Grammar's hard.
But by that I mean, teaching grammar is hard. And it's not because it's actually hard, it's really just because no one cares to learn it. "It doesn't matter" whether I use the adjective or adverb form of the word, even though I sound like a fool saying I "did good." It doesn't matter what a preposition is or even which preposition I use. No one cares. It doesn't matter that my verb tense doesn't match my subject. That won't be confusing. You know what I'm trying to say. It doesn't matter if I know what an adjectival clause is. I can clearly point out what it's modifying (and therefore understand the gist of the sentence) without knowing what an adjectival clause is.
The biggest problem with teaching grammar is that no one cares, but everyone should care. Everyone should care that the second "I did good" comes out, anyone listening should be judging their intelligence. Everyone should care that using the wrong preposition makes the sentence confusing for the reader (or the translator). Everyone should care that the world is a place of credibility and reliability, and words reflect those things. Words mean things. Wrong words mean even more things. (See?)
So how do we get students to care? How do we teach them grammar and make it stick? Judging from discussions with Cumberland Valley's English Department Supervisor, they've got it right: teach traditional grammar in elementary school when students still care what their teachers think, what their parents think, and what their peers think. Allow them to learn and to make mistakes at a time in their lives when they're quick to forget mistakes and not be so self-conscious that they refuse to participate because they're afraid to get the answer wrong. Teach them while they want to learn. Enrich and review when they no longer actually care, but still remember the foundations that were laid.
Should we teach grammar in secondary schools? No. Not really, anyway. Grammar should have already been learned. Students should know nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and maybe prepositions. If they still need to learn appositives and absolutes and relative clauses, fine. We shouldn't be teaching basic skills in high school. If we're teaching what a noun is or what a verb is, we're wasting our time and every teacher before us has neglected to do his job.
Image Grammar is a book that has good ideas. It's a book that has useful practice activities. And it's a book that has fundamental flaws. How does one know what an absolute is if the book never tells what an absolute is? One or two sentences do not suffice. Showing examples of absolutes without addressing which part is the absolute in each sentence does not suffice. Most of all, expecting people who don't already know what those grammatical pieces are to understand them based on those exercises is a pipe dream. Does it teach aspects of grammar in context of writing? Sort of. Does it make students better writers? Probably. Does it actually teach what those grammatical constructions really are? No. Are there far too many rhetorical questions in this post? Probably. Will I add one more? Why not.
So, my teaching of grammar will probably look a lot like the traditional teaching does. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the year for "high interest" material. But I'm not a TV show, or a movie, or a video game. I'm not a rock star, I'm not a circus performer, I'm not an NHL player. My job is not to entertain. My job is to teach. Sure, there will be games and activities, but there will probably be some worksheets and lectures, too. And you know... if students don't care to learn it, I can always manage this. And they can always manage this.
