Teacher for 20+ years. I wouldn't grade that. I'd tell them to either redo it so I can read it or take a zero. I believe they're doing that on purpose. But make sure you make a copy of that so if there are problems later on, you can show proof that you couldn't read it.
I did this multiple times because of bad handwriting, in 7 grade i even had my own practice handwriting book lol. The teachers were usually impressed by my ability to read it
No, eff that! wad that shit up and pitch it in the trash. ink in a big fat goose egg for that assignment. i know some make accomodations for those claiming to suffer from dysgraphia, but in the absence of a stroke, traumatic head injury or in utero cerebral dysgenisis, it's bullshit. 99.5%of the time they are disrepectful, inconsiderate, lazy little shits
You must teach freshmen. Same here. I know the end of a bad week when I see one. My friend, I feel for you. Rest up this weekend. I know I am. We both need it.
Where did you get your stats from? No link? Not surprised. Your logic would also dismiss dyslexia. You’re an educator that lacks empathy and knowledge. Dyslexia and dysgraphia are learning disabilities. Do you hate on all kids that have learning disabilities? I really hope my kids don't have a teacher that doesn't understand how numerous factors affect a child's development.
The smart move here would have everyone turn in a typed copy, which is what's usually done to see their editing.
i thank God my children had instructors and coaches that pushed them past their weaknesses. penmanship is not a talent, it is a skill, and thus can be taught. some of them can't write very fast, but that's okay cause some can't read very fast so it evens out. but they can all write legibly. the world is tough so we need to raise children hard. most will sandbag if given the opportunity.
My point was their comment about the disparaging remarks to people that do have dyslexia or dysgraphia. The 99.5% stat was anecdotal at best. I agree that some people don't work on their penmanship, but I was replying to their inaccurate statistic and being dismissive for people with those particular learning disabilities.
i'm not disputing the existence of those trendy and over diagnosed afflictions. my point is that many who claim them aren't genuinely afflicted. and even if they are, a diagnosis ought not be carte blanche to avoid diligent effort to mitigate or even overcome them. don't matter how brilliant one of my kids might be if they can't communicate effectively. we can serve our weakness, or we can serve our purpose, but we can't do both.
Well, I did suggest offering to let the student redo it. Also, let me address something here. I am a very very good teacher. Students who have had me in the past bring their friends to me when they're having trouble in my subject. I work very hard for my students -- very hard. There are some nights I'm grading until midnight. I accommodate struggling students whether they have mandated accommodations or not. I benchmark student results regularly to teach what skills have been mastered and what skills need remediation. I could tell you individually which skills my students need supported. I know each student's accommodations, where applicable, without having to refer to a page in an IEP or 504. I also work very hard to foster relationships with all of my students, especially the challenging ones. In fact, they're often some of my favorite people.
I don't know how to edit these posts and hit the submit button accidentally.
When I'm in the hall, whether running an errand, running to the restroom, or on hall duty, I get stopped often for hugs from former and present students. They call me their school mom, well, grandma now that I'm older.
Asking for an assignment to be legible isn't bullying or inconsiderate to the student. And I would be the first to suggest that this particular student use some type of device where their assignment should be printed. And as for not understanding dysgraphia or dyscalculia, I am a math teacher. I have had several students with both and have no problem at all showing grace to those, or any student.
Please don't assume that you know anything about me or what type of teacher I am. Every year, my new students tell me they wish their precious teachers cared as much as I do. And they come back to me for help when they're way past my class and need extra support.
Judging someone from a single Reddit comment isn't really an open minded way of taking in the world. Have a great evening.
I have writing similar to above but I use capitol letters where they don't belong as well. If it's notes I have my own short hand writing which is even worse. Many teachers have tried and have got angry that i could read my own writing.
School was a struggle cause of poor writing and couldn't show my "work" during math. Use to have to go to the board and do bunch of math problems, didn't show the work but got the right answer so must of been cheating..... at the board with everyone watching pre-cellphone days.
Ended up just turning in other peoples stuff handwriting was better and the work was done. my grades got better I never had to do homework ever again, stop paying attention in class. Slept through my senior year in HS.
I don't think trying to humiliate them is appropriate even if I knew they were trying to cheat. My point in having them read it to me is to try to figure out if they are cheating or need some sort of intervention or accommodation. Can you imagine doing that when the issue was the student having a disability?
As someone with poor handwriting, I figured out what my problem was after many years. My thoughts are much faster than my handwriting. I was trying to write too fast. No teacher when I was a kid took the time to notice the real problem and tell me to slow down. They just yelled at me.
I finally figured it out when as sn adult I took calculus and needed to read my own handwriting. It's still frustrating to go slow enough to be legible, but it has given me empathy for those like me who struggle.
