Group 4

Ah, Harry Nodden. Nodden really knows how to teach grammar in a way that goes through the much debated into areas that are easily taught in the classroom. I actually did a presentation before on the very chapter that the presenters did on Greek terminology in grammar. The group was very professional and the entire set up with the french theme, music, and 'wine' was a great touch that would help to get the students' attention before the lesson was started.

Although I really don't put too much stake by the test that we took, I feel like it is important to give upcoming teachers a bit of a reality check on their own grammar skills before they go into the classroom. While there are areas that future teachers will need to keep in mind that they still have work to do, I'm sure they will still have a great deal to offer to students in the way of grammar instruction.

After working at the Writing Center I've definitely come to see how 'grammar' is used as a catch-all for many students who are looking for help with much greater needs or ones that are completely different. When a student says the 'need help with grammar' they could mean many different things. For instance, in this case, a student might mean that they are struggling with specific word choice, or they might be having a hard time construcing sentences properly. Maybe they recieved a mark on their paper that said 'akward'. The fact is, many students say 'grammar' when they just don't know the terminology or exact problem they really need help working with. So, I feel like group presentations like the one from this group really help teachers to understand the variety of things a student could mean they are having issues with.