THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
LESTER MCDOWELL 
 
THE METHODS OF 
 TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
THE METHODS OF 
 TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 ON THE SOLUTIONS OF 
 CLASSROOM PROBLEMS 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD J. MCNAMARA, M.A. 
 
 Lecturer on ike Methods of Teaching Shorthand, Adelphi College, 
 
 Brooklyn, AT.V., and Teacher of Shorthand, Jamaica 
 
 High School, New York City 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 ISAAC PITMAN & SONS 
 
 2 WEST FORTY-FIFTH STREET 
 
 1914 
 
o 
 
 vr\ 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IN the pages which follow there is outlined a plan 
 of instruction for shorthand classes that, it is 
 hoped, will furnish practical solutions to many of 
 the problems that confront the teacher in the 
 classroom. So far as known this is the first 
 attempt to formulate the principles of shorthand 
 instruction using modern principles of pedagogy 
 as a basis ; it will probably be followed by similar 
 books dealing with the pedagogy of other com- 
 mercial subjects, for preparation for a business 
 career is every day becoming more important and 
 it is only a matter of a very short time when the 
 most efficient methods of imparting this know- 
 ledge or skill will be established. At the present 
 time there are many ideas in this branch of educa- 
 tion that are unthinkingly accepted and have for 
 their raison d'etre only a questionable tradition. 
 
 The principles of instruction formulated in this 
 book took form as a result of the work done in 
 connection with the course which the writer gave 
 for two years in the Methods of Teaching Short- 
 hand and Typewriting at Adelphi College, Brooklyn. 
 The teachers who were enrolled brought their class- 
 room problems for discussion and the experience 
 of the many was used to find the solution. These 
 lectures were further enriched by reports of the 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 teachers covering extensive observations of short- 
 hand classes in New York City and vicinity. 
 Gradually the principles underlying the various 
 methods of instruction began to shape themselves 
 and the writer was induced to put them into book 
 form for the guidance and assistance of those who 
 wish to enter the ranks of shorthand teachers. 
 
 While all of the shorthand examples mentioned 
 deal with Pitmanic systems, yet in the main the 
 principles enunciated may be applied regardless 
 of the system of shorthand taught ; the book is 
 not intended as a shorthand reference book, but 
 it deals with questions of teaching technique that 
 are likely to arise in any class, no matter which 
 system is used. 
 
 If teachers who read this book are moved to 
 challenge their methods of instruction, or perhaps 
 even find a few helpful suggestions, an inspiration 
 or two, the work will not have been in vain. 
 
 In conclusion the author wishes to express his 
 thanks to the many earnest teachers who worked 
 with him in his courses at Adelphi College, and 
 to the many friends who, by their words of 
 encouragement, made the work pleasurable. A 
 word of appreciation is also due to Mr. Edwin A. 
 Bolger, Commercial High School, Brooklyn, for 
 his kindness in reading the proofs. 
 
 BROOKLYN, N.Y., 
 
 24th September, 1913 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 PREFACE ..... V 
 
 i. TEACHER'S PREPARATION . . 1 
 
 II. AIM OF INSTRUCTION . . .11 
 
 III. MATTERS OF ROUTINE IN" A SHORTHAND 
 
 CLASS 21 
 
 IV. TEACHING DEVICES .... 36 
 V. ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION . 47 
 
 VI. LESSON TYPES IN SHORTHAND . . 61 
 
 VII. PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION . 71 
 VIII. ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED . 83 
 IX. SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING A 
 
 SPEED CLASS .... 97 
 
 X. TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS . .108 
 
 XI. MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 
 
 SPEED CLASS . . . .122 
 
 XII. MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 
 
 ELEMENTARY . . . .136 
 
 INDEX 145 
 
Methods of Teaching 
 Shorthand 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 TEACHER'S PREPARATION 
 
 f 
 
 OF the many changes that have taken place in 
 the field of education in the last twenty years, 
 Rise of *^ e ne which has been the most pro- 
 Commercial nounced and important is the offering of 
 Education. studies which directly prepared the 
 
 student for the livelihood he is under obligation to 
 make. Those in high educational circles came to 
 the realization that the aim of elementary and 
 secondary education was not solely to prepare for 
 college, that the great majority could never hope 
 to attend a higher institution of learning and that 
 something serviceable must be done for them. 
 As a result the rise of commercial education, man- 
 ual training and domestic science has been steady 
 and sure. Education is coming to be regarded 
 more and more as a preparation for life, one of the 
 most essential duties of which is that of earning a 
 living, and the testimony of business men as to 
 the utter unfitness for practical affairs of those 
 1 
 
2 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 who have completed their studies in our elementary 
 and secondary schools has had its effect. It is 
 not that the schools have failed in doing their 
 work, but that business procedure has become so 
 systematic that one without training in its customs 
 and usages is handicapped. On all sides there has 
 been a growing demand for a closer relation be- 
 tween the school and the life of the community for 
 which it is the purpose of the school to prepare its 
 children. 
 
 The preparation of those who were to teach the 
 academic subjects has become more exacting, and 
 the length of time they must undergo training 
 has steadily increased. The same tendency is 
 observable in regard to teachers of commercial 
 subjects. At first the qualifications were educa- 
 tionally low ; before the public schools took up 
 the work in business branches, instruction in book- 
 keeping, penmanship, etc., was given by an 
 itinerant teacher whose greatest qualification was 
 Preparation his ornamental penmanship. Later the 
 cial mmer " business schools were organized and 
 Teachers, the main requirement for employment 
 was a good knowledge of the subjects taught. 
 When the public school undertook to offer courses 
 in commercial branches, for some reason or other 
 the examiners who were to judge the candidates 
 did not require as much preparation or training 
 from commercial teachers as they did from teachers 
 of other branches. This was due most likely to the 
 fact that the number of those who had the technical 
 
TEACHER'S PREPARATION 3 
 
 training as teachers and possessed a knowledge of 
 the subjects was much too limited to supply the 
 demand. There was always at hand the means of 
 learning shorthand for those who had the technical 
 training as teachers and the general education 
 required, but up to two years ago it was practically 
 impossible for those whose knowledge of shorthand 
 was adequate, to secure pedagogical training in 
 their subject except by taking employment in 
 private schools and learning as a result of mistakes, 
 or in some cases receiving the benefit of the years 
 of experience of the conscientious proprietor of 
 the school. This certainly worked a hardship on 
 private school managers, and after it they could 
 easily understand the feelings of the man who 
 " broke in " the inexperienced stenographer only 
 to have her take another position as soon as it 
 offered. The colleges have seen the need of 
 training for commercial teachers and they have 
 recently been offering courses for them. Already 
 there has been a great influx of college graduates 
 in the ranks of teachers of shorthand and in a 
 short time there is no doubt that the invidious 
 distinction in the requirements will be wiped out. 
 The preparation of a teacher of shorthand may 
 be considered under four heads ; (a) physical, 
 Physical $) educational, (c) practical, and (d) 
 Qualifica- pedagogical. The teacher of any sub- 
 ject needs to have good sight, hearing, 
 and voice, but in shorthand these things are doubly 
 important. There are so many fine distinctions 
 
4 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 in the shorthand characters, differences in shading, 
 the placing of dots and dashes accurately, strokes 
 that show minute variations in length, that keen 
 sight is absolutely essential. Obviously there is 
 so much reading to be done by the pupil that 
 unless the teacher can hear well there is always 
 the chance of an embarrassing mishearing. Like- 
 wise, in teaching shorthand there is greater need 
 for a well modulated, even, pleasant voice than 
 in almost any other subject because there is so 
 much dictation required and nothing will produce 
 disorder and fatigue so quickly as a monotonous, 
 a drawling, or a hysterical falsetto voice. Again, 
 shorthand dictation is frequently taken by the 
 students under a great nervous strain, and if 
 the voice of the dictator is harsh or disagreeable, 
 it is not at all unlikely that the student will get 
 a case of " nerves " and lose a portion of it. There 
 is nothing unusual in the experience of students 
 who claim they can take dictation from one 
 person at a certain rate and when another person 
 dictates at the same rate they cannot get it at all. 
 It is important, therefore, that the teacher have 
 a well-controlled, pleasing voice, and that care be 
 taken with enunciation so that every syllable may 
 be heard distinctly. 
 
 The general education of the shorthand teacher 
 should be just as good as that of the teacher of 
 academic branches. While a college education 
 is not absolutely essential, the one who has 
 had such training is likely to be more comfortable 
 
TEACHER S PREPARATION 5 
 
 and more successful than the one who is without 
 it. This does not mean that the possession of a 
 college diploma is all that should be 
 
 re q uired ; not b y any means - But * 
 
 does mean that the one so equipped w ill 
 be on the same level as his or her colleagues and 
 this will do much towards rendering agreeable daily 
 association with those who have had the training 
 and who possess the culture for which the college 
 diploma stands. Of course there is no denying the 
 fact that a man without a college education may be 
 better educated than one who has secured his 
 degree, but the chances are against it. At any 
 rate, the teacher should be possessed of a general 
 education that will enable him to co-operate with 
 the other departments in the school, and this 
 demands that he shall have an intelligent grasp 
 of the other subjects that go to make up the course. 
 The teacher of shorthand requires a broad 
 education also because an opportunity is pre- 
 sented in the selection of his dictation material 
 to bring before his class many facts of value to 
 them that they would otherwise never meet. 
 Many commercial courses omit history and in 
 such a case it is not unusual for a teacher, by a 
 judicious selection of historical speeches and 
 descriptions, to bring many facts to the attention 
 of the students that they would otherwise never 
 encounter until their ignorance embarrassed them. 
 And this can be done without neglecting any 
 part of his own work. Likewise, simple and 
 
6 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 rudimentary scientific data may be used to good 
 advantage, but the teacher must be educationally 
 equipped to interpret the facts and to answer 
 questions concerning them that are likely to arise. 
 Besides this having general knowledge, the 
 teacher of shorthand, like the teacher of any other 
 
 special branch, should know his subject 
 !?Subje?t thoroughly. This means that he must 
 
 not only know the principles, rules and 
 exceptions that appear in the text but that he 
 must be able to do himself what he wishes his 
 students to be able to do : to form instantly the 
 correct outline for any unfamiliar word by the 
 application of the principles of the system. To 
 instruct intelligently, it is necessary to have an 
 intelligent grasp of the subject ; what is known 
 vaguely, is taught vaguely ; if shorthand appears 
 to the teacher to be a mass of arbitrary characters, 
 his instruction cannot be anything but arbitrary, 
 and any other kind of instruction is better. It has 
 frequently been said by those who have a smatter- 
 ing of the subject that " brains are of no use in 
 shorthand " because the people making the declara- 
 tion were not successful in choosing the correct 
 outline the first time and they were unable to see 
 the advantage of the standard form over the other. 
 No modern shorthand system is as arbitrary as it 
 first seems. The genius of Isaac Pitman put an 
 intelligent plan into geometric shorthand that 
 becomes more apparent the more it is studied and 
 practised, and as it unfolds before the enthusiastic 
 
TEACHER S PREPARATION 7 
 
 delving of the one who searches earnestly, it 
 becomes a fascinating study that disregards all 
 labor or time spent upon it. There cannot be any 
 doubt that a system of shorthand which enables 
 the writer accurately to represent any enunciated 
 sound in the language is the product of the labor 
 of a scientific mind. Many changes have taken 
 place, and are now taking place, in shorthand 
 systems ; they are in a state of constant flux ; 
 one expedient follows upon another and is aban- 
 doned for yet another ; but all this takes place 
 in accordance with fundamental laws which are 
 worked out in the experience of the system's 
 practitioners. It is the duty of the shorthand 
 teacher to study these laws and to seek the " whys " 
 and " wherefores " of his subject in them. Then 
 and then only can he instruct intelligently and 
 bring his students to the proper attitude towards 
 the subject ; then will they feel for it, not the con- 
 tempt which is sometimes evidenced by a young 
 logical mind that finds no satisfaction in its 
 apparent inconsistencies, but the admiration and 
 appreciation of which the art is worthy. 
 
 As stated before, the teacher should certainly 
 
 be able to do that which he expects his students to 
 
 do, and it is necessary that he should 
 
 Esroerience ^ ave P ract i ca l power in the subject 
 at least to a reasonable extent. The 
 old proverb " don't do as I do, but do as I say," 
 has fallen into innocuous desuetude as a rule of 
 ethics. There is now a tendency to make the 
 
8 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 sayers become doers. The more power in the 
 subject the teacher has, the better, for it generally 
 indicates a love for the subject, and an enthusiasm 
 in it that is half the battle. If a teacher has gone 
 through the mill of practice and training until he 
 can himself handle successfully a stenographic 
 assignment of a little more than average difficulty, 
 there is little likelihood of his assuming that un- 
 decided, lukewarm, matter-of-fact attitude toward 
 the subject. He will be more likely to understand 
 the laws of the system and have a contagious 
 enthusiasm for it that will energize every word 
 he says about it. The teacher " on the top of the 
 mountain of practice sees infinitely more than the 
 teacher in the valley of theory." 
 
 Again, the shorthand teacher's education is not 
 complete unless he has had practical experience 
 in the use of the art. He must have gone into the 
 office and have shared the responsibility actually 
 to get the spirit of business coursing through his 
 veins, to cultivate that power of organization that 
 is characteristic of the business world so that he 
 can bring it to the class and make it part of his 
 instruction. He must learn at first hand what is 
 customary in business practice, and furthermore 
 he must keep posted on these things even after 
 he has left so that his knowledge is always fresh 
 and up to date. The teacher who has never 
 sat at the draw-board of the business man's desk 
 and acted as stenographer, who has never filed or 
 found correspondence, and who has to teach from 
 
TEACHER'S PREPARATION 9 
 
 the impressions obtained from a miniature business 
 world set up in the imagination is handicapped and 
 should take the first opportunity to get the 
 experience. 
 
 If a teacher should possess good sight, hearing 
 and voice, and have a broad, general education, 
 
 a thorough knowledge of the subject 
 lS and reasonable power in the practice 
 
 of shorthand, he might still not attain 
 his greatest efficiency without the knowledge of 
 the laws of pedagogy and the ability to apply them 
 to his subject. Stenography is no easy subject to 
 teach, and all the skill of the trained instructor is 
 required to produce the best results. In the ele- 
 mentary instruction, the presentation of the 
 principles offers as good a field for the application 
 of the laws of teaching as does instruction in 
 mathematics or a foreign language. The teacher 
 who can apply the laws of attention, interest, 
 apperception in his work, who can present the 
 theory in a logical way renders his work less 
 difficult and more lasting, and contributes his share 
 towards the general development of the student's 
 mental capacities. Pedagogical training the short- 
 hand teacher should have for the work that he is 
 called upon to do. The work is exacting, and little 
 is understood about the nature of the problems 
 it presents. In the speed room there is an oppor- 
 tunity to employ all the laws of habit building to 
 their greatest extent ; every day some phase of 
 the law of motor reaction is presented to the teacher 
 
 2 (499) 
 
10 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 and unless the pedagogical training is there, his 
 efforts result in wasted energy and unfruitfulness. 
 Of course it is possible for a teacher to succeed 
 in his calling without any one of these qualifica- 
 tions, maybe without any two, but 
 
 Teacher *^ a * * s no * *^ e P omt - ^ e minimum 
 requirement for a teacher is not under 
 discussion. A man may be without a limb and 
 get along through life almost as well as another 
 not so handicapped, but there is a difference. 
 The ideal teacher will possess all these qualifica- 
 tions, and while it is said that ideals are never 
 realized, the important point is that he realize his 
 limitations and set about to remedy them. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 AIM OF INSTRUCTION 
 
 EVERY teacher who hopes to do his share in the 
 work of educating boys or girls has need of a 
 Necessity conscious, definite aim for the intelli- 
 for Definite gent direction of his efforts. Without 
 such an aim there exists no norm or 
 measure by which to determine the value of any 
 method of instruction or the relative value of 
 any series of facts, or the utility of any set of 
 skilful operations. To the lack of such an aim 
 may be attributed many of the evils of education 
 of which critics justly complain ; over-emphasis 
 on unimportant details, teaching of facts unrelated 
 to life, unsuitable courses of study, and many 
 others may all be traced to the fact that those 
 engaged in the work of education had not formu- 
 lated definite principles along which the work could 
 be carried on ; or when these principles have been 
 established they were lost sight of in the concen- 
 tration with which particular aims have been 
 pursued. While it is true that the ultimate aims 
 of education are always undergoing change, and 
 that it is impossible to devise such a compre- 
 hensive scheme as to include these various ends, 
 yet it should be possible to select the fundamental 
 verities which appear in these various aims and 
 have the work proceed bearing them in mind. 
 11 
 
12 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 The Committee on School Inquiry which lately 
 investigated the schools of New York, found that 
 t ^ ie 1 ^ 68 * ev & m ^e field of com- 
 
 Influence of 
 
 Aim on mercial education was traceable to a 
 Instruction. m i sconcep tion of the aim for which the 
 schools were established and maintained. In their 
 curriculum and in their teaching they emphasized 
 clerical preparation and lost sight altogether of the 
 ultimate aim of commercial education, of which 
 preparation for clerical positions formed approxi- 
 mately only fifteen per cent. If such a thing is 
 possible with a system of education, it is much 
 more likely to happen with an individual teacher, 
 especially when his efficiency is judged exclusively 
 upon the attainment of success in the particular, 
 narrow, specialized aim of his work, as is so fre- 
 quently done. When a teacher is rated on the 
 number of students he promotes, or on the number 
 of pupils who are successful in a certain examina- 
 tion, he is very likely, indeed, to lose sight of the 
 ultimate aim of education for his pupils, and to 
 turn all his attention to the things which are taken 
 as an indication of the success of his instruction. 
 However, the ultimate and proximate aims which 
 the teacher of shorthand should possess are not 
 mutually exclusive, neither are they incompatible 
 with efficient work. All that is necessary, is to 
 formulate definitely what ends the instruction 
 should accomplish and organize the classroom 
 work so that each operation will have a direct 
 bearing upon the general plan. Thus the way in 
 
AIM OF INSTRUCTION 13 
 
 which the teacher provides for the care of the 
 mechanical details incident to the conduct of a 
 class can be made to show the operation of certain 
 definite principles in the ultimate scheme of edu- 
 cation, the plan used for the adjustment of matters 
 of a disciplinary nature, the methods used in the 
 presentation of the subject, and, in fact, every 
 phase of the work can be related in the same way 
 and with greater economy than if the teacher 
 persists in the one idea of having his class succeed 
 in raising their speed from seventy-five words per 
 minute to one hundred. This does not mean that 
 instruction in shorthand should become of second- 
 ary importance for the shorthand teacher. Not by 
 any means. To accomplish what is expected of 
 him will take great effort and conscientiousness, 
 nevertheless these things which enter into the 
 general equipment of the student for life should 
 not be lost sight of completely, especially as they 
 can be woven so effectively into the processes of 
 instruction. 
 
 When a teacher of shorthand steps into a class 
 it is as necessary for him to have a well-defined 
 concept of the ultimate end of education as it is 
 to have a thorough knowledge of his subject. 
 Entering into this concept will be considerations 
 that make up the universal conditions of life, things 
 common to all men such as health, character, and 
 the higher utilities of life ; data will also be drawn 
 from the special conditions in which the student 
 must in future labor, such as special knowledge 
 
14 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 or skill of particular use in his earning a liveli- 
 hood ; and last, the data designated for instruc- 
 tion by the course of study or by his superiors. 
 The arrangement is in accordance with extension ; 
 not according to relative importance. For the 
 teacher, it should be the reverse : 
 Threefold ^ ^e acquirement of knowledge and 
 skill in shorthand ; (b) the acquire- 
 ment of knowledge and the formation of habits 
 that will be of especial use in the field of commerce ; 
 (c) the knowledge, habits, and ideals that enable 
 the student to become an efficient member of 
 society. This should be the teacher's threefold 
 aim. 
 
 The first division of this aim is altogether in the 
 hands of the teacher and his immediate superiors. 
 The second division, that relating to the acquire- 
 ment of knowledge and habits that will be of 
 especial use in his future occupation may be 
 effected by the correlation of the different subjects 
 and the co-operation of the different departments 
 of instruction, as well as in the formation of 
 special habits of industry, co-operation, analysis, 
 etc. The third division, that having to do with 
 the general things of life, will be influenced by the 
 general knowledge of the teacher, his culture, his 
 judgment of values, and his ideals, all of which, 
 if his heart is in his work, he cannot help but 
 expose to the observant minds of his pupils. The 
 teacher of shorthand, therefore, will see that 
 he has a threefold responsibility in his instruction : 
 
AIM OF INSTRUCTION 15 
 
 to prepare for an occupation, a vocation, and for 
 social and civic responsibility. The one who 
 Occu a confines himself to the occupational aim 
 tional, will not see the necessity of corre- 
 
 Sd^iSSil latin S the work in shorthand and 
 Aim typewriting with bookkeeping, law, 
 
 Explained. English, arithmetic, etc., and it would 
 not be unreasonable to assume that he expects all 
 of his students to become stenographers and to 
 remain such for the rest of their lives. The teacher 
 who has only the vocational aim is the one who is 
 the victim of the narrow conception of education 
 known as " the bread and butter aim." He 
 realizes his responsibility for the preparation of 
 the student to attain commercial success, but he 
 fails to recognize the responsibility which he 
 shares to prepare the student for the efficient 
 enjoyment of that success. 
 
 The ideal teacher is the one who appreciates his 
 full responsibility in each of these instances. 
 
 One of the serious objections made against one 
 of the commercial schools of New York City by 
 the Committee of Inquiry was that its course 
 attempted to fulfill a double purpose. The first 
 was to prepare for business and give general 
 culture and training for citizenship ; the second 
 was to prepare for entrance to higher institutions. 
 In this connection the report states : Page 23 l 
 " The aims of the four-year course are .... 
 
