Re:As an English teacher... (Score 1)

I too am an English teacher and while in college we spent many class periods in my English Grammar class debating the very topic of the relevance of having a functional knowledge of grammar. Statistics show that being able to perfectly diagram a sentence and knowing each part of speech has virtually no effect on the quality of writing that the student produces. Not only that, but how many of you who actually learned how to diagram sentences remember how to do it today? It's much like a racecar driver. Will knowing how his engine and transmission technically function have any effect on how well he shifts the gears and corners his vehicle? Probably not... So, does the fact that when I start talking about verbs, nouns and adverbs, turns my students' brains into tapioca make me a bad teacher? One could argue that playing minesweeper might develop some strategic skills that could better benefit today's easily distracted teen. Oh wait, minesweeper doesn't come on Apples... Dangit!