2020 – Lemons-Aid Learning

The Purpose.

The purpose of learning grammar is to write something beautiful. Or persuasive. Or inspirational. Or . . . . Fill in the blank. Authors strive for clarity, but writing is also an art. Grammar knowledge is like having a number of gadgets in your toolbox to help you get the job done. If you want to build a beautiful piece of furniture–say a patio table that will seat your guests for long, summer dinners–you need to have the right tools. Furniture has function, of course, but it also has style. Do you want the top of your table to have a beveled edge? Why? Your choice to stain the wood instead of paint it is grounded in a stylistic or functional purpose. Writing is the same! How can an author use words, syntax, and grammar to bring about an emotion in his reader? When should you start a sentence with an participial phrase? What effect does a long string of dependent clauses have on the advancement of an idea or theme? So, teaching and learning grammar is not a waste of time. To communicate well, and with a stylistic and functional purpose, writers need to understand how to use the tools of the trade–nouns, verbs, semicolons, oh my!

What About Sentence Diagraming?

I used to teach sentence diagraming. I liked the mathematics-like structure of the language and saw beauty in the variety of how words could be placed together to form an idea. Frustrated that my middle school students didn’t see it my way, I was even more discouraged that their skill in diagraming didn’t translate to beautiful composition. What was I to do?

The Vertical Planning Meeting.

As a middle school teacher and high school teacher at a small Christian school, we had a vertical planning meeting for English language art curriculum. An elementary teacher asked a high school teacher what she should be doing to prepare students for secondary school. The high school teacher responded, “Teach them how to write a sentence!” At that point, our sweet elementary teacher was not so sweet anymore. “That’s all we do!” she responded defensively.

Research to the Rescue.

I wanted to know why my middle school and high school students couldn’t write sentences since that’s all they had done in elementary school. 😉

I discovered that students compartmentalize grammar knowledge and do not transfer their knowledge when composing pieces of writing. I also discovered that students should be combining sentences all the way through high school! We high school teachers are the ones that need to teach them how to write a sentence! As students age, their speech naturally becomes more complex; they don’t know how to punctuate those complex sentences.

Recommended Curriculum.

Homeschool moms know a thing or two! They’ve been using the following curriculum for a long time, but once I implemented the techniques in these books, my students made quick progress that awed me. Here’s the list:

Easy Grammar. The sentence combining is the most valuable and without this aspect of the curriculum, I would not recommend it.

Donald & Jenny Killgallon texts. I start with the elementary book even with high school students as it’s hard for them. There is one caveat here–these are not texts to just give to your learners and have them go at it alone. I found that you need to explicitly teach and model and guide them along, so they have success.

Recommended Courses.

If this is something you want to outsource to Lemons-Aid, we are happy to teach! Check out these courses:

A Cut Above (a 2-day, get-your-feet-wet course)

State of the Art (an ongoing subscription course)

Whether your teenager is a seasoned online learner or is navigating online or at-home learning for the first time, they all have moments or seasons of struggle. Motivation can be a killer. Here are some tips for your teenagers to make learning online or at home more productive and successful!

Grind on One Subject

If you have the flexibility to work on only one class per day, you may just love this idea! I found that when my own teens work on just one self-paced class for weeks at a time, they are more focused, learn the material better, get better grades, and they lose very little time switching to five different subjects each day. For example, my 9th grader is doing Social Studies right now. He finishes a week of Social Studies in one day, which is about four or five hours of work. He does this for four weeks and is then finished with a semester. Try it out if you can!

No Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room

Wait, huh? Let me explain. You know the kids that skip class to vape in the bathroom? I hope that’s not you. If so, stop it right now. You’re better than that. The online version of “skipping class to vape in the bathroom” is the YouTube sneak that sucks HOURS of your productive time. It’s bad, bad for the brain. You are doing a lot of damage to yourself. Oh, the temptation will be real, like a vortex, sucking you into that hype YouTube channel. This is especially true if your mom walks out of the room. Don’t click! To fight it you will need to own your own learning. Decide for yourself to be a learner, grow, and get smart. Save YouTube for when you’re done for the day. Repeat after me: I am smart! I am successful! I will not vape in the bathroom….or watch YouTube during school.

