In the MOO last Monday, I eluded to my philosophy of teaching grammar. I want to expound on my philosophy here because I do not want to give the wrong impression. I love grammar; I understand how to explain grammar. Naturally when people understand and like something, they want to tell others. So I like to teach grammar concepts and skills.
When I started teaching, I had eighth graders. It was the perfect age to teach grammar too. They liked worksheets and rules and games. Grammar was fun for them and me. When I returned to the classroom after raising children for several years, I taught 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. (very small school district) During my first year, I could see the progress that students make each year. The instructor before me had not taught grammar which showed up in my students' writings. So I taught grammar, capitalization, punctuation. After all they all had to pass a basic skills writing test. All my students did so well on the writing test that the school district was thrilled with their new success and me. I felt vindicated for teaching grammar.
During my second year, however, I discovered that many of my students did not retain the grammar skills that I had taught the year before. So I refreshed their memories and taught them some new skills. Since I had the students all year, I could see that the grammar I taught was still be retained (or used) from one semester to the next. Did they not care? I decided this was not the answer after talking to some sincere students. They just didn't "get" grammar no matter how many different ways and times I explained it. (specifically comma rules!) It was discouraging. I left that school district when they cut my position to part-time; it wasn't worth the drive any more.
Besides the teaching experience, I have two sons who are into math and computers. They cannot spell to save their souls. My husband and I are both English majors and excellent spellers. We bought spelling computer games and practiced words with both of the boys. We read to them and pointed out words. One day I asked my oldest son about a note he had written. There was one spelling error so I asked him to find it. He pointed to SIX words that were spelled correctly and never did point to the one misspellling. That taught me that, while he was an intelligent and conscientious student, he would never be able to spell well. He just didn't "get" spellling.
From these two experiences, I have learned that not everyone can be the grammarian that I am. I still teach grammar; I am still enthusiastic about it. But I recognize that I can encourage good usage without being punitive about it. So I nudge, encourage, reward, and compliment my students when they do use good grammar. I point out their grammar flaws so they can recognize them, but their grade does not reflect poor usage. I tell my students that I know not everyone is as crazy about grammar as I am, that I realize they may have talents in other avenues, and that I want them to do their best. Yes, I focus on grammar. Yes, I have high standards. I also recognize that not everyone will "get "grammar like me and that they are still good writers.
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It's probably helpful to your mental health to have the realization that not everyone is going to "get" grammar. Otherwise, you can be very frustrated teaching students who just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteEven after all the English classes I've had, I still make mistakes with grammar. I think my writing is better than average, but there are still mistakes.
When I taught English in Japan, students and other teachers would come to me with questions about grammar. I found that most of them knew English grammar better than I did because they had studied it more recently. I often had to either look in a grammar book for the answer to their question, or I would I would cop out and say, "I'm not sure, but this way 'sounds' right to me."