 1 Report on Commercial Education, by Frank V. 
 Thompson, p. 23, 
 
16 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 apparently twofold, namely, a preparation for 
 business and for life, and for higher institutions. 
 .. N . The advantages of specialization are 
 Mutually lessened in this double objective. The 
 Exclusive. whole theory of special schools is to 
 devote the major effort to some one aim. The 
 attempt to include preparation for higher institu- 
 tions is unfortunate. It was explained to the 
 investigator that fitting for life was not an optional 
 and distinct aim, but a concomitant of the purpose 
 of this school which, while fitting boys for business, 
 gave general culture and equipment for citizen- 
 ship. This is entirely praiseworthy, but it ought 
 not to be necessary to assume that a proper 
 vocational education does not contain within its 
 own meaning these general assumptions. Fitting 
 for life has long been stated to be the aim of general 
 education ; but the definition of the meaning of 
 the expression has too often not been clear or 
 satisfactory." This analysis of the aim of the 
 course of study has a direct bearing upon the aim 
 of the teachers since it is through the teachers 
 only that the aim of the school can be realized. 
 From the quotation it can be seen that specializa- 
 tion does not justify the neglect of the ultimate 
 aim of education, but as it has been previously 
 pointed out, this aim must be worked in har- 
 moniously with the particular aims of the teacher 
 so that it is not a thing apart, having nothing in 
 common, as is the case in the effort to prepare 
 for business and life, and for the higher institutions 
 
AIM OF INSTRUCTION 17 
 
 as well, so long as the demands of the higher insti- 
 tutions differ from those of business. There is no 
 multiple objective in a threefold aim which con- 
 sists of fitting the student for an occupation, for 
 a vocation, and for the other things of life. The aim 
 of the teacher should embody everything that 
 appears in the aim of the school, not necessarily 
 in the same proportion, but in some proportion. 
 The school aim is not the aggregate of the aims of 
 the particular teachers, but the aim of the teacher 
 should reflect the aim of the school. To have 
 one department limit itself exclusively to the 
 occupational, another to the vocational, and 
 another to the ideal things of life would be as 
 sensible as a scheme of instruction in which the 
 students were expected to speak or write correctly 
 only hi the English class, to operate the typewriter 
 by touch only when in the typewriting class, to 
 figure correctly only in the mathematics class, and 
 so on. 
 
 In the private business schools the teacher is 
 not concerned with this matter of aim. In these 
 Aim in schools there is a simplification of aim, 
 Private the purpose of instruction being in most 
 cases frankly occupational. The stu- 
 dent registers with the single intention of being 
 prepared to hold a position as stenographer or 
 bookkeeper in the shortest possible time, and the 
 school fulfils its responsibility when it turns out 
 an occupationally efficient product. The course 
 of study and the time required to complete it 
 
18 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 indicate that these schools make no pretension to a 
 higher aim. And there is no reason at present 
 why they should ; their existence is due to a 
 special demand, that of preparation for an occu- 
 pation, and in the great majority of cases they 
 have acquitted themselves well of their obligation. 
 However, they have always stood in the van of 
 progress in commercial education, and it would 
 not be surprising to see a great re-organization 
 of them take place in which the course of study 
 would be modified to include merchandising, 
 advertising, business organization, salesmanship, 
 etc., even before they are taken up by the public 
 high and secondary schools. Then the teacher in 
 the business schools will have to equip himself so 
 that he can modify the aim of his instruction to 
 reflect the aim of the school. 
 
 The threefold aim described at the beginning 
 of this chapter may be considered by the teacher 
 of shorthand under the heads of (a) general, 
 including the vocational and ideal aims, and (b) 
 special, the occupational aim. Under the general 
 aim the teacher would have to see that his pupils 
 formed proper ideals, cultivated good manners, 
 developed favorable habits of speech and action, 
 etc., in so far as he was able and the opportunities 
 presented themselves He would also see that 
 his work is correlated with other subjects in the 
 course with the object of making the pupil a man 
 well-equipped in all departments of business. 
 Having this general aim it might be wise to see how 
 
AIM OF INSTRUCTION 19 
 
 it could be worked out in the various classroom 
 operations In the wide variety of dictation 
 How Aims ma terial available to the teacher of a 
 are Worked speed class, something along this line 
 >ut ' might be done The subject can also 
 
 be used to, bring about good mental development 
 in that there is constant exercises in close observa- 
 tion, analogy, reasoning and judgment, and the 
 teacher can, perhaps, present his lessons logically 
 enough to lead to their employment By corre- 
 lating the work in shorthand with that of other 
 subjects either through dictation material or 
 through actual, practical work, such as will later 
 be explained, a broad knowledge of business forms 
 and practices can be given In the constantly 
 changing relations between pupil and pupil, and 
 pupil and teacher, and in the carrying out of 
 classroom tasks by the pupils, many opportunities 
 for the cultivation of habits of initiative, honor, 
 self-reliance, co-operation, etc., are offered. 
 ( As a special aim the teacher's efforts should be 
 directed towards having his pupils acquire a 
 thorough knowledge of the theory of 
 shorthand so that they may be able 
 to write a well-executed, readable out- 
 line for any unfamiliar word in the language 
 employing the principles of the system and not 
 relying upon guesswork. There should be deve- 
 loped an automatic control of the grammalogs 
 and contractions, the importance of which can be 
 seen when it is known that these words make up 
 
20 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 from fifty to seventy per cent, of all commercial 
 dictation, and from forty to sixty per cent, of 
 literary matter. The ability to phrase judiciously, 
 to read with facility what has been written, to 
 sustain a given rate of speed for a reasonable 
 length of time, not merely for five minutes, which 
 is the usual test, and to turn in a well-spelled, 
 correctly punctuated, neatly arranged transcript ; 
 these are the things that will constitute the special 
 aim of the shorthand teacher. 
 
 J 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MATTERS OF ROUTINE IN A SHORTHAND CLASS 
 
 IN every lesson in shorthand there are bound to 
 appear certain matters necessary to the operation 
 of the class which, unless they are provided for 
 by the teacher when he plans his work, will waste 
 much of his time and seriously impair the efficiency 
 of his instruction. These are routine matters 
 such as the collection and distribution of paper, 
 condition of the boards, collection and checking 
 of exercises, marking attendance, writing the 
 homework on the board, arrangement of work, 
 and many other little details which, unless they 
 are handled in some organized way, consume 
 valuable time and require daily attention. Most 
 of these matters present themselves the very first 
 day that the teacher meets his class, and it would 
 be well for him to have ready his plan for taking 
 care of them from the start. 
 
 One thing is certain. Nothing can justify the 
 teacher in wasting precious time over such matters. 
 Funda- ^ n opportunity is presented here that 
 mental it would be unpardonable for any 
 Principles. teacher of shorthand to neglect. Bear- 
 ing in mind the ultimate aim of education, social 
 efficiency, vocational efficiency, and the particular 
 aim of his own instruction, he will readily see that 
 these matters should be placed in the hands of 
 
 21 
 
22 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 the students through an organized routine that is 
 operative on the principles of social service and 
 vocational efficiency. It would be a grave mistake 
 to enlist the aid of the students in doing these 
 things on any but the proper principles. The 
 teacher who makes a personal matter of these 
 things and has them attended to by students as 
 a matter of personal accommodation probably 
 wastes less time than the one who does them him- 
 self, but more injury is done to the characters of 
 the students in that it may eventually develop 
 a vicious " toadyism." From the aspect of 
 vocational efficiency for a teacher to disregard 
 the opportunity presented by these routine matters 
 would be making open display of his lack of 
 executive ability and much inspiration to the 
 class is lost. 
 
 The proper course to pursue is to face the 
 situation with frankness. The classroom is a 
 miniature social and business com- 
 Servtce munity of which every pupil is a mem- 
 ber ; a self-regulating community 
 operated on the principles of democracy with the 
 teacher as the leader and counsellor. The students 
 should be taken fully into confidence of the instruc- 
 tor, and they should share responsibility with him 
 for the solution of the problems that arise in 
 class. It can -easily be shown to the class that 
 each of the routine matters is a " community 
 affair," and that it is the concern of all ; therefore 
 the one who attends to it efficiently serves, not so 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 23 
 
 much the teacher, but his class-mates and himself, 
 for he receives service of a similar kind from 
 another. It will be seen, therefore, how the ideal 
 of social service may be utilized. As a business 
 community the students can be brought to realize 
 the importance of reliability in the performance 
 of any task carrying responsibility, and once 
 entrusted with it, they are judged competent or 
 incompetent by the class according as their work 
 is satisfactory or unsatisfactory. 
 
 So much for the fundamental principles involved. 
 Now to get at the details of the organization. The 
 distribution of paper always offers a 
 P roblem in a shorthand class where 
 the students are not supposed to furnish 
 it from their personal supply. The use of note- 
 books does not eliminate the problem. Most 
 teachers conduct a drill at the beginning of the 
 lesson, and if the papers are to be inspected they 
 must be collected, whereas note-books would have 
 to be returned immediately to continue work with 
 the class. There are two plans for distributing 
 paper, neither one of which should require the 
 teacher's attention for an instant. The first is 
 to give a weekly supply to a boy or girl who can 
 reach the classroom before the others are all 
 assembled, and who will look after the distribu- 
 tion. It may be that the one in charge of the 
 paper could not get it all distributed by the time 
 work should have started ; then it is his or her 
 duty to get help and an assistant is obtained by 
 
24 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 her either through volunteering or through an 
 assignment. A substitute is also appointed in 
 case the regular attendant is absent. If there 
 is no way in which the substitute can learn of the 
 absence until it is too late to perform the duties 
 of the position, there is a chance for some member 
 of the class to show some initiative and fill the 
 place without being directed. The other plan is 
 to have the paper placed on the front desks and 
 passed back on signal. The disadvantage of this 
 plan is that it requires some attention, and the 
 papers are given out after the entire class is 
 assembled. In collecting papers the easiest method 
 is to have them passed along to the front or rear 
 of the room, or by those sitting at the front or 
 rear of each row of seats. Unless actuated by 
 some other purpose the teacher should never walk 
 around the class collecting papers. 
 
 The cleaning of the blackboards should also be 
 taken care of by the students. There are many 
 Black- teachers who would hesitate a long 
 boards. time before they would suggest such 
 a thing to a class because they fear the embarrass- 
 ment of a refusal. Where such a condition exists, 
 its proper adjustment is the most essential business 
 of that teacher and further instruction in the sub- 
 ject is of secondary importance, for character- 
 building takes precedence over the mastery of 
 facts always. The proper thing to do is to look 
 at the situation fairly with the class, examining 
 it from all sides. Of course, an arbitrary command, 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 25 
 
 an appeal to higher authority, and a hasty threat 
 of suspension might accomplish the desired result ; 
 but the educational opportunity would be thrown 
 away and the matter would not be settled. The 
 teacher with inspirational power, acting on sound 
 general principles should be able to direct the 
 sentiment of the class in the proper channel. 
 There is an undoubted advantage in having the 
 boards cleaned and ready for work as soon as the 
 class begins. If the teacher has to erase the boards, 
 and perhaps rule them, it will take two or three 
 minutes during which the class may be idle ; and 
 for thirty scholars that would mean an aggregate 
 of sixty or ninety minutes wasted. Provided the 
 instruction is worth having, the class loses some- 
 thing by having the teacher so employed. If a 
 student does it, the class does not suffer, for the 
 teacher can be using the time to good advantage 
 for the general benefit. Of course, it is not intended 
 that every time during the lesson the board needs 
 erasing that the teacher will stop until a student 
 steps up and erases. Under such conditions the 
 teacher could probably do the erasing more effec- 
 tively without breaking the train of thought. 
 But at the beginning of the lesson everything 
 should be in readiness for work. Whose duty is 
 it to clean the boards ? It must be the duty of 
 the teacher or of the student. Look at the matter 
 from the student's point of view. Why should he 
 refuse ? Where a valid reason exists, he should 
 certainly be excused ; but where he acts in this 
 
 3 (499) 
 
26 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 way to be disagreeable, he should feel the censure 
 and condemnation of the class. If he feels that 
 the service is menial, he must be led to see that the 
 service is social ; if the teacher is to do the work 
 it can hardly be menial. The teacher who finds 
 such a situation confronting him and succeeds in 
 adjusting it, does more educational work than ten 
 others who let the matter slide or side-step it, 
 even though it takes considerable time. 
 
 If a student has been absent and the teacher 
 requires the work to be made up ; or if a student 
 fails to bring in the work for any other reason, 
 the teacher is often compelled to follow up the 
 dilatory one. This compels his attention to 
 a thing, the return from which does not justify the 
 personal attention given to it by the teacher, if 
 the matter can be taken care of in another way. 
 The solution of such difficulties rests in having 
 one of the reliable students of the class act as class 
 secretary, whose duty it is to make a record in a 
 book specially provided for the purpose of the 
 daily assignment of work, and who keeps track of 
 student records, such as the class average in 
 
 various tests and the individual marks 
 Records ^ students. When this record of the 
 
 assignment is made it is possible then 
 for a student who was absent to find out the work 
 that should have been done for that day and to 
 make it up without asking the teacher in class, 
 or making a special call upon him after hours. 
 It also furnishes a record of accomplishment for 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 27 
 
 the class, and if at any time the teacher is absent 
 and the class is taken by a substitute, the secre- 
 tary's record shows what has been done and just 
 where the work should be continued. The 
 recording of the class average in the care of the 
 secretary can be used to stimulate the class to 
 improve the average every time a test is given ; 
 it arouses emulation and gives each student an 
 interest in the class as a whole, a working unit 
 where the failure of one is the concern of all, and 
 where those who fail, receive encouragement and 
 assistance instead of jeers and pity. 
 
 Another officer of the class whose work helps to 
 relieve the teacher is the one in charge of the written 
 work to be done at home and handed in. This 
 officer checks up the exercises when they are 
 handed in to see that every student present has 
 done the work, and also to note if it has been done 
 in full so that when given to the teacher for 
 inspection he has to judge only the quality. 
 Those who fail to bring the exercise, or whose 
 work is unsatisfactory for any reason, are required 
 to make up the work, bring it to the teacher for 
 examination, and then hand it to the 
 exercise clerk, who makes a record 
 crediting the work to the student. 
 Unless an exercise is handed in at the proper time, 
 the exercise clerk does not accept it without the 
 signature of the teacher, which signifies that it is 
 correct and satisfactory in every way. A weekly 
 report from the exercise clerk brings to light those 
 
28 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 who are making no effort to cover the lost ground, 
 and the teacher is then able to spur them on. 
 
 In marking the attendance several plans are 
 used in place of the old, time-wasting method of 
 calling the roll aloud. In many school systems 
 now the teacher is relieved from the investigation 
 of a pupil's absence to determine whether it is 
 excusable and the work is put in the hands of some 
 one else who issues a certificate stating whether 
 the excuse is valid or invalid. In marking attend- 
 ance then the teacher is concerned with these two 
 facts : a record of those who are present, and a 
 satisfactory explanation of those who were pre- 
 viously absent. The attendance clerk handles the 
 
 matter in this way. As soon as he 
 Attendance. , , , 
 
 arrives he takes possession of the roll- 
 book, and at a convenient moment he makes his 
 entries and then collects the absence excuses for 
 countersignature by the teacher. The convenient 
 moment, however, does not mean when the teacher 
 is in the midst of an important explanation or 
 when it will interfere with the work of the 
 class. 
 
 The attendance can also be recorded from the 
 exercises, provided each pupil present is compelled 
 
 to hand in the exercise or a written 
 Attendance . 
 
 Marked reason for failure to do so. It would, 
 
 from of course, be possible for one student 
 
 Exercises. r . . 
 
 present to hand in the exercise of a 
 
 student who is absent for the purpose of obtaining 
 attendance credit for the absentee, but it is not 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 29 
 
 likely, as other provision is made for such exercises 
 and it would direct suspicion at such a student. 
 
 Another common way of marking attendance is 
 by the use of a seating plan of the class. The 
 
 students are all assigned seats which 
 Plan. Stmg ^ey are to occu Py a t every session. 
 
 By consulting the plan it can readily 
 be determined who are the absentees, for their 
 names would appear in the space used in the plan 
 to designate the seat. 
 
 It is the practice of many teachers to have the 
 home-work assigned, corrected from the exercise 
 
 as it is placed on the blackboard. If 
 
 Correction t h e teacher has to do this work it will 
 
 of Home- 
 
 work. take ten to fifteen minutes of his time 
 
 that could be more usefully employed 
 in helping individuals who need his aid ; those 
 whose work show that they have not fully grasped 
 the principle in question. By training a student 
 to do this work the teacher can be free to give his 
 valuable assistance. By selecting a student who 
 will suffer the least through the loss of the work 
 done at the beginning of the lesson, economy of 
 time and effort is effected. The student also 
 derives advantage from the work, for in a short 
 time improvement in execution and in knowledge of 
 principles is invariably the result. For this reason 
 it might be just as well to arrange that several 
 members of the class be given the same opportunity. 
 Since the installation of automatic ventilation 
 systems, the question of keeping the room supplied 
 
30 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 with fresh air and at the proper temperature has 
 been considerably lessened ; but where these 
 systems have not been installed or where their 
 successful operation is spasmodic, as has been the 
 case in some instances, it falls to the teacher to 
 assume the responsibility. The matter of light, 
 heat and ventilation is another routine matter 
 that should be taken care of by the 
 students. Some teachers have a pupil 
 in each class whose duty it is to raise the windows 
 at the end of the period and close them at the 
 beginning. In this way the room is flushed after 
 occupation by each class, and the one in charge 
 enters the room to find the windows up. He 
 immediately sets about to arrange them according 
 to the directions that have been given, the shades 
 are attended to and the ventilation is no more 
 thought of until a complaint is received, when the 
 matter is properly adjusted by the one in charge. 
 Another way in which economy of time and 
 effort can be effected is through the standardiza- 
 tion of procedure as to the places to be used when 
 pupils go to the board, the arrangement of work 
 on the boards, in the exercises or on paper. Some 
 one way should be adopted and always adhered to, 
 so that it is not necessary to spend time in directing 
 how the work should be arranged. In some cases 
 teachers have used more time in explaining the 
 plan of arrangement than in the dictation exercise 
 itself. This idea of standard arrangement is well 
 applied in other branches where written work is 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 31 
 
 required, such as in compositions or mathematical 
 solutions. Thus, for instance, whenever words 
 are dictated it might be that the teacher would 
 
 find it convenient to have them always 
 Arrange- appear in a certain number of columns 
 Work. consisting of a definite number of words, 
 
 with the name, date, and designation 
 of the class always appearing in the same relative 
 place. The plan is certainly better than to find 
 the name of the student on the right in one case, 
 on the left in another, and some other place for the 
 next ; or to have the words written in columns 
 by one, in lines by another, and so on. Whatever 
 plan for work is adopted for the boards or for 
 paper, it should be standardized. When sentences 
 are to be written some teachers find it an advantage 
 to have a line skipped after each line of writing 
 so that errors may be indicated upon it or so that 
 corrections may be practised. 
 
 Another method that can be standardized is the 
 way in w r hich tests are taken by the class. Tests 
 in elementary shorthand, for instance, should 
 include certain fundamentals such as grammalogs, 
 phrases, statements of rules, application of princi- 
 ples, or both. Special test paper with suitable 
 ruling into sections could be utilized for this pur- 
 pose, and it would not take more than a minute 
 to get ready for the test, whereas, if the ordinary 
 
 paper is used, it has to be ruled and 
 
 numbered in accordance with direc- 
 tions, using up from ten to fifteen valuable 
 
32 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 minutes. When the form has been decided upon, 
 the mimeograph will enable the teacher in a few 
 minutes to print all he needs for the term. Again, 
 if the grammalogs are tested upon with a time 
 element involved, as many teachers believe they 
 should be, inasmuch as there is no reason why 
 they should not be automatic from the beginning, 
 the same conditions should always hold ; the time 
 element may be changed to accommodate the fuller 
 mastery of the grammalogs, but it should always 
 be a part of the test. In the same way the other 
 elements of the test should be standardized. 
 
 In the advanced shorthand classes it is fre- 
 quently possible for the teacher, by the use of the 
 metronome, to have the assistance of substitute 
 dictators. It is a big advantage to a teacher if 
 he can be free to go about the room observing the 
 work of the pupils, sitting down beside the more 
 backward and studying their individual obstacles 
 to the acquirement of speed. It is in this way that 
 the most efficient work is done. When the teacher 
 has to dictate and try to observe the writing of 
 the pupils, neither the dictation nor the writing 
 operation can receive his attention to a satis- 
 factory degree, and the study of the notes after 
 they are taken, while it has value, does not 
 compare with seeing them taken. Therefore, the 
 teacher must have one of his students who can set 
 the metronome beating at the required speed and 
 every student in the class should be taught to 
 read with it so that the distribution of the work 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 33 
 
 will be fair. The knack of reading with a 
 
 metronome is difficult at first, but after a little 
 
 practice the difficulty disappears and 
 
 Dictator? the students are able to supplant the 
 staccato, jerky style of the beginner with 
 a free, fluent style, giving sufficient attention to the 
 phrasing and other details. While the metronome is 
 useful as an artificial device for regulating speed in 
 reading, there are certain objections to it, and a 
 teacher should not use it to regulate his speed while 
 dictating. It is only because the advantages of 
 its use greatly counterbalance the disagreeable 
 factors that it is recommended and used. It is 
 not an easy matter to read at a measured rate, 
 and to teach several students to do this without 
 such an artificial aid would require considerable 
 effort. 
 
 At first glance the number of these routine 
 matters may lead a person to think that emphasis 
 is misplaced ; that the organization of them must 
 be such that in order that the teacher may attend 
 to it, neglect of his teaching work must inevitably 
 result. But it must be borne in mind that it 
 takes longer to describe the operation of a system 
 than it does for the system to operate ; that these 
 are all important classroom matters that must 
 
 be attended to, that cannot ordinarily 
 D sneer 
 from be eliminated, and that some one must 
 
 Too Much i 00 k a fter them, either the teacher or 
 System. 
 
 the student ; and that it is better 
 
 for one student to sacrifice a minute or two 
 
34 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 performing a simple task than that the whole 
 class sacrifice the minute or two while the teacher 
 performs it. 1 Bagley says : " Sometimes, it is 
 true, system and organization defeat their own 
 purpose ; they become ends in themselves, and 
 thus tend to obscure the true ends for which they 
 were established. When the true perspective of 
 means to ends is lost to view, the means naturally 
 become magnified in importance, and the result is 
 ' red tape ' with all of its attendant evils." Just 
 as soon as the system of taking care of these 
 routine matters interferes with the instruction ; 
 just as soon as the teacher finds his work stopped 
 and he has to push the system off the track, he 
 knows that his system is not effective, and that it 
 is reducing the efficiency of his work instead of 
 increasing it. When it is necessary for a teacher, 
 day after day, to call attention to the system, to 
 remind the students of it time after time, there is 
 something radically wrong with it. So far as the 
 teacher is concerned, the system should be inaugu- 
 rated the very first day he meets the class, watched 
 closely for a short time until the routine has 
 become a habit, and then it should be forgotten. 
 Whenever it intrudes upon his consciousness 
 there is something wrong, some weak point in his 
 organization. To an observer in the class the 
 only way in which the system is apparent is in 
 the utilization by the teacher in an effective way 
 of every minute of the instruction period, and the 
 1 Classroom Management, p. 13. 
 
