Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Handwriting

I want to be blatantly honest for a minute... I started this blog as an assignment for a class early in my career at JSU. Most of my beginning blogs are based on prompts or assignments given to me by professors and they are not my finest work or very deeply thought out. However, after some time I actually became fond of my blog and found that it helps me reflect on new learnings and allows me to keep my thoughts organized. Blogging has also provided me a simple and easy format to share my ideas with other educators or professionals. I am a very visual learner; if I do not write down my thoughts, they're gone. My house, car, and classrooms are covered in all different forms of post-it notes, lists, and even the occasional napkin or receipt covered in my scribbling. You don't even want to look at my plan book... As much as I have to write things down now, I was never very interested in journaling or writing when I was in school. I had (and still have if I don't put a lot of thought into it) terrible, awful, no good, very bad hand writing. Instead of focusing on the content of my writing in school, my focus was always drawn to my atrocious handwriting. Looking back, my handwriting was absolutely illegible and I don't blame any of my teachers for wanting me to improve it. However, knowing now how much writing things down helps my brain to stay organized, I wish I would have been taught to look past the presentation of my work.
Flash forward to the beginning of my internship; I am working with a class of first graders using Lucy Calkin's Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing. We are in the middle of a writing workshop and I find myself doing exactly what was done to me as a child: only focusing on a child's terrible, awful, no good, very bad handwriting instead of the content of his writing. I stopped mid-sentence and stared off into space like I was having a bad flashback. I didn't even realize I was doing it until the sweet little boy I was working with said, "Ms. Morrison, are you okay?" Snapped back into reality I replied, "I am just fine and you know what? This is a fantastic story! I am so impressed you were were able tell me so much about your watermelon seed story. Let's think about what happens next in your story. Can you touch the page and tell me what you are going to write next?" I didn't say another word about this student's handwriting until we began editing and revising a few weeks later. I began making a concious effort to not worry about handwriting during our workshops until it was time to make our stories easier to read. That student has produced some of the most amazing stories during my time there and even though I know it will take me an extra few minutes to decode the writing, it is always worth it. 
I strive for perfection. I make myself sick and tired and incredibly grouchy trying to make everything in my life as neat and clean and streamlined as possible. How well do you think that is working out for me? I'll go ahead and tell you, it's not working. My toddler and my kids have taught me that life does not have to be perfect or neat or clean or streamlined to be wonderful. Writing does not have to be perfect or neat or clean or streamlined to be wonderful. Should we always strive to do our best? Absolutely. Do my students need to understand that it will be easier for their readers to experience their work if it is penned well? Positively. Will I ever stifle the creative flow of my students because of their terrible, awful, no good, very bad handwriting? Never again. 

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