Later, especially in junior high, papers came back with "Be Neat" on them when I had to answer boring questions in social studies and science. (But never in English.) In high school, I finally took pains to adopt a clearer style of handwriting after experimenting a great deal.
I started a more up-and-down style of handwriting when I began teaching. I wrote on the board and on transparencies quite often, printing clearly for my students. That seeped into my handwriting, as did the habit of writing quickly. When I lectured, I used to write key words and phrases in outline form on the board as I spoke. (If I did it ahead of time, they'd copy the board instead of listening to me.) I had to write quickly to keep up with myself and to be flexible, adding in ideas and information as the students brought up other points and asked questions.
Here's the result in
A Sample Of My Handwriting
Sigh. It's all over the place. I didn't try to be neat or careful, but to show you an honest sample of my everyday writing. It's probably not what you expected at all, is it? Is your handwriting a better representation of you?
image
I love seeing others' handwriting, and I love to write myself! I have decent handwriting, but if I'm signing a store receipt or something like that, it's open season.
ReplyDeleteBridget--I used to love to write longhand, like you do now. I used tons of those yellow legal pads and a good pen. It was my favourite thing. And I loved writing assignments in school.
DeleteNow, writing longhand feels awkward to me. It feels slow and ponderous. I think faster than I write, and I get impatient. I hate striking out mistakes and seeing the strikeouts. The computer has ruined me.
Now that I think of it, my written correspondence is usually a mix of printing and cursive, but looking at my journal, I see it's almost exclusively cursive of a hurried, masculine sort with lots of misshapen letters and no telling where the dots that are supposed to top every "i" will wind up. I fondly remember the white-on-green sample cards that were displayed atop the chalkboards in all of my elementary school classrooms, as well as the shiny gold seals you'd get on your paper if your letters were passable when the district penmanship judge made his visit.
ReplyDeleteYahoonski--I remember those sample cards, too, always mocking our poor handwriting! And who in the hell makes their capital Q's that way? Like a big 2? That was the dumbest letter ever. NO ONE MAKES A Q THAT WAY. NO. ONE.
Delete(Your description of your handwriting sounds like a critique of mine! LOL)
When I was in 6th grade, I had to stay after school with Sister Alfreda who helped me work on my cursive handwriting. After all of the practice we did, I must admit that I usually have very nice handwriting. If I am writing to a grandchild, I print because I do not think any are taught cursive in school anymore. My own children have terrible handwriting and you cannot read their signatures at all!
ReplyDeleteEllen D--Just the thought of staying after with a nun makes me cringe. My own experience with them was not pleasant. That you ended up with lifelong nice handwriting is a benefit.
DeleteWhen I write to children, I print carefully, too.
My children prefer to print, and their handwriting could not be more different from each other's. One is left-handed, and his handwriting is vastly better than the righty's. But both prefer to print.
Do you think a scrawled signature is a "thing" for some people? I wonder.
I am left handed and have troubled feelings about learning the Peterson handwriting method. I don't recall my children learning this. Flash forward to present day and my grandsons aren't being taught cursive writing. Yikes. Relatives of my had beautiful handwriting and I have saved her letters to me for the example. Is this progress?
Deletesusan q--My nieces and nephews learned a whole different kind of printing, even. It was almost like a pre-cursive. I forget what it was called.
DeleteMy sister's youngest son was never taught cursive, and she was quite upset. She asked that he be tutored in cursive after school. His handwriting overall is terrible.
I've read a bit on the subject, both pro and con. I've not learned much. Like you, I'm even more confused.
I sympathize with all left-handers. The world is tougher for you, and it was downright hostile toward you early on.
My printing is very neat and tidy. My cursive has really taken a hit. I have that same problem you have. I get going and miss a letter now and then. Even my signature isn't as neat as it used to be. I just don't write much in cursive and sadly, it shows.
ReplyDeleteDee--I've seen some of your printing on your knitting pattern cards when you've posted photos on your blog. My printing is neat as well, even my quick printing. But cursive is so much faster for me, so I lapse into it pretty regularly, especially in my journal.
DeleteI think cursive in general is taking a hit everywhere. As a child, I couldn't wait to learn how to do it. Now, most schools don't even teach it.
First, Nance, I know you're midway through your challenge but I want to applaud you on taking it on at all. I've always admired your commitment to such events and never get tired of reading what you have to say.