Get Your Zzz’s

Did you know that super-smart scientists say teenagers need lots of sleep? Just don’t sleep on a railroad track like the dude in the picture above. That seems dangerous. And not super comfortable. Some teenagers need to sleep later in the morning, too. Talk to your parents about this to work out a schedule that allows you to get healthy sleep, and be careful of getting too much sleep, which isn’t good. This is one of the biggest benefits of online learning–you get to customize a schedule. Also, you may find that you are really productive in the evening hours. I only let one of my three teenage boys work late at night by himself because he has proven himself responsible by getting good grades and meeting deadlines. The other two? Um, no! If you like to work late at night, prove to your parents that you’re grown-up enough to be trusted.

Schedule Your Breaks

Back to our smart scientists. They also say that an hour of vigorous exercise helps with focus JUST AS WELL AS ADHD meds. Slay, scientists! Take a break at the intervals you need and think about managing these with a timer. Get up and jump rope for five minutes after you’ve been sitting and staring at a screen for 45 minutes. Race your brother around the block. You’ve just exercised your brain. Now go exercise your quads.

Wait Just a Minute!

By break, I didn’t say video game break, did I? If you take a break to play video games, your motivation to get back to school will go down to the depths of, well, a bad place. Seriously, use video games to motivate you to finish your work! When you’re finished with school, you can relax and enjoy that NHL game, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

Dress Smart. Get Smart.

Don’t think Zoom won’t see your bare legs if you decide to go commando during your live class session. Just ask that reporter in the screengrab above. Yep, he did an interview on national television and didn’t wear pants! You may want to wear them, just in case. What about PJ’s? I used to think a benefit to online learning is being able to stay cozy. But I found that it is a motivation-killer. You feel how you dress. Dress smart; get smart. And wear pants.

Move Your Mouth.

Get snacks if you want. Chew gum. There are no rules about munching while you study! Chewing gum can actually help you stay focused. Really! That is unless you’re talking to a teacher online while munching on chips–then it’s kind of gross.

Stay Organized.

Sit at an organized desk, preferably in an area where a parent can see what you are doing. If your environment is messy, you’ll feel it. You may need a little more accountability to work hard when what you really feel like doing is plopping on your bed for “just a sec.” If you do work in a room by yourself, keep it organized.

You Can Do Hard Things.

Motivation is an issue. I know. Your mom will absolutely annoy you the more she nags. You will have days where you just aren’t feelin’ it. But, you are tough and strong and can make good decisions. And your feelings aren’t the boss of you. Online learning requires a lot of independence and personal responsibility for solving problems. Typically, online classes have less direct instruction from a teacher, which means you have to figure things out on your own, using resources. If you have a math problem that only a quantum physicist can solve, you can fall back on a strategy. Be proactive and take these steps:

Take a big breath and embrace this disequilibrium. Confusion and frustration are normal when you’re learning. If you don’t feel it, you are not being challenged enough. You’re about to learn something new, and that is cool!
Say out loud, “This is hard, and I can do hard things.”
Ask yourself: What do I already know about this? What do I not understand and why (are there too many tough vocab words in the math problem)? Where can I find the answers to my questions? Then think of resources (your textbook, Khan Academy, Crash Course, Google) and use them before you ask an adult. For example, let’s say you have to write a paragraph on why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, which you find difficult even after reading your textbook. Google to see if there’s a video that can help you. I know what you’re thinking! YouTube! Well, so long as you are learning and not smoking, you’ll be fine. But check the credibility of the video to make sure you can trust the information. Watching a short video on this topic could help you build up your understanding. Then go read your textbook again. You can do it!
If you have taken steps to solve this problem on your own and are still struggling, then ask your parent for some support, or fire off an email to your teacher. He or she may even meet with you to support you. Teachers are awesome, and they like teens…generally.

Minimize Distractions.

Listen to Mrs. Lemons–put your phone away, set your computer up to a “do not distract” setting, close unnecessary tabs, turn off notifications, and focus! If your phone is blowing up, it is nearly impossible to stay focused on your reading. There are even apps on the phone that help with focusing your attention. One is called Forest. As you focus, accomplish tasks, and even take breaks, you build a big forest. The app will detect if you pick up the phone, which will kill your beautiful trees!

So there you go! Do you have other suggestions for teenagers? Share them in the comments for others to read.

See you soon!

Year: 2020

Is Teaching and Learning Grammar a Waste of Time?