nature are unecessary and unfair.

DJ wrote: "Susanna wrote: "I had it about 5 and a half years ago and think I am recovering fairly well.

My typing is better than my handwriting, I think - I do rather more typing.

Thanks!"

Glad you h..."

Yes, it requires less precision with the muscles, and the unaffected hand can do half of it.

Clare, honey: This thread is about ideas, not typing skills. We've seen your comments on things that have been collateral to the discussions. Now how about letting us hear your ideas about books? Were you the kid who reminded the teacher it was time to give the homework?

Susanna wrote: "I had it about 5 and a half years ago and think I am recovering fairly well.

My typing is better than my handwriting, I think - I do rather more typing.

Thanks!"

Glad you have made a good recovery.I think(in my ignorance)that typing would be easier for you?
Happy Commenting,
DJ

I had it about 5 and a half years ago and think I am recovering fairly well.

My typing is better than my handwriting, I think - I do rather more typing.

Thanks!

Hi Susanna,sorry to hear about your stroke.I hope you are recovering
well?Re-your typing I think the important thing here is that you
still typed...I think reading your comment will hopefully encourage
other people with afflictions!
Take Care

DJ wrote: "Ally,you've summed it up exactly Thank-you.
Could I just put a word in for us with reduced/limited dexterity in
our fingers due to certain medical conditions!!!"

Yup. My typing is somewhat better now, but after the stroke it must have been hilarious to watch - touch-typing on the left, hunt-and-peck on the right!

Yeah, I've seen that. It's pretty cool :D

Gabriele that was fabulous and a hoot to boot!

Some of you may have seen this before because it's been circulating on the Internet for a while. I was really surprised that I read this as quickly as a regular paragraph!

"fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

Ally,you've summed it up exactly Thank-you.
Could I just put a word in for us with reduced/limited dexterity in
our fingers due to certain medical conditions!!!

Hey Clare-what the heck is "tney"? I can't find it in Dictionary
And as your English and Grammar is sooOo great I thought you could
help me out?

I think there should be a spelling amnesty on all chatrooms and forums worldwide! - its too easy to get excited about what you're saying - your brain moves too fast for your fingers!

Besides - the English language is evolving all the time, why don't we just pretend they're newly invented words? try and petition the OED to add them to the dictionary!

LOL

Happy typing!

Ally

Lauren wrote: "Clare, you're as scary as my old History teacher. :O"

"2nd the motion!
I think I`ll keep putting typos in for Clare,do we think she is a teacher?

Clare, you're as scary as my old History teacher. :O

Clare, when I`m passionatr about something,I type very quickly-hence the typos!!!
Everyone knows this about me,so you don`t need to play teacher...ok.

Boof wrote: "How cool is that? That straight-jacket made me shudder though; that would be my worst nightmare being restrained in that thing! (well, that and burning alive!)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straitjacke...

Lee wrote: "Straight jacket anyone? Or perhaps a human skeleton?

What fun Bettie, thanks for posting this. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straitjacke...

DJ wrote: "Hi Andrea,I completely agree with you,it should at least have been
a book!
I can't say more than that as I to once went head to head with a
Teacher who wanted me to cover extra work for a class..." do you mean exorcise your demons - tney are not jogging you know!!!

Andrea wrote: "Okay, but just to inject a bit of levity here, I currently teach college freshmen. Yesterday, a student brought several sudoku books to the writing lab and told me that he had already finished the..."
sorry but this shows the low level of education in a lot of American colleges. Do they actually get credits for doing sudoku??

DJ wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Lauren: I had an English teacher in high school who pronounced Oedepus Oh-edipus. I nevertheless went on to become an English major in college. We all learn a little something fr..." didn't you also learn that sees doesn't take an apostrophe?

I aim to please! :-).

I aim to please! :-).

DJ wrote:
I`m afraid that all I learned from my experience was that a little power can corrupt easily.

Sweet. Nice use of the classics in a discussion about the classics.

