Not surprised at all. It makes you wonder just what these kids are being taught at a younger age. English is basic. You should know it. By the time you've made it out of the 5th grade you should be pretty proficient at putting words and sentences together. I don't know how much has changed since I graduated in 2007.

But I can recall even my earlier years at Beauclerc Elementary here in Jacksonville that some of my favorite teachers were great at engaging the classroom. Especially when it came to reading and writing. We used to have that program where they wanted students to read a minimum of 25 books of 100+ pages throughout the year. You'd have a little sheet where you wrote the titles down and then you'd maybe get a little quiz or test on it to prove you didn't lie about reading it.

That went a very long way for us. We had to come up with our own story books and characters too. My favorite teacher. Ms. Story. She was my 3rd grade teacher. She encouraged all of us to read and write. It was fun the way she went about it. I'll never forget her and that class. And this was over 20 years ago.

Sadly, as I got older. The teachers became less and less engaging. And it seemed more like we were being babysat for nine hours a day. I think at Twin Lakes Middle school here in Jacksonville the best teacher I ever had was the reading and writing classes. Mostly in the 6th grade. Ms. Robin was awesome. The history teachers, especially the American History and World History teachers were exceptional. They would go on and on for an hour by the book and adding awesome tidbits on the side. Mr. Schneider and Mr. Gesdorf. Awesome teachers.

High school. Different story. After my freshman year at Sandalwood here in Jacksonville. I hated going to school. The teachers sucked. They weren't engaging at all. The only two teachers that ever stood out to me and actually TAUGHT in front of the class and wanted us to LEARN something it felt like was just Mr. Dorough my freshman year and Mr. Johns my senior year. Those two men were just thoughtful, engaging, well spoken and not over the top with their methods or work load and they were fair. The rest? Totally forgettable.

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