Saturday, February 14, 2015

Do You Know How To Type?



If you do remember typing class, then you are one of the lucky folks who knows how to type correctly.

I definitely remember typing class in high school, and I also remember teaching typing.

During my first few years of teaching, I taught on manual typewriters with 40 students clicking and clacking, as they learned the valuable skill of typing back in the 70's.   Then we moved on to the Selectric Typewriters pictured above.  I loved how the ball turned around for the letters.  We even had similar desks.  Then of course we moved to learning typing on computers.

TYPING is ESSENTIAL.   I love how no one is looking at his/her fingers in this photo....I do see one young lady, though, but she is fixing the paper in the machine....that's ok.  :) 

It looks as if these students must have had an awesome business teacher.

Do you type correctly?  I do.  :)

Photo Courtesy of:

https://www.facebook.com/AntennaTV?fref=photo

 

41 comments:

  1. I hope you enjoy this post, and I hope you know how to type. :)

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  2. I learned to type on a manual typewriter.

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    1. I did too. Aren't you glad you know how to type? :)

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  3. This is a trip down memory lane. My first typewriter was a pre-WWII model. Given to me when I was in primary school. You really had to pound the keys with that one. Then my parents bought me a portable Remington in a case. When I started office work in the 1970s, the typewriters were electric. Loved the "golf ball" models. Ever have to crawl about on hands and knees to find a ball that was ejected because it wasn't inserted properly? And, yes, I do type correctly.

    Yvonne
    http://adarngoodreaad.blogspot.com.au

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    1. LOL...I did have to go find one of the Selectric balls. We actually had to weld them onto the typewriters because the kids would pop them off. I totally forgot about that. Funny Memory...thanks.

      Thanks for stopping, Yvonne.

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  4. Ha! Where I went to school I was expected to take a language and learning to type was seen for the less able!!!! Later in life in a boring period of my life I sat down at an old typewriter and a book for guide and taught myself to touch type. I have never had to speak French in my life and couldn't anyway to safe myself. But I have used touch typing evermore! Far more useful and important as it turned out.

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    1. To me knowing how to type is as important as reading!!

      Glad you learned on your own.

      Thanks for stopping, Kathryn.

      Delete
  5. Hmmm...I never had a typing class, so perhaps I don't type correctly, whatever that means. But I've gotten up to a pretty good speed without having to look at my fingers. I credit all of those years of piano lessons!

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    1. Typing correctly means having your hands on the correct keys and not looking. :)

      Great you have a good speed...that's wonderful. Piano lessons most likely did help.

      Thanks for stopping, As the Crowe flies and Reads.

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  6. I type correctly, but not because I took a typing class. As an adult, I bought a book that taught me how to type. I refused to take the typing class because my mom said I could be a good secretary. I was not going to be a secretary. I was going to have a secretary.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. No matter how you learned to type, knowing how is the most important thing in the end.

      Thanks for stopping, Janie.

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    2. Even if you end up having a secretary, typing is a useful skill...and I was happy to have it so I could work my way through college and end up with a secretary....LOL.

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  7. I do type correctly and it makes life so much easier. The only thing I'm not perfect at is numbers but I always won all the wpm contests in typing class. The sad thing is that they don't really stress it anymore and my kids are not great typers which is weird when you consider that everything is online now and you use a computer for everything.

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    1. Definitely makes life easier than hunting and pecking and looking for the letters.

      Nope...not stressing it any more, and that is so sad. I agree...we need it more today than ever.

      Thanks for stopping, Katherine.

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  8. Of course! And my husband uses 2 fingers and he is always looking for the keys. Drives me crazy!! So sometimes I'l push him out of the way, and just tell him to 'say it' to me and I'll type it out for him. Hmmmm... maybe he does that on purpose. LOL I used to type for the school newspaper--- circa 1975-76. Long before computer's. I now have my dad's old manual typewriter as a part of my decor in my living room.

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    1. That would drive me crazy too. :)

      I love old typewriters. So fun you have it in your living room.

      I loved how the typebars would always stick together. Ha Ha...not really love it, but that was unique to those old manuals.

      My students would ask why the letters aren't in alphabetic order. :) I would tell them about who invented the keyboard layout as it is today and has been for years and why the letters were arranged in the order they are.

      They arranged the letters in the "qwerty" fashion to eliminate the typebars from sticking. The letters that are used the most together were separated so that the typebars wouldn't "catch" on each other when they were struck right after each other.

      They liked the story, but still didn't like that they were not in alphabetic order. :)

      Thanks for your comments and for stopping, Debbie.

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  9. Ah, yes, typing class. My first one had manual typewriters and no letters on the keys. There was a big chart at the front of the room with the letters on the keys. That was the way we learned without looking at our hands. And also getting a crick-in-the-neck by looking to the right all the time. LOL

    I remember Selectrics as well and the balls that you could change. And I still type really fast. What I like now is that you don't have to use that liquid paper stuff to correct mistakes. I also remember how wonderful the correcting tape was on the Selectrics.

    I think we developed strong hands typing on those old manuals. You really had push hard. :-)

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    1. Oh yes....I loved that chart. :) LOL on the crick on your neck. I always wondered if that was difficult for left handers. I should have asked after all those years. :)

      Oh yes on the liquid paper stuff. My students actually had to use an eraser to fix errors. :) That was until we got the computers of course.

      LOL on strong hands.

      Thanks so much for your comments and for stopping, Kay.

