Do you carry? Do you hesitate? Do you drop large groups of words? Do you write twenty words above your speed just as well as your goal speed? Sit on down and take notes, because it's all the same problem.
The Hesitation Drill
Turn on the Speed Teacher. Set the Number of Words at 14. Do not use any other setting. The drill you choose may be one of the following: Top 100 or Top 1000 of the Common Words or the Three-Letter Words of the Emmanator. Do not choose any other drill. Low-speed students and first-time users of the Speed Teachers should choose the Top 100. The speed setting is critical to this drill. If you cheat, you will not cure your problem. Answer this question: What is the lowest speed class that you are presently enrolled in? Divide that in two. For example, if you are in 140 Testimony, 140 Jury Charge, and 120 Literary, your lowest speed class is 120; therefore, you would divide 120 by 2 which means that Basically you want to start with a speed that is about Click the Start button. Fourteen words will appear on your screen. Use the buttons on the right to adjust the size of the font so that you can easily see the words while you are writing. Click Pause. Your job will be to stroke each group of fourteen words before the screen changes. If you successfully stroke all fourteen, you win. If not, you lose. Play it like a video game. Success is yours if you can operate the controls quickly enough. Here is the tricky part. You start this game way below your goal speed. It is as easy as pie. This is the kind of test that you gives you trouble. Think back to your last easy test. You know you should have passed it. You know it wasn't too difficult for you. You know that you dropped for no good reason. This drill cures that. If you play the game properly, the higher levels will be easy. If you don't, you gain nothing. You must stroke each group of fourteen words as quickly as you can, regardless of the speed setting that you are using. This means that when you start the game, you will finish each group well before the next group of fourteen words appears. This is what you want. This is teaching you to write quickly regardless of whether or not the drill appears easy. Perfect notes are not necessary. Your notes should be readable. Do not attempt a higher standard than that. This is not a drill for clarity. It is a drill to break you of the habit of carrying words unnecessarily. That is your goal. That is your only goal. Turn on the drill. Fourteen words appear. Stroke as rapidly as possible. Do ten sets of fourteen words. On some of these sets, you will finish very far ahead. On others, you will finish not so far ahead. Do you notice the variation in speed as you stroke? Do you understand that that is what is keeping you in class? When you have successfully completed the first ten sets of fourteen words, it is time to increase the speed ten words per minute. This is still well below your goal speed. Do not relax. Your goal is to finish each line with a lot of time to spare. You need to do this. You are preparing for the faster drills. Push, push, push. Don't let your attention waver from your goal. Concentrate on winning with as large a margin of victory as possible. When you have successfully completed the second ten sets of fourteen words, increase your speed again. If you have been playing the game correctly, you have had no trouble finishing each line far ahead of the computer. Each time you complete successfully complete ten sets of fourteen words, you win that level. Then you get to increase the speed by ten words per minute. Eventually, you will reach your limit. You will not write quickly enough to successfully complete all ten sets. If you successfully complete eight or nine of your ten sets, then leave the speed setting at its present level. You have found your optimum drill speed. Try the drill again. Sometimes you will finish well ahead of the computer because you did not hesitate. On other sets, you will barely finish before the screen changes. On others, alas and alack, you will fail. On those sets where you fail, you will be able to point to your hesitation as the reason for failing. It will be obvious that you wrote some sets much much faster than other sets. If you successfully complete only seven out of ten sets, then you must reduce the speed by twenty words per minute. You are attempting to do too much. The drill will not help you if you are being pushed beyond your skill level. In fact, you are feeding your problem if you continue to drill at this speed. Reduce the speed and try again. When you are ready to quit for the day, write down the name of the drill that you are using and the speed level that you have reached. The next time you drill, use the same drill, but reduce the speed by 30 words per minute. This will allow you to warm up on the slower speeds. It will reinforce your new-found good habits. Push yourself to the limit. Never slow down. Keep those strokes coming one after another. Note: The true object of this drill is to help you write correctly on tests. This drill requires that you write quickly at all times. It should not be hard to apply this technique to your tests. Just remember to push, push, push. Stephen Shastay |
