Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening when you practice the same take over and over so slowly that it seems the world has stopped. That is not the case. Magnificent things are happening in your nervous system behind the scenes. Read the quote below by an eminent scholar. "During the early stages of learning, muscle combinations, tensions and releases are under conscious control and continue to change and re-configure themselves according to what the mind has ordered. In other words, a perceptual mandate creates a mental template. The muscles, through trial and error, attempt to achieve what the mind has conceived, or come as close to the template as possible. As the mind receives knowledge of results, subsequent movements are changed and refined until the desired degree of accuracy is achieved." J. Dickinson. "Some Perspectives on Motor Learning Theory." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - When you use the podcast for practice, please leave your footprint by clicking the "comment" button and keying your name. I can roll number of visits into the homework grade. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WHAT IS AN ANALYTICAL CRITIQUE? Analysis Ana in Greek means “up” or “through.” Lysis in Greek means “to break up” or “loosen.” In an analysis, you break things apart and look at the individual parts in their individuality. Critical Analysis in General Terms: A critical analysis in general terms often means negative carping. For example, your spouse says, “You are wrong, wrong, wrong.” This is not our sense of the word "criticism," the analytical sense. In an analytical critique, we endeavor to know something's limits. We try to find out what something can do inside of its limits. Then we ask in what places do those limits prevent something from doing something else. In Steno Terms Ask: Q. What can your writing now do inside of its limits? In other words, what parts of writing steno give you little or no problems? A. Q. What prevents your writing from doing something else that it should be doing? In other words, what parts of writing steno are consistently giving you problems? A. Consider stepping back from your writing and trying to recognize it for what it is within its own borders. The counterproductive alternative is to live directly inside of it and, consequently, invest excessive emotion in it. The result is that you take your current skill level for granted and accept it as being you; that is to say, you are in danger of letting your limitations define you. Then you might freeze up. Your weaknesses are not you. They are just regular human limitations that can often be remediated by training and maturation. Stepping back and creating a little space between your skill level and your emotions will allow you to set small goals that should foster overall improvement. In the end, your goal is not writing perfection. That is not possible. Similarly, your goal is not to be a better writer than anyone or everyone else. Don’t worry about anyone else. Sure, compete with them, but use them only as a gauge of your skill level. Your main competition can now be against the program itself, which exits primarily to rub against the grain of inactivity, and through channeled activity, prepare you to be an entry-level machine writer. Your only competition is you and the challenges of the program, and your goal is to mature and improve until you reach a professional skill level. At that point, you have employable machine shorthand skill. That is true graduation. It facilitates entry into the profession. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Practice Tips from the Pros 1) Write from hard copy but don’t just “write through” the hard copy. When you make a mistake, go back a few words and write through the trouble spot at half the speed. Do this several times, deliberately and slowly, placing the fingers carefully, until the trouble is worked out. Then slowly increase speed. 2) Do some silent practice. Rehearse fingerings in your head before writing. 3) Use a metronome. The metronome will keep your tempo steady when writing drills or preview words, and it will help you make progressive and disciplined use of practice time. Try the metronome link under "Favorite Links" a little below this paragraph. 4) Write on the machine every day. You will begin to lose the fine muscle control that you’ve been developing by skipping days. Once in a while, you need a break, but try to practice six out of every seven days. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.” -- Jascha Heifetz less