The Micciche article was most interesting for me. I always had a hunch that just teaching strictly grammar was not the best way to serve students. My hunch is becoming more evident in an online setting. For example, in my online classes, students have to ask their questions in writing. There are so many instances where I am reading a response and thinking, “What?” The problem is that they are unable to express themselves and may not have really thought about the question they are asking. While the sentence may be punctuated correctly, there are many times where the word choice makes the question incomprehensible. I would definitely try the idea of having students keep a portfolio (commonplace book) of good writing, credit card statements, instruction manuals, etc. in my business writing classes. This can make for some awesome conversation.
The Ehrenworth and Vinton article had many great lesson plans teaching writing and grammar. I will also begin experimenting with this technique to see how it works for my students. When I first began teaching, there were many times when I was frustrated and passed it on to my students. Sometimes I was frustrated because I felt like I needed more knowledge, and at other times, I had the “you should know this” tone that they mentioned. Combining writing and grammar exercises all in one may help to ease some of our frustrations.
Ah, I so understand sometimes about figuring out what question someone is asking! I think the idea of asking your students (following Micciche) to keep copies of writing samples they find to be clear and easy to read -- and then using those as models -- is a fine one for addressing this. I also sometimes take the "Ask back" strategy, simply to ask, "Here's what I think you are asking; is that it?" It takes time, but in the back and forth I find that students (start to!) figure out that there is another person at the other end and that they have to think about how their words strike that other person...
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