How to Improve and Practice Good Handwriting?

This article has been written by Lydia McClelland, a VCE French, Music Theory, Literature & VCE English Tutor at Learnmate. If you’re interested in private tutoring from Lydia then please check out her page here.

In a rapidly digitalising world – a change hastened by the current COVID-19 pandemic – students should not forget to practise the skill of handwriting. At the time of writing (the end of March 2020), no changes to end-of-year exams have been announced, so students should still prepare to be writing exams by hand. Don’t throw away your notebooks and your pens just yet!

Even if examinations are eventually altered, handwriting is a helpful skill to develop. One such reason is the potential to improve learning outcomes when notes are handwritten. Some research studies have found that students better retain information and learning when they handwrite their notes, rather than taking notes in a typed form. Handwriting means students must carefully select and prioritise what they record. In turn, this means that they are already synthesising and processing the information they are being taught, where those using their laptops might simply be copying the information straight from a teacher’s PowerPoint.

What are some different handwriting styles?

Let’s go back to primary school to answer this particular question. Most young children learn to write in a basic cursive style. Yes, this is the style you would have had to master to get the coveted pen license. It’s likely, however, that going into high school, students begin to write in plain, normal, non-cursive script. This poses a problem when handwriting is done carelessly and messily, meaning some students’ work becomes illegible for teachers. Another commonly used handwriting style is printing, a capitalised, separated style usually required by official documents and forms to allow ease of comprehension.

What are some handwriting techniques, and how can you improve your handwriting?

Improving poor handwriting is difficult – it requires adapting long-established bad habits. Some handwriting experts recommend changing up the way you grip your pen, taking every opportunity to practise your handwriting, or ‘using a nice pen’. Other techniques include practising writing in big letters, thus taking your practice back to basics and making you focus on every letter you write.

As is the case with most disciplines, practice makes perfect! Think of all of the ways you might be able to practice your handwriting: write lists, hand write a journal, write out a paragraph from a book you really enjoy, and most of all, write out your school work by hand.

A great way of practising your handwriting is to look up practice sheets so that you can really work on giving those new techniques a go. You can find some free printable worksheets at the following websites:

• Worksheet Works
• Student Handouts
• com

Where can you get lessons or classes on handwriting?

If you’re really committed to improving your handwriting, look into lessons, or just do a class here and there! It’s worth pursuing a class which caters to your level and age group, so make sure the lessons are tailored alternatively to adults, teenagers or children. If you prefer to do some classes online, you could look into the courses offered by Udemy, or you could try using Skill Share, or even investigate the free options available to all on YouTube.

If you loved this article, you will LOVE all of our other articles, such as: Why Perfectionism is a Problem, How to Teach Soft Skills to Students and  Benefits of Meditation for Students

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!

Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom

This article has been written by Lydia McClelland, a VCE French, Music Theory, Literature & VCE English Tutor at Learnmate. If you’re interested in private tutoring from Lydia then please check out her page here.

It is hard to deny the power of technology today. While some of the more outlandish theories from the past have not yet come into fruition (see: AI running the world), a great wealth of technology is available at just the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger. Combine technology with learning and you can find a world of opportunities which seem endless.

So, what are some of the ways you can integrate technology into the classroom?

• Interactive whiteboards are popular tools for teachers. These allow teachers to annotate online documents and easily correct work for all students to see. Dangers still remain: how many students can remember squirming with both amusement and concern as a teacher destroyed a SMART board with a regular whiteboard marker?
• Use technology to gauge the general opinions about a topic in the room in a non-threatening way. Many students fear speaking up in front of an entire class, so using technology can be a useful way of gauging the opinions of students beyond those who are more confident. Websites such as Poll Everywhere and Socrative can allow fun, healthy conversations in a class. Keep in mind that you might want to save this for more mature students, as the prospect of hiding behind anonymity to send through something inappropriate can be too tempting for the class clowns.
• Tablets, when provided to a class, can allow students to access material in a more engaging way. Imagine using a textbook which weighs next to nothing and has exercises embedded within it!

What are the benefits of technology-driven education?

• Learning outcomes can improve when technology is harnessed well. It has been found that 70 per cent of students score more highly in assessments and report better attendance in ‘active-learning environments that use technology than traditional ones.’
• The possibilities for connection through collaboration and teamwork are widened by the use of technology. The use of forums and shared documents allow students from across the globe to connect, share ideas and work together.
• Students gain skills which will be indispensable in the future (and also, clearly, in the present), in a rapidly evolving technological climate. With the development of exciting, new possibilities, jobseekers who are adaptable and more technologically literate are well-placed to impress potential employers.
• Quite simply, it’s fun! Students love getting to use new technologies, and it is never a bad thing when students are enjoying learning. Technology might very well be the difference between a lesson turning out dry and boring, or exciting and memorable. In a world where it is increasingly difficult to maintain people’s attention for longer periods of time, technology increases engagement and can allow some students to participate in lessons more actively.
• Technology is a good back-up option if there happened to be, hypothetically, a novel virus spreading around the world. At the time of writing (March 2020), educational institutions around the world are increasingly adopting technology such as apps, Zoom and Skype as a temporary or long-term replacement for face-to-face learning in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

If you loved this article, you will LOVE all of our other articles, such as: Discussion and Examples of Language Varying to Reflect Identity, Tips for Supporting Your Child in Year 11 and 12! and Will anyone care about your ATAR in a year?

 – LearnMate Tutoring.

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!