As future teachers, it is interesting to see how traditional values are being changed, kept, or taken out of the classroom. When I think of grammar, I think of mechanics and commas or perhaps types of sentences and dangling modifiers. To my pleasant surprise, Image Grammar helped me to see grammar through a different and a better lens. Of course, I think traditional grammar is important and is a keystone when it comes to English. Grammar rules are implemented so that writing is effective and scholarly. For example, in my placements I have read several papers where the grammar was correct and papers where the grammar was incorrect. I may be a bit biased but I definitely found it very difficult to read through a paper when a student ended all of their sentences with prepositions or over used commas. However, when I did see a paper that was grammatically correct I was very pleased. When I think of my own grammar instruction during my schooling I remember very little about it. To be honest, I don’t remember ever really engaging in grammar but approaching it as it came up in my writing or in a text. Personally, my favorite memory of grammar was doing D.O.L or what people commonly refer to as daily oral language. The teacher would put up a sentence or two that was filled with grammatical and spelling errors. As a class we would go through the sentence and fix it so that it was correct. Although it was not very engaging and got rather monotonous, I still liked the challenge or the puzzle of fixing a sentence to make it correct. I do, however, think it sad how much of grammar is left on the back burner and not really approached in the classroom. Once again, I may be making a bold statement but I honestly believe that grammar is overlooked because teachers do not fully understand grammar themselves. After all, we are human and I know that there are plenty of times when my grammar isn’t the greatest. As a matter of fact, it is safe to say that the grammar in the blog is incorrect. As a result, I think teachers find it easy to get rid of grammar because they literally cannot practice what they preach.
On the other hand, I do find that Image Grammar offers a lot of new insight and approaches that make grammar fun and make more sense. When I first heard about the five different brushstrokes I thought they were clever but very narrow. I mean, adding description in an analytical paper is often frowned upon and considered filler. Then I realized that writing papers with descriptions effectively can eventually lead to being a better writer analytically. My absolute favorite thing that Harry Noden brings up is when he explains, “Specific details, like brush strokes, show instead of tell” (Noden 29). I think this is a great metaphor when he explains that the brush strokes are like colors for a painter. They are interchangeable and speak to the reader more than what dialogue does. I like this idea a lot more than I like traditional grammar lessons; yet, they are still important.
Moreover, I also like when Harry Noden writes, In a reader’s imagination, nouns flash slide shows of still images, but verbs project motion pictures” (32). Through the different brushstroke teaches I learned a lot about what this quote actually means. Each teach was very effective and I could tell a difference with the before lesson and the activity we had to do for each of them. Verbs make sentences so vivid and really leave a lasting impression. For example, Jon and I thought about this quote when we created our lesson and decided to implement it. I immediately thought of the first time I read Harry Potter and the Socerer’s Stone. When Harry first enters the Great Hall a swarm of emotions and images fluttered through my mind. J.K. Rowling used such colorful descriptions that I had a concrete mindset of what this scene actually looked like. Every book after that I perceived the Great Hall in the same way and it left a lasting impression. When the movie came out, I was little concerned that Hollywood was going to damper my images Rowling’s wonderful world, particularly that scene that I held so close. However, I was pleasantly surprised! The director, Chris Columbus, executed the scene exactly how I imagined in the book. It was actually alarming at how well he captured that moment when Harry enters. This is when it occurred to me that J.K. Rowling left little room to improvise and create something new. Her passages were written with so many verbs and the brushstrokes that the script and the sets were already created from her original writing. Luckily, I had the honor to actually see the set in person and it was breathtaking. As for the lessons that the different pairs taught, they made so much sense and, personally, I think it was the best material I have learned when it comes to teaching. These activities, so simple, are so important. It makes a great deal of difference in your writing if you follow these simple tools that were presented in class.
So, I guess the question lies as to how I plan on teaching grammar in my class. I suppose that I will teach it as a learning process. I was thinking of having the students learn the brushstrokes as a lesson that occurs once a week, perhaps a set day of the week. For instance, I would spend a whole class period dedicated to the different brushstrokes. After that, I would do mini-lessons or writing samples of Fridays in order for the students to get practice. I would put a sentence on the board and have the students build from it. Have them write a paragraph based on once sentence that has appositives in it and another with absolutes and so on. I think the mini assignments would change every week to mix things up and it would hopefully get the students motivated. I would also have bigger writing assignments throughout the year as well. I would have a rubric that includes conventions, content, spelling, and the traditional categories that are associated with grammar. However, I would make one of the criteria usages of the brushstrokes. Not only would that encourage my students to use them, it would allow them to see how important they are and it would even out the use of red pen for traditional grammar errors. I think this ensures a happy medium between what people know as traditional grammar and the brushstrokes.
Therefore, how does the “red pen” article make me feel after I learned about the brushstrokes? I still feel that the red pen is very necessary and not meant to make people feel bad. I still think students need to write papers that make sense and free from error. However, I do realize that I value other things as well. I feel like the red pen can only do so much. Brushstrokes should be taught first, in my opinion, and then the traditional grammar should follow. I even think that proper grammar would start to flow naturally if the brushstrokes were implemented first. Overall, I really enjoyed Image Grammar, the teaches these past two weeks, and even the thought of teaching grammar. I sincerely hope I can put the brushstrokes to use because they are great to use.
