Can you read your Waldorf students' handwriting?
I've spent years teaching middle school, which means I've spent YEARS attempting to decipher the lethargic chicken scratches of apathetic adolescents.
Throughout those years I grew more irritated and found myself starting to develop strong opinions and emotions about that handwriting.
When I was at my best, I saw it as a challenge that was worth taking up. I recognized that my students were struggling with the content of their writing and they were using their poor handwriting to cover up what they felt was subpar content. I gave time and energy to helping to improve the content of their writing and gave them handwriting exercises. While we worked on improving, I let them print, hoping it would be easier to read. Usually it wasn't, but at least I tried.
Other times, I took their handwriting personally. When you think about it (and you're exhausted after reading a class-worth of illegible essays) poor handwriting is disrespectful to the reader! Do you really expect that I read this? The answer, of course, was that they hoped I wouldn't.
Then there were the times when I didn't have any more energy for the fight. Students asked if they could turn in typed essays and I allowed some to start typing their work in 7th grade. By 8th grade, anyone was allowed to do so and some assignments were required typed.
Fostering Good Handwriting
So, when I took my current class in 1st grade, I was determined that handwriting would not be an area of challenge.
(The photographs in this post are examples of student work from today's composition assignment about the Mongolian yurt. I intentionally chose students who struggle with handwriting more than others. These are not the kids who love writing. We continue to write independent compositions weekly -- an activity I didn't begin until 5th grade with my last class. Read more about the process in this post.)
Even from the beginning of first grade, I remember looking at my students and recognizing who had the potential to become an apathetic teenager who didn't care about handwriting.
Those were the kids I paid attention to the most. If their lower-case letters came slightly above the dotted line, they heard about it. If their 'p' or 'y' sat on the line, instead of dipping below -- I corrected them on it. My attitude was that the details matter!
And, sure enough, with just a couple of reminders, they made the change. I realized that they just needed to have it brought to their attention, and know that I was paying attention.
But what about creativity?
When one of my current students joined the class, he loved putting all kinds of crazy curlicues on his letters. His name looked more like a signature and he clearly liked the idea of adding his own creative flourish to his letters.
There was a time when I would have worried that I was stifling his creativity by making him stop with the curlicues and special touches. But what I've realized is that the awareness that someone is paying attention and that the details matter is more important than that little creative spark.
And anyway, there are plenty of other opportunities for expressing that creativity.
I'm pleased to say that almost all of my students have the most pleasant and clear handwriting! After all of those years in middle school, I noticed it myself, but then, I'm a bit biased. But my admiration for my students' handwriting was confirmed when we had our 2nd grade assessments last year. The assessing teacher remarked on how lovely all of their writing was.
Yep, that's the work of a former middle school teacher.