<p>In college, I am definitely concerned about becoming a better student. One problem I want to improve is my handwriting. It is definitely a mess, and lots of times when I am reviewing, I can’t read my own notes. I am very adamant about continue to write my notes. Not only does it mean I won’t get distracted by facebook in class, studies have shown that writing is better for memory. So I am thinking of first writing my notes in class and then later typing them. But of course, I need to improve my handwriting first. Does anyone have any good tips on how to do so, especially when one is pressured to write quickly? My fine motor skills are generally terrible, but I feel like part of the reason is that I might not be holding my pencil correctly. Is there any way to check? </p>
<p>Actually, I would appreciate note taking skills tips in general. I never took notes during class besides when I was required, so these are pretty bad too.</p>
<p>[handwriting</a> tips](<a href=“paperpenalia.com”>paperpenalia.com) might offer pointers today. Also try searching Amazon with the phrase “handwriting improvement.”</p>
<p>Sometime back there was a breakthrough curriculum for youngest students called “Handwriting Without Tears.” If you could find an old copy of the complete book by the author who invented the curric, that might have insights. </p>
<p>Today, I see his work has turned into many saleable items, but for young students. You might decide to buy a practice book, but today it’s a lot to go through.</p>
<p>We use Handwriting Without Tears in our school and the kids really prefer this method. One difference with this program compared to others is that the focus on on the “x” height of each letter. (“x” height is the shape and space that every letter takes up, regardless of whether it descends – like g/j/p-- or ascends – like the b/d/f/h/k/l). The program also has a better method to help transition from print to script.</p>
<p>The challenge is, with any program, consistently emphasizing “good” handwriting. Usually print is developed K-1 and script is introduced in 2nd-3rd grade (after students can already read), but after 3rd grade handwriting is a forgotten part of the curriculum.</p>
<p>If you missed out, or didn’t have instruction, you’ll have to “unlearn” those engrained messy tendancies. As familyof3boys pointed out, it really starts with a correct pencil grip.</p>
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<li><p>Print. The essence of good handwriting is good printing because handwriting is really just connecting printed letters. Why print? It slows you down. One reason your handwriting sucks is that you rush it. </p></li>
<li><p>Why do you rush? That’s an interesting question. I usually rush because I can’t get the words on paper as fast as they’re coming in my head. How do I stop that? I start editing myself. If you edit your thoughts as they move from your conscious mind to paper, you find you can shape them. </p></li>
<li><p>What does it mean to shape your thoughts? Pretend you’re in the 18thC and you have to write with a quill pen. To scratch out words on paper, you need to dip the quill in ink quite often. You need just enough ink so you don’t make a blob and ruin the paper. You have to apply just enough pressure so you don’t dull the quill tip too fast. When it dulls, you have to take a knife and trim it. That’s how Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin wrote. That’s how Shakespeare wrote. That’s how Isaac Newton wrote. They were very, very, very smart and they managed to get their thoughts out and on paper. They used the time writing took to build more thought into the process of writing. </p></li>
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<p>The mark of a sloppy mind used to be that the page was covered in blots, meaning places where haste had dumped too much ink, and in cross outs, meaning the words had been written without mental editing. This is why Jefferson said he didn’t have time to write a short letter; he was dashing off words as fast as he could get them down rather than thinking. The essence of good handwriting is thinking instead of haste. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Look at examples. Take an architect’s style of lettering. Imitate the way the letters fit together though they’re printed, not handwritten. Try big and little letters. Try to make it pretty. You’ll find you can do that by habit as long as you keep the haste monster at bay. If you build that habit, you can force yourself to slow down, to realize you can edit your thoughts as they come. </p></li>
<li><p>If you are interested in thinking better, think of a chef. A chef has a mise en place, a workstation organized so the intense flow of cooking on the line for diner after diner can be done efficiently. If your mise is a mess, it’s because your mind is a mess. Your handwriting can be your mise en place. If your words are a mess, your mind is a mess.</p></li>
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<p>Kudos to you Chaosakita for trying to improve. As a parent of one child with perfect handwriting (just came out that way) and another who had OT for years (and still writes poorly), some of this may be set in stone. There is a limited time to correct poor grip and penmanship. The OT (occupational therapist) eventually gave up and said, “She wins–it’s barely legible but it qualifies”. Many OTs feel that the best opportunity for change is before age ten. Try the Ther-a-pro" website for products that help reshape pencil grip (trust me–we had them all). There’s a special-lined paper that will help keep you in the lines. You might have something called dysgraphia which is a fine-motor skill issue. </p>
<p>THAT BEING SAID…there are things I would suggest–try the palmer method mentioned above (cursive and script are all about speed). I am a believer in handwriting or at least typing notes because I believe the physical act of writing helps you learn information an extra time (in addition to hearing). If you’re concerned about laptop distractions, there’s a free software called “Self-Control” that allows you to block certain websites for a specific period of time. </p>
<p>As for actual note-taking, wherever possible, I use the outline format (though the prof. has to be somewhat organized in presentation). Check out the classic book “How to Study” by George Fillmore Swain. Maybe take a calligraphy course for fun to help you slow down. </p>
<p>Best of luck–with your attitude, I know you’ll be a success!</p>
<p>Taking a calligraphy course with a disciplined master would be enormously helpful. The italic hand is the one on which English cursive evolved. A proficiient italic hand becomes rhythmic, fluid, and “second nature.” Far more time than one realizes occurs with disconnected lettering (printing, or even separated cursive letters), when time is taken lifting and replacing the writing instrument.</p>
<p>(I spent several years as a professional calligrapher.)
;)</p>
<p>I disagree with the advice to print instead of using script. It seems all my kids’ contemporaries were never forced to truly learn and consistently use script in school and all of them only print for all purposes except signatures. But now they all find notetaking and writing exams to be slow and difficult. Printing is slow and arduous compared to script, and you really need to be able to write quickly and smoothly when taking notes or writing exams. Definitely work on your script. For notetaking, develop some consistent abbreviations for frequently used words like prepositions or terms of art for a particular course (e.g., “w” for “with” , “psy” for “psychology”). And you might want to look into the Cornell method for notetaking–not about handwriting, but about how to organize information on a page, so you have something more useful than a bunch of scribbles.</p>
<p>Many students do use laptops for note taking (and unfortunately surf the web during class, which I find to be incredibly disrespectful to the professor and to the parents who are paying for the course–but that’s a topic for another rant). I believe there are programs that allow you to lock yourself out of the internet for a period of time, if you feel that you aren’t disciplined enough to stay off-line. (Here’s one for Macs: <a href=“http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/[/url]”>http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/</a>)</p>
<p>How about reversing the order? If you take your class notes on the laptop, you will be better able to keep up with the lecture. After the lecture, you can sit down at leisure and re-copy and re-organize the notes by hand. That should leave you with a more legible set of notes for each lecture, and would give you the processing opportunities that you feel will help you with retention.</p>