I was intrigued by Bean's views on grammar. As a ELA teacher, this is the most problematic issue I face. My students are from rural areas and see no value in learning grammar. I had one of my students, who is a hunter through and through, make a comment concerning this topic. One day during language arts, he was struggling with a particular grammar assignment. Frustrated and discouraged, he sarcastically asked if the animals in the forest really care if he uses proper grammar or if they are more concerned with his marksmanship. He had a valid and well-taken argument.
I liked the point made about grammar drills not improving writing. I'm not crazy after all! And, I agree that mastery of grammar does not denote the intelligence of the student.
No, you are not crazy after all. The trick to teaching writing, in my humble opinion, is to get the students comfortable with the process of putting words down on paper first and then, help them to shape their words into more conventional usage. Without that initial level of comfort, the students really struggle with what we expect from them.
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