Actually, that's not a bad description of what a meteor looks like as it streaks across the sky. They are pieces of dust and debris in space that enter the earth's atmosphere. As they hit the atmosphere, they burn up, leaving a streak of light. Most of the pieces are no bigger than a grain of dust, so meteor showers are not known for their bright fireballs. Mostly you'll see relatively faint streaks of light, lasting for a second or so.
Any moonless night is a good time to observe meteors.
Even without a scheduled shower, you'll see a few meteors an hour if you're observing from a relatively dark rural site. What makes meteor showers interesting is the frequency of those streaks of light. Meteor showers are caused when the earth passes through a cloud of space debris left by a passing comet, thus increasing the amount of junk that enters the earth's atmosphere. Still, most of the yearly meteor showers are weak, increasing the total number of meteors by only a few an hour. The Perseids, which peak in the early morning hours of August 12, are the yearly exception.