James Williams

1
James Williams

• My Handwriting Perspective

DISCLAIMER James personal information shown in
Figure 2 is for display purposes only, and should
not be used to solicit the presenter. If you want
to contact James, please use his Day number, not
his Evening number.
2

• I grew up in a town with a fragmented school
  system. The elementary and middle schools were
  served by districts separate from the high
  school.
• As a result, the high school district had a
  handwriting policy that was separate from that of
  the elementary and middle school I attended.

3

• When I was a 5th grader in the 1999-2000 school
  year, cursive was mandatory in my elementary
  school, starting from the 2nd grade. In the 5th
  grade, I still had some struggles with
  handwriting.
• Figure 1. Recreation of words from spelling tests
  I had, and how I wrote them, since original tests
  were not preserved.
• Notice how the word rubies is spelled rulies.
  I knew how to spell the word but miswrote the
  letter b, writing it as an l instead. I
  learned from my mistake, and it was the only word
  I ever spelled incorrectly on a spelling test the
  entire school year.

4

• Also notice the inconsistency in the size of my
  letters. Due to fine motor coordination issues,
  it was easier and took less energy for me to
  write my cursive letters larger, and I endured
  fatigue when trying to write smaller letters. I
  also used the lines as a guide to properly
  maintain letter size with larger letters.
• Finally, the word basic was a word from an
  assignment I was given after the spelling test
  with rubies, which is shown here to demonstrate
  that after making the rubies handwriting
  mistake, I learned how to write the letter b
  properly in cursive. I took pride in my spelling
  (and was one of the top spellers in my 5th grade
  class), and this mistake on a spelling test
  motivated me to learn how to handwrite properly.

5

• In contrast, the high school had the opposite
  policyyou were expected to print and cursive was
  frowned on. Teachers would tell you that printing
  was easier to read and encouraged you to write
  that way.

Figure 2. Section of a job application I quickly
filled out by hand while in high school,
showcasing the printing style commonly used to
complete assignments at my high school.
6

• Twelve years later, in the 2012-2013 school year,
  my younger sister started 5th grade in the same
  elementary school, where she was subject to the
  same cursive expectations.
• Figure 3. Sample writing assignment given to my
  sister in the 5th grade, which showcases the same
  expectations that I was subject to in 1999.

7

• My development was unlike that of most children,
  in that I learned how to read and write before I
  learned how to talk. I also learned how to type
  before I could handwrite, and to this day, I
  prefer typing over handwriting.
• But in elementary school, I still had many
  struggles with handwriting. Some of them were due
  to fine motor issues that are very subtle and
  invisible to the eye. These struggles resulted in
  fatigue after writing for long amounts of time,
  and a tendency to write large. It was hard for me
  to write in smaller sizes and within the lines of
  lined paper.
• In the fifth grade, it was hard for me to write
  small letters. My teacher threatened to take
  points off assignments unless I learned how to
  write smaller. However, my teacher did let me
  type my homework assignments because it was
  easier for me. I also tended to get higher scores
  on typewritten assignments.

8

• Later on, as a high school student during the
  2006-07 school year, I served as an intern in a
  kindergarten classroom with my former
  kindergarten teacher. There, I observed how the
  kindergarten curriculum revolved largely around
  handwriting, and how a students ability to
  handwrite was often determined to see if they
  needed special education services.
• As was required of the internship, I kept a diary
  of the activities I participated in and created
  for the students.
• While I was completing the internship, I attended
  the 2006 MAAP Conference in Indianapolis,
  Indiana. At this conference, the keynote
  presentersDr. Brenda Smith Myles and Dr. Tony
  Atwoodtwo prominent figures in the autism world,
  both shared that they believed that handwriting
  standards should be removed from school
  curricula.
• I was shocked when I heard those statements.

9

• From my publication Diary of a Kindergarten
  Intern, originally written in 2006 (with all
  names and identities changed)
• During music, Mrs. Michaels, an occupational
  therapist, came to the room to discuss with Mrs.
  Shapiro the state of Rogers handwriting.
  Apparently Roger is able to write properly with a
  grip but refuses to do so when he is forced. And
  unlike the situation I was in when I was his age
  (writing with an improper grip but quite
  beautifully), he not only wrote with a bad grip
  but wrote poorly.
• What also deepened the problem was that not
  only was he unwilling to write, but because of
  his intelligence, he did not qualify for special
  services or an IEP at the school (he lacked a
  504). I informed Mrs. Shapiro and Mrs. Michaels
  that I had done a free time handwriting project
  with him, but since I did not force him, he was
  willing to comply and wrote quite well.
• My project consisted of asking him to write his
  name in two stylesblock letters and typewriter
  (serif) letters. I was going to write bubble
  letters next but did not due to lack of time.
  However, since that did not consist of the
  handwriting they required for a valid
  handwriting evaluation, those sheets were not
  valid, but I was still given recognition for my
  effort by Mrs. Michaels. Its truly sad that, due
  to bureaucratic rules, they can only take a
  formal evaluation sheet as a record of a
  students performance, even though my fun
  activity had already shown that the problem was
  more likely the evaluation sheet than his actual
  writing ability.