MATTERS OF ROUTINE 35 
 
 smoothness with which the mechanical details 
 are disposed of without interfering with the work 
 of instruction. 
 
 In every system the one who carries the ultimate 
 responsibility must check up the work of the others, 
 and so it is here. To keep his machin- 
 ery well oiled and working smoothly 
 it will be necessary to check up the work of the 
 various students who are entrusted with the 
 different details ; he will take occasion at times 
 to commend them for conscientious and efficient 
 work, and receive with enthusiasm any good 
 suggestion bearing upon the work of the various 
 students. 
 
 In the operation of such a system the teacher 
 has an excellent opportunity to develop in the 
 students the characteristics that make for success 
 in after life. Qualities of initiative, honesty, 
 reliability, and the ability to work in harmonious 
 co-operation with others are all fruitfully employed, 
 and the student acquires the correct attitude 
 towards work and the power of accepting responsi- 
 bility, things which are not by any means negligible 
 factors in any scheme of education. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 TEACHING DEVICES 
 
 MOST teachers use certain special devices of a 
 mechanical nature that serve to economize labor 
 and time in the work of instruction, and a descrip- 
 tion of some of the common ones may serve as a 
 suggestion to those who are not acquainted with 
 them. Among the various devices in use may be 
 mentioned drill charts, rubber stamps, ruled 
 blackboards, hand-punch, stop-watch, metronome, 
 newspapers, exercise charts, alphabetical lists, and 
 test sheets. It may be interesting to see how 
 these things can be used to facilitate the work in 
 the classroom. 
 
 It is a good idea for a teacher, as soon as the roll 
 of the class is complete, to make out the alphabe- 
 tical list and have it mimeographed so 
 that one wil1 be available on each of 
 the many occasions he has to check 
 up work to be handed in by the students. Usually 
 this is done by using the roll-boek, but the teacher 
 dislikes to make unnecessary marks in this book 
 of record that might possibly interfere with the 
 attendance record ; again, the checking up may 
 be handed over to some one else to do, and it is 
 easier to hand an alphabetical list along with the 
 work and retain possession of the roll-book. 
 Let the teacher think how many times during 
 each term the list of students has to be written 
 36 
 
TEACHING DEVICES 37 
 
 out for one purpose or another, and he will see an 
 immense advantage in supplying himself with a 
 hundred or so of these lists, which can be done 
 in a very short space of time and with little or 
 no effort. 
 
 It is desirable in all cases to express the teacher's 
 opinion on the work of the student, and when 
 this work is returned to him, he must 
 stamps see a * a g^ 31106 that he has done well 
 or ill. It is a great waste of time for the 
 teacher to write his opinion of the work on each 
 paper, so many teachers have adopted a set of 
 words that expresses their estimate of the work, 
 and these have been put into rubber stamps. 
 Such stamps consisting of the name of the teacher 
 and the words " Excellent," " Fair," " Satisfac- 
 tory," " Unsatisfactory," " Re-write," etc., can 
 be made with little expense and their use saves a 
 lot of time. However, it is possible to make one 
 stamp serve the purpose nicely, and this can be 
 done by adopting one with a general term applicable 
 to all sorts of work, such, for example, as 
 " Approved." The withholding of this approval 
 may be used to indicate the unsatisfactory nature of 
 the work or possibly the necessity for re-writing it. 
 Another time-saving device is the use of special 
 test sheets ruled in accordance with the require- 
 ments of the test. This ruling may 
 Test Sheets, vary to suit the ideas of the individual 
 teacher, but there can be no doubt, 
 no matter what form he adopts, the use of these 
 
38 
 
 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 sheets will save much time. Below is given a 
 suggested arrangement. 
 
 TEST SHEET. 
 
 (Name.) 
 
 (Dale.) 
 
 No. 
 
 Word 
 in Short- 
 hand. 
 
 Correc- 
 tions. 
 
 Word 
 in Short- 
 hand. 
 
 Correc- 
 tions. 
 
 Gram- 
 
 malogs. 
 
 Phrases. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TEACHING DEVICES 39 
 
 It will be noted that the left column is used for 
 the numbers, and it is not necessary to number 
 the other columns as in order to determine the 
 number of a word in the second column it is only 
 necessary to add twenty or whatever number 
 appears in the first column. It is usual with 
 some teachers to give the corrections to the student 
 when the papers are returned, hence the extra 
 column for corrections ; for those who do not 
 favor such a course, the correction column could 
 be omitted, or it could be used by the student 
 when the correction is made. In the same way 
 the number of grammalogs may be increased or 
 diminished. Where the teacher offers dictation 
 as part of the test the lower part of the sheet could 
 be left for that purpose, and if it is usual for the 
 pupil to furnish a statement of rules, this could be 
 done on the back. The form of the sheet and its 
 individual variations are of little importance ; 
 what is of importance is the use of some form which 
 will enable the class to start the test as soon as 
 the paper is given out. 
 
 The use of a stop-watch saves many a half- 
 minute in the speed class. Its use renders it 
 unnecessary to wait until the second- 
 Watch hand reaches the sixty mark before 
 beginning the dictation, as is so often 
 the case when the ordinary watch is used. Neither 
 is it so hard to keep track of the minutes and 
 seconds that expire if they appear in a way that 
 is specially provided for that purpose. It is quite 
 
40 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 true that such watches are not distributed by 
 Boards of Education or by private school managers, 
 but it is also true that they can be obtained for 
 less than ten dollars, and their use will easily repay 
 the teacher in a short time for the outlay. 
 
 Some shorthand teachers use, with success, a 
 drill chart for the purpose of testing the automatic 
 
 control the student has gained of the 
 Charts grammalogs, phrases, or the words in 
 
 a given prepared selection. The drill 
 is conducted by inserting the words in the spaces 
 of the chart in any order and raising the speed 
 each time they are dictated, the dictator being at 
 liberty to change the sequence of the words each 
 time he reads, and yet being able always to get the 
 proper sequence after reading by remembering 
 what paths he took around the chart. When the 
 student is called to read back what he has taken, 
 the teacher is then able to check the reading. It 
 will be noted that the reader may start at the 
 upper left-hand corner and read horizontally from 
 left to right, or for the second reading he may start 
 at the same place and read vertically ; or he may 
 start at the upper right-hand corner and read 
 horizontally or vertically, and so forth. With this 
 chart the reading may be varied in many ways, and 
 the reading of the student can always be checked 
 by simply remembering the plan of reading. 
 On page 41 is given a drill chart. 
 
 It will be noted that in this small chart thirty- 
 five words may be drilled upon until they become 
 
TEACHING DEVICES 
 
 41 
 
 Citizens of 
 the United 
 States 
 
 cherish 
 
 friendly 
 
 Atlantic 
 
 European 
 
 relating 
 
 seriously 
 
 hemisphere 
 
 necessity 
 
 connected 
 
 obvious 
 
 enlightened 
 
 system 
 
 impartial 
 
 political 
 
 matured 
 
 achieved 
 
 felicity 
 
 devoted 
 
 candor 
 
 amicable 
 
 in a 
 
 position 
 
 provided 
 
 security 
 
 neutrality 
 
 adhered 
 
 competent 
 
 pursuit 
 
 insurgent 
 
 contention 
 
 discern 
 
 attributes 
 
 fervently 
 
 perpetuate 
 
 inaugural 
 
 automatic, that the chart may be enlarged to 
 accommodate more or condensed for less, and that 
 instead of words, grammalogs or phrases could be 
 substituted. The teacher can have a number of 
 these charts mimeographed and insert the material 
 for drill at his convenience, or, better still, he may 
 have his note-book ruled up for them. 
 
 In the previous chapter reference was made to 
 checking the home-work of students. An exercise 
 cnart * s use d f r this purpose con- 
 taining the names of the students 
 arranged alphabetically on horizontal 
 lines which extend across the page. Immediately 
 after the names a vertical line is drawn extending 
 
 4 (499) 
 
 Daily Re- 
 cord of 
 Home-work. 
 
42 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 from top to bottom ; the rest of the page is ruled 
 up with other vertical lines about one-eighth or 
 one-quarter of an inch apart. These spaces 
 following the individual names correspond to the 
 dates upon which written work is due. When a 
 student hands in his work, a check mark is placed 
 in the square for that day ; if he is present and 
 fails to hand it in, a single line is made in the 
 square opposite his name ; when he brings in the 
 work, he shows it to the teacher who stamps it, 
 and then it is taken to the student who checks 
 the exercises and the single line is crossed with 
 another. In this way a clear record of the stu- 
 dents' work is obtained without worry or fretting 
 on the part of the teacher. At the end of the 
 period when inspection of records is undertaken 
 by the teacher, a student who was marked with 
 a check every day did the work satisfactorily 
 every day ; three crosses would indicate that a 
 student failed three times, but that he had made 
 up the work, whereas three single strokes would 
 indicate that he had failed three times and had 
 not made up the work. By marking an " A " 
 in the space when a student is absent, this chart 
 could serve to record the attendance. The chart 
 is given on page 43. 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell on the economy of 
 time and effort brought about by having ruled 
 Ruled blackboards, yet obvious as is the fact, 
 
 Boards. many teachers find that they have to 
 work with boards that have to be continually 
 
TEACHING DEVICES 
 
 43 
 
 MAMKS OF 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 Abbott, Chas. .. 
 
 N/ 
 
 V 
 
 X 
 
 / 
 
 v/ 
 
 >/ 
 
 X 
 
 / 
 
 v/ 
 
 V 
 
 Burns, James . . 
 
 V 
 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 X 
 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 Collins, James . . 
 
 V 
 
 X 
 
 >/ 
 
 I/ 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 ruled. This results either in a great loss of time 
 or in the acquirement by the pupils of slovenly 
 habits of writing. The teacher who is handi- 
 capped by having to work with boards that are 
 not permanently ruled should lose no time in 
 urging his superiors to remedy the matter. 
 
 When exercises are done in a note-book some 
 teachers are in the habit of examining the book, 
 and then cancelling the pages by draw- 
 ing lines down the center. The object 
 seems to be to show that the work has 
 been inspected, and to keep it from being offered 
 
 Hand 
 Punch. 
 
44 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 again on another occasion. For cancelling purposes 
 there is nothing better than a hand-punch 
 similar to the one conductors use in punching 
 transfers. All the pages may be cancelled at 
 once, and the neat appearance of the pages is not 
 marred. 
 
 Some teachers see a big advantage in making 
 use of newspapers as a teaching device. In the 
 
 speed class, fresh, interesting material 
 Newspapers, can often be found, and the work 
 
 seems to have a practical spontaneous 
 turn to it that is sometimes lacking in the dictation 
 taken from a text-book. By a judicious selection of 
 newspapers and discrimination in the choice of the 
 contributor much of current events can be learned 
 by the class. However, if this discrimination is 
 not shown much harm may be done. 
 
 The use of a metronome in a speed class for 
 dictation purposes and in an elementary class for 
 
 reading purposes is something of a 
 Metronome, mooted question. Many teachers object 
 
 to it for dictation on the ground that 
 it produces a monotonous tone, that the ticking of 
 it disturbs the concentration of the student and 
 interferes with his hearing, that proper phrasing 
 is not possible, and lastly, that it is not practical 
 in that dictation is never given in a business office 
 in^anything like the measured rhythm of the 
 metronome. These are serious objections, and 
 they all have their weight, but a teacher who has 
 
TEACHING DEVICES 45 
 
 them in mind can very easily accustom himself 
 to the use of the machine so as to overcome most 
 of them. A monotone is not essential nor a 
 necessary consequence of such dictation. The 
 first few times the metronome is used in a class it 
 invariably upsets the students, but after a little 
 practice with it they do not mind it, and classes 
 have been known to express a preference for it. 
 If the teacher will have a little patience in prac- 
 tising with it, the ability to phrase will gradually 
 be developed ; all that is necessary is to keep 
 track of the ticks, and when two or more words 
 are run together make the proper allowance for 
 them, and when the number of ticks have been 
 given, continue. The objection that it is not prac- 
 tical because it is different from office dictation 
 could also be made against all measured dictation 
 so that it is no stronger here than against reading 
 any selection at a measured rate. Since the 
 objections raised to the use of the metronome do 
 not necessarily result, and since its use can be 
 advantageous to the instructor in that it permits 
 him to observe the actual operations of the student 
 taking notes while a substitute dictator is reading, 
 the restricted use of it is recommended. By 
 restricted use is meant the use by the scholars ; 
 but there seems to exist no reason why the teacher 
 should need it as an aid in dictating at a measured 
 rate, unless it is the fact that it renders unnecessary 
 the counting off of the words in a selection. But 
 
46 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 a teacher with his work prepared will never need 
 this assistance. 
 
 These devices are the result of some teachers' 
 experience, and they are described here rather 
 in the hope of suggestion than as indispensable 
 factors in the work. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 
 
 IN considering the shorthand recitation in this 
 chapter the word recitation will not be restricted 
 to its etymological meaning which would be con- 
 fined simply to reproducing what has been pre- 
 viously learned ; but it will be used with that 
 broader significance which refers to all the work 
 done in a shorthand class during the time commonly 
 designated as a " period." 
 
 The form of the recitation and the elements 
 entering into it are influenced by the character 
 of the subject matter, and by the 
 Recitation sp 60 ^ purpose underlying the recita- 
 tion. Thus the recitation in an elocu- 
 tion class will be different from that in an art class 
 in certain essential respects ; that in a history 
 class will differ from that in a typewriting class, 
 but will probably resemble the recitation of an 
 English class. This is due to the fact that the 
 subjects are different in character, that a different 
 kind of response is required. Some subjects are 
 primarily thought developing, those which accustom 
 the student to the logical processes of analysis, 
 synthesis, and judgment ; others are fact-giving, 
 those in which a series of facts, more or less 
 intimately related to life, are presented ; yet 
 others are primarily for the development of certain 
 47 
 
48 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 standards of taste, those which give the data for 
 the determination of aesthetic values ; and yet others 
 are chiefly skill-developing and habit-forming, 
 those in which the power of accuracy and speed 
 in execution are the main desiderata. It is not 
 contended that any subject in the curriculum is 
 exclusively as described but that such is its 
 principal aim. There is no doubt that shorthand 
 belongs in the skill-developing class of subjects. 
 
 Again, the recitation will be affected by the 
 specific purpose which the teacher has in mind, 
 and which he hopes to accomplish 
 Redtetion" throu h the recitation. This gives 
 rise to emphasis being distributed ; 
 at one time appearing on one phase and at another 
 on a different phase until the recitation at one time 
 is merely a drill period, and at another an instruc- 
 tion period. It is impossible to determine the 
 effectiveness of method until the purpose 
 underlying the recitation as a whole is known. 
 
 As the nature of the 'subject determines the 
 character of the recitation, and as the problems 
 in an elementary shorthand class are 
 Redtetion. f somewhat different from those in the 
 advance and speed class, the recitation 
 elements in each will be considered separately. 
 In almost every shorthand recitation in a theory 
 class there are four elements : (a) drill ; (b) repro- 
 duction ; (c) instruction, and (d) assignment. The 
 drill is provided for those factors which should l)e 
 made automatic from the very beginning, such as 
 
ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 49 
 
 the grammalogs, contractions, and the more 
 common of the phonographic phrases. Repro- 
 duction is the process through which the student 
 is given the opportunity to recall the principles 
 he has learned and in which he displays his ability 
 to apply them. Instruction is the operation 
 through which the teacher presents the new princi- 
 ples for acquisition. The assignment is the work 
 given by the teacher to the class through which 
 the students are led to further study and the 
 application of the new knowledge. Unless some 
 special demand occasions it, every lesson in 
 shorthand should have all of these elements. 
 
 The points to be kept in mind in considering 
 
 the elements of drill are its place in the recitation, 
 
 the time used, the subject matter, and 
 
 lastly, the details of conducting the 
 
 drill, which must follow the principles of habit 
 
 formation. 
 
 The place in the recitation to conduct the drill 
 is at the beginning. There are two good reasons 
 for this : first, the problem of holding 
 the attention in a drill exercise after 
 the first minute or two is more difficult than it is 
 if the drill is placed at the beginning when the 
 pupils are mentally fresh and they are better able 
 to sustain the attention ; second, the drill furnishes 
 an excellent method of getting the class into active 
 operation without the loss of a moment. It 
 demands that the entire class be ready, and not 
 merely the one individual who is to recite first. 
 
50 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 Just as soon as the teacher steps inside the class- 
 room the drill should be started, and in a second 
 the entire class has settled down to work ; no 
 calling to order, no tapping on the desk, no recita- 
 tion going on with half the class attentive. It has 
 another advantage in that it starts the lesson off 
 briskly and injects into it what the baseball 
 enthusiast calls " ginger," stimulating the minds 
 to rapid thought and setting a good pace from the 
 start. 
 
 The time required for a drill exercise will vary 
 according to the amount of material in it, the 
 
 preparedness of the class, and other 
 Length. 
 
 special conditions, but it is safe to say 
 
 that it should never be extended over ten minutes, 
 and very seldom that long. Care must betaken 
 that the drill does not become monotonous by being 
 too long, for then the good results otherwise obtained 
 are lost. Drills that are well organized, where 
 there is complete understanding between the 
 teacher and class as to what is expected of each, 
 will take less time than where the class has no 
 such definite understanding. 
 
 While every element of the shorthand theory 
 can be utilized for drill purposes, yet those factors 
 which by their very nature presuppose 
 the absence of reflection, are the princi- 
 pal material for the shorthand drill : grammalogs, 
 contractions, and phrases. It is possible to 
 conduct a drill on any particular principle, or set 
 of principles, by constant repetition succeeded 
 
ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 51 
 
 by application, but the things for which the drill 
 in shorthand are most essential are the ones 
 enumerated above. 
 
 Before considering the way in which a drill 
 should be organized and conducted, it is necessary 
 
 first to examine carefully the laws of 
 Motivation. 
 
 habit formation and see which ones 
 
 are applicable to the shorthand drill. It would 
 seem that the first one that has any bearing on 
 the subject is the law of motivation. 1 "A 
 motive must be provided for the work. The 
 stronger this incentive, the greater will be the 
 attention given to the work in hand and the 
 sooner will the desired result be secured. Very 
 much of the drill work which is done is well-nigh 
 futile because it is imposed upon children. They 
 do not see its significance, and feel little interest 
 in the accomplishment of the results demanded." 
 This is another instance when the instructor should 
 take the class into his confidence ; it should not 
 be a difficult matter, for instance, to show the 
 necessity for a ready knowledge of the grammalogs 
 or contractions, because ignorance of them brings 
 about a feeling of such utter helplessness that the 
 need of earnest study and mastery of them is 
 daily brought home to the students. If this is 
 the case, why, it may be asked, do teachers find 
 it difficult to have the class learn the grammalogs, 
 etc. ? The answer is that where the pupils have 
 
 1 Strayer's A Brief Course in the Teaching Process, 
 ' 
 
52 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 the motive, the teacher must have failed to 
 organize his drill properly, that certain other 
 elements necessary to the success of the class have 
 been neglected. 
 
 The second law of habit formation operating in 
 the shorthand drill is that of focalization. 1 It is 
 stated as follows : " Processes that are 
 zation" to ^ e ma< ^ e habitual or automatic must 
 first be focalized." With this law in 
 mind in arranging a grammalog drill, we should first 
 strive to strip the grammalogs of their arbitrary 
 character by explaining the plan operating through 
 them ; by showing some logical connection between 
 them and by offering some means of effective 
 association. A careful analysis of the grammalogs 
 in Pitmanic shorthand will repay the teacher by 
 giving him a more intelligent appreciation of the 
 plan running through them than is gained by 
 simply accepting them as they are presented in the 
 text -books. In at least three-quarters of the cases 
 the grammalogs are what is known as " regular," 
 those containing all the consonants in the word 
 and occupying the position indicated for the word 
 by the vowel. The irregular ones are of three 
 kinds : those which do not contain all the con- 
 sonants in the word, such as principle ; those which 
 violate the principles of theory for convenience in 
 writing, such as are, our, could ; and those which 
 are written out of their proper position to avoid 
 clashing with some other grammalog, or to leave 
 
 1 Bagley's Educative Process, p. 122. 
 
ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 53 
 
 the second position for another which receives 
 preference on account of frequency, such as go, 
 be, it. 1 (" All About the Grammalogs More 
 About the Grammalogs.") The contractions may 
 be classified in a similar way. When the teacher 
 is able to explain some of the apparent inconsis- 
 tencies, when the plan is shown to the class, 
 focalization is secured and each recall thereafter 
 is easier. This is in accordance with the principle 
 of habit formation laid down by Professor Thorn- 
 dike, who says : 2 " Where possible, present the 
 element by itself before presenting the gross total 
 situations in which it inheres." The grammalogs 
 themselves should be considered and practised 
 before presenting them in dictation, which in this 
 case corresponds to the gross total situation in 
 which they inhere. 
 
 The next law to be considered is the law of 
 repetition. Many teachers make the mistake of 
 
 thinking that repetition is drill and 
 Repetition. . f . 
 
 vice versa, and their chagrin is great 
 
 when they find that after inflicting endless repeti- 
 tions on the class, there is not the slightest im- 
 provement. Repetition is certainly necessary, 
 but it must be repetition with attention, with the 
 material of the drill brought into the focus of 
 consciousness and kept there. In attempting to 
 make a series of grammalogs automatic it is obvious 
 that the more frequent the operation is performed 
 
 ***- MHV MWmV AA \sUUV* A A I IAAV* VJ^/tsl. CIL1W11 
 
 1 Phonographic Monthly. Vol. 9, 1905. 
 
 2 Education, p. 175. 
 
54 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 the more it tends to become automatized ; there- 
 fore exercise on the series should be conducted 
 daily until its elements are thoroughly mastered. 
 Once automatic control has been obtained, the 
 periods elapsing between drills may gradually 
 be lengthened. When a new series is taken up, 
 the old should not be dropped altogether but drill 
 should be given upon it every second, then every 
 third, fourth day, etc., until the periods extend 
 to a week or two weeks. 
 
