Frank Antonson
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2009
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
I am referencing some other threads in which I called the teaching of morphology and syntax (together with Reed-Kellogg) diagramming "the games". This teaching took half my class time for about two and a half months and was done to "grammatical innocents". They basically knew nothing of grammar.
A highlight to start with occurred when, upon announcing that I had saved the best for last since relative pronouns and adjective clauses are so amazing, a girl in the front row, for whom this was all clicking, was bouncing up and down in her desk with anticipation. She was even waving her hands in small circles -- not to draw attention to herself, but to deal with her excitement. I thought to myself, "Can this be real?"
What lead up to another highlight was my that, though I had given no homework and very few quizzes along the way, I needed my students to take their "final" seriously. I tried to scare them into reviewing their class notes and doing a little studying. One girl in the "learning support" class, which includes two other adults to help, said, "Bring it on, Mr. Antonson"
At the conclusion of the final, I asked her how she felt that she did. She said, "You really brung it on, Mr. Antonson, but that's okay." (I hope all who read this realize that usage and grammar are different subjects.)
A highlight to start with occurred when, upon announcing that I had saved the best for last since relative pronouns and adjective clauses are so amazing, a girl in the front row, for whom this was all clicking, was bouncing up and down in her desk with anticipation. She was even waving her hands in small circles -- not to draw attention to herself, but to deal with her excitement. I thought to myself, "Can this be real?"
What lead up to another highlight was my that, though I had given no homework and very few quizzes along the way, I needed my students to take their "final" seriously. I tried to scare them into reviewing their class notes and doing a little studying. One girl in the "learning support" class, which includes two other adults to help, said, "Bring it on, Mr. Antonson"
At the conclusion of the final, I asked her how she felt that she did. She said, "You really brung it on, Mr. Antonson, but that's okay." (I hope all who read this realize that usage and grammar are different subjects.)