Powerful Punctuation

When looking at a block of words, the only thing keeping them from being a jumbled mess are the many different kinds of punctuation. These tiny marks are often overlooked, and are most definitely underrated. But with so many of them to keep track of it is quite a hard system to learn. Teaching younger children the basic rules of punctuation is a difficult task. Being able to cross the student’s minds from spoken word to the written word is incredibly confusing. The many differences between the two styles are hard for a young mind to comprehend.

The Socratic seminar we had this week about how older kids learn punctuation was pretty interesting. Come to think of it, I haven’t really given punctuation much of a thought since I was younger. I think the subject becomes an afterthought after writing so many essays in my life. Sometimes I am surprised as to where I put my punctuations, and when I’m typing my fingers put the punctuations there for my drone-like brain.

One of the more common themes we talked about in our discussion Wednesday was the idea that punctuation is very often overlooked. For those who understand punctuation, it gets more difficult to teach in a way. It becomes an expected thing to be able to punctuate writing. So when a teacher sees a student’s piece of writing with poor punctuation, their instinct is to just correct it with a red pen and not bother to teach the student the right way.

This teaching move is in my opinion one of the worst ways to try and teach a concept. It is the exact opposite of the teaching model discussed in the book, and gives no chance for the student to “do” anything. This is the all too common fatal mistake in the area of punctuation. Rather than giving a personal lesson on exactly what the student has confusion on, the only help a student gets is with little marks in the margins of their paper. The idea that a student can misunderstand the rule, and in their own head think they are right, and continue this mistake in each piece of writing. More attention needs to be paid in teaching each student the right way to avoid this costly misunderstanding. Punctuation is not a very difficult concept once it is fully understood, but fully understanding its complexities is the hardest part.