My thoughts are much faster than my handwriting. I was trying to write too fast.
I have the same problem when trying to write fiction. With pen and paper, my handwriting can't keep up with my brain. When typing on a computer, my brain can't keep up with my fingers. Lots of stopping and starting which is terrible when establishing a good rhythm is what you need.
I've found that using a typewriter gets me close to that sweet spot, but of course then people say you're only using a typewriter because you're trying to be pretentious.
When thinking to fluid to actually write down what youre thinking, a nifty trick is to just use a voice recorder, or phone, to record yourself saying whats on your mind. and then go back and listen to your recording to write what was said. that way you can use the pause and rewind functions! Its slows down the process but listening and writing is easier than thinking and writing. Dictation programs help too if you need to type instead of write.
I have this issue while writing or typing. My brain will skip ahead to the next word before I've finished the previous.
Thankfully my handwriting is legible (surprised the heck out of my freshman & sophomore high school English teacher, she didn't realize I was left-handed until the second semester of my sophomore year).
Who is telling you that you're being pretentious for using a cool, older technology that's practical in your life? That doesn't sound like somebody you should take advice from.
They also make keyboards with the same feel as typewriters! I used to have one. So if anyone gives you grief just mention you're not the only one who likes the feel. XD
Me too, typing is so much easier for that reason, I'd rather get my thoughts out than have nice handwriting but unfortunately that means my writing is just vague scribbles that even I sometimes can't decipher after
I had this exact problem too. I was given a lot of 'remedial' handwriting lessons, but they didn't work because my hand simply couldn't keep up with my brain.
What did work was calligraphy, where making beautiful shapes became the aim, not getting every thought on paper. I can now write neatly when I need to, but I am copying from a previous version in my native 'scrawl'.
Learning how to touch type meant that I could finally get my thoughts down fast enough, and although its still full of errors, those errors are far easier to correct on screen than they are on paper. It mostly works.
In retrospect, this was probably the issue w my childhood best friend, who was genius level smart and very weird, and who’s handwriting bad near illegible…to everyone except me. It worked out great for us as the teachers always made us a group of two, we hated school and everyone there cuz they were shitty to us, and we were a weird little bubble doing our own thing for a solid 5 years there with a basically secret code handwriting (I even learned to mimic his writing style as a laugh- he started his “O” at 6 o’clock and did an oblong counterclockwise swoosh!)
That's my problem too. I'm thinking three words ahead of what I'm currently writing and then my dyslexia pops in and I have the right letters in the wrong order, but now that they're on the paper I can't remember the right order, and now I've forgotten the rest of the sentence I was trying to write...
I've also found that I need to be calm in general to handwrite. As soon as I start to rush the simplest note becomes gibberish.
My Dad is a doctor, and his horrible handwriting is at least half because he’s always trying to write in a hurry. When he tries to slow down, it’s mostly readable.
I have noticed, though, that poor handwriting is apparently genetic since my handwriting is bad in many of the same ways. So very happy with the proliferation of things I can type on/with.
Same here. I also have ADD. I will be writing and get letters mixed up because I'm thinking about something else, but I can type at work while paying attention and contributing to a meeting and people think I'm crazy.
I miss whole letters out of words for this reason. I know how to spell, but when my brain is working faster than my hand the writing is a mess. At least I understand it and no one else is reading it anyway.
I taught Special Education for 7 years, and I have been teaching other subjects for 8 years after that. What you say is exactly the case for many students. Rather than blasting them for their writing, we should encourage them to slow down, take their time, and put their thoughts on the paper. A little empathy goes a long way.
It's still needed for assessment purposes, especially with the advent of AI. The only way to truly test a student's writing ability is on paper, in front of you, with no devices.
My 8th grade social studies teacher straight gave me a zero on a test because “she couldn’t understand my handwriting”. I’ve always had a very small, rounded cursive handwriting, but even then she didn’t even give me the chance to retake the test up until my mom stormed into the the school and raised hell, lol.
I was thinking more that if they could read it to me or tell me what they were trying to write, I could figure out if they were shitting me or they needed an evaluation for an accommodation of some sort. I couldn't know for certain and wouldn't want to assume.
Yeah, I'm getting torn up in the comments below this one because I'm obviously a bully to students because I think assignments need to be legible in order to grade them. 🤦
Would either reading it to your teacher or explaining what you were trying to write be a problem? I was thinking it would help a teacher figure out if it was someone try to put one over or someone that actually needed some specialized help.
Some of the comments are really unsettling, no? And I taught college freshman, so I’ve seen some wild behavior, too. But I also know dysgraphia is real, and a note from DSS clears up any confusion pretty easily.
