Enthusiasm (Grammar)

When I was a tutor at Nassau Community College, a student came in whose professor wanted her to work on grammar and sentence structure. Normally I prefer to focus on the paper itself, but this was what he wanted.

Romeo and Juliet word cloud
http://coolcardsblog.blogspot.com/

I showed the student the different ways that sentence parts and clauses can be fitted together. After each example it was like a light bulb going on. "Oh, cool!" she said every time, for coordinated sentences "Cool!", subordination, "Cool!", for all the various subordinating conjunctions, "Cool! Cool!"

Obviously grammar had seemed to her- as to most people- a tricky, pointless subject, and I was showing her the beauty of how things fit together like puzzle pieces. Next we looked at possessives, and the rules suddenly made sense, "Oh, cool!" We looked at modifiers and it clicked- "Cool!" Everything was Cool!

She floated out of the room, buoyed by her enthusiasm. She assured me she was going to read more grammar at home. I doubt the excitement would carry her for so long. It was probably a temporary elation.

Frankly, I never particularly enjoyed teaching grammar before this. I had never realized that grammar could be Cool! She taught me that. Now I try to teach grammar with that same enthusiasm for the beauty of the system. Again and again my students react, with the sort of pleasure one gets from solving a riddle or doing a puzzle.

One thing that particularly excites me about grammar is how little grammar fixes can influence the meaning of a sentence. For example

"Mary was clumsy and she wanted to dance with the prince."
Change the conjunction from 'and' to 'but'
Put 'Mary was clumsy' at the end, to save the surprise for last, like a punch line
Mary wanted to dance with the prince, but she was clumsy.

You've now drawn the ideas into a tighter logical connection, as well as increased the humor value. Just as much as words are meaning, grammar is meaning also. Cool!

This is from a recommendation from one of the professors at Nassau Community College:
". . . This was not just a session building rapport-- it was a bonding session, displaying skills in acute listening and diagnosing, gentle persuasion laced with touches of humor, and brilliant problem solving.. intuitive awareness of his problems and needs and her ability to help him build his confidence. . ."