ReplyDeleteYour handwriting looks so much like my own! I had no problem reading what you wrote because I, too, do the combination of cursive and printing. When I was a third-grade teacher, I actually taught cursive writing--the very method (the Palmer method) shown in your image. I could write that way perfectly because I had to. On the blackboard, on worksheets, on students' papers, etc. I can still write the way if I want to do it but I almost never do. I admire beautiful handwriting but usually, I just want to get the writing done without thinking. My own signature has degraded over time because of that need for speed and lack of caring enough. Interestingly enough, I once had a restaurant cashier call me out on my signature not resembling the signature on the back of my credit card. She basically said "do better." Haha. It was an electronic signature pad so she cleared it and I signed the pad again, just like I had on the back of my credit card. Finally, she gave me a smile and the green light. :-)
Shirley
Shirley--Oh, thank you for such kind words. It's been a real challenge. I vastly prefer posting on a much more relaxed time frame. This all feels very hurried and frantic to me!
DeleteLove your story. As I said to another commenter, my signature is probably the neatest thing I write anymore.
For quite some time in the spring and summer, I was doing some volunteer work online, transcribing historical documents like letters and military dispatches, journal pages, etc. at crowd.loc.gov which is the Library of Congress site that houses such things. It is basically crowd-sourcing transcription. I was thrilled to be able to view these documents and help transcribe them. Anyway, the variations in cursive writing there were astonishing. And some of the men had absolutely gorgeous copperplate handwriting.
It was a little jarring to see military dispatches from the Civil War in beautiful handwriting. That site is a treasure.
Wow on that work, Nance. Thank you for doing that! Those documents are a "hole" that I could have gone down for hours upon hours, I am sure. I do think about the loss of stunningly beautiful handwriting with sadness. I am envisioning the handwriting you are referencing. It's practically a work of art. I also think about the loss of letter writing and how that significantly changes the amount of recorded history for later analysis and interpretation. Emails will never come close to the historical letters of the past. Sure, there might be a trail and preservation of emails for historical purposes but like our hurried handwriting vs beautiful penmanship, those emails simply won't compare to the letters that revealed history in the past.
DeleteMy handwriting is almost identical to yours! We have the same up-and-down style, same mishmash of cursive and printing, even size and spacing looks the same. I will try to remember to post something soon that shows my handwriting so you can see!
ReplyDeleteMartha--Oh, how funny! I'd love to see it.
DeleteYour quick handwriting is better than my quick handwriting. I can write really pretty when I try but I don't bother to try as often as I should. It's supposed to be good for your brain to write by hand---both of them---every day.
ReplyDeleteJean--No, I don't try, either. Sometimes, in my daily journal, I should.
DeleteIf I try to write with my left hand, it comes out completely in reverse, like mirror writing. It was a fun trick to show my students. I used to start at the same point on the white board and start writing a sentence. The one with my left hand would go out the opposite way and be completely in reverse, the letters backward and everything, like a mirrored image. They always loved it.
I love your handwriting and it is very legible! I can't even begin to tell you how many horrid assignments and exams I have had to grade with illegible handwriting. Oh, wait! You have been there, too, a million times over ;-). My biggest pet peeve, however, is not so much the style of writing, but rather students who write extremely tiny, so much so that I need a magnifying glass to make it out. This is partly, I am convinced in some cases, so I will just get so frustrated that I give them credit for spelling correctly. Which I don't. I get the magnifying glass out if I have to, lol.)
ReplyDeleteI, too, began to modify my Catholic school cursive 'pretty' writing when I started teaching and had to write on chalkboards (and later white boards). I adopted a style that my English flatmates used which I found very clear for teaching purposes. That said, when I scribble notes to myself, I lapse into something barely legible and which, I discovered one day, was incredibly similar to my father's handwriting. Go figure!
In recent years, it has shocked me to learn that most of my students cannot read cursive writing. I get that they never learned it, but it never, ever occurred to me that they would not be able to read it at all. Kind of like when I teach them how to say what time it is in Spanish. I have to use illustrations with digital clocks or they are clueless.
Ortizzle--Oh, thank you! When I take my time, my handwriting can actually be quite nice.
DeleteYes, the teensy writers were quite annoying, even when my eyes weren't 61 years old. Sometimes, I merely handed it back and said, "If you want credit for this, I have to be able to see it."
I'm glad I left teaching when I did. It was just the tip of the wedge--students were just starting to have cell phones, they were just starting to be the non-cursive generation, they were not yet social media junkies. AND THAT WAS JUST NINE YEARS AGO.
My colleague Teresa who taught Spanish to my sons was always annoyed about teaching time. Analog clocks befuddled students; phrases like "Quarter past" were alien to them.
It's a different world for them.
