I love teaching grammar, even though the eight parts of speech rarely show up on standardized tests any longer. I found that out the hard way my first year teaching in public school. I spent a great deal of time going over nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs, and interjections because I thought they still mattered.

Sadly, the parts of speech which many of us learned in years gone by to be the backbone of all standard and acceptable communication skills have fallen prey to the test gods and goddesses of the 21st century. English isn’t the only subject that has suffered casualties either.

Whether or not the traditional parts of speech are emphasized any longer or not, we still use them every day. Some of us can still classify them, but though I would assume the general population cannot, everyone still needs them to speak effectively.

Take the simple word, “that,” for example. At first glance it would appear to be a harmless demonstrative adjective, like its brothers and sisters, “this, these and those.” But it can also be an unassuming pronoun, when it stands alone. Adding to its multifarious personality, it can almost become a derogatory interjection, a “four-letter word” of sorts. Who hasn’t heard someone just simply utter the word, “that”? A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the word “that” can be worth at least a hundred, when used with emotion. Consider the phrases, “That dog!,” “That man!,” or “That woman!” A lot is being said without having to say a lot.

Sometimes, it’s the only word we need to express our feelings. It might also be because we don’t know what else to say, or because we’re using restraint so that we don’t have to apologize for something else that we really want to say. I’ve often said to a student, “That is your assignment,” or “That is what I want you to do.”

Although they fully understand, they may choose not to do “that” because they don’t feel like it.

In a former school, one of my elementary students was having trouble learning her multiplication tables when we were doing math. After making more mistakes than usual, she innocently informed me, “Mr. Efird, I’m just not up to doing my 8s today.” That was her problem.

That is also the problem we teachers have as well. We’re often not up to doing that which is required of us in a given situation or on a given day. But we really don’t have a choice, do we? When our students assume they have a choice because “we live in a free country,” that becomes an issue we have to deal with.

Often we’ve heard, “I don’t want to do that,” or “I don’t feel like doing that.” I often want to say, “I know how you feel, but that is not an option for you in this class.” I’ve also heard, “I didn’t know that’s what you told us to do.” Is there any way of escaping the word “that” even if we tried? That would be hard. That would be unusual. That might be a miracle.

I know that I am a teacher and that I am supposed to help my students learn that they should be responsible for anything that we cover in class, but that is difficult at times. Oh my. That word keeps appearing, doesn’t it? That could be a problem.

Whenever I use the phrase, “that student,” “that parent,” “that teacher,” or “that administrator,” what am I really trying to say? Sometimes, that’s hard to put into words. Maybe that’s why I say “that.” I don’t have any other word. I do know that in the course of one day or one week, I may have the humbling experience of seeing that someone will need me and that someone will gain from something positive that I have done or said. I also know that I could have the humbling experience of doing or saying something that I would regret later. That is a choice I do have. And “that’s all I have to say about that.”

Larry Efird teaches at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis.