Major Misconception!

Copyright is an ownership right.
Hose out the myths and misinformation!
Learn how you and your students can use copyrighted material to advance scholarship.

Visit our Copyright and Fair Use pages.

Tip of the Month

Is It Lie or Lay?

Many of us struggle with how and when to use the verbs lie and lay. Here is a quick reference to help keep you grammatically correct when using these words:
Lie—the action of reclining
Example: The preschoolers lie down for a nap in the afternoon.

Lay—always followed by a noun or pronoun. You lay something somewhere.
Example: I lay the newspaper on her desk every morning.

BUT, lay is also the past tense of lie.
Example: I lay down for a nap all afternoon yesterday.

Be a good neighbor—talk about and share this with your colleagues and friends. Sharing will help you remember the tip. Send us your comments and ideas.

VISION
To provide a national model of effective editorial support that maintains consistency in grammar and style usage throughout written and published documents in a diverse school community.

MISSION
To provide written technical support and effective and practical editorial information to MCPS staff that is related to all aspects of grammar and style, as adopted by MCPS.

Executing the Mission
The Editorial Help Desk supports communications and publishing throughout MCPS by providing the following services:

Editing and Proofreading

Help Line and Website

Editorial Summit

Reference Publications

Staff Development Support

Learn to decipher the alphabet soup! Look it up in the MCPS Acronyms Guide
Do you know the difference between an ELT and an EMT, between FLS and FLES? Keep this reference on hand and you'll never get lost in jargon.

MCPS Acronyms (PDF)

Get the interactive
Correspondence Manual 2010
Learn to prepare memoranda, letters, and other documents in a consistent format. See the updated examples of memoranda and letters. Refresh your knowledge of e-mail etiquette and more.

Montgomery County Public Schools Interactive Correspondence Manual (PDF)

You've got to have style! Get the interactive Editorial Stylebook
Present your message in a clear, consistent, and professional manner. Learn some basic style rules to save time and improve your documents.

Montgomery County Public Schools Interactive Editorial Stylebook (PDF)