Writing Archives

The Lowdown on Longhand: How Writing by Hand Benefits the Brain

August 11, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

By Anissa Ramirez PhD
Original Source: Edutopia
Originally posted August 6, 2014

My Catholic school third grade teacher was extremely tough on me. Her biggest gripe was my handwriting, which looked more like an EKG scan than penmanship. For years, I harbored not-so-fond memories of her, but now I know that her strictness about penmanship was actually helping my brain develop. Recently, scientists have shown that longhand writing benefits the brain.

Today, cursive writing is becoming a lost art as note taking with laptops becomes more and more prominent in classrooms. But what we are losing is much bigger than a few scratches on a page — we are losing a robust way of learning.

There has been much debate on the use of laptops for note taking in classrooms. The pro side sees laptops as an efficient way of collecting and storing information. The con side sees laptops as an opportunity for distractions and multitasking. What’s missing is an understanding of how taking notes by longhand influences the brain. Recent studies have shown that students taking notes with laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than the students taking notes by longhand. In short, they had the information on their computers, but did not have an understanding of that information in their brains.

So in this age of technology, I’m suggesting that students take notes with paper and pen. It’s a crazy idea, but hear me out.

A Plea for Penmanship

When students take notes with their laptops, they tend to mindlessly transcribe the data word for word, like speech-to-text software. But taking notes verbatim is not the point. What is lacking in their note-taking-by-laptop is the synthesis, the re-framing, and the understanding of the information. Students that transcribe with laptops have shallow connections to what’s being presented to them. However, those who are taking notes by hand are processing the information and representing it in a way that makes sense to them. They are learning.

Now, I’ll be the first to say that longhand writing is so 19th century. But we need to answer a question: do we want students to have a deep or shallow connection to the information we’re giving them? While we live in a world of short sound bytes where news is thrown at us unprocessed, this should not be the mode for schools. In the 21st century, the ability to connect knowledge in new ways is more important than the knowledge itself. So students with deeper connections to information can link it in new ways — they can create.

The Pen is Mightier

All this begs the question of how we can incorporate longhand in a digital age. What about a daily notebook, written by hand?

A lost art in the world of science is the lab notebook. In it, scientists write down observations, impressions, and all the variables and outcomes of an experiment. If you are teaching STEM classes, might I suggest that you resurrect the lab notebook and have students personalize it? Give them assignments where they have to hand-draw pictures of what they see and what they predict. Let them figure out how to visually represent these things — without digital pictures, by the way. The data says that taking images with a camera does not improve one’s memory either, so these notebook entries must be written or drawn. Skill doesn’t matter. What we are fostering are experiential links in a child’s brain, and one of the best pathways is through their fingers.

If you are not teaching STEM classes, have students carry a personal notebook in which they write down observations and draw things by hand on whatever topic. We are trying to create more connections to information, and developing fine motor skills along the way.

If you have a classroom with lots of technology, try to integrate note taking. Often when I give my PowerPoint slides to students, I pass out a version that doesn’t have all the information that students are seeing on the screen, which means that they need to fill it in by hand. And when I glance over their notes, I see how their work doesn’t always look the same. This is great because my students are doing the most important thing we can teach them — they are learning how to teach themselves.

So let us not confuse efficiency with the real goal of teaching. Teaching is not a job of cramming as much as we can into a brain. It is about learning. And getting students to learn means that we must use every pathway to connect them with the information. Using laptops reinforces the Industrial Revolution ideal that every kid should get the information in the same way, and that it should come out the same way. But by occasionally replacing the laptop with a pen, learning happens, which is why we got into this business in the first place.

Six Ways to Start Writing

July 28, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

I teach a required copywriting course at the Fashion Institute of Technology, so my classroom is filled with nineteen-year-olds who are there because they have to be. The first day of the semester, I go around the room and have them talk about themselves, including their feelings about writing. Approximately 75% tell me they don’t think they can write well. They say things like “I’m not a good writer,” or “I don’t know where to begin when I have to write something.”

It’s true, some young people do have an innate sense of how to write and a talent for creating copy that’s interesting and really flows. But for those who don’t have that particular talent hardwired into their DNA, I tell them a secret that’s helped me through the years: “Just start writing! Put down a few words and see where they lead you.”

While I believe that writing is an art – I also believe it can be taught and acquired through practice, patience, and a good instructor. Plus the following basic guidelines that will help students write more clearly:

1. Outline what you need to say.

You can’t write clearly until, before you begin, you know where you’ll stop. Do your outline in a way you’re most comfortable with: hand-written, typed on the computer, or simply jotted down on 3” x 5” cards. Write down the points you need to make, and arrange them in a logical, understandable sequence.

2. Start where your readers are.

Try to figure out how much they know about the subject. But always remember not to write to a higher level than your readers. And never write to a lower level – that can be insulting. Your main purpose is to explain something in an interesting way.

