Blog #3

After reading the “Error Analysis” by Crovitz’s I agree with the idea that using error to explain to students about where they messed up instead of showing students that how they could make minor fixes to tweak their paper is more beneficial. Like Crovitz states, that by showing student where the mess up at especially if done in front of the classroom it makes students feel as if they are inadequate. Yet this is false. Students in fact understand most grammar rules, but due to their diverse backgrounds or other languages spoken at home the may not know all these rules or how to display them in their writing. So by showing students these rules and giving them a place where they do not feel judged for getting a grammar rule wrong it makes them want to try and experiment with sentences. I also believe that DOL is problematic. Simply because it highlights what wrong with the sentence and showing that this is incorrect instead of showing where a student might have added this or taken this out in their sentence. By changing the way students view error is beneficial in how students feel about themselves academically.

In my group we decided to take basic and simple sentences such as the weather is nice or students have a lot of homework and show students how to expand theses sentences. This could be done by adding adjectives to describe the weather instead of giving just a broad sentence. In this alternative to DOL students can be asked questions such as what makes the weather nice, or how are the students feeling since they have all this homework to do. By asking students questions that leads them to expand their sentence makes it a place where students want to try and experiment with other grammar patterns or other descriptive words to be able to expand their sentence. This is where DOL sentences lack because they are only fixing simple sentences instead of having students expand these sentences that these students were writing,

What I hope students take away from this lesson is this idea that they should not be hesitant to try and write complex sentences or go against grammar rules that they were taught. The reason is by telling students that there either right or wrong when writing leads to them not wanting to experiment, but by showing them different possibilities that they can add to their writing will make them want to try different things. For example, in the grammar alive book Goal C is dedicated to showing students how grammar changes and is a variation of one’s social situation at the time whether that being around family or in an academic setting. By explaining that to students it gives them this idea that it is okay if their papers aren’t perfect and meeting all the grammar rules because a lot of these rules are not set in stone.  Also, just by showing students that they can expand their sentences leads to students having better papers because it makes it something that audience wants to read instead of these broad and boring sentences. 

Blog #2

I would say that Christensen and Chapter 1 & 2 from Grammar Alive definitely does challenge my idea of how to teach grammar. The reason being is because in my classes where I was taught it was primarily get a worksheet and practice the grammar over and over until you can do it without error. The only problem with that is that it is easy to get the grammar rule down when you are practicing it, but not actually using it in real life. This is why I think the article for Christensen was very interesting. Particularly because she focuses on how teachers should not focus on correcting students necessarily, but rather focus on giving students this idea that their writing is good because it is their voice and we should just work on polishing it up instead of creating something new (Christensen 57). This is why Christensen connects with Goal C of grammar teaching. With goal c, it focuses on this idea of students and how they should use grammar and this notion of language not just for standard English, but for language one uses around their house and among friends. This becomes important because most people do not use standard English/grammar. Instead, they use different vernacular that fits their social situation
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Goal A of Grammar Alive is something I believe all grammar classes strive for- learning standard English [ I used a dash to emphasize an important goal that grammar classes have] (Haussamen, Benjamin, Kolln, and Wheeler 4) I believe that goal A is the foundation of what grammar teaches. The reason is because by being able to give students the basic foundation of what standard English is than it makes implementing goal b and c much easier. I think what’s most important is that in Grammar Alive that it makes this clear distinction that standard English isn’t always a set rule it is instead something that is fluid. Because of that, it allows people to interpret their definition of what standard English means to them and their family.

The next goal one wanted to learn was goal b which consisted of actually using grammar rules. This one is more of a terminology and structured goal ((Haussamen, Benjamin, Kolln, and Wheeler 4). Because of that, it is something that I am used to. The reason is because I am used to a more structured and focused teaching of grammar. Though this necessarily is not the most exciting goal since it is more structured based it is one I think that most will be familiar with. Though, what should be stressed during this goal is that still the grammar teachers are taking into consideration the social situation of each of these students so that they can incorporate how one talks outside of a school setting.

Finally, the next topic to talk about is chapter 2 in Grammar Alive which discusses this idea of language variety and having students understand that not all language you use has to be the same across the board ((Haussamen, Benjamin, Kolln, and Wheeler 10). This I feel is one of the most unique because most grammar classes do not teacher or care about you understanding when to use different language variety. Instead, it is about just trying to use and understand standard English that most will understand.

One can see that there is similarity between all of these reading because they both emphasize the idea of not just taking basic standard English, but being able to revamp it into something that students can use in their everyday life.  

Nonetheless, the reason I decided to use a dash is because I feel like I am more familiar with that. The reason is because I personally enjoy emphasizing the sentence I am making. Though I do want to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.