 Another question which arises in connection 
 with this repetition work is the holding of the 
 attention. One of the biggest factors in obtaining 
 Holding this result is the way in which the drill 
 Attention. j s conducted. If the grammalogs are 
 to be dictated, they may be read in two 
 ways : (1) in a related series, as by, be, to be; at, 
 it, out; or they may be arranged promiscu- 
 ously. If the former system is used, the pupils 
 very quickly learn the sequence and attention 
 from that time on is unnecessary ; the first word 
 gives the series, and the others are written without 
 thought, and if the dictator omitted them, fre- 
 quently they would be written anyhow. This 
 system, while it does eventually result in the 
 pupils learning the grammalogs, yet requires many 
 times the repetition practice, and it is not as lasting 
 nor dependable. The promiscuous reading of 
 the grammalogs can very easily be taken care of 
 by using the drill chart explained in Chapter IV, 
 page 40. When they are read in this way the 
 
ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 55 
 
 student cannot supply the missing word from the 
 series, but he must depend altogether upon what 
 he has taken down in his notes. Another way in 
 which the drill can be made interesting is through 
 variation in the way in which it is conducted. One 
 day the words could be dictated as explained ; 
 the next day the drill chart could be placed on 
 the board and the class could read the words in 
 the order indicated by the teacher ; other varia- 
 tions could be devised such as taking a shorthand 
 exercise containing the grammalogs and setting 
 a time-limit on the reading. 
 
 The last point bearing upon drill is the necessity 
 of getting things correct the first time. " Our 
 nervous system is so constructed that 
 to do anything once leaves a tendency 
 to do the same thing the same way when next 
 we are placed in a similar situation." 1 This shows 
 the necessity for close observation in the initial 
 stages of the practice to see that accurate forms 
 are made. The motto here, as in everything 
 else stenographic, is " Accuracy first, speed 
 later." 
 
 Reproduction is the second element in a short- 
 hand recitation. In every lesson there should be 
 given to the student the opportunity 
 duction to reca ^ an< ^ reproduce, preferably 
 in his own words, the ideas he has 
 gained from previous instruction. In doing this 
 
 1 Strayer's A Brief Course in the Teaching Process, 
 p. 46. 
 
56 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 he has the chance to show that it is clearly under- 
 stood and an apperceptive basis for the new 
 instruction is established. This reproduction may 
 take one of several different forms, depending in 
 a measure upon the nature of the assignment. 
 The three commonest forms of reproduction are 
 (1) by question and answer ; (2) by topical out- 
 line ; and (3) by application. The reproduction 
 may be oral or written. In the shorthand class 
 by far the commonest of the three is reproduction 
 by written application. This is what is generally 
 understood as " homework " in which the teacher 
 assigns a certain exercise to be written in shorthand 
 or transcribed into longhand because it requires the 
 application of certain principles previously learned. 
 Application is the touchstone of theory, but the 
 teacher who confines the reproduction to this 
 method alone is losing many opportunities and 
 making his own work doubly hard. 
 
 Reproduction by question and answer is the 
 process in which the teacher, by a series of well- 
 formed questions, elicits the information 
 
 ?ndAn?wer. he desires and shows the relation 
 existing between the several rules or 
 principles. It does not mean the mass of isolated 
 questions designed merely to puzzle the student. 
 It may take the form of a request for the state- 
 ment of a principle, of an illustrative word, or a 
 word may be given and the student may be asked 
 to state the problem involved. This last form is 
 one of the most effective in that it compels the 
 
ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 57 
 
 student to analyse the word to find the problem 
 and then make a conscious application of the 
 principle. In Pitmanic shorthand the word pause 
 has only one outline problem, the proper use of 
 the circle representing " s," and if the student can 
 find the problem or several problems in the word, 
 he is taking the first effective step in the application 
 of the principles used to represent the word. 
 
 Reproduction by topical outline signifies that 
 the student has a comprehension of the lesson as 
 
 a whole, and has control enough of it 
 OutlTne to re P r duce the author's scheme 
 
 without using the language of the text. 
 A statement of the rule is made followed by its 
 application in some cases other than those given 
 as illustrative words in the text. An orderly, 
 systematic presentation of the lesson is made 
 with due regard for its logical development. 
 Expedients are added to different kinds of strokes 
 in different ways ; the expedient is first considered 
 with regard to straight strokes, then to curves, 
 then to special characters as in the lesson on initial 
 or final hooks, or it may be, that the strokes may 
 affect the expedient through another classification, 
 such as light, heavy, finally hooked, etc., as in the 
 case of the halving principle. A pupil who can 
 stand before the class and show this compre- 
 hensive grasp of the theory as it relates to each 
 expedient is not at all likely to make mistakes 
 in the application. 
 
 In the use of reproduction by application, the 
 
 5 (499) 
 
58 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 severest test is given, it is true, but since the work 
 is not done under the immediate supervision of the 
 
 teacher, it is likely to be unreliable as 
 Application. . , 
 
 there is always present the possibility 
 
 of " copying " and passing off as the student's 
 own work, an exercise that has been copied from 
 some one else. So that it is wise to supplement 
 this method of reproduction by some other that 
 will serve as a check. At the same time it will 
 be seen that this method combines the harmonious 
 co-operation of mind and hand which is so essential 
 in shorthand practice, and this is the reason for its 
 extended use. Each of these methods has its value 
 and the possibilities of none should be ignored. 
 
 The third element of the shorthand recitation 
 is that of instruction, but as this topic will be more 
 fully treated in a later chapter, it will be passed 
 over for the present. 
 
 The fourth and last element of the recitation 
 is the assignment of work for the next period. It 
 
 is frequently stated that the skill 
 Assignment. ,. , , . ,, 
 
 displayed in the assignment is the 
 
 test of a teacher's ability. One thing is 
 certain : the teacher who neglects the possibilities 
 of an intelligent assignment cannot long count 
 upon having adequate preparation of work. The 
 brief, purposeless assignment, " Take the next 
 exercise," is the mark of the inefficient teacher ; 
 the students see no relation between the classwork 
 and that to be done at home ; they probably take 
 it as just about what it is, one of the necessary 
 
ELEMENTS IN THE RECITATION 59 
 
 evils with which it is customary to inflict upon 
 students. 
 
 The assignment is very closely related to the 
 
 character of the reproduction work expected by 
 
 the teacher in the following session. 
 
 Alignment. Tt ma y CaU for the abilit y to state 
 correctly the rules governing the use 
 
 of a certain shorthand principle, it may consist of 
 answering certain questions which will serve to 
 bring out the analogies or contrasts of the present 
 lesson with what they have previously learned, or 
 the teacher may give a full explanation of the lesson 
 in class and then assign an exercise to be worked 
 out in shorthand to test the application of the 
 principles. Better still, there may be a combina- 
 tion of these different assignments. Many teachers 
 do not make use of the study assignments because 
 they assume that the student is unable to under- 
 stand the lesson without a special explanation. 
 When the pupil is continually meeting this assump- 
 tion, he gradually loses the initiative in study and 
 the condition becomes real. Many people have 
 learned shorthand without the aid of a teacher and 
 with our improved text-books, the student should 
 be encouraged to make an effort on his own account. 
 -Re should be encouraged to independent study. 
 
 In the assignment care must be taken not to 
 encroach on too much of the student's time. The 
 Time instructor should have accurate 
 
 Demanded, knowledge of how long it will take 
 for the slowest student in his class to do the 
 
60 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 work and be sure to set it within reasonable bounds. 
 It seems to be the general opinion that all the 
 preparation demanded by the assignment should 
 take no longer than the length of the period spent 
 in class. 
 
 Such are the elements of the recitation in an 
 elementary shorthand class. The principles that 
 have been established apply in the same way to the 
 work of a speed class, but the material is different. 
 In the chapter describing the method of conducting 
 a speed class it will be seen how these principles 
 operate. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LESSON TYPES IN SHORTHAND 
 
 IN the last chapter it was pointed out that there 
 were four elements in every shorthand recitation : 
 drill, reproduction, instruction, and assignment. 
 Three of these, the first, second and fourth, were 
 discussed at length ; it is the purpose of this 
 chapter to outline the ways in which a teacher 
 of shorthand may present the theory of the subject 
 to his class. Before any practice can be had on 
 any principle it is necessary that the student have 
 a clear understanding of such principle and of the 
 conditions under which the principle correctly 
 operates. The problem confronting the shorthand 
 teacher who has to instruct the pupil 
 
 Nature of how and when to write the circle to 
 
 Problem m . . 
 
 Shorthand, represent s in Pitmanic shorthand, 
 
 is no different from the one before the 
 teacher of geometry who has to instruct the pupil 
 that the opposite angles of two intersecting 
 straight lines are equal ; or that before the teacher 
 of algebra who wishes his class to learn to factor 
 ( 3 - 6 a ), or the teacher of French who wishes the 
 class to learn the use of the contraction " du." 
 The method followed for habituation may differ 
 in some respects, but in the original presentation 
 of the idea, all the problems are alike, and methods 
 which are employed with one may be employed 
 with all. 
 
 61 
 
62 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 Instruction in shorthand proceeds in accordance 
 with the principles of one of two methods : the 
 direct, or by some alluded to as the 
 Methods deductive, and the indirect^ or induc- 
 tive. Either of these methods is gener- 
 ally chosen for presenting a new principle ; each 
 has its advantages and disadvantages, and as is 
 most natural, each has its enthusiastic followers 
 as well as its harsh critics. There are other 
 methods used in the shorthand classes such as the 
 analytic, the method of re-organization, review, 
 etc., but these are considered special methods 
 used for a different purpose. 
 
 For the purpose of this book, the terms 
 " direct " and " indirect " will be used Jn 
 referring to the two general methods. / In 
 the direcL-method the teacher ex- 
 plains the principle while the class 
 listens, absorbs, and applies ; he works from the 
 general principle to its application in particular 
 instances ; he tells them everything about the 
 lesson so that at the end of the lesson every rule 
 has been explained and practised upon. In the 
 indirect method, the teacher tells as little as 
 possible, but by well-chosen examples of the 
 principle in particular instances, he leads the class 
 to note the resemblances and differences in each 
 outline, eventually getting the class to generalize 
 from what they have observed. 
 
 The direct method of instruction in shorthand 
 may be divided into four steps : (a) organization 
 
LESSON TYPES IN SHORTHAND 63 
 
 of words containing use of principle ; (b) statement 
 of principle ; (c) application ; (d) verification. 
 
 The steps given here are practically 
 Steps m self-explanatory, but to remove doubt 
 Method. each will be denned. In the first step 
 
 of organizaLtion the teacher selects 
 words illustrative^ the various rules to be learned 
 and arranges them in groups. These groups are 
 then presented as problems to be worked out in 
 shorthand. The second step in the process is 
 then reached. By the statement of principle 
 is meant the giving of the rule or principle to be 
 taught, the conditions under which the rule is 
 operative. The step^ of application means 
 that as soon as sufficient explanation has been 
 given by the teacher, he will immediately call 
 upon the class for its application to words not 
 previously used ; in reality the step of application 
 is a test of the pupil's power to apply the rule. 
 Verification is the process by which the pupil's 
 work in application is proved correct or incorrect, 
 in the former case giving him confidence in his 
 understanding and his power to apply what he 
 has just learned, and in the latter offering him the 
 opportunity to correct any misconception that 
 may have existed in his mind in regard to the 
 operation of the principle. 
 
 In teaching the lesson on the uses of the " s " 
 circle in Pitmanic shorthand, the first thing to be 
 done by the teacher is to select type words for 
 each phase of the principle and write them in 
 
64 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 groups on the board. The statement of the 
 principle would be that " a small circle at the 
 beginning of the stroke represents 
 Illustration s " an( j at the middle or the 
 of Direct , , 
 
 Method. end of a word it represents s 
 
 or " z " and that it is written 
 inside of curves, with the " zero " motion 
 on straight strokes, and outside of angles. 
 Or, it may be stated in any other way that the 
 teacher prefers. Some prefer to state that the 
 circle is written on the right of downstrokes, left 
 of upstrokes, inside curves, outside of angles, and 
 inside the first of two curves, depending upon the 
 antithetical elements to assist the memory. Before 
 proceeding to application many teachers offer 
 illustrations, although it is not a necessary part of 
 the process at this point. Illustration of the 
 principle means that the teacher would take each 
 particular of the statement and show how it applies. 
 Words illustrating these particulars could be then 
 written on the board, and the way in which they 
 affected the principle could be pointed out ; thus 
 in the word " pass " the circle must be added to a 
 straight stroke, and that part of the principle which 
 speaks of the " zero " motion applies ; or in the 
 other case, it is to be joined to a straight down- 
 stroke, therefore the circle is written on the right, 
 and so on. In the application, the teacher dictates 
 words embodying the principle in its various parts 
 and the students try to recognize the problem 
 contained in the word. As soon as the problem is 
 
LESSON TYPES IN SHORTHAND 65 
 
 ascertained, the application of the principle is easy. 
 After the words are dictated and the attempt at 
 application is made by the student the teacher 
 then adopts some method of verifying the work. 
 He either writes the outlines on the board, or has 
 a student do so. Opportunity is then given for 
 a full discussion. 
 
 The indirect method is divided into five steps as 
 follows : (a) review :^_ (b) introduction^, (c) ex- 
 amination ; (d) organization ; and (e) 
 Steps in formulation. In the review the teacher 
 Method. brings before the class briefly any 
 principles that are related to the new 
 principle to be learned and the problem of the lesson 
 is stated. In the introduction the teacher places 
 his well-selected outlines illustrating the principle 
 on the board for the attention of the pupils. 
 Examination of the outlines is then made by the 
 students and they proceed, with or without the 
 help of the teacher to notice the analogies or 
 differences in the examples until they are ready 
 to make a classification and organize the outlines 
 accordingly. As soon as the general idea is 
 grasped, the formulation of the rule or principle 
 can be made. It will be noted that in the direct 
 method the statement of the principle comes first, 
 whereas in the indirect method the principle 
 comes last as a result of the observation and 
 thought efforts of the student. 
 
 In the Pitmanic lesson on the circle " s " referred 
 to above, the review would include remarks on 
 
66 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 the necessity of abbreviating devices in shorthand, 
 the frequency of the letter " s," and consider- 
 ation of the letter " h." the only 
 Example. . 
 
 case in which the circle has been 
 
 previously used. The problem then would be to 
 see how " S " or " Z " is represented and how the 
 expedient could be written in various cases. The 
 step of introduction would require the words 
 illustrating the different principles to be placed 
 in groups on the blackboard, the number of groups 
 corresponding to the number of particulars it is 
 desired to develop in the organization. After 
 studying the first group the class might observe 
 that the sound " S " is always represented by a 
 small circle ; that it always appears inside a curve, 
 and so on with the other phases of the principle. 
 As soon as these things have been noted, the rule 
 for writing the circle in each case can be established 
 and formulated by the class. In this way, the 
 students do the work and the teacher keeps in the 
 background, just guiding and stimulating the 
 thought where necessary. The class judges of the 
 value of the individual contributions of the pupils 
 and checks up statements by testing them out. 
 
 In considering the advantages of the direct 
 
 method, the first that must be mentioned is the 
 
 economy of time. It is certainly 
 
 ' quicker to tell the student the principle 
 
 than it is to develop it by a series of questions and 
 
 answers ; the information is all there, and it is 
 
 put at the command of the student without delay. 
 
LESSON TYPES IN SHORTHAND 67 
 
 Another advantage claimed for the direct method 
 is that in enabling the teacher to give the principle 
 immediately, more time is obtained for the more 
 essential part of the lesson, the application of the 
 principle. It is claimed also that giving the 
 principle direct to the student, holds his attention 
 and secures his interest, operations which arc 
 difficult if the principle is withheld from him and 
 he can secure it only after many deviations. 
 
 The objections urged against the direct method 
 are chiefly two : it assumes that what is told to the 
 
 student is as well understood and as 
 vantages we ^ remembered as what the student 
 
 discovers for himself ; and it affords 
 the student no opportunity to think for himself, 
 all the thinking being done for him by the teacher, 
 or taken from the text -book. These objections 
 may properly be urged as advantages claimed for 
 the indirect method, the users of which assume 
 that thorough comprehension is the first requisite 
 for making a process automatic ; that the time 
 spent on developing the principle through the 
 thought power of the student is justified in that 
 the real work of education is to develop ability 
 to think. They also claim that the time devoted 
 to the instruction is not improperly divided by 
 having the greater part of it spent on learning the 
 principle and the lesser part given to practice, 
 because the examination of the examples necessary 
 to learn the principle is a sort of practice involving 
 the application. It is claimed also that the indirect 
 
68 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 method is most successful in holding the attention 
 of the pupils, because it appeals to the student as 
 something which has been accomplished as a 
 result of his efforts, and the pleasurable satisfaction 
 he feels encourages him in further effort. The 
 chief objection raised against the use of the indirect 
 method is that it wastes time in having the pupil 
 take many minutes to find out what he could be 
 told in one, that unimportant details are made 
 the object of prolonged search and eventual 
 discovery. There is no doubt but that this objec- 
 tion is valid where misplaced emphasis exists 
 in the lesson. 
 
 However, all the disadvantages pointed out for 
 each method are not inherent in the method itself ; 
 they are simply incidental to the use of the method 
 by one who is not equipped to handle it. Not all 
 teachers are capable of using the indirect method 
 because they have not the power to organize 
 knowledge in a systematic way, nor the ability 
 to lead the thought of the class by skilful ques- 
 tioning. It must be borne in mind also that 
 some lessons are more susceptible of direct treat- 
 ment than others, and that one method used 
 continuously in presenting work to a class is liable 
 to become monotonous. 
 
 The method of analysis is that in which the rules 
 are dissected and the particular circumstances 
 Other connected with them are brought before 
 
 Methods. the student with special emphasis. 
 The method of re-organization is that in which 
 
LESSON TYPES IN SHORTHAND 89 
 
 the material of instruction is presented in a 
 different form from that in the text ; where 
 the arrangement of the material is changed to fit 
 a different plan of developmemV&s, for instance, 
 in changing the material in the lesson on the 
 " shun " hook in the Pitmanic system so that it 
 would be presented in accordance with the general 
 principles of hand motion, vocalization, and balance. 
 The present arrangement is based upon adding the 
 hook to curves, simple straight strokes, hooked 
 straight strokes, and the special cases of " k " and 
 " g." The method of review would be the charting 
 out of several principles for the purpose of showing 
 the connection between each and the general 
 logical development of the system. No teacher 
 should be limited to the use of only one method. 
 The best results will be obtained by the teacher 
 who is equipped to modify his instruction and 
 utilize any of the several 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 
 
 IT is the way of human nature when dissatisfaction 
 is felt with a certain plan, for the pendulum of 
 thought to swing to the opposite extreme. So it 
 is with teachers who have used class instruction 
 and have suffered a temporary set-back, results 
 not being produced in accordance with their 
 expectations ; they immediately begin to consider 
 the advantages of individual instruction. And 
 so it is also with those who have found dissatis- 
 faction with the individual plan ; they swing to 
 the class or group instruction plan. Individual 
 instruction has been much advertised in connec- 
 tion with shorthand, and it may be interesting 
 to see how the different plans are operated. With 
 the question of the superiority of class or individual 
 instruction, this chapter is not concerned ; like 
 most other things there is much to be said for and 
 against each. 
 
 There are three types of individual instruction 
 
 generally recognized : the business-school, the 
 
 unit method, and the co-operative 
 
 Types of method. In the business schools where 
 
 Individual 
 
 Instruction, the teacher conducts the instruction 
 
 on the individual plan it generally 
 consists in the teacher calling to his desk the 
 student whose work is to be examined, correcting 
 
 70 
 
PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 71 
 
 the exercise, explaining the new lesson, and giving 
 directions for additional practice that will keep the 
 student busy while the teacher is doing the same 
 thing with the other members of the group. For 
 the success of this plan it is necessary that the 
 group handled by each teacher should not be large, 
 as he would not have enough time adequately 
 to examine the work or to explain new princi- 
 ples. Besides having a small number in the 
 group it is also necessary that the system of pro- 
 motion be flexible, that is, as soon as a student 
 finishes a certain portion of the work, that 
 student is promoted to a higher section imme- 
 diately, for this is necessary to furnish the incentive 
 to be actively employed while the teacher is 
 attending to some one else. 
 
 The unit method of instruction discards the use 
 of the text and follows the lines of the work done 
 
 by the correspondence schools. One 
 Method section or unit of the work is done 
 
 satisfactorily by the student before 
 he can begin work on the next. In this way a 
 large number of students can be handled because 
 the instructor uses a key to each section which 
 he hands to the student after the section is com- 
 pleted and the student corrects his exercise. The 
 section containing the exercise to be done is given 
 to the pupil immediately after the principle is 
 explained and he sets to work at it. He works 
 until it is completed and then he takes the com- 
 pleted exercise to the teacher for examination. 
 
72 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 The teacher then gives him the key to the section 
 just completed, and the student finds his errors 
 and studies out the reason for his mistakes ; when 
 a satisfactory one cannot be found, the matter 
 is set aside to be taken up later with the teacher. 
 When the exercise has been checked, it is returned 
 and the student is submitted to a further test to 
 determine his grasp of the subject. And so it 
 goes with the entire group, the students doing 
 the work and checking it, and the teacher giving 
 help to those who need it, inspecting the work in 
 a general way and testing the pupil's ability to 
 apply what he has learned. This test may be 
 arranged to take place as soon as the work in each 
 principle is finished by having a set of mimeo- 
 graphed test sheets, or by dictation on the black- 
 board, or the test may be periodic, say at the end 
 of a week, and including certain principles in a 
 group. 
 
 The third scheme of individual instruction in 
 
 use is that called the co-operative plan. In this 
 
 plan the teacher makes a consecutive 
 
 j J perative arrangement of seats somewhat after 
 
 the plan on page 73. 
 
 In the first row, front seat, the scholar who is 
 most likely to progress most rapidly is placed, 
 the others ranging in consecutive order in back 
 of him. The class is then considered as a group 
 of pupils playing a game, and arrangements are 
 made whereby those who do the most work 
 satisfactorily are advanced to take the place of 
 
PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 
 
 73 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 14 
 
 17 
 
 24 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 18 
 
 23 
 
 28 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 19 
 
 22 
 
 29 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 others who fall behind. No pupil likes to yield 
 up his seat, and the result is that the class is 
 always working at its highest efficiency. The 
 plan also enables the teacher to see at a glance 
 what students are making poor progress, and he is 
 in a position to investigate the cause and apply 
 the remedy. 
 
