In today's society, our children are typing and texting, using mouses, touch-screen keyboards, and etc. Children are no longer being taught handwriting. Don't get me wrong, I am not in love with handwriting. I feel as though I type faster than I write. When I make a mistake or misspelling, I can simply backspace and re-type. While when writing, if I make a mistake, I must have an erasable pen, a bottle of white out or a white out pen.
Recently, I came across an issue where I typed a letter for my client and my signature line was a typed version of my name. The third party rejected the letter because it did not have my signature. I signed the letter. However, upon my recent middle school observation, children are no longer being taught handwriting. How will our children know how to sign their names if they have never been taught?
With the advantages of text and email, this means our days of lengthy writing has become a shortened abbreviated, emoticon discussion. Our youth do not have typing classes. I mean the old-school QWERTY typing class of old. Of course I learned on a typewriter, but today's youth still needs to know the correct placement of fingers on a keyboard, so they can type efficiently.
Is it possible to have a handwriting and typing class taught together? In the real world, we still have to sign our names on the dotted line, sign your check at the bank, sign your name on the credit card slip at the grocery store and etc. Rachel Rodriguez agrees with me, click here to read about Cursive vs. Typing. Please give your feedback on whether you believe handwriting should be taught alongside typing or at all.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteIs handwriting not being taught in elementary school anymore? I think that it is important to learn all forms of communication and not just rely on typed print. I do not have the best penmanship due to a broken bone several years ago, but it is still legible when I do hand write anything. I believe it is very important to learn this because what if there is a point in our society when we no longer have the ability to use technology and have to revert back to the ways of the pen, we need to know how to do it. If students travel abroad then they also must learn to communicate in various ways as well as various languages. Maybe the students should learn to write first and then begin to learn typing in middle school or late elementary grades.
Thank you Holly, Cursive is no longer being taught in elementary school. There are times when technology may not be available or systems crash and you have to revert back to the 'ancient' use of the pen. I think it would be excellent for students to start learning cursive as in days of old, in the second grade.
DeleteWhile formal instruction of cursive is a thing of the past, plain handwriting is still taught in elementary schools. More and more, students are being introduced to typing at an early age, and it is often the dominant format in which assignments are submitted in upper school classes. It's important that students of today know how to type as this skill is essential to functioning in modern society, but I still think students can benefit from learning to write by hand. There have been studies that show we're better able to retain information when we physically write it down. As an English teacher, I think students get more out of a book if they annotate the text by underlining and writing notes in the margin. Yes, this can be done on most e-readers, but I don't think it has the same effect. It's also interesting to note that students are unable to read historical documents without at least recognizing cursive letters. There's a great piece about this on NPR: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/schools-still-insist-lessons-elegant-cursive/
ReplyDeleteThank you Anna, yes, it is cursive which is no longer being taught in schools. As you pointed out, a lot of historical documents are in cursive. Thank you for the article, I love that the teachers have found ways to integrate cursive into their lesson plans. It is definitely food for thought.
DeleteTiffany - this is such a good idea for a blog. I think it's a sad state of affairs when handwriting and actually writing a letter or note seems to be going along the wayside. While technology is certainly important and ever-changing our lives in many beneficial ways, in schools and in learning arenas, I do think it is still important for children of all ages to know how to write. Whether it is writing a thank-you note or taking notes in class or emailing (and using correct grammar and complete sentences) another person, knowing how to communicate through non-abbreviated, fast, and technical means in a skill to keep. Being in a hurry is no excuse for a poorly executed letter, whether it's in cursive on paper or in an email format.
ReplyDeleteA. McCall
Thank you Abby, you bring up a great point that thank you notes are more personal when written, this is still common courtesy and etiquette.
Delete