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  10. I took a typing class in high school. We used fancy electronic typewriters :-) Given how often I type it was probably the most useful course I took in high school LOL.

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    1. LOVE your thoughts.

      I completely agree about typing being the MOST USEFUL class taken. It is ESSENTIAL!!

      Thanks for stopping, Melissa.

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  11. I remember typing class and thank God for it, even it I didn't like my teacher (you were probably much nicer than she was). We had old fashioned manuals, but I got a little student electric typwriter for college. I still type correctly, it was too ingrained not to. Great fun post, Elizabeth.

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    1. We are a strict lot!! But yes...I was strict but nice. :)

      You will never forget how to type...just like riding a bike. :)

      Thanks for stopping, Alex.

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  12. Yes, I took a typing class in high school. It was suggested that all college prep students take it so that we would be able to type our college papers. I have never regretted it, but I am not good with typing numbers, I remember thinking I wouldn't need to use them much in papers! Kind of wish I had paid more attention to learning that part.

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    1. Not too many folks are good on numbers. I stressed the letters more. We did the numbers way at the end of the year.

      I have to admit I look for the numbers probably just make sure I hit the right one...they are too far up on the keyboard to reach. :) Tee Hee, but NOT for the letters.

      I can recite the letters in each row as I am sure many folks can.

      Thanks for stopping, OnDBookshelf.

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  13. I am loving all these comments and that everyone is saying how valuable typing is.

    The year I retired was the last year they had typing offered. The district decided we don't need typing in this day and age. Ha. I TOTALLY disagree, and I can see a lot of folks would too.

    Thanks for commenting everyone.

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  14. I took a year-long typing class in high school, and out of everything I learned that year, typing is the skill/knowledge I retained the most and find the most useful. This was in the mid-'80s, and we all used IBM Selectrics. We learned how to type business and personal letters, how much space to leave for margins and between the different parts of the letter, etc. I still use that info today!

    Before that, I had a manual typewriter at home and hunted and pecked my way through several writing assignments. The Selectric took much less effort to type on.

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    1. Yeah for typing class!!

      Definitely easier on a Selectric!! :)

      Glad you agree that it is a valuable skill.

      Thanks for stopping, Sarah.

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  15. Ahhh, typing class. I took beginning typing in 8th grade. Barely passed. So I took it again in the 9th. Best decision I ever made. I was SUPER fast after that. And yes, I can type my numbers without looking, either.

    When my kids went to school, they called it a keyboard class, though, not typing. Whatever. It was nice they still had the class. Of course, that was nearly 20 years ago. Have no idea if they're teaching that class now.

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    1. I agree it was the best decision you made. :) A very valuable skill.

      Unfortunately they do not teach typing/keyboarding any more around here. Very disappointing and not a good idea if you ask me. :(

      Thanks so much for stopping, Stacy. I hope to see you again.

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  16. I took a typing class in high school, and I think I would have failed if they had stuck to the rules. I did learn to type (by your definition) but I was slow. It was the lowest grade I got in high school. But certainly don't regret learning. In a couple of jobs between being an "engineer" and being a programmer, my job was at least 50% clerical typing. And even now as a programmer being able to type is still very useful.

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    1. Slow is fine as long as you learn where the keys are. Speed comes with practice.

      Never any regrets if you know how to type. It is such an important skill to know.

      Thanks so much for stopping, TracyK.

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  17. I learned on an electric typewriter in 5th grade. I still adore that sound.
    I do type correctly and when I was teaching high school, my students never believed that I could actually type while looking at them and talking. It always amazed/freaked them out when (inevitably) a student would get up to check and find that I wasn't just typing gibberish.
    Like penmanship, typing skills seem to be disappearing. Even "keyboarding" classes these days do not focus on "typing correctly".

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    1. LOL...I forgot about that, Cassie. Yes...I loved talking and typing and having the students be amazed.

      Fifth grade is great for learning. Was it a special or every day?

      It is sad about penmanship and typing/keyboarding classes going by the wayside.

      Thanks so much for your comments, Cassie.

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  18. Ah, yes, I took typing classes when there were only manual typewriters, and then had to get used to an electric typewriter when I got a job as a typist, back when I was working my way through college. I typed really fast back then...90 words per minute. I even took shorthand, but by the time I started working, nobody used it. We used dictaphones...LOL.

    Then when I got a computer, I had to get used to typing on that...especially the laptop, with its flat keyboard.

    Great post!

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    1. Each change of a "machine" takes some getting used to, but with the basics of typing and knowing where the keys are, it is an easy transition.

      Oh...I love shorthand. I taught that too. And...shorthand is not taught any longer. :(

      Thanks so much for stopping by, Laurel.

      I am having so much fun with this post and the comments. :)

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  19. Oh I had typing class.... I received a "d" in that class. By the time I took it in high school I had self taught myself and never did break my habit. I am fast, but my fingers are not in the right spots :)

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    1. I will forgive you. :)

      Thanks for stopping, Sheila.

      Delete
  20. I learned to type on an IBM Selectric with the ball and my parents got me a typewriter for college so I could practice typing at home. By the time I graduated it was all word processing.

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    1. The Selectrics were a big improvement over the manuals. :) But the computers are the best.

      Thanks for stopping, Elizabeth.

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  21. I asked my Mom to please buy me an electric rather than manual typewriter, but didn't use it long before the computer came along.
    I remember typing class. Not the greatest typist now, but I manage.
    Megan

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    1. As long as you can touch type and not look, no worries about going fast. :)

      Thanks for stopping, Megan.

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