The Problem With Technology

Since last year, I have been concerned with Gray's spelling abilities.  The school seems to be much more focused on the creative aspect of writing than the technical.  I know that he is only in third grade, but I feel like spelling needs to become a habit.  If you don't know how to spell a word, you look it up.  I know that I am not always grammatically correct and my spelling my not be impeccable(everyone makes mistakes), but I am a proofreader at heart.  I find errors in nearly everything I read.  Newspapers, books, magazines, billboards, you name it.  It drives me crazy to see things written incorrectly!

I was eating lunch with some teachers a couple of weeks ago.  There was one guy who was talking about how great technology was(while he was texting on his phone and messing with his iPad).  Somehow we got to talking about spelling, and he said that spelling and handwriting were becoming obsolete because most final drafts of papers would be typewritten, and the errors would be corrected.  Anyone who has written very many papers knows that no matter how many times you run spell check and editing programs, there are often errors that make it through.  One of the other teachers pointed out several things that couldn't be spell checked.  She told us of a hand-written sign she had seen the weekend before that said "Welcome to the Neighberhood!"  He kind of laughed it off.  He said that he was "fresh-out-of-college" and most of the teachers he graduated with shared his opinion.

Because of my recent concern, I know that the teachers at our school don't agree with this guy's opinion, but it bothers me that any teacher would think spelling is unnecessary.  I understand that many people rely on spell check or auto correct to fix their spelling errors without much effort.  I also must confess that I have found myself whipping through a text or e-mail assuming that if I make any mistakes my device will catch it. 

This is the problem with technology... It is making us lazy.  Why teach or learn spelling, grammar or handwriting when a computer can do it for you?  Why learn your math facts when a calculator can solve all of the problems for you?  I am going to continue to encourage my children to work on being great spellers.  I am going to quiz them on math facts.  I want my kids to know that technology is a wonderful tool, but nothing can take the place of a strong mind.