The Problem

If you've spent any time teaching in middle school, you realize it has its own special set of problems.  On3 thing I'm $ur3 uv $een i$ thi$.  No I haven't started writing in heiroglyphs.  I've actually had kids hand in similar work to me, their ELA teacher! Or how about this gem: Hi! I'm Ashley and I'm going to explain why the main character was super sad and then a bunch of stuff happened and now she is super happy! Yes, this has also been handed in to me. Their ELA teacher. On a test. 

The Solution

Ok, so you don't want to decipher teenage slang writing anymore, but how do you make it stop?  Many, many years ago, to keep myself from having a stroke while reading assignments, I came up with a relatively painless way to help my kids understand the difference between language that is appropriate for schoolwork and language that is appropriate to use with friends.  Part of the reason I like this lesson is I start it off with a clip from the old TV show, Martin.

Come on, that's just funny. After we watch the part with Martin and Cole in the classroom, I have the kids list all of the inappropriate elements in the show.  There are a lot and they love writing them down.  We share them as a whole class and then we move onto my Formal vs. Informal Language Worksheet.  (Bonus-it's a freebie in my store!)

Believe it or not, this works.  I never get essays with the: Hi, my name is...." intro after this lesson.  It also seriously cuts down on the other issues as well. Now if I could only get them to stop putting apostrophes in plural nouns, I might be able to read their work without cringing!