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ArchivesRe: Name advice from a teacher
in reply to a message by Daividh
"Ah, idealism! Afraid I have to side with Elizabeth on this one, Nan - at least to the extent that the world doesn't always work the way it should or the way we'd like it to."
@@@@ I think you missed my point, Daividh. :) A teacher who easily misspells (or mistypes, I'm being charitable) a word like "trophy" makes me wonder if she might have other reasons for complaining about difficult name spellings among her students.
"All too often, awards and personal recognitions are given out by people who don't know the the child as well as we'd like; perhaps the school has 1,500 students instead of 500, or maybe as educators they've been forced to wallow so deeply in governmental and bureaucratic requirements that little time is left to really connect with the child."
@@@@ Getting a kid's name right, for cripe's sake, ain't that big a deal, Daividh. It's the very least one might expect from a school system.
"Ask some young ex-teachers sometime why they left the profession; I've hired two in the past six months, and this is a big part of why they left after only two or three years in the classroom. (Incidentally, they adapt wonderfully to manufacturing administration, and we sure pay better!)"
@@@@ Perhaps those teachers you've hired who left the education profession are better suited to manufacturing administration. That's cool for them, and that's cool for the kids. As for the pay, the average elementary school teacher's salary here on Long Island is $70,000 -- with summers off, winter breaks and spring breaks.
"Elizabeth seems to be saying that in an increasingly impersonal world, having an unusual name or unusual spelling presents additional burdens for a child, and I'd have to agree with that. Not that it can't be overcome, and not that an unusual name doesn't have its own rewards: it does, eventually."
@@@@ Well, I suppose kids named "Dick", "Jane", or "Spot" may have an easier time of it in school. One might at least expect the teachers to be familiar with those names. :)
"Elizabeth echoes a point I was trying to make the other day: awash in a sea of Brittanys and Briannas and Hunters, what ever happened to names like Mary, and Susan, and Barbara? Today for children they ARE unusual names. Maybe instead of opting for Klingon or trailer park spellings, many people could satisfy their urge for name novelty just by checking the class registers of 40 years ago. It's not a bad suggestion..."
@@@@ I did say Elizabeth made some good points, that being one of them. I'm all in favor of revitalizing a lot of names that have gone out of "style", and choosing them over the current crop of trendy Keanus and Mackenzies. But, you know, Daividh, I'll bet there were a lot of misspelled "Dorathys" and "Danels" back in the good ol' days, too. :)
-- Nanaea
@@@@ I think you missed my point, Daividh. :) A teacher who easily misspells (or mistypes, I'm being charitable) a word like "trophy" makes me wonder if she might have other reasons for complaining about difficult name spellings among her students.
"All too often, awards and personal recognitions are given out by people who don't know the the child as well as we'd like; perhaps the school has 1,500 students instead of 500, or maybe as educators they've been forced to wallow so deeply in governmental and bureaucratic requirements that little time is left to really connect with the child."
@@@@ Getting a kid's name right, for cripe's sake, ain't that big a deal, Daividh. It's the very least one might expect from a school system.
"Ask some young ex-teachers sometime why they left the profession; I've hired two in the past six months, and this is a big part of why they left after only two or three years in the classroom. (Incidentally, they adapt wonderfully to manufacturing administration, and we sure pay better!)"
@@@@ Perhaps those teachers you've hired who left the education profession are better suited to manufacturing administration. That's cool for them, and that's cool for the kids. As for the pay, the average elementary school teacher's salary here on Long Island is $70,000 -- with summers off, winter breaks and spring breaks.
"Elizabeth seems to be saying that in an increasingly impersonal world, having an unusual name or unusual spelling presents additional burdens for a child, and I'd have to agree with that. Not that it can't be overcome, and not that an unusual name doesn't have its own rewards: it does, eventually."
@@@@ Well, I suppose kids named "Dick", "Jane", or "Spot" may have an easier time of it in school. One might at least expect the teachers to be familiar with those names. :)
"Elizabeth echoes a point I was trying to make the other day: awash in a sea of Brittanys and Briannas and Hunters, what ever happened to names like Mary, and Susan, and Barbara? Today for children they ARE unusual names. Maybe instead of opting for Klingon or trailer park spellings, many people could satisfy their urge for name novelty just by checking the class registers of 40 years ago. It's not a bad suggestion..."