 A day or two after the class has been started 
 this plan can be put into operation, and a 
 Tentative tentative grading of the pupils is made. 
 Arrange- No harm is done if a student is mis- 
 placed, for the proper adjustment will 
 be made automatically in a few days. Some 
 teachers prefer to wait until they have had a 
 chance to estimate the ability of the various 
 members of the class, and to decide the matter 
 by the standing in the first examination. As 
 
 6 (499) 
 
74 
 
 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 soon as the grading is completed each member 
 of the class is given two note-books which they 
 are to use alternately, doing one exercise in the 
 first, the next in the second, the third in the first, 
 and so on. These note-books are then numbered 
 one and two, and if they have not page numbers on 
 them, they are paged. On the inside cover of 
 each appears an index in which the student enters 
 the work he does as soon as each step is finished. 
 
 Exercise. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Date 
 Checked. 
 
 Date 
 Approved. 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1/2/13 
 
 1/3/13 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 1/2/13 
 
 1/3/13 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 1/3/13 
 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 NOTE-BOOK INDEX. 
 
 This index tells the teacher at a glance just what 
 the student has done. It shows that exercises 
 
 No. 1 and 3 have been written, cor- 
 Index. rected, practised satisfactorily, and 
 
 approved by the instructor. It shows 
 that exercise No. 5 has been written, and corrected, 
 
PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 75 
 
 but it has not been practised or approved. It 
 also tells that exercise No. 7 has been written, 
 but it has not been corrected. Entering an exer- 
 cise in the index signifies that it is complete and 
 ready for correction. The date in the next 
 column means that the exercise has been corrected 
 by some one else and that it has been practised. 
 An entry in the last column indicates that the 
 teacher has found the work satisfactory in every 
 respect. 
 
 A few simple suggestions are all that is necessary 
 now to set the plan in motion : 
 
 1. All exercises should be corrected by the 
 student immediately in advance of the one who 
 
 does the exercise. The teacher corrects 
 Suggestions. 
 
 the exercise of the most advanced 
 
 scholar, and of those who are most backward. 
 
 2. All exercises should be done in ink ; corrections 
 in lead pencil or red ink. 
 
 3. When an exercise is given in shorthand in the 
 text, both longhand and shorthand should be 
 written by student ; when the exercise is in 
 longhand in the text, only the shorthand should 
 be written. 
 
 4. A few lines for later practice after the exercise 
 is corrected should be left blank between each 
 line of writing. 
 
 5. The name of student who corrects exercise 
 should appear at the bottom of last page with 
 the date. 
 
 6. Practice on each exercise should be finished 
 
76 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 before the following exercise may be offered for 
 correction. 
 
 7. Correction of the next student's work takes 
 precedence over one's own progress work. 
 
 8. Students are penalized for the errors they 
 fail to check. 
 
 If these suggestions are carried out the operation 
 of the class will be automatic, and the teacher will 
 find himself able to give attention to 
 Students" 1 those who need it most. In every case 
 there will be found one or two students 
 who need practically no help whatever, and who 
 can progress twice as fast as others who have not 
 the same time to give to the subject, or the same 
 interest in it. Such students will quickly be found 
 under this plan of work, and their ability may be 
 turned towards helping the others. The grading 
 for a while will naturally be in groups, and the 
 teacher will experience some busy sessions trying 
 to inspect and approve all the work that is done 
 in the first flush of enthusiasm, but if he keeps the 
 standard of work high, and makes his inspection 
 carefully, the student who sacrifices quality of the 
 work to speed in progressing through the book 
 will come a cropper. Gradually the work will 
 become more diversified until hardly two are at 
 the same place, but until this happens the teacher 
 will have to work with the groups, using a leader 
 in each, whose exercise is corrected by the 
 instructor or by the leader of the next higher 
 group. 
 
PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 77 
 
 The students are able to correct each other's 
 
 exercise because the one they are asked to correct 
 
 has been corrected for them by some one 
 
 Correct tO e * Se ' an( ^ ^ey Can Use t ^ S 3tS a m del 
 just the same as a key. The correc- 
 tions pass from the teacher to the leader or leaders, 
 and then on down to the various members of the 
 class as soon as they are ready for them. Each 
 one has a corrected copy of each exercise done as 
 far as he has completed the work. Thus, if student 
 A wishes to have exercise 29 corrected, he passes 
 it to student B, who has already had exercise 29 
 corrected and who has practised it over. Student 
 B can then take his book, if necessary, and proceed 
 to correct. 
 
 By having the exercises done in ink and the 
 corrections on them made in pencil, the teacher 
 is enabled to tell at a glance from the number of 
 mistakes whether the student has obtained a 
 satisfactory knowledge of the principle or not, 
 and to give him the needed explanation. 
 
 The suggestion compelling the student to prac- 
 tise his work before submitting the next exercise 
 for correction is made to protect the 
 
 Suggestions one w ^ ^ s to correct *" s wor k, for one 
 student could do enough work over 
 night to keep the next student busy correcting 
 this work and doing nothing else. But under this 
 arrangement as soon as an exercise is corrected 
 it must be filled in, and while this is being done 
 the other student can be busy on his own book 
 
78 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 making up for the time he used in correcting. As 
 soon as a student progresses beyond the one in 
 front, they exchange places. The rule about the 
 correction of the lower student's work taking 
 precedence over the higher student's progress 
 work is necessary to protect the lower student 
 from being blocked by the refusal of the higher 
 to correct his work. The lower student should 
 receive the greater consideration. It must be 
 borne in mind that co-operation is the basic 
 principle of this plan, and if the teacher does not 
 see that this co-operation is given, the plan is sure 
 to fail. 
 
 It is necessary to penalize students for failure 
 to do conscientious checking of the exercises 
 because they sometimes try to hurry 
 Carekss through and get at their own work ; 
 but if they are held up by an error 
 which they allow to escape unchecked and it is 
 found by the teacher, they are likely to be more 
 careful. There is no excuse for careless checking 
 of exercises because each one has his own cor- 
 rected note-book to which to refer. A tactful 
 teacher can impose such penalties as will be taken 
 in good psrt by the pupils, penalties that are 
 regarded as part of the game. 
 
 While the class is thus absorbed in automatically 
 progressing, the teacher uses his time first in making 
 an inspection of the books, secondly in checking 
 up the work done by those in the lower end of 
 the class. As soon as the lesson starts, those who 
 
PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 79 
 
 wish to have work approved put one of their 
 books on the teacher's desk retaining the other to 
 
 work in or to correct from. The 
 Work teacher runs his eye down the page and 
 
 if no errors are found in the exercise, he 
 stamps it with a rubber stamp " Approved." He 
 finds which exercises are to be approved by consult- 
 ing the index. The books are then returned to the 
 student and the date of approval is entered in 
 the index right away. If the other book is 
 to be approved it is then handed in. If the 
 teacher finds an error in the exercise, he looks 
 at the bottom of the last page where he will 
 find the name of the one who corrected it and an 
 explanation should then be forthcoming from that 
 person. 
 
 Of course it is possible always for the teacher 
 to modify the program, and at times he may decide 
 
 to have a discussion on some principle 
 cations which he has observed has given 
 
 difficulty ; or he may conduct a special 
 drill on any phase of the work which needs it. 
 There is no doubt that this plan of instruction 
 should be supplemented by frequent tests, and it 
 will readily be seen that those who do the practice 
 work most thoughtfully are the ones who do the 
 best in the test. 
 
 Each of these plans of individual instruction has 
 certain things in common ; all enable the teacher 
 to get at the difficulties of the individual student, 
 but they differ in the amount of work that is 
 
80 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 left to the student. The business school plan 
 has the advantage of the personal contact of 
 student and teacher, and the benefit of the close 
 supervision of work that is made.pos- 
 
 sible - but {i is limited to ver y sma11 
 
 groups. The unit method is characterized 
 by the sound idea of doing one thing well before 
 attempting another ; it makes the student search 
 out his errors for himself, and it may be used to 
 handle a much larger group than the first method. 
 The co-operative method rests upon the assumption 
 that the students have been taught how to study, 
 for if such is not the case the work will become so 
 confused by the number of mistakes that the plan 
 becomes hopeless. Its success rests also upon the 
 spirit of co-operation the teacher is enabled to 
 develop in the students. The class can appre- 
 ciate the advantage of the scheme in that it allows 
 the student to go along as fast as his ability and 
 the time at his disposal will permit. Care must 
 be taken, however, that those who are not able to 
 get into the front ranks of the class do not become 
 the butt of ridicule for those who are further 
 advanced. An altogether different spirit must 
 prevail ; one in which each feels a sort of responsi- 
 bility for every member of the class accomplishing 
 the work scheduled for the term. If the instructor 
 is successful in inspiring his class with the proper 
 spirit, there are few school exercises that possess 
 greater educational value than this co-operative 
 plan. 
 
PLANS FOR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 81 
 
 The worth of any plan of individual instruction 
 may be judged by ascertaining in what proportion 
 Criteria for ** embodies the following condi- 
 Judging tions, which may be used as criteria. 
 Plans. Individual instruction should : 
 
 1. Enable the teacher to give help when needed 
 to each individual scholar. This signifies that the 
 work must be so arranged that the student will 
 not be helpless until the teacher becomes dis- 
 engaged. The value of the assistance is increased 
 when it is given just when needed, and it should 
 be possible for the teacher to utilize others who 
 can assist those who need help. He should have 
 plenty of reserve force of this kind. 
 
 2. Render it possible for the teacher to give the 
 greatest help to those who need it the most. In 
 the organization of his plan a teacher might have 
 it so arranged that the work done by the most 
 advanced would require his attention for a great 
 length of time and more frequently than the work 
 done by the least advanced. This would serve 
 to defeat one of the most important aims of 
 individual instruction. 
 
 3. Keep all the pupils busy all the time on 
 some profitable work. This indicates that there 
 should be a strong incentive for diligent applica- 
 tion, and that tasks which are set must be com- 
 mensurate with the knowledge and ability of those 
 who are expected to perform them. 
 
 4. Eliminate selfishness which is so likely to 
 
82 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 develop under an individual plan. Its successful 
 operation should not encourage the develop- 
 ment of vicious tendencies but rather stimulate 
 the formation of ideas of co-operation and 
 helpfulness. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 
 
 THAT teaching which lacks definiteness of purpose 
 lacks that which is most vital in its success. If 
 a method of procedure is adopted and used without 
 examining into its availability for the production 
 of the result it is desired to attain, it is much like 
 the oft-bespoken " arrow in the air." It may hit, 
 but the chances of its missing the mark are too 
 great to justify the plan. It is necessary that the 
 results of instruction must be clearly formulated 
 in the mind before deciding upon any special 
 device or mode of procedure ; that which may be 
 utterly inadequate and devoid of value when 
 viewed from one standpoint, may be fully justified 
 from another. In considering the problem of 
 raising the shorthand speed of a class, then, it is 
 necessary first to find out what the essentials of 
 shorthand speed are, and then outline the method 
 of instruction including in it only those things 
 that will definitely serve to develop such 
 essentials. 
 
 Stenographic speed is the development of skill 
 which is based upon several elements. The 
 Ascertain- teacher f a speed class must know 
 ing Basic what these elements are because they 
 Elements. are the tm - n g s ^ e must persistently 
 
 emphasize in the instruction. Two ways are open 
 83 
 
84 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 to the teacher in search of such knowledge : sub- 
 jective and objective experience. That is, he may 
 discover what they are by self-analysis, and this 
 means that he must have had the experience ; he 
 must have gone through the grind of raising his 
 own speed ; he must have met the difficulties and 
 overcome them before he can suggest to his students 
 how to do it. And he may have recourse to the 
 experience of others who have triumphed in the 
 battle. There is abundance of such material from 
 writers who have arrived at the goal of high speed, 
 and who have described the steps they have taken 
 and the obstacles they have encountered on their 
 journey. 
 
 Objective experience, the story of how others 
 have done it, is valuable, but the subjective 
 experience should be in the equipment 
 of all. However, it is not given to all 
 men to be keenly self -analytical, and he will be 
 acting wisely who supplements his subjective 
 experience with the experience of others. Mis- 
 calculations may occur in either, and one should 
 serve to check the other. 
 
 The development of stenographic speed rests, 
 for one thing, on correct habits of writing. A 
 Correct certain degree of manual dexterity 
 Writing must be developed, and pen-gripping, 
 Habits. heavy-handed, finger-cramping pen- 
 manship makes the work many times harder than 
 it would otherwise be. The relation of penmanship 
 to speed varies in importance with different systems 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 85 
 
 of shorthand but it is a factor in all. The teacher 
 of shorthand meets many different types of in- 
 correct writing habits, and fortunate, indeed, is the 
 teacher of a speed class who finds that the proper 
 holding of the pen or pencil has been made a part 
 of the elementary instruction in shorthand. Such 
 penmanship weaknesses are generally lost sight of 
 in the early days of instruction, but they stand out 
 glaringly as soon as the student is put under 
 pressure, and that is probably the reason why it 
 usually falls to the lot of the speed class teacher 
 to correct them. Students should be started right 
 from the beginning of the course, and their training 
 in correct habits of writing should be progressive. 
 The different types are known to all : there is the 
 one who grips his pen, as David Wolfe Brown 
 says, " like as if some one was going to take it 
 away from him " ; there is the one who writes 
 with a pen and the finished product looks like as 
 if a brush had been used, the same one who always 
 breaks the point of a pencil, or sticks the pen in the 
 paper ; there is the one who lifts his hand and 
 hovers over the paper until ready for descent when 
 he darts down like a bird on its prey ; and there 
 is the one who gets to the end of the line and 
 draws back his hand to the beginning so slowly 
 that it seems he is going to discontinue writing 
 altogether. There are other types, and one of the 
 first things the teacher should do is to make known 
 to the student, who may be unaware of his fault, 
 the existence of such a handicap. 
 
86 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 The first step in getting up speed is to write 
 with comfort. This does not mean the absence 
 Eliminate * stram due * writing a little above 
 Physical one's capacity, but it means the absence 
 strain. Q ^ stram ^ ue to uncomfortable physical 
 
 surroundings. Strains that are due to the absence 
 of light, heat, air, and space should be eliminated. 
 It not infrequently happens that a student does 
 not succeed in getting down the dictation and is 
 at a loss to understand the cause. It is easily 
 discoverable when it is seen that he has his books 
 strewn all over the desk, and he is attempting to 
 write in a space just large enough to hold the paper, 
 and that his hand has no adequate support. It 
 is true that under abnormal conditions stenographic 
 work must be done in this way, but no one has 
 ever advocated the practice for working up speed. 
 The teacher will do well to see that each pupil is 
 comfortable when writing, and that faulty habits 
 of penmanship are corrected. The hand should 
 glide along the paper smoothly, with a light touch 
 and with even transitions between words, not 
 jerkily ; and each pen lift should not be a hand lift. 
 This writing difficulty may not appear with every 
 student, most likely will appear with only a few; 
 but the teacher must be in a position to remedy 
 the fault as soon as it appears. In some systems 
 of shorthand the publishers issue regular penman- 
 ship drills, of which the teacher can avail himself 
 for the benefit of these few ; in other cases it will 
 be well for him to make up his own drills. 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 87 
 
 The second element in working up speed in 
 shorthand is the thorough knowledge of the system 
 written. One who has worked through 
 
 the first elementar y instruction book 
 does not fit this description ; but the 
 one who has studied each principle over and over, 
 individually and in relation to the whole system, 
 the one who, after having a struggle with an out- 
 line, takes the trouble in his leisure moments to 
 look for the controlling principle in his instruction 
 book. Such a one is likely to have a thorough 
 knowledge of the system he writes. Such a one 
 is likely to appreciate somewhat fully the possi- 
 bilities of the various expedients in the system, 
 and when he is not progressing with sufficient 
 rapidity, he will not begin to invent new abbre- 
 viating devices that violate principles and lead to 
 eventual confusion. 
 
 Like most other things, there is a time for 
 
 initiating outlines, but the time for it is when one 
 
 has fully mastered the system, and has 
 
 f\r* "1 
 
 Outlines exhausted its possibilities. Any of 
 the systems in general use are capable 
 of a speed much higher than the student rate of 
 one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five words 
 per minute, and variations of them which seek to 
 introduce a cumbersome system of abbreviating 
 devices which may secure a temporary gain in 
 speed should be looked upon with suspicion. A 
 well-known court reporter made the statement 
 not long ago that " in working out the details of 
 
88 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 a shorthand system, the author enjoys an advan- 
 tage that is not possible to the ordinary writer. 
 It is the opportunity for research, and his work 
 embodies the experience of, perhaps, hundreds of 
 thousands of writers, who have put it to the test 
 of actual working conditions. You can accept 
 his conclusions with absolute faith in their practi- 
 cality and in their soundness." This is a strong 
 statement, but for the " ordinary writer " it holds 
 true. Too often the outline given in the text or 
 dictionary is discarded and one chosen, which 
 further experience shows is impracticable. Im- 
 provisation of outline is not here condemned, but 
 it should be done only when the one who attempts 
 it is qualified by knowledge and experience to do 
 it. Let not the aspirant for speed, therefore, 
 dismiss certain parts of the theory with the abrupt 
 statement " that is not important ; it is seldom 
 used." He cannot tell but in his later experience 
 it might answer the very need that tempts him to 
 improvise. Let him get a thorough knowledge 
 of the system. Another element entering into 
 the acquisition of speed is the power to apply 
 readily any principle of the system when con- 
 fronted with an unusual word. Knowledge of the 
 theory of shorthand and the ability to make instant 
 application of the theory in practice are two very 
 different things. No matter how glibly a student 
 may recite the rules of the text, no matter how 
 ready he is with the illustrative words that gene- 
 rally accompany such rules, he has not prepared 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 89 
 
 himself for speed work until he can apply without 
 hesitation every rule that he knows. It is this 
 ability that enables the writer to keep going no 
 matter how hard the words become. 
 
 At the outset it is necessary to admit that the 
 system or course which does not equip the student 
 
 Eliminating to write everv word in the ^guag 6 
 Mental fails in a very important particular. 
 Hesitancy, ^ student must be e q u ip pe< i t o 
 
 record every word, no matter how seldom its use. 
 Hesitation is detrimental to speed, and there are 
 only two ways in which the mental hesitancy can 
 be overcome or diminished to the minimum : either 
 by the ready application of the word-building 
 principles, or by rote memorization. The teacher 
 has to choose between them, and when the magni- 
 tude of the task of memorization is realized, it is 
 quickly abandoned ; but the difficulty is that it 
 may not be appreciated soon enough, and that the 
 power to apply the principles will have been 
 neglected until it is too late in the course to change. 
 This difficulty is thoroughly treated in David 
 Wolfe Brown's Mastery of Shorthand. 
 
 The next element to be considered in regard to 
 shorthand speed is the cultivation by the student 
 Word- * word-carrying capacity. There is 
 Carrying constant necessity of writing under 
 Capacity. pressure during the speed course, that 
 is, when the writer has to put forth every effort 
 to get the dictation down verbatim, and during 
 this trial the writer is always a few words behind 
 
 7 (499) 
 
90 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 the dictator. In the beginning of their practice 
 some students immediately get confused as soon 
 as the dictator gets a few words ahead, and they 
 lose sentences at a time. They have not the poise 
 and confidence which comes from the ability to 
 carry in the mind the part of the selection which 
 has been read but not yet written. There is a 
 certain amount of distributive attention necessary 
 to do this successfully. While the dictation is going 
 along at an easy pace, the writing is done with the 
 attention distributed on the execution of the 
 characters and the context. As soon as the speed 
 rises the attention must be redistributed, and a 
 new element enters, that of carrying the words 
 which are neither being written nor heard. This 
 word-carrying ability may be developed by those 
 who do not possess it, and drill upon it through 
 memorizing and repeating long sentences is 
 recommended by many qualified to speak on the 
 subject. S. S. Packard was a firm believer in the 
 efficacy of such drill. 
 
 Mental hesitation is not altogether eliminated, 
 however, when the ability to apply the rules 
 
 readily and the power to carry words 
 Vocabulary. . ' 
 
 in the mind have been developed. 
 
 Another cause of hesitation and indecision in 
 writing is that of a too limited vocabulary. It 
 has been said many times " words are the steno- 
 grapher's stock-in-trade," and the truth of the 
 quotation may be seen daily in the class-room, both 
 in the transcripts prepared and in the ludicrous 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 91 
 
 errors that appear in the shorthand. The steno- 
 grapher has need of a large vocabulary both in 
 longhand and in shorthand. It is not infrequent 
 for the writer who has no acquaintance with a 
 word to put in syllables that never appear in it 
 but which seem to be heard ; this arises from 
 ignorance, for if the word were known, the ear 
 would catch it easily, and a reference to the 
 context would determine by its appropriateness 
 whether that was the word heard or not. Then 
 in the deciphering of outlines how many 
 egregious blunders are attributable to ignorance 
 of the word used ? The student who possesses 
 a good knowledge of English is favored with 
 one of the biggest advantages in the stenographic 
 race. 
 
 Side by side with a command of a great number 
 of English words should come the ever-increasing 
 Steno- control of a great number of steno- 
 graphic graphic outlines. A word can be 
 Vocabulary. wr j tten automatically much quicker 
 than it can when it is necessary to apply the princi- 
 ples of word-building to it, and as the student 
 progresses through the course, one of the best 
 indications of his success is the infrequency with 
 which a word is met that he cannot write off-hand ; 
 the number of stenographic word-friends should 
 always be on the increase until he must go afield 
 to meet a word-stranger. In working up the speed 
 of a class it is the problem of the teacher to see 
 how he can weave the building of the vocabulary 
 
92 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 into the daily work so that each day adds its niitr 
 until it has become mighty. 
 
 No one has ever contended that repetition 
 practice has not its place in the plan for raising 
 
 shorthand speed. But much discussion 
 Repetition. . 
 
 has been had upon the emphasis to be 
 
 placed upon it and the amount of its use. Some 
 teachers rely almost wholly upon repetition practice 
 to raise speed. They maintain that it trains the 
 eye, hand, and memory ; enlarges the vocabulary 
 both in longhand and in shorthand ; develops 
 manual dexterity, and that the great number of 
 words which it reduces to automatic control 
 renders it possible to halt while a difficult word is 
 studied out. Those who condemn repetition 
 practice seldom do so unreservedly. They claim 
 it should not be made the sum of all preparation, 
 but that it is a minor part of it. When it is made 
 the basis of the work, it brings about an artificial 
 condition in that the student never becomes 
 accustomed to meeting stenographic word obstacles, 
 and that he is " floored " as soon as one rises in 
 his path. It is further urged that repetition is 
 unnecessary since the bulk of all matter is much 
 the same and repetition is secured in this way. 
 One writer discussing the topic naively suggests l 
 that it is due to the fact that a school would require 
 less teachers with the repetition plan because the 
 students can be kept busy copying over and over 
 again while the teacher is otherwise employed. 
 i Walworth, Shorthand and Typewriter News, Vol. 1 , No. 6, 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 93 
 
 Like most conflicting views, there are kernels 
 of truth in each. It needs no close examination 
 to show that the two views are traceable to one 
 of the elements already discussed in this chapter 
 the ready application of the principles. Those 
 who have insisted upon this point from the begin- 
 ning will find use for a limited amount of repetition, 
 but will present new matter with which to give 
 the pupil power. Those who have not developed 
 this ready application of the word-building princi- 
 ples have to resort to rote memorization in its 
 extreme form, and repetition is the keystone of 
 this system. 
 
