Student's prior knowledge

Student's background knowledge is so imperative when asking them to complete a cumulative task. How can we, the teachers, expect students to write about a topic that they do not clearly understand? How can we assume that the students will pick up on the nuances in their reading (i.e. novel) without first modelling it through a "read out loud". I remember taking a first year English course at a university, and I thought I knew everything about writing an essay, but little did I know I knew nothing when my professor went through the structure/process of writing through a minute step-by-step explanation, both verbally and visually, and with repetition. That course was probably the most valuable course that I've ever paid for. Like what the professor did for us, teachers really need to take the time to explain important ideas/concepts with detail and repetition.

Thinking back, asking students to write an essay on a topic based on their reading seems vacuous. As teachers, we need to scaffold their understanding on the topic by bringing-in other texts other than the primary document, and allow students to explore the topic from various medium, text, and angles.

I get it now.

Learning English

When I see the frustration in my student's face when they just "don't get English grammar," I tell them I completely understand. I was once in their shoes: I learned English when I was in grade 3, starting from A-B-C. I went to school throughout elementary and high school never really having honed my grammar. I managed to get good grades because my analytical skills saved what my grammar skills lacked in English. However, my appreciation/love/curiosity of the English grammar deepened near the end of my undergraduate studies and when I finally arrived in Korea to teach English. I couldn't believe how many rules there were in English, and how I could easily explain English grammar rules instead of saying the generic, "it just is" as many English teachers would tell their students in Korea. Through teaching grammar, I improved my own grammar.

I love learning more than anything, and I suppose it makes perfect sense that I love teaching, because through teaching I learn better.

I'm always looking out for a good grammar book, and I get very excited when I spot grammatical mistakes!

Grammar lesson:

When neither or either is used in a sentence, it should be treated as a singular noun.

i.e.) Neither of the two boys wants to eat breakfast.

I love grammar!