This is a terrific project to encourage students to take ownership of their writing, both the what they say (content) and the how they say it: (Grammar and usage). The repetitive nature of identifying the errors, copying the faulty sentences and then correcting the mistakes truly shows them how often they repeat certain errors. Finally, it forces students to read and revise their graded writing pieces instead of just looking at the grade and filing the paper away. Since the completion of this project, they spend more care and effort on proofreading their other writings. When they are finished, each student will have his or her personal Writing & Grammar book addressing his/her specific weaknesses. When this project was turned in, one young lady stated, "I never realized how often I started sentences with it or there and a to be verb." Other students commented on how frequently they started consecutive sentences with the same word, wrote comma splices or started body paragraphs with facts instead of ideas. I love this project and will use it again and again.

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Because one of my goals is to prove that studying literature, writing, vocabulary and grammar can be fun, I have created a number of innovative lessons for these strands of learning. Last year I collected many of them and compiled them in a book called Setting the Pace, for English teachers and college education students. Currently, the book is in revision; the title has been changed to NOVEL IDEAS, and it focuses on teaching literature as well as writing about literature. Veteran teachers and those aspiring to the field can utilize the hands on units and ideas for teaching while honing their skills on how to pace a lesson and to connect it to their state's standards of learning. I am a recently retired (2011) English teacher in the Fairfax County Virginia public school system, where I taught English 12, Journalism 1,2,3 & 4 and Creative Writing 1, 2, & 3. As a result of the Teacher Performance Evaluation instituted by the county, I was awarded the prestigious Career Two Exemplary level status three times. Besides the public high school venue, my teaching background includes an alternative secondary school for behaviorally disadvantaged adolescents, an adolescent psychiatric hospital, and a boys' reform school. Proud of my choice to be an educator, I have always hated the cliche, "Those that can, do; those that can't teach." Through my writing and my role modeling in the classroom, I show that not only do I teach, but I also practice what I preach.
