When I signed up for ENG 371: English Grammar, I was expecting a course similar to the grammar classes I remember taking in the public elementary and high schools while I was growing up.  I thought I would be learning parts of speech and their functions in sentences.  I also expected to be using these tools for writing.  Well, I was only partly right.  This class was a lot more complex that I expected.  Much to my surprise, the parts of speech are not even called that any more; according to Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, modern liquists now refer to these elements as either open form classes or closed structure classes.  The concepts are basically the same but it seems that modern liquists do not "assume that English words can fit into the traditional eight groups" anymore.  The functions of words in the sentences appear to be pretty much the same.  I also had difficulty with sentence diagrams and they are worse now than they were then.  I am glad Dr. Canada does not put a lot of emphasis diagrams.
    An unexpected element of this class was the online portfolio.  This is the first English class where I was expected to know more than basic keyboarding and word processing.  It was a frustrating project, but I am proud of my accomplishments with my web page.  I feel like I have learned more about using a computer than about English grammar. .  My home page was a mess for a long time while I figured out how to organize it to suit me and my links may not work now.  I have uploaded enough material that I finally feel comfortable about doing it, but I still have to check my notes to create a link.
    The editing project was the challenging part of the class.  I had to take my old college handbook and literally go through it page by page to edit this work.  I made a list of comma uses, colon uses, semi-colon uses, and went down the list.  If a punctuation mark was used that I could not justify with my list, out it went.  What was even harder was deciding where to add punctuation.  I don't think I'll be taking any editing jobs.
    The reflective essays and the captions were a little easier once I got started on them.  I had to think back fifteen weeks and try to remember what I expected out of this class and then put that into words.  I have enjoyed this class and I have learned a lot.  I think the most important lesson I learned was not about grammar, though.  It was about understanding the frustrations of someone else who is learning something new.  Since I will be a middle school teacher, this is an important revelation.  I usually take on new projects with a lot of enthusiasm and with a lot of work, do well.  This web page almost brought me to tear sometimes when, after hours of work, it was still not right.  This has been a project I will not forget as I try to teach my students new information and concepts.