Grammar

Grammar is a very interesting topic for me. I feel that our generation is kind-of caught in the middle of a grammar debate, and how much, or even more, how important it is, in comparison to the other subjects in the English classroom. Personally, I didn’t receive a lot of grammar instruction in school. It was just something that I picked up along the way. I don’t know the names of a lot of different characteristics of grammar. However, I can usually tell you if something looks or sounds right. I have met people my age that received a lot of grammar instruction in school, and can spout it off. It leads me to wonder, which school of thought is better? Is it best for students to be drilled and drilled on grammar, in what I would consider a very boring English classroom? Or, is it best to almost let students figure it out on their own, and just teach the characteristics that are truly important. Is it crucial for a student to know the name of an aspect of grammar, if it’s not an issue in their writing? As I have said, I don’t feel that I have a very strong background in the complexities of grammar of the English language. I have done some teaching of grammar during my observation, and I just had to teach myself it, before I taught the students. But, there have been one or two questions that I couldn’t answer. Does a lack of grammar knowledge make me an incompetent English teacher? I don’t think so, but I have heard that statement before. I just kept my mouth shut at the time, but I’m not so sure how important grammar drills are to the everyday student. As a more experienced teacher, I probably would’ve said so. I think that a good teacher can assess the students writing, and go from there, to see what needs to be taught, and what isn’t an issue, in an effort to not have the same old boring English classroom, which some students don’t even find applicable to what they want to do with their lives. It’s hard to figure it out, when we are caught in the middle. I guess I need more experience before I make my final decision.