Grammar!

As someone who has always enjoyed English classes and, hate to admit it, writing papers, I've always had a passion for proper grammar usage. My sister is a freshman in college and she will send me her papers to look over and even give her advice. For English teachers, it can become tiresome and even annoying when explaining grammar to students. After many years of peer editing papers and reading my sister's papers, I have noticed a trend. Students write in ways that sound correct to them. It's easy to talk and have correct grammar usage, but it's different when writing. What sounds good to you may not sound good to your teacher or another student. Comma usage is something that I have noticed students have a hard time with. I also notice that some students have a hard time knowing where to end sentences. There are so many rules to remember regarding grammar, students become lazy and write what looks and sounds good. It's frustrating for a student to get a paper back with red pen marks all over it. As teachers, it's important that we are teaching English and grammar in a way that makes it interesting for the children, as well as, in ways that they will remember it. Writing incorrect sentences on the board and having students correct them outloud, will help them when learning rules. Have your students explain their reasonsings behind some of their corrections. This way, they are thinking not just about what sounds right, but why it sounds right. Grammar is something that students carry with them for the rest of their life. It can make or break them as a person, say, in a job interview. Using good grammar is critical.