 If we apply the principle enunciated in a pre- 
 vious chapter, that the method must be judged in 
 
 the light of the end to be obtained, a 
 Essentials . 
 
 of Repeti- solution of the dimculty is apparent. 
 
 tj on . It is undoubtedly true that repetition 
 
 Practice. J . : ; 
 
 does many of the things claimed for it ; 
 
 but repetition may be wasteful as well as helpful. 
 To be helpful it should be regular, systematic, and 
 attentive. When repetition is characterized by 
 these qualities it may be used to develop form and 
 accuracy in execution ; it will increase the vocabu- 
 lary, and it will give manual dexterity. Then 
 when the teacher wishes to obtain these ends, by 
 all means let him use repetition practice. When 
 he wishes to give practice on the application of 
 word-building principles, or test out the vocabu- 
 lary, or obtain a transcript let him use new matter. 
 The lesson that tries to do all of these things to the 
 
94 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 same extent is likely to be as effective as the efforts 
 of the " Jack-of-all-trades." Do one thing at a 
 time, and do that well. Find out the result to be 
 obtained and then take the means that will most 
 efficiently produce the result. Repetition practice 
 should never be discontinued, but the use of it 
 will vary in proportion to its utility in producing 
 the result we desire. There cannot be the slightest 
 doubt but that both repetition practice and new 
 matter must be considered in getting up speed, 
 and the number of those who rely almost wholly 
 on repetition work is rapidly decreasing. Teachers 
 are beginning to realize that repetition can be 
 useful only for short periods during which the mind 
 can remain at full attention. Pitman's Speed 
 Tests and Guide to Rapid Writing in Slwrlhand 
 offers to ambitious students some very useful 
 hints on this important subject. 
 
 No plan of developing speed in shorthand is 
 complete unless it utilizes the power to be obtained 
 
 from the reading of shorthand notes. 
 Notes Extravagant claims are sometimes 
 
 made in regard to the benefit derived 
 from this practice, and it is well to take rather a 
 conservative view so as not to miscalculate. It 
 is sometimes said that the constant reading of 
 shorthand plate notes is the most effective means 
 of raising speed, that rapidity of execution is 
 unconsciously accomplished. It is difficult to 
 see how this can be true for reading and writing 
 are two essentially different operations. However, 
 
ESSENTIALS OF SHORTHAND SPEED 95 
 
 it must be admitted that the reading of plate 
 notes is valuable in developing better execution 
 of characters ; that the impression made on the 
 mind becomes so clear that we unconsciously 
 approach our mental exemplar. It is also true 
 that extensive reading of this character is service- 
 able in developing the ability of interpreting 
 outlines as a whole in the same way that the 
 ordinary person reads longhand ; that it frequently 
 results in enlarging the shorthand vocabulary for 
 when difficulty is met in reading a word, the form 
 of that word is more easily remembered. " There 
 are two different modes in which knowledge of 
 an art may be possessed the critical and the 
 practical. The former gives the ability to under- 
 stand and appreciate what has been executed by 
 another, the latter the ability to execute for 
 oneself. The art of reading Phonography is of 
 the former, that of writing it of the latter species 
 of knowledge." 1 
 
 In reading his own notes the student brings his 
 stenographic work to successful fruition, for it 
 will avail him nothing to have the 
 max ini ur n speed of which a human 
 being is capable if he is unable to 
 decipher what has been written. The lightning 
 calculator who adds column after column in a 
 short space of time finds no market for his services 
 if his work is not accurate ; so with the shorthand 
 writer. The correct transcription of the notes 
 
 1 Andrews and Boyle, Word Book, No. 1, pp. 8 and 9. 
 
9C> METHODS OF TEACHING rllOKTHAND 
 
 is the final act of the speed writer that gives the 
 work value. For this reason everything that is 
 written should be read ; the supposition that it 
 can be read is of no value, but the actual reading 
 of it has a distinct value no matter how many 
 times the reading is repeated. The greatest 
 benefit to be derived from such reading is the 
 knowledge which the student obtains of his 
 chronic errors of writing. Under the pressure of 
 speed distortion of notes is always likely to occur, 
 and the more the notes are read, the greater the 
 familiarity is obtained with these distortions and 
 the ability to read them readily by making allow- 
 ance for a distortion that is likely to occur is 
 acquired. Of course, success in reading poorly 
 executed outlines might encourage the tendency 
 to write poorly, and this danger must be guarded 
 against. 
 
 In planning the instruction of a speed class 
 account should be taken of all these essentials : 
 correct habits of writing, a thorough knowledge 
 of the system, ready application of word-building 
 principles, the word-carrying capacity, vocabulary 
 in longhand and shorthand, repetition practice, 
 use of new matter, and reading practice. When 
 the instruction is planned with these things in 
 view success is more than half attained. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING A SPEED 
 CLASS 
 
 IN outlining the work for a speed class the first 
 thing that the teacher must consider is the amount 
 of time at his disposal and its distribution. Fifty 
 minute recitation periods are very commonly used, 
 and in this chapter the work wall be outlined on 
 the basis of such a period ; suitable allowance can 
 be made for periods of different length. In order 
 to describe a typical lesson it is necessary to 
 assume that the routine factors have been provided 
 for ; that a student will look, after the light and 
 ventilation, another will distribute the necessary 
 paper, that another will mark the attendance, 
 another will check the home-work after it has been 
 handed to him by the students as they pass to their 
 seats, and so on with other routine matters. 
 Such things as light and ventilation, distribution 
 of paper, should be attended to before the time 
 for the actual lesson to start, not occasioning a 
 second's delay but the marking of the attendance, 
 checking of home-work, etc., may have to be done 
 by the student during that part of the lesson that 
 he can best afford to lose, for instance, during the 
 time the class is reading back the repetition 
 practice. It is further assumed that an assign- 
 ment has been made at the previous recitation, 
 97 
 
98 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 and that the class has had to prepare three letters 
 of about one hundred and twenty-five words each, 
 it being required that they should be able to write 
 every word correctly without hesitation, and that 
 they write each letter three times from dictation 
 as neatly and as accurately as possible. 
 
 The teacher's preparation will consist of a 
 selection of words taken from the assignment 
 
 which are to be dictated to the class to 
 Preparation. test the thoroughness of preparation ; 
 
 a drill chart such as described in Chapter 
 IV, containing contractions, or words in previous 
 exercises ; selection of new dictation material 
 which has been written over in shorthand and in 
 which the words and phrasing have been noted ; 
 the corrected papers that have been handed in 
 the previous day, and the assignment for the 
 following day. 
 
 The teacher begins the lesson with the dictation 
 of the words selected from the home-work to test 
 
 the thoroughness of the preparation. 
 
 Test of These words are selected promiscu- 
 
 Preparation 
 
 by Student, ously, sometimes being the most 
 
 unusual, sometimes the usual, some- 
 times contractions ; for if any plan of selection is 
 adhered to, the class will soon find it out and then 
 preparation will concentrate on one part and 
 neglect the others. The ability of the student to 
 write every word accurately and correctly indicates 
 thoughtful preparation ; failure to do so indicates 
 unsatisfactory preparation and further work should 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR A SPEED CLASS 99 
 
 be done, a good plan being that those who fail 
 receive their papers back, write out the outlines, 
 all that were dictated, several times, say ten, and 
 hand in this paper the next day as part of the 
 next day's preparation. As soon as the words are 
 written, the teacher has the papers collected and 
 they are corrected out of class, each one that is per- 
 fect being stamped " Approved," and each failure 
 simply checked and returned. The next day these 
 papers are given back to the students after the 
 pupil who has charge of the test records has made 
 the proper entry. The following day the unsatis- 
 factory papers must be re-written and handed to 
 the teacher, who stamps them and hands them 
 to the recorder. This method enables the teacher 
 to tell at the end of a certain period just how many 
 times each pupil failed during the time satis- 
 factorily to prepare the work. Avoidance of the 
 additional work given for failure acts as an 
 incentive to doing the work thoughtfully, and it 
 also serves to impress the words of the lesson on 
 the minds of the pupils and to build for them a 
 vocabulary, which needs only supplementary 
 drill to strengthen it. The dictation of these 
 words and the collection of papers should not 
 consume more than two minutes. 
 
 The next step in the lesson is the drill work. 
 Whatever material is chosen for drill is put on a 
 
 drill chart and dictated to the class, 
 Drill. . , ,. x 
 
 every time changing the order of dicta- 
 tion and increasing the speed. The words or 
 
100 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 phrases are then read back by the various members 
 of the class, and the reading can be checked from 
 the chart or from the copy of some other member 
 of the class. Five minutes should be long enough 
 to do effective work on twenty-five or thirty 
 words. 
 
 From the drill work the class passes to repetition 
 
 practice. Here a selection of material 
 Repetition. , r%*_._u, 
 
 must also be made. Straight matter, 
 
 commercial letters, etc., may be used. Some 
 teachers use the same selection daily for 
 repetition until a required speed is obtained 
 by most of the class and then they take another 
 selection. Others use the prepared work for 
 repetition practice. The use of the daily 
 prepared work is the more serviceable because 
 it contains a greater vocabulary, greater variety of 
 phrasing, and is less likely to be memorized. 
 
 The dictation of the first part of the repetition 
 work should be given by members of the class. 
 
 This enables the teacher to go about 
 Dictators *ke room looking at the work of those 
 
 who need his help, advising them, and 
 where necessary giving a demonstration. In this 
 way faulty habits of writing may be corrected, 
 the teacher sees how effectively a vocabulary is 
 being built, for if a selection that was prepared 
 two or three days ago is read and the student under 
 observation writes most of the words incorrectly, 
 it is a certain indication that those words have 
 not been mastered and that more seriousness has 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR A SPEED CLASS 101 
 
 to be put into the work. The teacher can also 
 judge of the word-carrying capacity of the different 
 students, and where necessary, he can give practice 
 in this line by stopping the pupil's writing until 
 the dictator gets a few words ahead and then 
 telling the students to catch up. Of course, this 
 could not be done with one who did not find the 
 speed of writing within his power. Through the 
 opportunity for observation which this student 
 dictation gives the teacher, he is enabled to come 
 closer to the individual problems of the student 
 and to keep in close touch with the improvement 
 made through the remedy he suggests. It is not 
 possible for any teacher to read, keep track of the 
 time, and try to observe the writing of the class 
 at the same time. 
 
 In order that the students may be able to read, 
 it may be necessary to use a metronome. Every 
 
 member of the class can learn to read 
 Metronome. ....... , r , ,* , 
 
 with this machine after five minutes 
 
 demonstration and then the teacher has thirty 
 substitute dictators at his disposal. All that is 
 necessary is to read a word at every tick of the 
 machine, and after a little practice the ability to 
 phrase may be acquired. To train every member 
 of a class to read at a certain rate of speed or rather 
 at different rates of speed, would require consider- 
 able time, and then the speed could be changed 
 without the knowledge of the others. With the 
 metronome, the speed cannot be changed once 
 the time is set. 
 
102 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 There is another advantage in having student 
 dictators. It is the best corrective tor slovenly 
 
 habits of speech that can be employed. 
 Effect of Let the pupil whose enunciation is 
 on C Student's care ^ ess attempt to rea d a selection, 
 English. and he will very soon discover that his 
 
 reading cannot be understood, and he 
 becomes conscious of his errors of speech. If the 
 student wishes to be understood it is necessary to 
 attend carefully to his reading, and since the 
 pressure comes from the class, and is the result of 
 a natural emergency, the student is so much the 
 more impressed with the necessity of using care 
 in his manner of speech. 
 
 The second part of the repetition dictation 
 should be given by the teacher without the metro- 
 nome. In this part the class has the benefit of 
 clear enunciation, distinct pronunciation, correct 
 phrasing, and the impetus that comes from the 
 voice of the trained dictator. The entire time 
 devoted to repetition practice should not be more 
 than fifteen minutes. 
 
 When the dictation of new matter is taken up, 
 the problem of adapting the speed to the greater 
 
 number in the class arises. As long as 
 Adapting class instruction continues, and as long 
 Dictation as individual human differences exist, 
 to Class. there will be in the same speed class 
 
 those who find no difficulty in taking 
 with ease the dictation that others find to the 
 limit of their capacity. It may be that more 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR A SPEED CLASS 103 
 
 flexible promotions may obviate this difficulty, but 
 until some means of overcoming it is provided, the 
 teacher must continue to struggle with it. To 
 keep the speed suitable for the upper half of the 
 class, and to tell the others to keep on trying to 
 get as much as possible is very discouraging to 
 those whose efforts are not rewarded. Likewise 
 to keep the speed down to the ability of the slower 
 half, exhorting the others to perfect their execution, 
 does not produce results after the first three or 
 four trials. It is probable that most of the 
 dictation should be fairly within the power of 
 the slower writers, and occasional dictation should 
 be given to draw out all the power of the faster 
 ones. 
 
 After a letter or a selection has been dictated, 
 it should be read back by the class as called upon 
 
 by the teacher, each reader being 
 Discussion accr edited with his success or failure 
 
 as will be explained later. When the 
 reading is finished, the class may raise questions 
 about stenographic outlines, and useful discussions 
 may be held. However, care should be taken that 
 such discussions should not be too prolonged as 
 they take too much time from the dictation and 
 reading. Extended discussions of outlines are out 
 of place in a speed room, the advantages or dis- 
 advantages should be summed up quickly and a 
 decision reached. If the principles have been 
 well learned, the mere reference to a certain 
 controlling principle is probably all that will be 
 
104 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 required. All outlines requested should be placed 
 on the board by the teacher and copied down by 
 the pupils, preferably in a vocabulary book. This 
 affords the class the opportunity for correction or 
 verification of outline. 
 
 In all of the dictation work in class there should 
 be a strong incentive to put forth the maximum 
 Incentive to er ^ ort - The usual stimulus in such 
 Continued a class is that of emulation ; one pupil 
 tries to get the dictation and to read 
 it as well or better than another. Then there is 
 praise for efficient work, and the feeling of satis- 
 faction after surmounting a difficulty. The 
 teacher should make use of all of these, but there 
 is another stimulus that is effective. In the 
 rating which the pupil receives on his work his 
 success or failure should be considered. Every 
 time that he reads satisfactorily, it indicates that 
 he has written it all, and better still, that he can 
 read it ; in other words he has done satisfactorily 
 a stenographic unit of work. A record of this 
 should be kept, and he can be advised of his 
 standing. This record also serves to prevent the 
 excessive calling upon one student or group of 
 students ; the reading is distributed as it should 
 be. This does not mean that pupils must be 
 called upon in turn, or alphabetically, but that 
 every one gets his chance, and he tries to make the 
 most of it. Attention at all times is necessary 
 for loss of the place is penalized the same as 
 inability to get the dictation, 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR A SPEED CLASS 105 
 
 In the repetition matter, most of what is dic- 
 tated should be read. When the teacher dictates, 
 it is well for him to change the wording 
 Notes ' ' here an< ^ th ere ^ & keeps the students 
 on edge to get the changed version. 
 Opportunity is afforded for deciphering notes 
 made at the highest speed of which the student 
 is capable in the repetition practice ; and in the 
 new matter, notes which are unfamiliar are struggled 
 with. However, it is the practice of some teachers 
 to introduce another kind of reading in their 
 classes, that of the reading of " cold notes." This 
 can be accomplished by having the dictation 
 taken in note-books which are dated on the new 
 page at the beginning of each lesson. The letters 
 are numbered, and at any time the teacher may 
 call upon one of the students to read such and such 
 a letter written on a certain date, maybe a week 
 or a month ago. The time taken for the dictation 
 of new matter and the reading of notes should not 
 consume ordinarily more than twenty-five minutes. 
 
 The next step in the lesson is the assignment. 
 This may be given in two ways : The material 
 
 used for new matter may be used for 
 Assignment. ,. . . r j 
 
 repetition practice the following day, 
 
 and it could easily be prepared ; or a new selec- 
 tion may be given. If the first plan is used, the 
 class has had all the doubtful outlines given to 
 them after making their own trial at them, and 
 they can, therefore, be held responsible'for knowing 
 them. Should the second plan be used the 
 
 *-<499) 
 
106 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 outlines must be looked up in the text or dictionary, 
 and the time of preparation is by so much 
 prolonged. 
 
 Taking speed dictation on the blackboard has 
 
 a doubtful advantage. It takes the student out 
 
 of the normal condition under which 
 
 he later ^ have to work ' and the 
 same response is never encouraged if 
 
 the conditions furnishing the stimulus are changed. 
 In the speed class most of the board work should 
 be done by the teacher. It may be used at times 
 to stimulate the interest of the more advanced 
 pupils, but for those who are trying their best to 
 get the dictation on the paper, there does not seem 
 to be much advantage. Occasionally it is in- 
 spirational for the teacher or an advanced writer 
 to " take " the selection on the board, but on the 
 whole, there is not much benefit derived. 
 
 It will be seen in this lesson that all the elements 
 of the recitation are present : the initial test of 
 
 words and the repetition matter being 
 Re C dSti?n f the reproduction, the factor of drill 
 
 following, the instruction of new out- 
 lines and the discussion being given in the new 
 matter, and the assignment made. It will also be 
 noted that most of the elements of speed are pro- 
 vided for. By the opportunity to observe the 
 pupils while one is reading, the teacher is in a 
 position to look after careful execution of outlines 
 and the formation of correct writing habits, to 
 develop word carrying capacity, to see to effective 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR A SPEED CLASS 107 
 
 vocabulary building. In the presentation of new 
 shorthand forms, the knowledge of the theory is 
 kept fresh in mind, and the ready application of 
 it is necessary. 
 
 The division of time for the lesson will depend 
 more or less upon the object in view. For example, 
 if it were a lesson at the beginning of the speed 
 work when much attention is required to writing 
 habits, the repetition practice might be greatly 
 extended with profit. And so with the other 
 elements. All that is needed to produce results is 
 a definite object and the sensible use of the means 
 by which it can be attained. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 
 
 THOUGH there may exist some division of opinion 
 
 as to the educational practicability of tests, it is 
 
 generally conceded that they are neces- 
 
 fwTests sarv m *k e scneme of teaching as it is 
 at the present day. When the subject 
 of shorthand is considered, it is not only necessary 
 to make this admission but it is necessary to 
 maintain that they are of vital importance. 
 There is always one advantage of tests that is 
 claimed for them in every subject ; they require 
 that concentrated attention and study that 
 frequently makes the difference between knowing 
 and not knowing a thing, and this is as true with 
 a class studying the principles of shorthand as it 
 is of a class studying any other subject. As an 
 educational device the benefit derived from tests 
 in this way is sufficient to justify them. But 
 besides this, tests are necessary in order that the 
 teacher may ascertain the effectiveness of his 
 instruction, that the knowledge given in the various 
 lessons and organized in the review lesson may be 
 supplemented and the organization fixed for ready 
 application, and finally, that the pupil be given 
 the opportunity to make the application of 
 knowledge imparted to him. 
 
 In a shorthand theory test all of these ends may 
 108 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 109 
 
 be kept in view. The test may serve to inform 
 the teacher and the pupil of the progress made in 
 the mastery of the principles or the other elements 
 of the system upon which instruction is given ; 
 if properly arranged the principles can be viewed 
 in perspective and a better appreciation of the 
 principles can be obtained ; and unhesitating 
 command of this knowledge must be evidenced. 
 
 The shorthand test is the only means by which 
 the teacher can learn whether the student really 
 knows the work or not, for success in 
 Unreliable! 8 ^ e a Pph ca ti n of a principle when it 
 is the only one involved in a word, or 
 when the application of the principle is indicated 
 by the appearance of the word in a certain group, 
 does not necessarily mean that the applicability 
 of the principle would be recognized if the examples 
 were presented promiscuously. This is the reason 
 that a general impression of the student's ability 
 obtained from his exercises or from his daily work 
 is very likely to be at variance with the result of a 
 good test. Just as some animal trainers fool 
 themselves into an exaggerated appraisal of animal 
 intelligence when the animal performs some trick, 
 the cue for which is unconsciously given by the 
 trainer, so the teacher and the pupil are deceived 
 into believing that mastery of the principle is 
 obtained when in reality the application is made 
 obvious by the way in which the problem is pre- 
 sented. The test eliminates these things and 
 compels the student to make an independent 
 
110 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 application of the principles which is likely to be 
 reliable as a basis of judgment. " Unhesitating 
 promptitude of execution within the domain of 
 the principle undertaken to be taught must, from 
 the start, be the test as to whether the principle 
 has been mastered, and whether the student is 
 making healthy progress." l The healthy progress 
 of the student can be ascertained only through 
 the test. 
 
 When a test is given in Pitmanic shorthand on 
 the initial or final hooks, the points of similarity 
 or difference are brought out strongly ; the like- 
 ness or contrast impresses them on the mind so 
 that they take a more definite form and their 
 recall is facilitated. 
 
 The mode of testing will depend upon the nature 
 of the subject to be tested. In shorthand the 
 Mode of material to be tested is of two kinds : 
 Testing automatic and reflective. By the 
 Determined. air t- oma tj c material is meant the gram- 
 malogs, contractions, and phrases which the 
 student should be able to reproduce without 
 reflection from the beginning of his course. By 
 the reflective material is meant, not that unlimited 
 time should be given for writing it, but that it 
 is not necessary to write it as quickly and with as 
 little reflection as the grammalogs or word-signs. 
 The words involved in the various principles are of 
 this class. Since reflection indicates that the power 
 of recall and reproduction is not instantaneous, 
 
 1 David W. Brown, Mastery of Shorthand, p. 16. 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 111 
 
 it should gradually be eliminated and every 
 test in shorthand should be conducted under 
 a time limit, with the time allowance growing less 
 and less. A student who can write the word-signs 
 or contractions as they are dictated to him pro- 
 miscuously at the rate of one every three seconds 
 and read them back has really mastered them. 
 The student who has studied a principle and can 
 write words involving the principle in fifteen 
 seconds need have no fear that the foundation for 
 speed work is not being well laid. Of course, if 
 this time limit can be reduced, so much the 
 better. 
 
