I thought it was wonderful that Bonnie could come in and talk with us, it’s always nice to be able to pick the author’s brain to figure out just what is behind their reasoning in their articles. She was completely different than I thought she would be. I thought she would be all academic and snotty because her paper sounded so professional, but she was so down to earth and practical (although the practical wasn’t surprising given her article topics). She really gave me hope for getting future articles published.
The biggest concept I took away from her articles and her chit chat with us was the lesson on teaching grammar using popular novels and texts that the kids are reading. My biggest fear coming in as a first year teacher would be not knowing the grammar rules well enough to be able to just pull out examples of what we are trying to study. The grammar books are safe because they have the answer in the teacher’s edition, but they are also terribly boring and impractical. So maybe I won’t do this my first year, but once I have all the little grammar rules down I will switch to using popular texts.
Beautiful Autumn
5 months ago
I felt that Bonnie really loves her profession, loves her students and cares for them. She tried different ways to approach them and did not give up. Sometimes I feel frustated when something is wrong, but she thought me to be patiente and look for solutions rather than blame somebody for the problems.
ReplyDeleteI continue to admire Bonnie and how she keeps trying new strategies if the other ones don't work. I still don't have all the grammar rules down... I just keep a guide close!
ReplyDeleteBonnie just gets it! We all admire her for her tenacity and experience. She reminded me that I need to be mindful when choosing text to teach grammar. I've edited transactional writing for over 20 years, and I still refer to my "Webster's Compact Writers Guide". I just wish they would update and republish it!
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