Apostrophe Tirade

Oh apostrophes...D is killing me with these things. I really don't understand how he does not know how to use them; he’s in grad school!! There are two reasons to use apostrophes: to show possession or a contraction where letters are omitted. The kid is putting apostrophes when there is a plural noun!!! For example: The cats' are hungry. Now why in god's name he does this is beyond me.

I really don't know where our education system has gone to. It's ridiculous. Kids are misusing your/you're, I/me, is/are, their/there/they're, etc. I don't know what teachers are teaching anymore. They keep screaming we have no time; we have to teach to the test; the SOLs are impossible! You know what? Shut it. If you're a creative enough teacher, you can combine lessons...you know, that whole integrated curriculum thing? You can make learning fun. It's a bit more work but I think the real teachers out there are the ones who will do just that. None of this "there's no time" or "it's not on the test" crap. The standards aren't the hard part; it's the assessment that is hard. So, what do we do? We teach the material that is on the test in a way that the students will enjoy and learn. We make it creative; we make it interactive; we make it fun. The part that annoys me the most about teachers is the fact that they have been there. They were students; they know what it's like to sit there and be bored out of their skulls; they have doodled and stared out the window; they have passed notes, etc. So why would teachers make their students do something that they wouldn't do when they were students? I hated worksheets; that's why I only give them as homework, even then they only have 3 or 4 questions/problems on them. I just think some teachers are lazy and won't spend the time and effort to make learning fun and exciting; those are the teachers that hide behind "we have to teach to the test because there is no time for anything else" excuse.