The Art of Handwriting

This is a topic of conversation that came up today during our In-Service. Our principal is really old-school and believes in the art of handwriting. We have a contest that we are supposed to have the students complete by the end of February.

She would like us to constantly correct the students on their pencil technique and how they pull their pencil down on the paper. She would like us to spend more than 15 minutes teaching handwriting. We are NOT to tell the students to open up to page so and so and complete it. We are to have the students practice on the board, on blank pieces of paper, and newspapers.

I, on the other hand, totally disagree with the teaching of handwriting. I am constantly short on minutes trying to teach Reading, Grammar, Math, and if I am lucky I can squeeze in Writing and Science on a good day.

I believe that students have their handwriting technique down from Kindergarten and it is somewhat tweaked in the first grade. By the time I have them in second grade, I believe, that they are already set in their ways and it is impossible to correct them.

I also remember this speech back when I taught junior high. Explain to me how to correct a 12, 13, and 14 year old on correcting their handwriting. It just isn't going to happen.

I believe that if I can read the paper, I am in good shape. Even on standardized tests it tells the student to write in what is most legible (cursive or print). However, isn't everything being done on computers?

Now I will go through the correct techniques for teaching cursive in the next few weeks when we begin, but I will not have the time to spend more than 15 minutes of my precious time on these correct techniques.

What do you think? Is the art of handwriting really that important in school anymore?