Homework and tests at the elementary and secondary level were done on paper so writing used to be a daily occurrence for me. Now that a lot of that work has been digitalized, I do almost everything on my computer including note-taking and lesson planning. The only times I regularly write nowadays are when I use the whiteboard with my students or when I am marking. None of those can truly compare to the experience of taking a pen and paper and manually producing long-form pieces. As a result I found this task difficult because it was time-consuming, required endurance in a way different to typing, and I knew that errors would be more punishing.
I wanted my writing to look as neat as possible, so every sentence was mentally planned out. If I had made a mistake, I would have had to cross it out and keep going or erase and replace the word if I were using a pencil (though an eraser would never truly remove the graphite evidence). I chose an informal reflection so my choice of words became more conversational, giving me more options to work with.
The hand strain from writing after longer stretches of time dissuades me from doing it more often (and getting smeared from lead or ink… the writing system truly does not favor left-handed people). My technique could use work – maybe I am clenching the pencil too hard or holding it inefficiently – but on the other hand I have never had a problem with typing, which I found to come quite naturally to me at a young age. It has always been quicker to get my thoughts out with a keyboard, and the flexibility and convenience of digital editing and formatting is the cherry on top.
