short takes

[cellio]

Funny: Only in... $location.

Overheard in the office: "Should that be on fire?"

From the whiners-with-too-much-time-on-their-hands department, a new education fad: some parents (and students) object to grading in red ink. Red is "stressful", some say, and teachers should be using more "positive" colors like blue. Sheesh. Some people will read negativity into anything. It's just a color, people! And for the record, I much prefer mark-up in red as opposed to blue or the fluffy alternatives like turquoise (which is too light to be able to see easily). Red has the best contrast with the black ink on the white page; if you want me to see your little squiggle, don't use lime green!

Comments

[miz-hatbox.livejournal.com]

I went through a phase in high school in which I wrote in red because I thought it was an individualistic thing to do, and because red pens could be had more cheaply than pink or purple.

None of the teachers cared except for Mlle. Spaulding, who asked me repeatedly to please not do my French homework in red because she used red for grading and it would be harder to see her comments if I persisted in writing in red.

(Stupid-teenage-stubbornness note: I did not heed her requests, or her warnings that she wouldn't accept red anymore, until she gave me a zero on a homework because it was in red. And then I switched back to blue)