@@@@ I did say Elizabeth made some good points, that being one of them. I'm all in favor of revitalizing a lot of names that have gone out of "style", and choosing them over the current crop of trendy Keanus and Mackenzies. But, you know, Daividh, I'll bet there were a lot of misspelled "Dorathys" and "Danels" back in the good ol' days, too. :)
-- Nanaea
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Replies
"...the average elementary school teacher's salary here on Long Island is $70,000 -- with summers off, winter breaks and spring breaks"
I'm moving to LI!
I'm moving to LI!
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I enjoyed reading the responses to my opinion on both unusual and trendy names. First, in defense of my spelling error, I'm usually online with my twin 3 year olds one on my lap and one behind me standing-and they like to touch the "wetters"-(we alternate from mom's sites to nickjr.com) and I edit best I can before sending. So, being a grammarian(not that I was ever a true philologist-- my specialty is learning disabilities)online went out the door a long time ago. Second, in my experience(at a much lower salary than LI by the way)it isn't the teachers who make the errors with these more difficult names, it is the other children(in valentines, etc.) and school administrative personnel who do not interact with these students daily, and (again,just my opinion)are not as concerned with the child's self-esteem(always my main concern when I was in the classroom). Finally, I find it very funny that my simple(let's stress that word due to my apparent ignorance in spelling)opinion which was meant to genuinely alert people to the hurt these children experience was taken as a "tirade"-There is obviously a lot of anger out there about teachers. A lot of anger in general- brings me back to my original point-might be a good idea to simplfy life-make things easier, pick a pretty name we haven't seen for a while, lighten up a little! (Now that's a tirade!)
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...not to mention at least 73 Jewish holidays!
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To be fair, the cost of living here is probably among the highest in the nation, as well.
Don't pack your carpetbags as quickly as Hillary Clinton did, P.L. :)
-- Nanaea
Don't pack your carpetbags as quickly as Hillary Clinton did, P.L. :)
-- Nanaea
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All too true. A dozen years ago, we owned a fairly big brick house on a large wooded lot in cheap western Kintuckie. Oh course, I was mortgaged to the hilt (have more sense - and smaller house - now).
My bro-in-law from Setauket, LI was visiting and we were discussing living costs. He said "I'll bet you a six-pack I pay more in property taxes a month than you do in house payment". I thought about his rambling ex-farmhouse with a view of the Sound, but still laughed and said "easiest beer I ever scored!"
We compared numbers, and I bought the beer. How does ANYONE afford to live there, Nan?! :(
My bro-in-law from Setauket, LI was visiting and we were discussing living costs. He said "I'll bet you a six-pack I pay more in property taxes a month than you do in house payment". I thought about his rambling ex-farmhouse with a view of the Sound, but still laughed and said "easiest beer I ever scored!"
We compared numbers, and I bought the beer. How does ANYONE afford to live there, Nan?! :(
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How does anyone afford to live on Long Island? Expensively, Daividh, expensively. Here, it really *is* a necessity for the moms to have jobs outside the home -- being a full-time, stay-at-home mom is a luxury. Not that I'm a mom, myself -- and I realize I'm fortunate to have an adminstrative job that not only pays well but that I enjoy immensely.
But then, here on Long Island we enjoy an extremely high standard of living, too, with many services and recreational facilities that are missed by folks who retire and move to places like Florida and the Carolinas. In *Places Rated Almanac*, in fact, Long Island has consistently scored in the #1 position for public library service offered to its residents.
So, the bottom line is that age-old adage: "You get what you pay for." And nobody who enjoys all the perks of living here on Long Island really has any biznizz complaining about what it also costs to live here. :)
-- Nanaea
But then, here on Long Island we enjoy an extremely high standard of living, too, with many services and recreational facilities that are missed by folks who retire and move to places like Florida and the Carolinas. In *Places Rated Almanac*, in fact, Long Island has consistently scored in the #1 position for public library service offered to its residents.
So, the bottom line is that age-old adage: "You get what you pay for." And nobody who enjoys all the perks of living here on Long Island really has any biznizz complaining about what it also costs to live here. :)
-- Nanaea
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