Unique Teaching Styles
In a discussion about grammar, I was proudly telling Frances Lowe, fellow Savvy Broad and former English teacher, about my favorite English teacher and her unique teaching methods. I think her name was Mrs. Knox. (I changed schools on the average of every two years and have trouble remembering my teachers' names.)
She taught ninth-grade English in a manner that I have appreciated over the years. Each student was required to bring a notebook dedicated to grammar to class.
Every day she filled the blackboard with grammar or punctuation rules--they were crammed in from side to side. We were required to write down everything from the board.
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| Her writing, unlike this example, made sense. |
Eventually, I had a notebook filled with all the rules. From what I know about education research, her methods were entirely wrong for many students.
But they certainly suited my learning style. I must write things down for them to stick! I think we were allowed to use our notebooks to solve grammar questions on quizzes--a great way to reinforce learning, I think!
Mrs. Knox also started my love for Shakespeare--we read parts of plays out loud in class. She also had us choose one or two, I am not sure which, more plays to read on our own. In another notebook, we were required to record our favorite quotations from those plays. I still remember some!
I also remember a creative writing exercise in which we wrote a story during class while listening to (and inspired by) a dramatic piece of classical music. I had just seen Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and the Sea. Of course, I wrote about being lost at sea in a small boat! It did fit the music though not too original!
Jumping ahead in time, I took a graduate grammar course. I know I enjoyed the course, but honestly, I remember very little of its content. That professor used a technique that I adopted when I was teaching graduate courses in library science. After an essay exam, he would type up the best answers to the essay questions and distribute them, without naming the author, to the class.
One thing that I remember him saying, "It is simple. When you pause, add a comma." That was a slap-your-head moment for me. We also discussed the Oxford comma. Think about it--don't you pause before the and in your series?
So when I write, I remember my ninth-grade grammar rules and add commas when I pause.
And I still love Shakespeare!
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