Type, Type, Type

It took me thirty minutes to come up with a topic--until I thought, Oh wait. I can read another's blog and come up with an idea! I mentally patted myself on the back. So, I read Tarah's blog post, "Learning to Write" (link below). It was perfect for sparking ideas!

Tarah wrote that she never liked how writing, especially typing, was taught in school. I have to agree. Tarah wrote that she enjoyed handwriting, which I did to, however . . . Learning cursive was fun, though it has proved to be obsolete. By the time you reach high school, most people either do a combination of cursive and print, or just print. I do the former. I could use cursive only, but I'm not going to. It would take too long to write anything and would not look pretty.

I am all the way with her, though, on how schools teach typing. At least, how it was taught a few years ago. Education is rather slow to change, so it would not be shocking if they still did. Anyways, basically, how schools taught typing was just repeat and repeat typing the same words or nonwords under a timer.

For me, at least, learning something with the seconds ticking by before the horrific alarm sounded taught me nothing except that:

 

I did not think that for long, but when all of your friends are typing way more words than you, it feels like you can't do anything right. I suppose what I'm trying to show and agree with Tarah in is that learning to write--in any medium-- should not be painful. It should be fun.

 

I believe it can be more fun, specifically because the internet is a lot better now than what it was when I was in grade school. Dial-up, I will never, ever miss you.

 

I am not going to college to be a teacher of any sort. I don't have any plans to be an official educator, and I also do not want to sound like a snob or that I know it all. I just have some thoughts on how learning to write, as a child or adult, can be fun and exciting.

 

One, whether a teacher of grade school kids or someone in college and older who wants to type quicker and effectively, get into social media! It can be scary and downright perilous, but go with caution, do not post what you would not want your grandmother to see, and you'll learn tons. Two, take your time. Do not rush typing. You'll end up with more red lines that haunt you than actually how to type quickly. You need to start slow. When I first began tweeting, I had to think long and hard about what I posted. In not too long a while, I learned what got reactions and what was ignored, and what I liked to write about. Three, and this is the last one, I swear: just type! Practice on Word, social media--heck, even writing something in the comments section is writing.

 

Learning to write for the first time is a huge step in life, but we never stop learning. The internet has provided more opportunities that are much more fun and possibly effective than the traditional method, so use them!

 

Tarah's blog post: http://tarahblogs.tumblr.com/post/131024175576/learning-to-write