Creativity v. conditionals

I teach developmental English at a community college. Since I started the gig, I have become very attuned to grammatical errors in published works. Currently I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series and I am extremely annoyed with J.K. Rowling's misuse of "was" in conditional sentences: "If I was a better magician..." (No, that is not a direct quote...I don't have the books with me write now.) The correct form is "If I were...." Of course, when reading the books the first several times, I was so thrilled with the plotting and characterization that I skimmed right past any errors. Now, this one jars me every time that it recurs. Where was her editor?

As I try to teach my students to develop their thoughts and get those thoughts pinned down on paper, I worry that by teaching them about sentence errors, I will be also inhibiting their creativity. But after the creative part--boy, do I hope they learn to fix mistakes like this one.

(No, I don't worry about grammatical errors in blogs...well, not so much, anyway.)

Wish me luck!

A full time English teaching position has opened up at my college. I will be applying for it, so please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I really need a full-time position because of all those added benefits--like a living wage, health insurance, etc.

I haven't made a whole lot of progress working on finding a new job, handicapped by the fact that I really like what I do, tutoring and teaching (Developmental English and speech). I'm presently working as an adjunct. All those horror stories you have heard about the poor pay for adjuncts? They are true. Particularly if you factor in planning and grading hours, which adjuncts are not officially paid to do.

I'm not complaining. I took the job fully aware of the requirements. But I never realized I would like it so much, which means I haven't been motivated to look for more remunerative work. But it's certainly time that I consider the fact that one day, before I know it, I will have to retire. And that takes cash.

Teaching English and speech at my local technical/community college is the most rewarding work I've ever done. I find the people I teach to be fascinating. For instance, I have immigrant students that have bachelor's and even master's degrees from their home countries, but in order to get a good job here in the U.S., they are starting again. In the Learning Center a few moments ago, I worked with an African student who has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and wanted to review the meanings of "character" and "symbolism" in literature. (He's got a test tonight. Good luck to him.)

And wish me luck too.

Woe is I.

It's happened. What I have been dreading. What I KNEW I was unprepared for.

My computer has crashed, and it's time for a new one.

Wish me luck that MicroCenter can recover my data for me.