3. Don’t use jargon that’s specific to a particular profession or group.

Be careful not to use expressions or words only people with specific knowledge will know.

4. Use combinations of words that are easy to understand.

Sometimes less is more. Don’t over-complicate what you’re trying to say. If you’re not sure, read what you wrote out loud, putting yourself in the position of the reader. Did you give too much information? Not enough? Then take it from there.

5. Stick to the point

Your outline, which was more work in the beginning, now saves you time. Ask yourself if your copy relates to a point in your outline, and if it doesn’t, cut it!

6. Be as brief as possible

Editing and condensing almost always makes your writing tighter and easier to read. Avoid windy phrases, for example use “if” instead of “in the event of” or “now” instead of “at the present time.” And remember to look for passive verbs you can make active (“The class was led by Mr. Jones” could be rewritten as “Mr. Jones led the class”).

So if your child (or teen/young adult) is feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand, tell them to just start writing – even if it’s just a few words related to the material. Along with the above basic guidelines, it’s amazing how the rest will start to fall into place. Plus, a good thesaurus always comes in handy!

By Barry Gold, Private Tutor

One Quick Tip to Improve Reading Comprehension

July 25, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

One of the reasons I’m qualified to be a test preparation tutor is that I did very well on standardized tests. Some of my skills came from being the best student I could be, others I developed through studying how to take tests. There’s a few “tricks” I learned along the way that helped me and my students improve their scores immensely. The skill I’m going to describe to improve reading comprehension can be developed at any grade level and at any reading level. If you have young kids prepping for the ISEE and SSAT, they can benefit from this advice as much as SAT, ACT, and GRE students.

If you’re interested, read on.

In Reading Comprehension sections of almost every standardized test, a test taker is asked to remark on a specific detail in the text. My problem, and the problem of about 99% of the students I’ve worked with is that we tended to rely on our memories to answer the questions instead of looking back at the text. Despite the fact that I’m a very smart person with a great memory (as are my students), there’s a high probability of error when we examine only the question and do not check the passage to verify. So, the NEW rule is:

Re-SEARCH the passage, do not re-read.

What I mean by Re-SEARCH is that we get familiar with a passage by reading it the first time, so we know where to look to check our answers. It’s not necessary to re-read everything, but it is necessary to do a quick search. My students and I (before I learned my lesson!) lost countless points by using our memories—there’s all kinds of twists and turns test makers add to a passage that can negate the meaning of a phrase and alter the meaning of a question that are almost always resolved through research. I make my students POINT to the exact sentence containing the answer.

If your child is very young, you can start developing this habit by reading with your child and asking them to pinpoint specific facts. One of my students and I would read The New Yorker because it was his father’s favorite magazine (in general, kids tend to be very interested in whatever their parents read). The reading material itself actually doesn’t matter much except that the student needs to be motivated to read the piece (whatever it is) from beginning to end. I’ve had good results reading pulpy fashion magazines and sensational news magazines because keep teens reading because the stories are often about celebrities.

When I work on active reading with a student, we would read and the conversation would go like this:
Grant: “How old is the main character?”
Student: “Sixteen”
Grant: “Ok, show me where it says that specifically.”
Student: (after some searching) “Oh, she’s fourteen, it says right here.”

This is a small skill that sounds like common sense, but common sense is not common practice. If I could pick one skill to cultivate that would help my students the most on this section of tests, I’d pick this one. Re-SEARCH don’t re-read. Pinpoint the exact spot. Verify.

You can do this too! Give your son or daughter something to read. Start with small and go for longer pieces later. As kids get older it’s possible to give them bigger tasks without supervision. Have them point out the last name of the person in the article, ask where the story took place, ask what the name of the main character’s cat is. Have your child locate the facts in the text.

And, like all exercises adjust to more difficult tasks and more specific questions. Also, it can be a great bonding activity to read an article and discuss it with your child—the ideas, the issues, the controversy. You’ll help them and you’ll be spending time talking about ideas that interest you both.

Just throw in the tiny distinction of pointing out the specific location of a fact and you’ll improve reading comprehension (and test scores).

By Grant Bergland, Private Tutor

College Essay Tips and Tricks

July 14, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

The spring and summer seasons are a great time for rising seniors to start working on their college essays. There are numerous books, expert guides, and how-to checklists for writing the the most important few-hundred words of a high schooler’s career; however, there really are only a few key things to keep in mind. When discussing ideas and approaches with your child, make sure to relate the following:

DON’T rehash your resume. Are you a debate club junkie? Have you won numerous awards for your arguing acumen? Is your debate coach writing one of your recommendations? Then it’s covered–don’t write about debate team or anything related in your essay.

