Seasoned conference speakers know that it is important to make an immediate impact to grab the attention of the audience, and it is not uncommon to open with a relevant quote or story to engage the audience. In Whitaker's presentation, entitled The Culturally Responsive Teacher and Leader, she takes this approach. On her second slide, Whitaker quotes NASA Administrator, Michael Griffin, as saying:
“Every time we fly I know that we can loose a crew. That occupies a large portion of my thoughts.” [sic]As reported throughout the world, Griffin spoke these words at the August 8, 2007 launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The Endeavor flight drew significant attention from the worldwide press as the first to carry a teacher-astronaut--then 55 year-old Barbara Morgan--since Christa McAuliffe perished along with the crew in the 1985 Challenger disaster. But the point here is not Griffin’s words, but Whitaker’s representation of them. If we take this slide at face value, Griffin apparently does not know how to spell “lose.” However, she is quoting Griffin’s spoken words here: the error is Whitaker's, not Griffin’s.
As one would expect, Griffin’s sobering words were widely reported by the global media at the time of Endeavor launch. An internet search reveals that the many reporters (or editors) who quoted Griffin's knew how to spell "lose." It is ironic that Whitaker, a “director of literacy,” made this mistake at a literacy-conference presentation.
To be fair, I suspect that Dr. Whitaker actually does know the difference between "loose" and "lose" and that this is merely a typographical error that she did not correct during her own editorial process. A closer look at Whitaker's slides reveals that the presentation date was October 16, 2007 and her copyright claim is 2006. It is likely that in her haste to update an older presentation with "current" material for the October 2007 conference, she simply overlooked the error.
Unfortunately for Whitaker, her mistake was immortalized in her presentation at the conference, which also is on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Literacy website.This error illustrates two very important points. First, even if your spelling and grammar are exceptional, it is important to proofread and edit. It is difficult to see our own mistakes. Use spelling and grammar checkers and other available proofreading and editing tools on your written work to circumvent these kinds of mistakes. It often is difficult for an author to separate intent from result; we read what we intended to write rather than what we actually wrote. Get proofreading help from someone else whenever possible. Also, it is easier to see mistakes when not actively engaged in the development side of the writing process. Proofread your work at least a day after it is finished to look for errors that were not apparent during the writing phase. Second, little mistakes can have a big impact. Spelling errors, particularly in an age where we have so many helper tools available to us, can make an author or the represented organization appear ignorant or unprofessional. An apparent spelling error at the beginning of a presentation by an educational consultant, at a literacy conference, is a great “teaching moment.” It is likely to become a topic of conversation. A corollary to this second point is that what we say lives “forever” on the internet.
My apologies to Dr. Whitaker for making an example of what likely is a typing error. However, considering her title, the venue of the error, and the significance of the quoted material, this is a perfect illustration of the need to proofread and edit. Whitaker used her opening quote to illustrate an important point in her presentation, "begin with the end in mind." She would have done well to heed her own advice.
