I've taught in the academically demanding districts of Northern Virginia for 12 years.
I have taught Language Arts, English, Social Studies, Digital media, and gifted classes. I have two Bachelor degrees in Education and in Liberal Arts. I was awarded the Virginia Technology Teacher of the Year Award. I have my National Board Certification in Language Arts for the Young Adolescent. I have my Masters Degree in Education.
English grammar has many rules, and almost as many exceptions. Many times it is up to the author to dictate and choose different styles, but always for one reason: to communicate clearly. Take for instance the first sentence in this paragraph. Common grammar rules would dictate that there should not be a comma between the two parts of the sentence (because it’s not a list and it’s a comparison that should be equally represented on both sides of the word “and.” But, because I as a writer wanted to emphasize the second half of the sentence, I placed a comma before the word “and” which in effect gave the reader a literally “pause” before the main point was made. |