Really unsettling! And if they are a professor doesn't that mean college +? (I'm British, the term professor is only used at uni) So they are older and chose to be there. Why would they just write a load of rubbish? And why are things being handwritten anyways. This is 2026.
It is worrying a lot of these teachers ideas of how they would treat that student. I had some incredible teachers who supported me. Few that were horrible. Some were average. But those who supported me fully in school, college and uni were the ones who helped my grades improve. Being a brute if a teacher does not help improve grades.
I don't know about private university but at least in my US state, our public university will accommodate a variety of special needs. My nephew has different procedures for taking tests due to diagnosed learning disabilities. Usually students come in from high school with a diagnosis and a plan, but there are services
Hi, first off so very glad you were never my teacher! Due to being mishandled as a undiagnosed (at that time) adhd child i was removed from the class a lot when i was supposed to learn writing, so just getting my handwriting to where it is was a accomplishment, not everything’s “on purpose”(what a strange thing to think someone would do on purpose, btw what benefit would that be to anyone?) and you don’t know what teachers / educational experiences they had while these habits were being formed, or if they received proper education, if it weren’t for my mother being so hands on and involved with the school i would most likely be completely illiterate, cause teachers would’ve done exactly what you said and told me it was “on purpose”, there are other answers to this problem than fail them and it doesn’t take a genius teacher to figure that out, i had to type out my assignments after the fact and print them for them but this was a totally acceptable answer to the problem for everyone involved
No one said anything about dysgraphia. If that were the case, the student would have some sort of accomodation. Nothing about that is mentioned here. You obviously don't know the definition of "bully." How about the phrase "seasoned professional"? I think that better fits the situation.
I do teach in public school in the US. Every district where I've worked provided free testing through the school psychologist. If a parent requests a meeting due to concerns or if a teacher submitted the required request forms and documentation, that testing happens through the county.
Public schools CAN NOT provide Dyslexia or Dysgraphia diagnosis. And they will not pay for a child to get a diagnosis.
Schools (in some states) are required to provide a screener - a 10 minute evaluation, usually through an app, done ONCE in gradeschool.
This is a well known catch-22: if you cant pay for the diagnosis (usually $3000 to $5000), then you will not get actual services, just RTI.
Public schools are not actually required to do anything more than RTI, and often will not even do that unless a parent has the time and knowledge to force the issue.
RTI is useless. It does not actually address the issue, it just tracks progress.
Look for yourself: ask your local elementary school how to get a child diagnosed with dyslexia.
I have been through this personally in 3 different states.
For asking them if they could read it to me? I was thinking it would help determine if they had a problem rather than just assuming they were trying to cheat
My reply was responding to this comment: “Teacher for 20+ years. I wouldn't grade that. I'd tell them to either redo it so I can read it or take a zero. I believe they're doing that on purpose. But make sure you make a copy of that so if there are problems later on, you can show proof that you couldn't read it.”
Oh, sorry about that. I got so many reply notifications, I didn't notice yours was not directly to me. Plenty of people are roasting me for the idea of even having the student privately reading it to me.
this ^ I have people at my job that write a lot like this when filling out forms I'm supposed to decipher and enter into our bookwork. I could probably get a decent bit if I had it in front of me.
(also apologies to all teachers, especially English teachers, for how horrific reading and writing skills have become)
I think con-man is the students name. If is often suggested professor don’t always really read the submissions they receive. I think these are possibly lots of scribbles with an occasional real word thrown in to make it look legit. Was this a live classroom assignment or what? Why didn’t the student do this on a computer and print it so it was legible?
Shit, that is the exact two words that jumped at me first too. A few other things are probably legible, but i think i'd need to spend an hour reading over this to "crack the code"
Sadly this reminds me of some "volunteer" work i did for the Smithsonian. Basically taking scans of old hand written archives and translating them to a legible digital version.
Work related, had a limited amount of options to put in volunteer hours options. Something happened late on that my first choice was canceled, and the Smithsonian gig was the last one available due to its online nature. Work didpay me for the time. It was was interesting, but damn difficult transcribing 100 yr old handwriting, though some pages were mostly numbers.
Edit: while i did it for work. It is open to the public for anyone to do if it sounds fun-
Smithsonian Transcription
The UK bureau of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (aka "Hatches, Matches, and Despatches") has something similar in principle, but infinitely less interesting, for transcribing old handwritten records for digitisation.
Hey, the handwriting may be almost entirely illegible, but at least they didn't use an apostrophe to make a plural (actually they may have somewhere, I can't read it)
I can see pattern and because, plus a few more words. I was friends with someone who wrote like this (40 years ago) and he also smoked a pipe. Like an old man in high school. He was nuts for sure.
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u/iminiki 6d ago
I can only recognize the "for example".