Are you (more than slightly) OCD [Obsessive-Compulsive Disordered] about punctuation and grammar? Do you have a mental (or, like me, an actual) correcting pen ready at all times?

In a day-long Professional Development workshop (which included reviewing the state standards on English Language Arts…) last week, I spent many happy minutes disparaging and then correcting the mistakes in the presenter’s Power Point slides and the manual provided.

I found 17 errors in a three-paragraph story alone.

So fun!

Oy!

No wonder this is one of my all-time favorite non-holidays!

USA National #Punctuation Day® is TODAY! September 24, 2016,
Jeff Rubin, Founder

Also, every year there is a CONTEST! YES! Sharpen your red pencils!

National Punctuation Day® announces 2016 writing contest

This year, for the 13th National Punctuation Day® on September 24, we salute the unsung and under-appreciated heroes of our lives — TEACHERS.

Have you had a teacher who changed your life, someone who brought into focus a subject you hadn’t previously understood, or introduced you to something that became your passion? Maybe you had a teacher who helped you develop a skill that wasn’t natural for you.

Maybe you have a teacher like that now.

Did you have a teacher who, along with the basics they he or she was supposed to be teaching, taught you that it was better to try and fail than to not try at all?

Perhaps two teachers? Three? More?

HERE’S THIS YEAR’S CONTEST: Write a thank-you note of no more than 250 words to a teacher, expressing your gratitude for having been taught how to write using proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and how those skills have helped you in your student or adult life. Make it personal by identifying the teacher, subject, school, grade level, and state/country.

Entries will be accepted through October 31 at Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com.

Winners in the student and adult divisions will be announced, and prizes will be awarded, in December.

PLEASE visit founder, Jeff Rubin’s, website, where he has explanations of EVERY type of punctuation WITH PHOTOS of those used in English, AND pages of info, recipes (!?) and resources, like “Punctuation Products” and “Punctuation Playtime Program”! http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/ for more information and fun stuff.

The site also has great posters/signage of excellent punctuation mistakes, videos, radio spots, schools’ participation pix, newspaper coverage of NPD (even right here in St. Louis, MO!) and much more!

Love this sign!

We can only hope these “Little ‘Genius’s'” can’t read, yet.

Most unusual tribute?
Video of a Punctuation Rap Song by Dots N Dashes: https://youtu.be/4vYrws3766Q The participants make punctuation marks on the football field, as if they were a marching band. Hilarious.

Photos of bad signage and more at: http://www.NationalPunctuationDay.com

Got a photo of an incorrectly punctuated sign?
E-mail it to Jeff Rubin Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com and it will be posted on the National Punctuation Day® web site–—with a photo credit!

Here is another video:
http://wabi.tv/2012/09/24/celebrating-national-punctuation-day/

CONTACT JEFF: Jeff also does presentations and answers your punctuation questions and makes live appearances (he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, California): (510) 724-9507 and Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com

Special note
— to any of the students who had/have me as a teacher who happen to have read this far: Copies of your entries and thank-you notes are appreciated, but please proofread them first! ~~~~

Or, here is what I will look like when I see YOUR errors: