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remedial education isn't exactly fun Monday, August 29 2005
I was in the village of Tivoli for much of the day. The second half of it was kind of mean work, climbing up and down the cluttered steps of a rambling Victorian trying to pull CAT 5e cable through a narrow three-story void in the wall.
Meanwhile Gretchen prepared for her first day as a professor of remedial English at a local community college by taking in her usual crime dramas, women's basketball games, and what not. Actually, I have no idea how she prepared. I do know she was stressed out. Remedial education isn't exactly fun for any of the parties involved.
While Gretchen was off teaching her class this evening, I drained the house's cold water supply and attached that gizmo I made yesterday. Since it has a shutoff valve, I could just let it hang there, with none of the solar-related hydronic plumbing yet attached. Things are going to get a little more crowded in that room. I've had to build a small platform over the water pressure tank so I can access the voids where all the new pumps, valves, and tanks will have to hang. That platform was essential even for today's work.
Word on the street has it that today's remedial English students aren't really all that bad at grammar per se. Their chief challenge is spelling. But how does one teach spelling to adults? There are far too many words, especially the kind that people tend to misspell. If you slept through spelling in grade school and don't read very much, you're lost and will probably remain so. Spelling checkers and Google can stand in for your misspent youth, but only if you remember to use them.
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