jaimie k's reflection to graves ch. 17...

I never realized and never thought that there are so many variables to handwriting. I simply saw it as something you learn to do when you’re young and it’s something that comes rather naturally. I know everyone starts off with really horrible handwriting, but I guess I assumed that with practice, everyone just gets better with time.

There are so many things you have to think about and focus on when you’re writing. It seems that they are things you would never think about correcting when trying to improve your writing. Such as, you’re large and small muscles, your grip, arm and wrist placement, etc. I didn’t know that the angle of your paper mattered so much, or even having your arm and wrist on the table. Grip is one thing I know that can affect your writing, but I didn’t know the angle of your pencil affected the amount of pressure on your writing.

I thought handwriting was something that was mastered at least by fifth or sixth grade; but working with the fifth graders at my elementary school has proven me wrong. Some of their handwriting is okay, but others’ are messy and crooked. Sometimes it’s almost illegible. They even write too close sometimes so that it seems like there’s no spaces between words. Some of them also write really huge. I don’t know if they’re just trying to fill up the paper, or if that’s just how they write. Maybe we have to go over all this stuff with them again.