Hi Andrea,I completely agree with you,it should at least have been
a book!
I can't say more than that as I to once went head to head with a
Teacher who wanted me to cover extra work for a classmate who kept
"dogging it-i.e choosing to skip class",and I remmber Distinctly
Turning round and saying"Sorry I've got extra reading to do on another
Topic!I sat down and pulled my books out she pressed the matter so
I just told her that I didn't see why my education should be made
to suffer to cover for someone that didn't care!(I was quaking in-
Side).I went home and relayed it to my parents,the teacher had already
Been on the phone by the time I got hpme-wanting my parents to
School the next day regarding my insubordination.My Mother went
Unfortunately for the Teacher my Parents agreed with my opinion,
So upshot was I got moved up a class as the Headmaster got involved.
Thank you for letting me exercise my demons.

lol. Oh man, I can't believe they think we'll buy that kind of thing! Ridiculous. I had a student once who fell asleep during his own final exam. He napped for a good 15 minutes before I woke him up . . . I like to think he stayed up all night rereading the play, but I kind of doubt it.

Sorry about your bum student, Andrea--maybe he'll reconsider when he gets his participation grade ;)

Okay, but just to inject a bit of levity here, I currently teach college freshmen. Yesterday, a student brought several sudoku books to the writing lab and told me that he had already finished the paper the rest of the class was drafting, but no, I couldn't read it over to give him suggestions as he hadn't brought it with him and no, he didn't need the assignment sheet for next week as he was perfectly happy working on his sudoku books, thank you very much. I think I would have been less ticked off if he had at least been READING something. Maybe he's one of the people the rest of the students had to wait for hahaha. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I feel much better now:).

Barbara wrote: "Lauren: I had an English teacher in high school who pronounced Oedepus Oh-edipus. I nevertheless went on to become an English major in college. We all learn a little something from everyone, and..."

I`m afraid that all I learned from my experience was that a little power can corrupt easily and that just because someone has certificates(Diplomas)doesn`t necessarily mean they know much about anything!!

I have a good friend who is now herself a teacher and she agrees with me as she see`s so much incompetence on a daily basis,that she has actually considered leaving the teaching profession as she is so ashamed of some of her fellow "educators"!

Ugh, that's brutal Lauren. "Memorable quotes"? It is often difficult to get students to do the reading--and nearly impossible to run a worthwhile discussion if they don't--but that's pretty dreadful.

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's reading list, Andrea--what a shame. I could see a great discussion coming out of Fried Green Tomatoes at least--lots of juicy stuff there about the feminist movement in the 80s, to say nothing of the situation of women and race in the 1920s. Maybe it would be fun to read it with her and have a mini-book club! ;) I don't think, though, that what she reads is nearly as important as how she's taught to read it. If the teacher is really good at teaching critical analysis, then your daughter will be a step ahead of most college freshmen. Unfortunately, as the teacher already has a reputation for being an "easy A," it sounds like that might not be the case. And it could be worse--one of my cousins took an English class last year in which she wrote 2 essays the entire year and wasn't allowed to take the graded essays home with her. The students could look at the grade in class and then they had to give the essays back to the teacher. I was floored--I can't believe that such a practice is even allowed.

Barbara wrote: "Lauren: I had an English teacher in high school who pronounced Oedepus Oh-edipus. I nevertheless went on to become an English major in college. We all learn a little something from everyone, and..."

Perhaps, Barbara. But a little more literature would be nice :D

~~
I'm so glad I found this group actually. The theme of the syllabus this year is Victorian literature (with a fairly flexible definition). For example, Arcadia, which was neither written nor set in the Victorian era.

Lauren: I had an English teacher in high school who pronounced Oedepus Oh-edipus. I nevertheless went on to become an English major in college. We all learn a little something from everyone, and in your case, I suspect you will learn patience and compassion from your English teacher, if not so much literature.

DJ wrote: "Andrea wrote: "My daughter, who is in 10th grade (second year of h.s.) just brought home her reading list for English class. The required reading looked okay, but then there were books the teacher..."

Even reading that makes me really annoyed for you! :O
It's like, when we were doing Great Expectations, at least half the class didn't bother to read it and so we were taught by a re-written, 15 or so pages long version of it, with a sheet of 'memorable quotes' tacked onto the back.

I concur.

Andrea, I think I would have the same reaction as you.

DJ wrote: "Andrea wrote: "My daughter, who is in 10th grade (second year of h.s.) just brought home her reading list for English class. The required reading looked okay, but then there were books the teacher..."

I think that was why my mum was more than happy to drive me to the central library (45 min drive) every Saturday morning. I remember having to pick a poet/poem for grade 10 English and I picked a Rudyard Kipling poem. She hadn't even known he was a poet. LOL!

