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.

Writing on What Interests You

http://www.apexbookcompany.com/blog/2009/02/writing-what-you-knowoh-no/

Writing about what you know is different than writing about what you're passionate about or interested in. Pasted above is an article that I came across when researching about writing and English education. The article outlines the basic idea that writing about what you're passionate about is much more interesting than writing about what you're know. Not only is it more interesting, but it is a far cry from writing about what you know. When you write about something that you're interested in, you're voice shines through the piece that you're working on. You can be really interested in technology, but have no clue what it's all about. You can know all about your family vacation to California last summer, but is it something that you're still interested in and passionate about? Writing about what you know can become boring for your readers and even boring for you as a writer. It can be fun and worth your time to research a topic that you are really interested in and know nothing about.

English Education

Unfortunately, many times students get caught up in the "writing papers" and "peer editing" part of English Education. Students dislike this part of education because it can become routine. When the teacher announces that the next assignment will be a five-page research paper, the students roll their eyes and groan. The thought of writing a paper on a topic that is chosen off of a list does not sound appealing. It is more interesting and worth their time to write something that they are passionate about. I believe that if students are given more free will in English Education, their skills will increase. If a student is writing a paper on something that doesn't interest them at all, they will rush through it and have many grammar mistakes.
It can become a challenge for an English teacher to make English and grammar interesting and worth their time. I believe that one way to do that is to give students more choice when it comes to their writing. Encourage students to think outside of the daily, mundane issues and struggles and develop something that they are really passionate about. Every student has a passion whether it's music, art, movies, entertainment, etc. Having students dig deeper into what their passionate about will develop their writing skills and their identity at the same time.

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