LACCRA Seminar: Happy Punctuating! Part 1

Presenter: Margie Wakeman Wells
Date: Saturday, July 18, 2026
Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 
Location: Online via GoToMeeting
Hours/CEUs: 2 LASC hours; .20 NCRA CEUs 
Click here for more information about LACCRA seminars or to register.

Description/Objectives: The session will begin with an analysis of how to condense the several hundred comma rules into a workable guideline, including a discussion of recent changes in the rules.
 
•    The remainder of the session will cover comma rules that are often confused or misunderstood, including punctuation for the word so, sentences that start with and or but, the Oxford comma in series, the understanding that in dependent clauses, appositives with parentheticals, and more. There will be time to address additional questions from attendees.
•    That the attendees leave with a better understanding of how to separate the two basic comma rules.
•    That the attendees are more easily able to handle some of the “problem” rules for commas.

Meet Margie Wakeman Wells: Margie is in her seventh decade of teaching, 49 of those years in court reporting education. She has presented, under the auspices of NCRA and state organizations, over 300 seminars for reporters, teachers, and students on English-related topics.
 
Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation is her best-selling reference text, which has an accompanying Workbook with 250 pages of exercises to practice the rules. She recently released Just Grammar, a text that explains basic English grammar and offers exercises to practice the concepts. She has also published Word Pares, Pears, Pairs and All Things English, a practice book on English skills. 
 
Margie operates Margie Holds Class, her online school for live and recorded classes; answers questions on the popular subscription site Margie’s Gurus; and sponsors Margie’s English Corner, a free Facebook group.