My handwriting in school was text-book perfect. Now a days it resembles a doctor's signature!! In fact, my "anni" looks like a "u", long curvy line for two "n"s and then a dot for the "i" with no "i" seen. I practiced a long while to get it that way on purpose.
ReplyDeleteYour handwriting is good. We both make our capital "t" the same way.
Anni--My signature is probably the neatest part of my handwriting now. My husband's signature is completely illegible.
DeleteYour teachers were undoubtedly grateful for your good handwriting. I know I always appreciated legible work.
My handwriting is also a mix of cursive and print. Reading your comments here, it seems it is somewhat common. I feel it is lazy on my part, not sure why. I put a lot of time into my handwriting in Jr. High and High School, wanting it to show who I am and so on. I have decent handwriting as a result, though not great. I found yours very easy to read. I tried to comment last night about your note being from the future, but my comment never posted (and the sidebar was loaded) and now that it is the 16th the point is likely lost. Oh well, that’s what I get for being snarky.
ReplyDeleteJ--LOL! That's what I get for looking at the stupid indoor digital thermometer for the date. It is horrific to read, and it may very well be off on the date since it is also still on DST, too. I did not have on my glasses, and I was squinting. ALSO, RICK DID NOT HAVE ON HIS LAMP, WHICH IRRITATES ME DAILY. He is not bothered by dim lighting, and I like things bright.
DeleteNow who is snarky? LOL.
I'm intrigued by you feeling lazy for mixing cursive and print in your current handwriting. Were you raised or educated in the Catholic faith? ;)
I like your comment about how in Jr. High and High School, you wanted your handwriting to show who you were. I imitated a lot of different handwritings of people in jr. high especially, trying to form an identity for my handwriting. Jr. High was a nightmare for me. In high school I was more myself, and my handwriting wasn't an issue for me anymore.
Your comments are always thought-provoking. I'm glad you're here.
I was raised atheist, but I have Puritans in my past and suspect they influence my work ethic. Not that I work incredibly hard, but there is guilt for not having done so. HA!
DeleteI wonder if there's anyone that ever likes Jr. High? It was a nightmare in many ways, though as it was my last shot at being good at math, I should remember it fondly for that at least. Maya curses her middle school every time we pass it. She made some good friends there that she is still friends with today, but still, it was a very hard time for her. Sigh.
J--Tell Maya that they tore down my jr. high, and I was glad to see it go. I had no idea, and when I happened to take a drive in that area and saw it was gone, I actually stopped my car and took a moment. I am also atheist, but if ever I felt like sending up a prayer of thanks, it was at that moment.
DeleteYou know, of course, how much I love the delicious irony (and payback!) of the Puritans having an atheist descendant.
I made Cs on handwriting until they stopped grading it. And I remember being admonished in the 5th grade because I didn't write the small cursive "a" correctly (I started at the bottom & made the "a" by drawing counterclockwise). My mother had learned to do it that way & taught me. I was mortified because I HATED being wrong. I never did learn to write neatly - it just wasn't a priority for me. Even now when I try I'm amazed at how simple it would be if I'd just slow down.
ReplyDeleteI used to help Mike at the National Archives reading letters from the Freedman's Bureau in Kentucky - and you are so right about the handwriting in those letters being lovely (if sometimes hard to read). It took me quite a while to figure out that the "f" was actually an "s" in some cases (I think those are the two letters that seemed mixed up to me. It's been a while!).
Bug--Yes, the s that looks like an f is a pain. And so much variant spelling and punctuation. I really have to be in the mood to work in there. But it's so enlightening and rewarding. I was sad that so much of the Lincoln stuff was already done, but I was late to the game.
DeleteI think typing has made us impatient handwriters. I know it has affected me that way. Lots of technology has made us impatient, period.
I had beautiful handwriting as a younger person, took pride in it. But now it is a random mix of cursive and print. Some days I'm tidy and would make my 4th grade teacher proud, but other days it is scribbles. It has to do with how rushed I am and how much coffee I've had to drink.
ReplyDeleteAlly Bean--I don't think I could make my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Edwards, proud now even if I tried. My handwriting will never be lovely again.
DeleteHow I love the word TIDY. Thank you for using it. I feel like I never see or hear it unless I'm watching British TV or reading an English novel.
You've been holding out on us-you're a former model!
ReplyDeleteMy handwriting has become sloppier over the years; I think I'm just getting lazier when writing. I also mix in cursive with print like you and my BEST handwriting is very similar to yours.
Suz--OMG, that's right! I *am* a former model! I'm regretful now to think how often I could have claimed that on my resume.
DeleteLazier or more impatient? Sometimes they are the same thing, I think, with me.