 A test should involve all the necessary elements 
 of the work upon which instruction has been given. 
 A11 It is a mistake to test a class upon the 
 
 Necessary principles and neglect the word-signs, 
 Elements. for ^fe ig sure m( jication to the class 
 
 that the teacher does not consider the word-signs 
 important, and the earnest attention of the student 
 to this feature of the work is lost. Likewise, if 
 the phrases are neglected, they suffer in the amount 
 of practice and preparation given to them. If 
 word-signs, phrases, and principles have been 
 taught, the test should include material from each 
 division. It is the same with a speed section. 
 Some teachers strive to accomplish many things 
 in the speed work, and when they fail they cannot 
 account for it. For instance, a teacher may be 
 trying to build for the class a stenographic vocabu- 
 lary ; but when the test comes, he dictates a five 
 
112 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 hundred word selection and requires a transcript. 
 The students see no connection between the work 
 done in vocabulary building and test, and they 
 soon come to regard the effort to build a vocabulary 
 as useless, unimportant and perfunctory. But let 
 them see that the teacher considers it important, 
 that their work is checked up, and that it is part 
 of the test, and there is a different spirit exhibited 
 towards it. 
 
 In the eyes of the students the tests sometimes 
 seem to become the end of the instruction and they 
 Test from * ose a ^ sense f the proper relationship 
 Standpoint between the test and the ultimate end 
 p ' of instruction, but this danger is less 
 in shorthand than in other subjects where parrot- 
 like reproduction of ideas passes as knowledge. 
 In shorthand speed work, skill is tested, and the 
 skill required in one test, if adequate, is sufficient 
 to meet the demands of similar situations. But 
 because of the undue importance attached by the 
 students to the various tests to which they are 
 subjected, a judicious method of marking the 
 papers is very necessary. An arbitrary, unjust 
 method of rating may spoil the effect of an other- 
 wise good test, and be extremely detrimental to 
 the future instruction of the class. The class that 
 suffers under the arbitrary, dogmatic rating method 
 of the teacher who thinks his scheme of rating 
 concerns only himself and that the pupils have no 
 right to know how he reaches his conclusions is to 
 be pitied. There is little incentive for conscientious 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 113 
 
 work, and ignoring the policy of the " square deal " 
 never brings about harmonious relations. 
 
 In rating the speed tests there are several 
 standards that the teacher may use, such as the 
 Rating rules for rating laid down by the Civil 
 Theory Service and the Regents of the State 
 of New York ; but in the matter of the 
 theory tests, teachers must often have faced a 
 difficulty without having any standard to which to 
 refer. That difficulty exists, for example, when 
 in writing a word in shorthand the student has 
 the correct consonantal elements but the wrong 
 vowel. Should he be given no credit for the word ? 
 Or should the error be overlooked and full credit 
 be given ? Or suppose a stroke should be shaded 
 and it is made lightly, or a consonant should have 
 been a short stroke when it was made long, what 
 is the teacher to do. Many elements enter into 
 the mistakes made, and to handle them in some 
 systematic way requires no small effort on the part 
 of the teacher. It is apparent at the outset that 
 neither plan, that of giving no credit or that of 
 leniently overlooking the error, is strictly correct. 
 To regard as wrong a word containing one incor- 
 rectly written element and two or three correctly 
 written elements can be justified only in one way : 
 that the teacher considers the word a unit, and if 
 the unit is not correct, none of the work receives 
 credit. This method is marked by severity, and 
 is inclined to be rather arbitrary since it establishes 
 an arbitrary unit in the face of existing real units. 
 
114 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 To be consistent it would be proper to extend the 
 principle and regard as incorrect a sentence in 
 which one word is incorrectly written ; or a para- 
 graph in which one mistake appears. The other 
 method is marked by leniency and serves to 
 encourage carelessness. 
 
 However, there is an intermediate course in 
 which values are assigned to the various elements 
 
 entering into the operation. After 
 v2u3fons f . the writer had read to the New York 
 
 Conference of Evening High School 
 Teachers of Shorthand a paper on " Measuring 
 Results in Shorthand," Mr. John G. Dunbar, of 
 the Brooklyn Evening High School for Men, 
 brought in the following scheme for rating papers. 
 In rating words no credit was given if the outline 
 was incorrect, that is, if all the consonants were 
 not correct. If the consonantal outline, the 
 position of the word, and the accented vowel were 
 correct, full credit was given ; if the outline was 
 correct and the position or the accented vowel was 
 wrong, one-third of the credit would be deducted. 
 It can be seen that even this elaborate valuation 
 of elements does not do full justice. As a matter 
 of fact, there is no necessity for expressing the 
 ability or power of a student in percentages, or in 
 literal denominations. All that is necessary is 
 that the student know his shortcomings ; that he 
 should know definitely and specifically the cause 
 of failure so that a direct, effective remedy is 
 applicable. Grading may appeal to the spirit of 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 115 
 
 emulation in a class and lead the student to try 
 to outdo another student, but the best kind of 
 emulation is that which stimulates the student to 
 try to do better than his own previous efforts. 
 The plan for measuring results explained in the 
 next chapter can be used for this purpose. 
 
 In rating speed tests there are three plans which 
 offer suggestions : the plan used by the Municipal 
 Rating of Civil Service, that used by the Regents, 
 Speed Tests, an d that used by the Federal Civil 
 Civil Service. In all Municipal Civil Service 
 
 Service. tests there are three dictations given 
 at different rates of speed, and the candidate is 
 allowed to choose the one he desires to submit for 
 rating. If he submits the lowest dictation, he is 
 credited with a speed rating of 70 per cent. ; if 
 the second is chosen, he receives 85 per cent., 
 and if he takes the highest speed, he is given 100 
 per cent. The mark given the candidate for speed 
 is then combined with that given for accuracy, 
 the former counting one credit, and the latter 
 counting two credits, and the average is the final 
 rating. Thus, if a candidate received a speed 
 rating of 85 per cent., having taken the second 
 highest speed dictation, and his accuracy rating 
 was 70 per cent., his final mark would be 85 plus 
 70, plus 70, or 225 credits divided by three, giving 
 an average of 75 per cent. The accuracy mark, 
 it will be noted, is added in twice because 
 it is accorded twice as much weight as the 
 speed. 
 
1 16 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 The plan of marking for accuracy is outlined 
 by one of the examiners as follows : " Trifling 
 errors are dealt with leniently ; but serious mis- 
 takes, considerable omissions, or versions that 
 make nonsense, get heavy demerits. Every paper 
 is carefully gone over by two examiners, and the 
 average of their marks makes a final rating. It 
 is impossible to say just what deductions are made 
 for certain errors because the demerits depend 
 upon the nature of the errors made and upon the 
 seriousness of the error, but the demerits for 
 omissions bear a due relation to the ratings 
 accorded the different speed tests. Suppose the 
 dictation consists of 600 words. Four minutes 
 would be necessary in which to take that down at 
 150 words a minute, but if the dictation were 
 given at 165 words a minute he would have 
 eighteen seconds to spare and fifty words can be 
 written in eighteen seconds, so that if he dropped 
 fifty words from the second dictation without 
 spoiling the sense of the matter, his second dicta- 
 tion would be as good as the first, and if his omis- 
 sions were fewer the second dictation would be 
 the better. The difficulty lies in dropping out 
 fifty words from 600 and still make correct sense, 
 and this is where the candidate must exercise his 
 judgment before making a selection. He would 
 be safer under such circumstances to submit the 
 lower and correct test, but, if, instead of fifty 
 words he had dropped but thirty, and still did not 
 spoil the sense, then the second test might merit 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 117 
 
 the higher rating for speed. The same rule 
 applies to the third and highest test." l 
 
 The Regents of the State of New York offer 
 only one dictation in each grade of examination. 
 
 For Grade I, they offer a dictation at 
 Regents. ... , 
 
 fifty words per minute for ten minutes 
 
 to be transcribed in one hour, although ninety 
 minutes were allowed in June, 1913. In Grade II, 
 500 words are dictated in five minutes, and the 
 time for transcription is the same as that in Grade 
 I. The directions for rating papers arc much 
 more definite than those of the Civil Service. 
 They deal specifically with each type of the more 
 common errors. The plan of rating follows : 
 Deduct one credit for each. 
 
 (a) Omitted word. 
 
 (6) Added word. 
 
 (c) Substituted word. 
 
 (d) Transposition. 
 
 (c) Use of plural for singular, or vice versa, 
 where the sense is changed. 
 
 (/) Use of longhand in notes. 
 Deduct one-half credit for each error in 
 
 (a) Capitalization. 
 
 (b) Punctuation. 
 
 (c) Division of words. 
 
 (d) Repeated words. 
 
 (e) Spelling. 
 
 (/) Omitting hyphen. 
 
 1 James T. Conway, Assistant Chief Examiner, New 
 York Civil Service Commission, Stenographer, Feb., 1912. 
 
118 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 (g) Unauthorized abbreviations. 
 (h) Use of singular for plural, or vice versa, 
 when sense is not changed. 
 From one to five credits may be deducted for any 
 error not mentioned above, lack of neatness, etc. 
 In February, 1913, it was proposed to change 
 the plan of rating Regents papers, and State 
 Inspector of Business Education, 
 Chlnget d Wallace E - Bartholomew, sent the pro- 
 posed changes to the teachers through- 
 out the State to get their opinions upon them. It 
 was proposed to introduce two dictation tests for 
 examination for credit in Grade II, an 80-word 
 test, in which it is necessary to obtain 75 per cent, 
 as a passing mark, and the usual 100 word test, 
 in which the passing mark is 60 per cent. The 
 transcript for the latter was to be rated as outlined 
 above. For rating the 80- word test, the following 
 was suggested : 
 
 1. The transcript will be rated on the basis of 
 100 per cent, for accuracy by the schedule or 
 rating now in force, papers falling below 75 per 
 cent, to be rejected. 
 
 2. The final mark of an accepted paper will be 
 determined by the average of the mark obtained 
 for accuracy with an arbitrary mark of 70 per cent, 
 given for the rate of speed ; e.g., a paper rated 
 at 90 per cent, for accuracy would receive a final 
 mark of one-half of 75 plus 90 per cent., or 82i prr 
 cent. 
 
 1 Shorthand and Typewriter News, Feb., 1913. 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 119 
 
 The Federal Civil Service uses a scheme of rating 
 
 similar to that used by the Regents, but it seems 
 
 Federal * ^ e a little more severe : 70 per cent. 
 
 Civil is required as a passing mark. The 
 
 plan is as follows : 
 
 Three credits are deducted for each word 
 omitted, added, substituted, or misspelled, or for 
 the use of the singular instead of the plural, or 
 vice versa, when the grammatical correctness is 
 affected. 
 
 Two credits are deducted for each transposition. 
 
 One credit is taken away for each gross error in 
 capitalization or punctuation ; for each error in 
 division of words ; for each repeated word ; for 
 each failure to use the hyphen when required ; 
 for each abbreviation ; or for the use of the plural 
 for the singular, or vice versa, when the grammatical 
 correctness is not affected. 
 
 For interlineations, erasures, and lack of neat- 
 ness, from one to five credits may be deducted. 
 In this examination speed in writing the notes is 
 weighted equally with accuracy in transcribing 
 them, and the marks credited for the different 
 speeds are : 70 per cent, when the dictation is at 
 the rate of eighty words per minute, 80 per cent, 
 for 100 words, 90 per cent, for 120 words, and 
 100 per cent, for 140 words. 
 
 These three standards of rating are given here 
 so that the teacher may know what method of 
 rating is used by each of these three boards whose 
 business it is to rate thousands of such papers, 
 
120 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 and whose experience has been ample enough to 
 enable them to develop the most efficient schemes ; 
 so that he may outline a plan of his own, and also 
 that he may adopt the plan for testing those who 
 desire to take examinations with these various 
 boards. 
 
 In general, the test should include every 
 important element of instruction ; it should not 
 only enable the teacher to find out what the pupil 
 knows or does not know, but it should serve to 
 organize the knowledge and require ready applica- 
 tion of it. The test should be conducted in a way 
 that will show whether the student has learned 
 the things in the way in which they should be 
 learned. For example, a test on word-signs in 
 which a half or a quarter of a minute is given for 
 writing each would not be satisfactory because 
 they should be written almost instantaneously, 
 therefore they should be tested in this way. 
 
 There should be a judicious plan for rating the 
 tests, and this involves a recognition of the varying 
 Influence importance of the different elements 
 on Daily entering into the test, an appraisal of 
 Work. fa & value of the units of operation, and 
 most important of all, the plan should serve to 
 bring about more efficient classroom work. The 
 student who finds his daily recitation counting 
 definitely for or against him in the final rating is 
 likely to put forth more consistent and earnest 
 effort than the one who merely practises daily so 
 that he may do well in the test when it comes. 
 
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS 121 
 
 The one who finds his ability to read his notes 
 taken account of every time he is given the oppor- 
 tunity has an incentive not only to get the notes 
 all down, but to get them down accurately enough 
 to read them back readily. It is in this way that 
 tests and examinations may become very valuable 
 as an aid in the instruction. 
 
 9 (499) 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 
 
 PROBABLY no movement in education is more 
 encouraging than the insistence of educational 
 authorities upon reducing the results of teaching 
 to accurate measurement. While much remains 
 to be done in this direction before adequate scales 
 of measurement are established for every branch 
 of instruction, yet a beginning has been made, 
 and in view of the work done by Thorndike, Rice, 
 Courtis, Stone, and others, it would be rash to 
 maintain that results in education are not subject 
 to measurement. Subjects that demand the 
 development of skill should be easily susceptible 
 of accurate measurement, and as shorthand is in 
 this class, it is the purpose of this chapter to out- 
 line a plan by which the results of shorthand 
 instruction may be judged. 
 
 As the plan for measuring the progress of a 
 
 speed class is simpler than that for measuring the 
 
 mastery of the theory, it will probably 
 
 What Plan be ^^ to ^ns^er the former first. 
 Does. 
 
 Through the application of this plan 
 
 it will be possible (1) to determine accurately the 
 increase in the power of the student to take the 
 dictation and to furnish an accurate transcript, 
 and (2) to find the specific weakness of the 
 individual student so that a definite plan for 
 improvement may be suggested. 
 122 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 123 
 
 When a student receives a mark of 75 per cent., 
 
 it has no definite signification to him other than 
 
 that his transcript had a sufficient 
 
 Percentages number of errors to justify a deduction 
 Unsatis- 
 factory, of 25 per cent., and when his paper is 
 
 given back to him, he is probably 
 satisfied with the cursory glance at it to discover 
 the nature of his errors, if he looks at it at all. 
 Another student receiving 75 per cent, may differ 
 from the first in ability, but the mark given for 
 the test does not reveal this difference. And 
 when the first student receives 80 per cent, in the 
 next test, it indicates to him only that he succeeded 
 5 per cent, better than the last time, or that he 
 managed to transcribe five more words ; it may 
 also signify that his orthography has improved, 
 or that his shorthand speed increased so that he 
 was able to get it all down, or that he was more 
 successful in deciphering his notes, and so on. 
 The mark shows him nothing definite, and after 
 the teacher has corrected and marked thirty papers, 
 it is a safe guess to say that his knowledge of the 
 individual progress of the class is somewhat hazy. 
 His recommendations to the class are likely to be 
 about as sensible as those of the teacher who sets 
 three or four problems in interest to a student 
 and judges that what is needed, when the wrong 
 answers are presented, is a more thorough study 
 of the principles of interest, when an analysis 
 of the work would show that the errors were made 
 in addition, or multiplication. 
 
124 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 This plan of measurement is fundamentally the 
 same as all other plans. The procedure includes 
 two things : the determination of the 
 units mvolved in tne operation, and 
 the classification of the errors according 
 to type. In taking a speed test the student is not 
 only required to get it all down in shorthand but 
 also to transcribe every outline correctly, and it 
 is in the transcription, which is the ultimate end 
 of the work, that most of the units of operation are 
 found. In transcribing, the student is under 
 obligation to write a word in longhand for every 
 outline in shorthand, to avoid substituting one 
 word for another, to spell correctly, to paragraph, 
 to punctuate, and capitalize properly. This is what 
 is meant by the units of operation. In making the 
 scale for measurement the teacher may take all 
 the units into account, or he may take only a few 
 of the more important units such as omissions, 
 substitutions, misspellings, etc. The scale used 
 by the writer contained the following : Omissions, 
 additions, substitutions, not transcribed, mis- 
 spelled, capitalizations, paragraphing, transposi- 
 tions, and punctuation. All errors in the transcript 
 were traced and classified, the result showing 
 without the semblance of a doubt, the strength or 
 weakness of the individual pupil. On page 125 is 
 given a summary of the first formal dictation test 
 given to a class of thirty-one, the rate of speed 
 being forty-three words per minute for five minutes, 
 the students being represented by letters, and the 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 125 
 
 STUDENT. 
 
 Omissions. 
 
 Additions. 
 
 M 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 M 
 
 Transpositions. 
 
 Not Transcribed. 
 
 Misspelled. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Paragraphing. 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 
 35 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 B 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 31 
 
 C 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 II 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 E 
 
 48 
 
 I 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 
 82 
 
 F 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 24 
 
 G 
 
 31 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 48 
 
 H 
 
 8 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 83 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 IOI 
 
 I 
 
 36 
 
 i 
 
 8 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 48 
 
 J 
 
 10 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 39 
 
 K 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 44 
 
 L 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 19 
 
 M 
 
 ii 
 
 I 
 
 '4 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 36 
 
 N 
 
 55 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 ii 
 
 
 80 
 
 o 
 
 32 
 
 
 16 
 
 i 
 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 58 
 
 P 
 
 75 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 Q 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 18 
 
 R 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 S 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 5i 
 
 T 
 
 30 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 U 
 
 15 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 34 
 
 8 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 79 
 
 V 
 
 Abs 
 
 ent 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 i 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Y 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 8 
 
 i 
 
 12 
 
 Z 
 
 30 
 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 AA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
 10 
 
 BB 
 
 12 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 34 
 
 CC 
 
 33 
 
 2 
 
 28 
 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 76 
 
 DD 
 
 ii 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 23 
 
 EE 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 3t 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 549 
 
 31 
 
 247 
 
 5 
 
 184 
 
 52 
 
 18 
 
 88 
 
 29 
 
 1,203 
 
 Test No. i, Feb. 27th, 1913. 
 43 words per minute for five minutes. 
 
126 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 numbers indicating the errors of each kind in 
 accordance with the column in which they are 
 placed. As there are more than twenty-six in the 
 class it is necessary to represent the excess members 
 by double letters such as AA, BB, etc. 
 
 From this chart it will be readily seen that the 
 
 principal difficulty with the class as a whole was 
 
 inability to get the notes on paper as 
 
 Results of there were 549 outlines omitted, and 
 
 Classifica- . . . 
 
 tion. the omissions were quite generally 
 
 distributed throughout the class. The 
 next type of error which is generally distributed, 
 is that of substituting one word for another, 
 reading the outline incorrectly, and this occurred 
 247 times. It will be noted, also, that there were 
 184 outlines so written that they were unintelligible, 
 and the writers could make no sense whatever 
 from them. All these figures are significant to 
 teacher and pupils alike. A glance at the records 
 of students A and P will show that their principal 
 weakness is inability to get the notes down, 
 whereas the record of student H, or that of student 
 U, shows inability to read the notes after they have 
 been taken down ; it shows the lowest possible 
 ability in transcription because they were unable 
 to decipher anything from them. In the case of 
 students J and M it will be seen that the weakness 
 is in reading one word for another. Evidently the 
 work to be done by students A and P will differ 
 from that to be done by students H and U ; just 
 as the work to be done by H and U will be different 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 127 
 
 from that of students J and M. In the first case 
 speed in getting the notes down is the main 
 desideratum, in the second the power to wrestle 
 the meaning from the notes that have been written 
 is required, in the third case more attentive 
 observation and greater intelligence in the selection 
 of the words is demanded. It will be seen, there- 
 fore, that a classification of errors in accordance with 
 this plan enables each student to know his personal 
 deficiency, and the teacher is then in a position to 
 make remedial recommendations that will go directly 
 to the root of the trouble and bring about efficiency 
 with the least possible waste of time and effort. 
 
 It is easily seen that if a student's ability can be 
 assayed so definitely by this plan, all that is neces- 
 sary to measure his progress is to give a similar 
 test at a later period and apply the scheme. If 
 his record for omissions is better than it was in 
 the last test, he has improved. Likewise, any 
 particular type of error will show improvement or 
 retrogression. Sometimes it will be observed that 
 improvement in one respect will frequently bring 
 about a retrogression in another, as, for instance, 
 when a student has to make a great effort in getting 
 the notes down, he may not be able to read them 
 because of their poor form. However, this is an 
 indication of improvement and need not be a 
 discouraging factor ; a little more practice will 
 enable him to form the notes without distortion, 
 and then he will have regained his old ability to 
 read them. 
 
128 
 
 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 STUDENT. 
 
 Omissions. 
 
 Additions. 
 
 Substitutions. 
 
 Transpositions. 
 
 Not Transcribed. 
 
 Misspelled. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Paragraphing. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 A 
 
 8 
 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 25 
 
 B 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 15 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 D 
 
 I 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 E 
 
 26 
 
 15 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 F 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 5 
 
 G 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 18 
 
 H 
 
 ii 
 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 29 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 31 
 
 J 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 K 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 i 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 L 
 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 M 
 
 ii 
 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 30 
 
 N 
 
 25 
 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 42 
 
 O 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 46 
 
 P 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 34 
 
 Q 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 18 
 
 R 
 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 S 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 14 
 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 28 
 
 T 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 U 
 
 10 
 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 w 
 
 8 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Y 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Z 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 AA 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 BB 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 CC 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 ii 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 DD 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 EE 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 16 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 183 
 
 48 
 
 209 
 
 72 
 
 6 9 
 
 84 
 
 3 
 
 26 
 
 21 
 
 715 
 
 Test No. 2, Mar. I3th, 1913. 
 Fifty words per minute for five minutes. 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 129 
 
 Below is given the result of a test taken by the 
 
 same class of thirty-one scholars after an interval 
 
 of two weeks. This test was about 
 
 Second ^ same j n t j ie character of material 
 
 dictated, but the speed was raised to 
 
 fifty words per minute. The duration of the test, 
 
 as in the last one, was five minutes. 
 
