Bryant,+Hannah,+English

You again, I see. Well, come on in...

I chose English as my topic not only because it's what I want to teach but also because it's something I'm really passionate and excited about. Every aspect of it is fascinating and wonderful to me, and I think finding cool stuff about it is going to be fun. Who knows, maybe I'll end up using some of these things in my classroom someday!


 * Top Five Things I Learned**
 * 1) People who teach English as a second language in other countries are in really high demand.
 * 2) There aren't enough good English teachers out there (if I'm judging from the quality of comments on Youtube. Example: "i dont﻿ know grammar you is alive well living in the scotland" Does that make sense to anyone in the entire world? I wonder how a person can possibly write that and think, "Well, that seems pretty straightforward to me!" ).
 * 3) There are many, many places online to buy pre-written essays, which is just sad.
 * 4) A study showed that only 53.9% of high school graduates had "adequate" skills in reading and 51.8% in writing.
 * 5) Another study showed that 44 million Americans are functionally illiterate.

If you were to check out only one of these sources, I would advise you to visit **Grammar Girl**, number 6. It's just a great site in general, and it's a great resource if you're having trouble remembering grammar rules or anything like that. It's awesome!

I found this video a while ago and thought it was really funny! It parodies a scene from a movie I liked a lot, Inglourious Basterds, while also teaching some grammar rules. I definitely give it a 5/5 for both hilarity and educational content. (It seems strange to rate something from CollegeHumor 5/5 in educational content, but I swear it's great!)
 * 1. "Grammar Nazis"**
 * Note: This widget only seem to work in certain browsers. I'm not sure why. If you can't see it on this page, you can find it on Youtube [|here].**

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This is a pretty cool site. It gives lots of advice and ideas for coming up with lesson plans, how to handle parent-teacher conferences, how to make sure there's no unproductive downtime in class, and a bunch of other neat stuff. I'd give it a 4/5 for educational content but only a 3/5 overall because A) the design was distractingly simplistic and made me feel like someone very unprofessional made it, B) there was lacking information in some areas and almost too much in other areas, and C) it's a site for future English teachers -- are you REALLY going to call it Teacher2B? With a two? And the letter b instead of the word be?!
 * 2. [|Teacher2B]**

Of course, Schoolhouse Rock is awesome, and this video is one of my personal favorites. The song is catchy, and it teaches you through that. I would certainly rate this a 5/5 for everything. media type="youtube" key="mkO87mkgcNo?fs=1" height="385" width="480"
 * 3. Schoolhouse Rock - Conjunction Junction**

Even though this site doesn't give too much detail, it does explain step-by-step how to go about becoming an English teacher. Looks like I'm starting out on the right track so far! I'd give this site a 3/5 because it has good information, but it doesn't give too much detail -- it's pretty vague.
 * 4. [|How to Become an English Teacher Step by Step]**

This site is pretty cool. It discusses grammar and things like that in detail, giving explanations and help. It also has little cartoons to keep it interesting and fun to look at. I'd give this site a 4/5. It's a little boring sometimes, but it does have good information.
 * 5. [|Language Log]**

This site is awesome! It gives tips and help with all sorts of grammar rules, punctuation, and all the stuff that makes my heart all aflutter. I give it a 5/5 in every possible way.
 * 6. [|Grammar Girl]**

This article is hilarious! It not only makes itself relatable by using popular songs, but it gives great examples of the terrible grammar and how they break the rules. This is definitely another 5/5 for both humor and educational content.
 * 7. [|20 Songs with Really Bad Grammar]**

This video made me laugh out loud ridiculously. I do find Snooki kind of endearing (I'll admit it), but her grammar is horrifying. Something needed to be done! I'd give this video a 5/5 for comedy but only a 3/5 for educational content since he says what she's done wrong but not WHY it's wrong. media type="youtube" key="xTwCCrMRTxE?fs=1" height="385" width="640"
 * 8. Grammar School with Snooki**

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 * 9. Grammar Police**
 * Warning: There is some "adult language" featured in this video.** I thought this video was really funny. I loved the way it was set up like one of those reality cop shows. So funny! And there were actually a lot of good grammar rules given here... There was even a nifty rap about predicates! I'd give it a 5/5 for funniness, 4/5 for educational content.

This game is surprisingly addictive and fun... You choose your level, beginner or advanced, then you click on a specified part of speech in a sentence. As you go, you get bananas from the Grammar Gorillas. It's pretty silly, yeah, but it was also kind of hard for me to stop! 5/5 for educational content and the fact that gorillas give you a banana when you're right.
 * 10. [|The Grammar Gorillas]**

I thought these were all really funny! This is worth reading just for kicks and giggles.
 * BONUS: [|Funniest Analogies]**