As a future elementary teacher, I feel that it is very important for me to try to understand the different writing styles that my forthcoming students might possess. This will enable me to understand what they are trying to write and say in their papers without being so critical on the style that the student chooses. In this class, we have been studying spell- and grammar- checkers that are included in computer programs in order to evaluate the effectiveness of them. Through the three various assignments that we have completed through out the semester, we have learned that the spell- and grammar- checker can be valuable in some situations, but not always.
             The spell checker and the grammar checker are tools that can be used to help improve writing and to assist in avoiding embarrassing mistakes. However, the question is, does it TRULY do what it is meant to do? There are some advantages and disadvantages to these programs when writing papers.
             The good news is that the user-friendly software has many nice features. The program underlines grammar and spelling errors, or what it believes to be errors, in red or green as soon as they are typed. This is an advantage because it allows the writer to correct a mistake while the word or phrase is still fresh in his/her mind. If further clarification of the error is necessary, the writer can select "Spelling and Grammar" from the Tools menu and then the computer explains the mistake in easily understood terms. Then the computer offers suggested corrections and advice on how to avoid such errors in future. In other words, the program not only corrects the writer, but offers provides informal lessons at the same time; this allows for an easy and painless way to brush up on basic grammar.
             The program also has a number of "style" settings. For each setting, certain rules are suspended or enforced. On the "casual" setting, for example, the program checks only the most bas...