10

• The passage from this diary illustrates how
  handwriting impacts a teachers judgment of a
  student, as well as the importance of properly
  teaching handwriting to students. In this
  situation, I engaged in a fun handwriting
  activity with a student, only to learn later
  that this same student actually had been formally
  diagnosed with handwriting deficits.
• Sometimes, kids need to learn handwriting
  differently. The free time activity I did was
  not meant to show Rogers ability, neither was it
  intended to teach handwritingit was just an
  activity I created that inadvertently showed a
  possible learning disability.

11

• Similarly, descriptions that showcase how
  teachers view handwriting in the educational
  curriculum can be found in childrens literature.
  
• One example of such a description can be found in
  the book Ramona The Pest, written by Beverly
  Cleary (1958)
• The next day the seat work got harder. Miss
  Binney said that everyone had to learn to print
  his name. Ramona learned right away that this
  business of names was not fair. When Miss Binney
  handed each member of the class a strip of
  cardboard with his name printed on it, anyone
  could see that a girl named Ramona was going to
  have to work harder than a girl named Ann or a
  boy named Joe.
• Not that Ramona minded having to work
  hardershe was eager to learn to read and write.
  Having been the youngest member of her family and
  of the neighborhood, however, she had learned to
  watch for unfair situations.
• Carefully Ramona printed R the way Miss Binney
  had printed it. A was easy. Even a baby could
  print A. Miss Binney said A was pointed like a
  witchs hat, and Ramona was planning to be a
  witch for the Halloween parade. O was also easy.
  It was a round balloon. Some peoples Os looked
  like leaky balloons, but Ramonas Os were
  balloons full of air.

12

• I like the way Ramonas Os are fat balloons
  full of air, Miss Binney said to the class, and
  Ramonas heart filled with joy. Miss Binney liked
  her Os best!
• Miss Binney walked around the classroom looking
  over shoulders. Thats right, boys and girls.
  Nice pointed As, she said. As with nice sharp
  peaks. No, Davy. D faces the other way. Splendid,
  Karen. I like the way Karens has a nice straight
  back.
• Ramona wished she had a K in her name, so that
  she could give it a nice straight back. Ramona
  enjoyed Miss Binneys description of the letters
  of the alphabet and listened for them while she
  worked.
• A second example can be found in the book
  Felicity Learns A Lesson, the second book in
  the Felicity series written by Valerie Tripp
  (1991) about Felicity, a historical character in
  the American Girls Collection (set in colonial
  Virginia in 1774), proper handwriting is shown to
  be considered an essential skill for girls to
  become gentlewomen
• From Chapter 1 (set in Felicity Merrimans
  house)
• Felicity sat up. Am I to be apprenticed,
  Father? she asked hopefully. Some girls were
  apprentices. They learned to be seamstresses, or
  to make hats, or even to work in shops. Felicity
  had always dreamed of working in her fathers
  store.

13

• Goodness, no! exclaimed her mother. You
  are fortunate enough to be the daughter of Edward
  Merriman, one of Williamsburgs most important
  merchants. You are to be educated as a
  gentlewoman.
• Oh, said Felicity. She was disappointed.
  What am I to learn?
• The things my aunt taught me, said Mrs.
  Merriman. You will have lessons in dancing,
  handwriting, fancy stitchery, the proper way to
  serve tea (emphasis added)
• From Chapter 2 (set during lessons with Miss
  Manderly, Felicitys teacher)
• When the tea tray was cleared away,
  Annabelle went off to practice writing fancy
  capital letters. Miss Manderly wrote out a phrase
  for Elizabeth and Felicity to copy into their
  copybooks
• Think ere you fpeak,, for Words, once flown,
• Once utterd, are no more your own.

