Fantastic discussion! Maybe we should have a thread...Why are mudcatters such good and caring people? Or is the answer built into what binds us together? I am one of the lucky people who can spell (though I do have a problem with hitting the right keys so I do check everything I post), and find misuse of apostrophes and quotation marks annoying, particularly in public places and newspapers. I've seen some fairly egregious errors in The Christian Science Monitor for heaven's sake! BUT I also cannot tell my right from left without some thought. Two of my kids can spell and one cannot. But they all read and can communicate. I'm afraid that there are just so many kids who aren't taught to care and some of these grow up to be teachers, but I think there are precious few of those. There were teachers who didn't recognize or didn't care years ago as well. I teach literacy to older Vermonters (concentrating on math. There are more people who can teach reading). One of the things I hear the most is "My teachers said I was stupid." This from students in their 40's and 50's. I hear much more now that there are learning disabilities, and we need to come up with ways to deal with these problems. Sometimes it is to explain a math concept in language terms. Often it is to insist that my student is NOT stupid as people who cannot do certain things often come up with amazing ways to compensate. i guess I am saying that no one is hopeless, and we can (even if for only one person at a time) all make a difference. Kids who don't care right now will eventually.