WRITER 82

Is it guaranteed that the athletes who can perform great during individual exercises will be the same athletes who dominate during an actual game? The answer is no. The ability to hit that rainbow hook-shot during practice doesn’t guarantee that you will be able to make it during a game when a 7-foot-tall shot-blocker comes flying your way. The point is that going from theory to practice isn’t an easy step. So, if it’s reasonable to assume that making a hook-shot against a 7-foot-tall shot-blocker who can jump out of the building will be more difficult than making the same shot unopposed, then why are there so many people that believe that grammar learned in isolation can easily be applied to context?

The idea that grammar is something, which can be learned in isolation, is one that Constance Weaver works against in her article “Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing.” Weaver explains that even though you can make the occasional hook-shot it practice, it doesn’t mean that you’ll transform into Kareem Abdul Jabbar during a game. Weaver, in her article, emphasizes that to the ability to use grammar proper grammar is developed through practical application in a real-life context.

Weaver, to support her stance that grammar should be learned in context, describes a study by Lucy Calkins who “found that third graders learned punctuation much better in the context of writing and ‘publishing’ than by studying punctuation rules in isolation” (Weaver, 2). This example given by Weaver is strong support for the idea that grammar should be learned and taught in context. Grammar is an essential component of all writing and as such it only makes sense that it would be learned most easily within the context of writing.

However, Weaver, while supporting the idea that grammar should be learned in context, doesn’t go so far as to say that this method of teaching grammar will produce students who are grammar experts. Specifically, she says, “There are no miracles here. That is, teaching grammar in the context of writing will not automatically mean that once taught, the concepts will be learned and applied forever” (Weaver, 3). In fact, Weaver says that grammar is something which for many people will have to be “taught and retaught” (Weaver, 3). I appreciate that Weaver makes this point because it shows that she doesn’t want to disprove one realistic expectation, that grammar can be learned in isolation, by creating another, that grammar can be mastered in context.

How do students learn the intricacies of grammar? Weaver suggests that one way this can happen is by using certain features of the constructivist theory of learning. Specifically, Weaver describes the constructivist theory as one which encourages students to learn about grammar through guessing about how it might work. Weaver says that for this to work “teachers must give a wide range of examples to illustrate a concept and that [they] must contrast these with common non-examples that are frequently mistaken for instances of the concept” (Weaver, 4). Personally, I really like the idea of showing students the right way and wrong way to use grammar because it seems like it would give them a more holistic understanding that will make it easier to create workable definitions of the concepts.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Weaver’s article because I believe that the best way to learn how to do anything is to learn it in context. If our students learn grammar in context then they will have a better chance of making that hook-shot when a 7-foot-tall shot-blocker comes flying their way.

It’s easy to take things for granted. I realize that this is a obvious statement but I feel it’s one that I’m obligated to make under the current circumstances. I have always had a certain respect and admiration for the brave and daring individuals who choose the teaching profession when others would rather attempt to tame a lion who hasn’t had dinner. However, lions aside, I don’t think that I’ve ever fully appreciated the level of work, effort, , bravery, patience, and joy that it takes to teach and teach well.

Why am I letting the cat out of the bag and letting people know that teaching is much more than just showing up before the bell rings and staying until it rings again? Have I recently received a large cashdonation from an anymous group of educators who need to generate some positive publicity before the next round of salary negotiations take place? The answer to this question is no. It’s for personal reasons that I am letting the fast-fingerd typers of the blogosphere know that teaching is more than generous vacation brakes. My fellow bloggers and other occasional passerbys, I am becoming a teacher. No, I didn’t make this decision late last night after conferring with my magic eigthball (always somewhat accurate). I have wanted to be a teacher for quite some time; it’s just that now my dream is beginning to feel more like reality.

My pedagogy project has provided me with a back stage glimpse of what it means to be a teacher. Specifically, I am learning that teachers have to decide what to teach, why to teach it and how to teach; in short, they create lesson plans. What does this have to do with me? Well, I am currently in the process of creating my first lesson plans. I doubt that they will be the best lesson plans that I ever create, however, teaching is about learning and improving. I am learning.

So, what is challenging about the lesson plans? For me, the most difficult thing is figuring out realistic goals for what I hope to teach my students within a two-week time frame. As a student I’ve always felt that two weeks is a day short of eternity. However, from a teachers perspective (did I just say that?) two weeks seems like a much shorter time-period. I don’t know if my lesson plans will transfer with ease from theory to practice but I hope they do.

As I am working on my pedagogy project I find myself wondering how the teachers I’ve had felt when they sat down to type up their first lesson plans? Did they worry about the fact that they would be responsible for the education of what would become familiar names and faces or did they feel a sense of inner calm because they knew they were meant to teach? I don’t know, but I imagine that the teachers I’ve had, like me, felt a lot of different feelings as they took their first shots at creating lesson plans.
In all, the responsibility of the task before me seems daunting at times but is one that I am willing to accept. I hope that one day I will teach and teach well.

Above is an image, which I feel is representative of Charlie’s life in Chbosky’s “The Perks of being a Wallflower.” The image is of a little boy who looks somewhat lonely. Also, the boy looks like he’s thinking about something. I think this image is closely linked to Charlie’s life for a couple of reasons.

First of all, Charlie appears to be doing as much as he can to avoid being alone. This is something that Charlie makes clear after his sister tells him that he can’t watch a movie with her and her boyfriend. “I knew she wanted to be alone with Erik, but I really wanted to have some company” ( Chbosky, 148). Charlie, for various reasons, struggles with loneliness throughout the story.

Second, the fact that the boy appears to be thinking is representative of Charlie who rarely quits thinking. In fact, Charlie thinks so much that he describes his mind as playing “hopscotch” (Chbosky, 98) at times.

Finally, the picture connects to Charlie because it symbolizes the childlike aspect of his personality. Charlie, although he’s depicted as an intelligent individual, appears to have emotions more typically found in younger children. A passage in “The Perks of being a Wallflower” that depicts Charlie through a childlike light is when he says, “I felt so sad. I didn’t know what was going on. Mom was trying to be really nice because when I get like this, she is the one that tries real hard to keep things calm” (Chbosky, 77-78).

In all, I feel as though this image of the lonely child is representative of the childlike vulnerability that affects so much of Charlie’s life in the story.

The following sites are ones that offer information about loneliness and advice for dealing with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loneliness

http://www.webofloneliness.com/

http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/loneliness.html