DON’T use obvious or overused examples such as a story about how you fell down during a cross country race and managed to finish, or one about how you got a C in Chemistry in the fall but worked hard to raise it to an A in the spring. The former is a generic trope that doesn’t reveal anything about you; the latter will be obvious from your transcript.

DON’T try to be funny. Admissions counselors are reading the essay to get a better, more well-rounded sense of who you are. If you come off as chummy, you will look like you don’t take the school or the application process seriously. Even worse, your sense of humor could come off as offensive. Save your jokes for your texts with friends.

DO show. DON’T tell. Boring verbs=boring sentences=boring essay.

Example Prompt: Explain your desire to attend Princeton University.

Boring Intro: “Since I was a kid, I always knew I wanted to go to Princeton because it has a good English Department. I have always loved reading and writing, and Princeton’s program is one of the best the nation. The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel in particular, and, since F. Scott Fitzgerald attended Princeton, I know I would like it there.”

Better Intro: “In my family, we call my Aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bookie” because every time I go to visit her in New Brunswick, she sends me home with armloads of books to read. She introduced me to Alice and the rabbit hole, Milo and his tollbooth, Bilbo Baggins and Middle-Earth, and, most importantly, Nick Carraway and West Egg. When I finished the Great Gatsby, she suggested that we take a trip to nearby Princeton so I “could see a college for writers.” As we walked around the campus, I began to imagine I was Fitzgerald dreaming up Gatsby’s extravagant parties…”

DO be vulnerable. DON’T be defiant or depressing. Were you scared after your mom lost her job? Did your brother’s rare cancer put stress your relationship to him? It’s OK to highlight rough patches in your life as long as you do so to illustrate what you learned about yourself or how you grew as a person. If your grandmother dying last year was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to go through, that’s perfectly fine to write about–just make sure your story has an arc.

Finally, remember that the essay is only one piece of the application pie. Your personal statement could be the best one in the pile, but if your grades, recommendations, test scores, and extracurriculars are not up to par, it won’t be what gets you into school. That being said, if you have a solid application, an essay that provide insights into who you are that the admissions team otherwise would have no indication of from the rest of your documents will be an enormous asset in setting you apart from the other applicants.

By Daphne Muller, Private Tutor

Why Handwriting is Still Important

June 17, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

A recent article in the New York Times outlines the work of a few scientists who argue that handwriting, an art quickly disappearing from curricula and state standards of education (including the Common Core State Standards) is more important than some realize. Maria Konnikova’s comprehensive article highlights the work of psychologist Karin James, at Indiana University, who has used brain imagery to show that the process of learning how to write by hand might actually help children learn in the long run.

The Experiment

In Dr. James’ experiment, “Children who had not yet learned to read and write were presented with a letter or a shape on an index card and asked to reproduce it in one of three ways: trace the image on a page with a dotted outline, draw it on a blank white sheet, or type it on a computer. They were then placed in a brain scanner and shown the image again.

The researchers found that the initial duplication process mattered a great deal. When children had drawn a letter freehand, they exhibited increased activity in three areas of the brain that are activated in adults when they read and write: the left fusiform gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus and the posterior parietal cortex. By contrast, children who typed or traced the letter or shape showed no such effect. The activation was significantly weaker.”

In Dr. James’ view, these differences can be attributed to the messiness of learning how to write with free-form handwriting: “not only must we first plan and execute the action in a way that is not required when we have a traceable outline, but we are also likely to produce a result that is highly variable.” These variabilities might be a learning tool in themselves. “When a kid produces a messy letter,” Dr. James said, “that might help him learn it.”

Possible Explanations

In another study conducted by Virginia Berninger, a psychologist at the University of Washington, it was shown that among children in grades two through five, printing, cursive, and typing are all associated with “distinct and separate brain patterns–and each results in a distinct end product.”

Berninger’s result showed that “when the children composed text by hand, they not only consistently produced more words more quickly than they did on a keyboard, but expressed more ideas. And brain imaging in the oldest subjects suggested that the connection between writing and idea generation went even further. When these children were asked to come up with ideas for a composition, the ones with better handwriting exhibited greater neural activation in areas associated with working memory — and increased overall activation in the reading and writing networks.”

Takeaways

Even though the importance of handwriting does have detractors–the Common Core, for instance, only requires that children learn handwriting in grades K-1–new research does suggest that the benefits of handwriting extend even beyond childhood and learning how to learn: “For adults, typing may be a fast and efficient alternative to longhand, but that very efficiency may diminish our ability to process new information. Not only do we learn letters better when we commit them to memory through writing, memory and learning ability in general may benefit.”

This research has suggested that writing by hand, even for older students, “allows the student to process a lecture’s contents and reframe it — a process of reflection and manipulation that can lead to better understanding and memory encoding.”

So what does this mean for your child? Encourage your student to leave the laptop at home and write notes by hand: you never know what good it will do.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.