Be afraid. Be very afraid.

We had a short staff meeting after school today in the high school math teacher's classroom. I wasn't in there for very long (25 minutes), but was seriously disturbed by the time I walked out. She had a poster on the wall describing to students what vertical lines were. Problem was, she spelled "vertical" like this: verticle. On a poster. On the wall for all to see. Duh. On the board she had the agenda listed for her first period class. That's all well and good, except she spelled "cancellation" like this: cancelation.

Does this bother anyone else?! If a TEACHER is going to post something on the wall or write something on the board, doesn't it make sense that the words should be spelled right?! It seriously bothers me that a TEACHER doesn't even care enough to make sure that things are spelled correctly in her classroom. I know that she's not an English teacher or a writing teacher, but that doesn't excuse laziness. She does teach one period of reading, and her horrible spelling skills set a horrible example. I may not be a high school math teacher, but if I do basic math facts on the board or post something on the wall having to do with basic math skills, I make sure those fact/skills/whatever are correct. Is it too much to ask her to do the same in making sure that basic words are spelled correctly?! I don't think so. As teachers, we set the example. We set the bar for the level at which we want our children to achieve. Judging from what I saw in her classroom today, that teacher hasn't set the standard very high. It's a shame.