14

• Miss Manderly sat back and read it aloud,
  Think ere you speak, for words, once flown,
  once uttered, are no more your own. I would
  like you to practice writing this phrase, she
  said. The word ere means before. The phrase
  tells you to think before you speak. And I think
  it is a good idea to think before you write,
  too. She smiled, and then left to help
  Annabelle.
• And finally, in a third example, from Theres A
  Boy In The Girls Bathroom, written by Louis
  Sachar (1987), demonstrates how a students
  performance in school, in handwriting for
  instance, can improve with the proper motivation
• In this story, the main character, a boy named
  Bradley Chalkers, is failing academically. He
  exhibits many tendencies of a disability, but his
  condition is not named. He finally receives help
  from Carla Davis, the new school counselor, which
  also motivates him to help himself
• Bradley lay on the bed, on his stomach. He
  chewed the end of his pencil as he looked
  hopelessly at the arithmetic book, opened in
  front of him.
• Next to the book was a piece of paper. In
  the upper right-hand corner he had written
• Bradley Chalkers / Homework / Arithmetic /
  Page 43 / Red Hill School / Room 12 / Mrs.
  Ebbels class / Last seat, last row / Black eye

15

• His handwriting, which was messy anyhow, was
  made worse by the
• fact that he wrote with a dull pencil on top of a
  soft bed.
• Later on, after school at the playground as he
  starts his arithmetic homework using handwriting
• Hey Bradley, what are you doing? asked Ronnie.
• Homework.
• Whats homework? she asked.
• Its work you do at home.
• Is that supposed to be funny? she asked.
• No, really. Thats what they do at school. They
  give you work to do at
• home and they call it homework.
• Youve never done it before, she said.

16

• Key points to notice in the following passages
• - In each passage, handwriting ability impacts
  performance in a school setting, regardless of
  the era and setting.
• - The students in each passage comprehend
  handwriting better when they have sufficient
  motivation, and when instruction relates to
  something they can understand an example is
  Ramona personifying the letters she is writing.

17

• To continue with my experiences
• A year after completing the internship, I was
  selected to serve as one of several scribes for a
  student in my high school (as part of our
  schools peer mentoring program) who had a hand
  deformity and could not write on his own. He got
  good grades in the class where I served as his
  scribe.
• The selection was made after a special education
  teacher went to several classrooms and asked
  active peer mentors in those classes to give him
  a handwriting sample, in hopes of finding a peer
  mentor with the most legible handwriting. I was
  considered to have written the most legible
  handwriting in the class.
• The next year, he lost his accommodation to have
  a scribe. I was in one of his classes as a
  classmate, and was told that I could not write
  things down for him. Without a scribe, his grades
  and ability to perform in the classroom declined
  significantly. This added to my understanding of
  how handwriting performance impacts classroom
  performance.

18

• Looking back at my experiences, I have concluded
  the following about handwriting in education
• 1. Teachers and schools need to spend less time
  emphasizing a specific handwriting style, and
  more time on whether or not a students
  handwriting is legible.
• 2. In addition, alternative methods of holding
  pens and pencils should be allowed by teachers if
  these methods enable students with motor issues
  to write legibly. Conventional pen/pencil-holds
  do not work for everyone, and sometimes it takes
  longer to learn to hold a pen conventionally than
  it takes to learn to write. I learned to
  handwrite before I learned a pen/pencil hold. And
  there is more than one efficient way to hold a
  pen/pencil.
• 3. Although computers and iPads are more widely
  used in schools and society, handwriting is
  still essential. For example, we still need to
  sign our names, and sometimes need to address
  letters and fill out forms by hand. However, in
  each of these cases, what matters the most is
  legibility, not a specific style. Furthermore, in
  high school, the supply list for each school year
  always included All classes require paper and
  pencil.

19

• Finally, though the ability to write is an
  essential skill for other classes in school, and
  for life, a student with handwriting issues
  should use assistive technology in classes
  unrelated to handwriting performance (such as
  science and history). When you need to teach
  handwriting, teach it in a handwriting class
  and/or during designated handwriting practice
  session. However, a student who is still learning
  handwriting skills, and/or who has handwriting
  deficits, should not be penalized having these
  deficits and/or instructional needs.

20
Works Cited

• Cleary, Beverly. Ramona The Pest (1958). Book is
  part of the Ramona Quimby series. Published by
  HarperCollins.
• Williams, James. Diary of a Kindergarten Intern.
  First written in 2006, self- published on my
  website, www.jamesmw.com/diary/, in 2011, with
  names and identities changed to maintain
  confidentiality.
• Tripp, Valerie. Felicity Learns A Lesson (1991).
  Written as part of the Felicity series, and
  published as part of the historical character
  series by The American Girls Collection.
  Published by American Girl Publications.
• Sachar, Louis. Theres A Boy In The Girls
  Bathroom (1987). Published by Scholastic, Inc.
• School district policies in this presentation
  refer to Northbrook/Glenview District 30, and
  Northfield Township High School District 225,
  school districts that serve portions of
  Northbrook, Illinois and Glenview, Illinois, two
  suburbs of Chicago.