Speaking

There also needs to be an emphasis on proper speaking in my school. Proper speaking and writing increases a student's chances of success. This can be done in speech, culture, or English classes.

Even at a top twenty university, my mythology professor today used the words "um" and "uh" 106 times...in 20 minutes. That's 5.3 times per minute or once every 11 seconds. Now, she is a fairly extreme case, but not as extreme as people might think. No person should use "um," "uh," "like," and other filler words regularly in their speech patterns. This is another part of proper speaking.

I think a good way to deal with that is to take off one point - especially at the middle school level - for every "um" or "like" or any other filler word used in a presentation. Train them young! I also think that a teacher should give the students comments (for example, on their rubric) about ending strong if they don't and being confident in what they're saying.