First it was the bestselling Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance to Approach to Punctuation. Then came Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tricks to Better Writing. You’d think with these books selling millions of copies that grammar was making a comeback from the Dark Days of Whole Language Theory. (I still wince when I recall my then six-year-old’s uncorrected spelling…pdado for potato was one of my favorites.)
But I still see a cringeworthy lack of proper punctuation in my students’ papers. They either omit commas entirely or toss them around indiscriminately. Don’t even ask about the semicolon.
Thank goodness for online grammar sites! We know our students will use online sources whenever they can, so why not steer them to the best ones?
Here are two of my favorites:
- Purdue OWL Great resources for students and teachers https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
- The Oatmeal Actual comics that explain usage
http://theoatmeal.com/tag/grammar
–Janet
“Gaming” the Résumé Robots
We all know that large companies use applicant tracking systems to filter and manage incoming résumés. The Eighth Edition of BC:PP teaches students how to prepare one résumé and customize it for various delivery formats as well as how to “game” applicant tracking systems by focusing on specific words in their résumés. If you haven’t yet seen the new edition, contact your Cengage representative or check out the BC:PP, 8e, product site.
Jury Is In–BC:PP, 8e, a Hit!
Our Cengage sales reps (oops–Learning Consultants!) tell us that instructors are just beginning to use the Eighth Edition of Business Communication: Process and Product, and the response is fabulous! Instructors say that this is a momentous edition and not just a cosmetic revamping as some publishers do. My coauthor Dana and I knew that this would be a remarkable edition because of the huge effort that we made to research and reflect the digital-age workplace. The digital resources Cengage provides– including new figures, videos, and extensive MindTap resources—are amazing!
I’d love to hear from you…drop me a line or post your comments.
–Mary Ellen