Andrea wrote: "My daughter, who is in 10th grade (second year of h.s.) just brought home her reading list for English class. The required reading looked okay, but then there were books the teacher could choose f..."

The problem I had in secondary school was that I was ahead of what they were teaching and in fact the teacher had not even heard of some of my favourite authors`.It was probably amongst one of the worst periods my parents went through with me as a teenager as I became so depressed and then there was the whole thing about only working at the pace of the slowest member of the class!!!
I`ve always resented that my parents did nothing about it.I went from someone who was enthralled by any book I could get my hands on to someone who could barely be bothered to read a birthday card!
It was a soul destroying experience.

My daughter, who is in 10th grade (second year of h.s.) just brought home her reading list for English class. The required reading looked okay, but then there were books the teacher could choose from to include for extra reading. Among only 10 or 12 choices were included "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "The Five People You Meet In Heaven." I'm not saying anything about the books as personal choices, but to present them as somehow academic preparation for college? My daughter said,"Oh Mom, don't make a scene. This is a really easy teacher and I'm pretty much guaranteed an 'A'." Sigh...

Lauren wrote: "Ach! What do you do when your teacher is an idiot? Apparently 'droll' means boring and Little Dorrit is by Thomas Hardy. AND he'd never heard of Pasteur's Germ Theory.

"

I am reminded of when my mother circled the misspelled words on my spelling list in red and had me return it to my eighth-grade English teacher!

I really liked the fact that in grad school, most of my professors were not that picky about which citation style you were using, so long as you were consistent about which one you were using, and it provided the necessary level of information about the book (yes, we mostly cited books in those days!).

Having said that, they preferred Chicago Style Manual, but were not neurotic about it, mostly. Although I will say that historians in general were overjoyed when they found out word-processing programs would do the footnotes for you. Historians love footnotes.

Boof wrote: "Ally wrote: "I'm so excited! - My course materials arrived the other day for my new OU course on 'The Nineteenth Century Novel'. I'm reading the Northanger Abbey Chapter & Info as we speak.

......"

Wonderful! - Thank you so much Boof. I'll start a thread at the weekend and hopefully some lovely people will join in with the chit chat. Thanks again - it will be such a help to my learning to get some outside opinions.

Ally

Andrea wrote: "Maybe you could just pointedly bring in a carton of PASTUERIZED milk? It must be very frustrating that the teacher doesn't know his own subject well. As a teacher, sometimes I'm wrong, but I try ..."

I had an issue with citations lately. In the 20 years since I left university the MLA citations changed. So I had to relearn them - no more footnotes and intext citations are used instead. Also, having been educated in Canada, I was used to the British form of quotation punctuation. I didn't realize the difference for U.S. standard. Not a big difference, but like the spelling, just enough to think you are going crazy. LOL!

Maybe you could just pointedly bring in a carton of PASTUERIZED milk? It must be very frustrating that the teacher doesn't know his own subject well. As a teacher, sometimes I'm wrong, but I try to be humble about it. Yesterday, in fact, my students were laughing at (maybe with?) me because we were watching a tutorial on the internet about citations. First, I had to call a tech person because I couldn't get the sound to work. Then, when I wanted to pause the screen to explain something, I couldn't figure out how until a student showed me. Actually, I think you're probably wise not to correct the teacher in front of the class. You have to try to live with him.

He is an English teacher, apparently with a degree in said profession,and he's in charge on ensuring we get university-standard grades (not that it isn't our responsibility). It made me fume, actually, and I was itching to correct him. But teacher's hate that kind of kid.

Andrea, he outrightly said he'd never heard of Pasteur or his germ theory, after I'd mentioned it. It was during a class discussion about notable things in the Victorian era.

Ah well, my other teacher is brilliant. I love really clever teachers - they just fire you up ready to learn, don't they?

Diana wrote: "I completely relate to this. According to the teacher who taught my advanced English class in high school, T.S. Eliot was a woman (oops, wrong Eliot), and Louisa is the name of Mr. Darcy's sister. I don't think she particularly cared for being corrected by her students."

Unfortunately, sometimes a teacher not versed in a subject is required to teach said subject. One year my son's grade seven social studies/history teacher was the computer and math teacher. There were too many students and an extra class was needed. He was the only teacher available to teach. He taught Roman history and mythology by flow charts - LOL! Which most of the males in the class loved, but it took the romance out of it for the females ;)