First of all, I can barely stand to read any more Smith. I may be a bit dramatic, but seriously, sometimes he makes me want to gag. He is so full of himself that it makes it quite difficult for me to learn from him. He may very well be a very knowledgeable man, but just the way his "voice" comes off, I can't stand it. It literally makes me sick. And... apparently I'm holding a grudge because it seems as though some of you didn't have such a problem with him for this weeks readings.
As for grammar... I am a huge supporter of it being taught in school. For example, while I was observing today, I actually did something besides stapling or cutting things out. (This is funny to those of you who know my situation). I graded the students end of marking period exam without an answer key. There was this one section on the test that had the students put one line under the subject and two lines under the verb. After grading about 135 papers with I'd say without exaggeration about 90% of the students missing every single question, it made me start to second guess myself. I questioned if I really knew what I was doing. I was thinking, it's me against 135 students. Maybe they are not all wrong and maybe it's me. So I verified my answers with my host teacher and she informed me I was correct and then I showed her the results from the test.
Once she saw the results from the test, she then informed me that she was not supposed to focus on grammar, but rather focus on ways to improve PSSA scores by building vocabulary and reading comprehension. I found this really interesting because without grammar, these other areas of English are rather pointless, don't you think? She told me that the thought process is, is that by seventh grade, students should already know how to do grammar and to move on to other things. So to summarize... students do it once and they are experts. So when they turn 16 and drive a car for the first time they should get their license right away? Or a medical student reads how to do open heart surgery, he/she now qualifies to do the actual surgery? I don't really get this thought process. I apologize for getting on my soap box, but I am a firm believer in grammar and think that it needs to be reinforced with quality instruction throughout all grade levels.
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Hey Jim!
I loved your blog--and your passion about grammar! :) I'm more of a process person myself, but I do agree it needs to be taught. I was just wondering about your stance on making it more interesting. I think the old method of teaching grammar leaves much to be desired.
Great blog! See you in class!
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