 It will be seen at a glance in comparing this 
 chart with the previous one that there is improve- 
 ment. The total number of errors 
 "' made by the class has been reduced 
 from 1,203 to 715, the most notable advance being 
 in speed of writing, as can be seen from the fact 
 that while in the first table 549 words were omitted, 
 the second record shows only 183. Another 
 important fact is that the number of words which 
 the class was unable to transcribe has been reduced 
 from 184 to 69 without an increase in the sub- 
 stituted words. In considering these figures it 
 must be kept in mind that the speed of dictation 
 was increased and that there were only 30 stu- 
 dents in the first test, student V being absent. 
 The progress in the other units of the test can be 
 seen in the same way by a comparison. 
 
 Looking at the individual records, it is apparent 
 that student A, for example, has improved since 
 the number of errors made has been reduced from 
 48 to 25, and the improvement is noticed in that 
 particular point which the first test showed was 
 the weakest, the ability to get the notes down. 
 In the second test the number of words omitted 
 
130 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 was reduced from 35 to 8, whereas the other errors 
 remained practically the same. In the case of 
 student P, it will be seen that improvement in 
 getting the notes down has been shown, but the 
 number of words substituted and not transcribed 
 has increased from 4 and 1 respectively to 9 and 12. 
 This is a natural tendency, and on the whole it 
 must be counted a gain since the reduction of 
 the omitted words from 75 to 6 is greater than 
 the increase in the errors of substitution and 
 non-transcription . 
 
 In studying the case of student H, it would seem 
 that he was suffering from fright or nervousness 
 in the first test when his inability to transcribe 
 83 words was shown. In the second test this 
 number has been wiped out altogether, every 
 outline that he wrote being recognizable as some 
 word. The other errors remain much the 
 same. In the case of student U, improvement is 
 seen in the three units of omissions, substitutions, 
 and non-transcriptions, the first being reduced 
 from 15 to 10, the second from 13 to 6, and the 
 third from 34 to 2. A similar comparison of 
 these figures will tell whether there has been 
 improvement and just how much for each individual 
 scholar. 
 
 It will be readily admitted that this plan of 
 
 measuring results does give definite information, 
 
 and has other advantages, but some 
 
 will argue that the amount of time it 
 
 would take to get this data and arrange it would 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 131 
 
 STUDENT. 
 
 Omissions. 
 
 Additions. 
 
 Substitutions. 
 
 Transpositions. 
 
 Not Transcribed. 
 
 Misspelled. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Paragraphing. 
 
 S 
 H 
 
 A 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 24 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 ii 
 
 C 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 E 
 
 44 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 67 
 
 F 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 ii 
 
 G 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 19 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 J 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 9 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 19 
 
 K 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 L 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 N 
 
 Abs 
 
 ent 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3-2 
 
 P 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 Q 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 R 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 S 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 T 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 25 
 
 U 
 
 > 
 
 
 II 
 
 
 i 
 
 5 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 27 
 
 V 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 ii 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 X 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 ii 
 
 Y 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 Z 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 M 
 
 AA 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 BB 
 
 4 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 30 
 
 CC 
 
 3 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 32 
 
 DD 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 EE 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3i 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 105 
 
 30 
 
 141 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 80 
 
 10 
 
 69 
 
 77 
 
 539 
 
 Test No. 3, April 4th, 1913. 
 Fifty words per minute for five minutes. 
 
132 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 STUDENT. 
 
 Omissions. 
 
 Additions. 
 
 Substitutions. 
 
 Transpositions. 
 
 Not Transcribed 
 
 Misspelled. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Paragraphing. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 ii 
 
 B 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 C 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 8 
 
 D 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 E 
 
 
 I 
 
 33 
 
 22 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 70 
 
 F 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 i 
 
 ii 
 
 G 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 14 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 8 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 6 
 
 J 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 20 
 
 K 
 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 17 
 
 L 
 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 H 
 
 M 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 7 
 
 O 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 30 
 
 P 
 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 Q 
 
 
 3 
 
 ii 
 
 10 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 R 
 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 T 
 
 3 
 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 U 
 
 Abs 
 
 ent 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 9 
 
 W 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 7 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Y 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Z 
 
 Abs 
 
 ent 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AA 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 BB 
 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 40 
 
 CC 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 33 
 
 DD 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 7 
 
 EE 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 13 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 24 
 
 31 
 
 175 
 
 63 
 
 4 
 
 84 
 
 II 
 
 37 
 
 26 
 
 455 
 
 Test No. 4, April I5th, 1913. 
 Fifty words per minute for ten minutes. 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 
 
 133 
 
 STUDENT. 
 
 1 
 'g 
 O 
 
 Additions. 
 
 Substitutions. 
 
 Transpositions. 
 
 Not Transcribed. 
 
 Misspelled. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Paragraphing. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 A 
 
 i 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 ii 
 
 B 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 16 
 
 
 22 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 4 
 
 D 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 8 
 
 E 
 
 
 2 
 
 25 
 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 48 
 
 F 
 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 
 n 
 
 G 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 10 
 
 H 
 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 7 
 
 
 12 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 6 
 
 J 
 
 i 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 9 
 
 K 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 L 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 M 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 8 
 
 N 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 15 
 
 P 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Q 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 R 
 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
 
 12 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 7 
 
 T 
 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 
 12 
 
 U 
 
 2' 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 H 
 
 W 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 9 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 Y 
 
 3 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 16 
 
 Z 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 13 
 
 AA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 BB 
 
 2 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 16 
 
 CC 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 12 
 
 DD 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 IS 
 
 EE 
 
 I 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 
 13 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 30 
 
 16 
 
 142 
 
 o 
 
 9 
 
 5-5 
 
 21 
 
 97 
 
 o 
 
 374 
 
 Regents Test, No. 5, June i6th, 1913. 
 Fifty words per minute for ten minutes^ 
 
134 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 be so great that the benefits to be obtained would 
 not justify the expenditure of it. However, there 
 is a plan for simplifying the work so that it will 
 not add very much to the time it ordinarily takes 
 for a teacher to correct and grade a speed test. 
 Instead of marking the errors by means of a check- 
 mark or some other sign, a set of symbols should 
 be established to indicate the nature of the error, 
 and as soon as a mistake is noticed, it should be 
 indicated with the appropriate symbol. This 
 would take no longer than to place a check-mark 
 on the spot in most cases, the only time it would 
 retard the work being where words are omitted 
 in the transcript ; then the teacher must examine 
 the notes to tell whether they are omissions or 
 non-transcriptions. For this reason it is wise to 
 have the test so arranged that the shorthand notes 
 are written down one-third of the page, and the 
 transcription occupies the same line as the short- 
 hand notes taking up the other two-thirds. This 
 facilitates reference to the notes. In correcting 
 themes the teachers of English use a series of 
 symbols to indicate the nature of errors, and the 
 plan can be used with just as great serviceability 
 in shorthand. The following is a suggested series. 
 O Omissions S Substitutions 
 
 A Additions T Transpositions 
 
 N Not Transcribed M Misspelled 
 C Capitalization P Punctuation 
 
 ^[ Paragraphing 
 The three charts which follow complete the 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 135 
 
 progress record of this class up to the time the Re- 
 gents examination was given at the end of the 
 term. It should be borne in mind that in the first 
 three charts the examination consisted of 250 words 
 or less, but in the last two charts, the examination 
 contained 500 words, thus rendering the liability 
 of error greater by 100 per cent. ; yet the errors 
 continued to diminish. 
 
 The progress of individual students becomes 
 immediately apparent when the data from each 
 examination is assembled on a student's individual 
 record card, a reproduction of which is given below. 
 
 Feb. 27, 1913 
 (Date.) 
 
 (Student's Name.) 
 
 Sten. Ill 
 (Class.) 
 
 DATE or 
 TEST. 
 
 
 
 - 
 f*e 
 ol 
 
 h 
 
 H 
 
 Omissions. 
 
 Additions. 
 
 Substitutions. 
 
 Transpositions. 
 
 Not Transcribed. 
 
 Misspelled. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Paragraphing. 
 
 
 I 
 
 Feb. 27th, 1913 
 
 43 
 
 5 
 
 35 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 March 13th, 1913 
 
 50 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 25 
 
 April 4th, 1913 .. 
 
 50 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 24 
 
 April 15th, 1913.. 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 11 
 
 June 16th, 1913.. 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 STUDENT'S RECORD OF PROGRESS. 
 
 It will be seen from the above record that the 
 specific weaknesses are found in the first test, and 
 as the record of each succeeding test is added 
 improvement car) be seen at a glance. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 
 
 (continued) 
 
 IN the preceding pages it was shown how the 
 specific weakness of a class or of an individual 
 could be ascertained and how progress could be 
 measured. It is now appropriate to see if the 
 same thing can be done with a class in any part 
 of the theory instruction. The same fundamental 
 principles hold good, viz., the division of the 
 operation into its constituent units, and the 
 analysis and classification of errors. 
 
 Instead of the units of omission, addition, sub- 
 stitution, etc., that appeared in the transcript of 
 the speed test, it is necessary to sub- 
 s ^itute those errors that are liable to 
 occur in the writing of the shorthand 
 outline. These may be considered under four 
 main heads : consonants, vowels, abbreviations, 
 and position. It should be possible to classify all 
 student errors under one of these heads. In 
 writing a word he may, perhaps, make a mistake 
 in each, that is, he may use the wrong vowel, 
 write the wrong consonant, get the abbreviating 
 expedient incorrect, and write the word out of its 
 proper position, but such blundering is unusual. 
 If a mistake occurs in a word, it must be an error 
 136 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 137 
 
 in the writing of the vowel, the consonants, the 
 abbreviation, or in the position of the word. 
 
 Mistakes made with reference to vowels may be 
 classified under one of the following : omitted, 
 added, substituted, and place. By an 
 omitted vowel is meant one that should 
 be written and which is not. An added 
 vowel is one which is written and which is not 
 sounded in the word. A substituted vowel is one 
 in which the correct symbol is not used, as where 
 a dot is written for a dash, or the third place dot 
 for the diphthong I, etc. For example, if the 
 vowel " a " in the word " bait " were represented by 
 a dash written in the second place after the " b." 
 A vowel which should properly appear in the first 
 place and which appears in the third place, or one 
 which should be written before the stroke and 
 which appears after, is said to be an error of vowel 
 placing. In the example cited above, if the dash 
 appeared before the consonant " b," there would 
 be two mistakes, one of substitution and one of 
 place. These are the principal vowel errors, and 
 they will serve to determine a student's strength 
 or weakness in dealing with this part of the 
 shorthand system. 
 
 The errors in writing the consonants may be 
 considered under four heads also omitted, added, 
 substituted, and direction. An omitted 
 consonant is one that is left out when 
 it is needed in the stenographic out- 
 line. An added consonant is one which is written 
 
 (499) 
 
138 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 when not needed, as the insertion of the " t " in 
 the word " batch." A substituted consonant is 
 the use of a light for a heavy stroke, or vice versa, 
 or one character for another. It does not cover 
 the use of the circle " s " for the stroke, nor the 
 consonant " r " for the hook ; but only the use of 
 one consonant stroke for another. A mistake in 
 direction deals with writing the upward " r " for 
 the downward, or vice versa, or the use of the wrong 
 form for " sh," etc. It may also apply to the 
 reverse forms of " fl," " fr," etc. 
 
 Errors in the use of abbreviations may be 
 classified under three heads as follows : Unused, 
 not allowed, and incorrectly written. 
 Where the student uses a stroke when 
 the abbreviated form, the hook, circle, 
 loop, or other expedient should be used, it is a 
 mistake of the first class, where a student uses 
 the hook, circle, loop or other expedient when the 
 stroke should be written on account of the vowel 
 or some other reason, it is an error of the second 
 class. Errors of the third class consist of using 
 the proper means of representing the character 
 but writing the expedient incorrectly as in putting 
 the circle on the left side of " p " in the word 
 " pass," or writing the " r " hook on the side for " 1." 
 The last class of error is that of position. Where 
 a word is written with the incorrect vowel and the 
 position of the outline is made to con- 
 form to the place of the vowel, there 
 is really no positional error. But where a second 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 139 
 
 place vowel is used and the word is written in the 
 first or third position, there is an error. A 
 mistake in position exists where there is lack of 
 conformity between the position of the outline 
 and the vowel or principal vowel actually used 
 in writing the word. 
 
 It may look like a formidable task to find out the 
 specific nature of each error, and the time required 
 
 may discourage some, but it must be 
 
 borne in mind that the information 
 obtained is positive and worth having, for it 
 makes possible directly the application of the 
 most efficient corrective. If the analysis shows 
 a student weak in the placing of vowels, five or 
 ten minutes' personal attention to that student 
 will remove the deficiency. The experience of 
 those who have corrected tests in the way des- 
 cribed above has been that the time is increased 
 from one quarter to one half, that is, if it takes one 
 hour to mark the papers, just checking the errors, 
 it will take ninety minutes to check the errors 
 and classify them. 
 
 The work can be facilitated by the use of a 
 classification sheet, a reproduction of which will 
 
 be found on another page. One of 
 Sheets'* these sheets is used for each student, 
 
 and as soon as an error is found it is 
 marked after the appropriate division, and when 
 all the errors are classified this sheet tells the story 
 of the student's ability. A weakness in any 
 special department of the work can be observed 
 
140 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 immediately. These student classification records 
 are then assembled on one class record sheet, a 
 reproduction of which appears on the page following : 
 
 CLASSIFYING SHORTHAND ERRORS. 
 CONSONANTS TOTAL. 
 
 1. Omitted , 
 
 2. Substituted 
 
 3. Direction 
 
 4. Added 
 
 VOWELS 
 
 1. Omitted 
 
 2. Substituted 
 
 3. Place 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS 
 
 1. Unused 
 
 2. Not Allowed 
 
 3. Incorrectly Written 
 WORD POSITION 
 
 Total 
 
 Name Class Date 
 
 Looking at this chart of errors, it can easily be 
 seen what is the power of each student in the 
 application of the principles he is 
 oSf C res e su PP osed to have learned. Assuming 
 that the test was a well-balanced one, 
 and that the number of phrases given was not out 
 of proportion to the number of words and gram- 
 malogs, it is obvious that more attention should 
 be given to phrasing. As a matter of fact there 
 were but ten phrases in the test, and the neglect 
 of this factor in the instruction is apparent. In 
 considering the writing of words, the table shows 
 that the greatest class weakness is in the use of 
 consonants having two possible representations, 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 
 
 141 
 
 STENOGRAPHY I. 
 
 INSTRUCTION Hocus 37. 
 
 Oct. jgth, 1912. 
 
 NAME OP 
 
 STUDENT. 
 
 VOWELS. 
 
 CONSONANTS. 
 
 ABBREVI- 
 ATIONS. 
 
 1 
 
 Grammalogs. 
 
 Phrases. 
 
 J 
 
 3 
 
 | 
 
 ?' 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 
 | 
 
 V' 
 
 1 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 Incorrectly 
 Written. 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 O 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 C/) 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 < 
 I 
 
 A 
 
 2 
 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 
 i 
 
 7 
 
 35 
 8 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 it 
 18 
 
 E 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 F 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 G 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 12 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 28 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 7 
 
 21 
 
 L 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 z 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 
 t 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 Q 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 18 
 
 R 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 25 
 
 i 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 273 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 5 
 
 X 
 
 15 
 
 27 
 
 16 
 
 30 
 
 and differing in the direction in which they are 
 written. It will be noted that there were twenty- 
 five of such errors, and the distribution of them 
 is quite general, only three students not having 
 a mistake of this kind. Even though there were 
 
142 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 twenty-seven incorrectly written abbreviations, 
 as a class weakness it is not greater than the other, 
 for the distribution is not as great, twenty of the 
 errors being made by two students. It will also 
 be seen that the greatest difficulty with the vowels 
 is in placing them, and that emphasis should be 
 placed upon the method of writing the abbreviations. 
 
 As to the individuals, a study of the table will 
 show any specific weakness that exists. In the 
 case of student I, the nature of the work to be 
 done is perfectly clear. In the matter of the vowels 
 he knows how to place them, but he does not know 
 how to represent them ; in the use of the con- 
 sonants, he is not troubled with the direction 
 strokes, as some of the others are, but there is 
 confusion in his mind as to the selection of the 
 means of representation, which, by the way, is 
 analogous to the confusion experienced with the 
 vowels. In the use of abbreviating expedients, 
 he knows when they should or should not be used, but 
 he cannot execute them properly. The record of any 
 other student will tell a story just as complete, and 
 will indicate in the same way the precise character 
 of the work that will most profitably be done. 
 
 After the first abbreviating expedient has been 
 taught, the problem of representing and placing 
 
 the vowels remains fundamentally the 
 Constant , , . 
 
 and same throughout the entire system 
 
 Variable until the principle of inter-vocalization 
 
 Elements. . , 
 
 is met, and therefore the progress of 
 
 the students in their mastery of the vowels can 
 
MEASURING RESULTS IN SHORTHAND 143 
 
 always be measured by comparing their present 
 ability with that shown in a previous test. In a 
 similar way, the consonants remain the same 
 throughout although additional examples for 
 strokes having two directions are added. 
 
 In the abbreviations the progress of the student 
 does not stand out so clearly because each test 
 involves a separate series of expedients, one test 
 dealing with the circles and loops, and the next 
 with the initial hooks. The principle of position 
 writing remains the same and therefore the 
 student's ability in this respect is commensurable. 
 The phrases change in the same way as the abbre- 
 viations. It will be seen, then, that there are 
 elements of the test which are constant, and there 
 are others that are variable. The constant ele- 
 ments are the consonants, vowels, and position 
 writing, and these are susceptible of accurate 
 measurement. The elements which vary are the 
 abbreviations, phrases, and grammalogs, and 
 while the test may serve to indicate the specific 
 weakness and the nature of future work, yet under 
 the circumstances progress in the mastery of them 
 cannot be accurately measured except by excluding 
 from the test all material which is different from 
 what was given in the preceding test. 
 
 One objection that has been raised against the 
 
 plan outlined above is that the work would take 
 
 too long. It has never been said that 
 
 the knowledge obtained was not worth 
 
 having, but it has been said that the teacher 
 
144 METHODS OF TEACHING SHORTHAND 
 
 always knows class or individual weaknesses and 
 can estimate progress without doing all this 
 work. 
 
 In regard to the time involved it must be 
 admitted that it takes longer. But the architect 
 
 who draws the plan of a house to 
 Answered 8 accurate measurement takes longer 
 
 than the one who sketches it and his 
 drawing is likely to be the more reliable for most 
 purposes. What is needed in education nowaday 
 is accurate information and not merely impressions. 
 As long as the teacher takes his work as a vocation, 
 and not as an avocation, he will not demur at 
 giving time to a process that will render his 
 instruction more efficient. The statement that 
 any teacher can tell the specific weakness of each 
 member of the class and that progress is easily 
 apparent sounds reasonable enough but it is not 
 borne out by the facts. The writer has tried the 
 experiment with several teachers and in every 
 case there was considerable variance between the 
 estimated results and the actual results of the test. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ACCURACY, 55 
 
 Aim, necessity for definite, 
 11 ; influence of, on in- 
 struction, 12 ; threefold, 
 14 ; occupational, voca- 
 tional, and general, 15 ; 
 not mutually exclusive, 
 
 16 ; in private schools, 
 
 17 ; how worked out, 19 ; 
 special, 19 
 
 Alphabetic lists, 36 
 Application, reproduction 
 
 by, 57 
 Assignment of work, 58 ; 
 
 variety of, 59 ; time 
 
 demanded, 59 
 Attendance, 28 ; marked 
 
 from exercise, 28 ; by 
 
 seating plan, 29 
 Attention, holding the, 54 
 
 BLACKBOARDS, 24 ; ruled, 
 42 ; and dictation, 106 
 
 CARELESS WORK, 78 
 
 Charts, drill, for records, 40 
 
 Checking, 35 
 
 Classification, results of, 
 126 ; symbols in, 130 
 
 Class records, 26 
 
 " Cold Notes," 105 
 
 Commercial education, rise 
 of, 1 ; report on, 15 
 
 Consonant errors, 137 
 
 Commercial schools, serious 
 objection to, 15 
 
 teachers, preparation 
 
 of, 2 
 
 Constant and variable ele- 
 ments, 142 
 
 Contractions and focaliza- 
 tion, 53 
 
 Co-operative plan of in- 
 struction, 72 
 
 Correct writing habits, 84 
 
 DAILY RECORD OF HOME- 
 WORK, 41 
 
 Dictation, effect of, on 
 student's English, 102 ; 
 adapting speed of, to 
 class, 102 
 
 Dictators, substitute, 33 
 
 Direct method of instruc- 
 tion, 62 ; illustrations of, 
 64 ; advantages of, 66 ; 
 disadvantages of, 67 
 
 Drill charts, 40 
 
 in recitation, 49 ; 
 
 accuracy in, 55 
 
 ERRORS IN VOWELS, 137 ; 
 
 in abbreviations, 138 ; in 
 
 position, 138 ; in time, 
 
 139 
 Essentials of repetition and 
 
 practice, 93 
 Examinations, reasons for, 
 
 108 
 
 Exercise clerk, 27 
 Experience, practical, 7 
 
 FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE, 
 RATING OF SPEED TESTS, 
 119 
 
 Focalization, 52 
 
 GRAMMALOGS AND 
 FOCALIZATION, 52 
 
 HAND-PUNCH, USE OF, 43 
 Help from students, 76 
 
 145 
 
146 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Homework, correction of, 
 29 
 
 IMPRESSIONS UNRELIABLE, 
 109 
 
 Incentive to continued 
 effort in speed classes, 104 
 
 Indirect method of instruc- 
 tion, 65 ; examples of, 66 
 
 Instruction, two methods 
 in, 62 ; direct method of, 
 62 indirect method of, 
 65 other methods in, 
 68 individual, 70 ; 
 types of individual, 70 ; 
 unit method of, 71 ; 
 co-operative plan of, 72 
 
 KNOWLEDGE OF THEORY, 
 87 
 
 MENTAL HESITANCY, 
 
 ELIMINATING, 89 
 Metronome for dictation 
 
 purposes, 44, 101 
 Motiviation, law of, 51 
 Municipal Civil Service, 
 
 rating of speed tests, 115; 
 
 suggested changes in, 1 18 
 
 NEWSPAPERS IN TEACHING, 
 
 44 
 Note-book index, 74 
 
 OUTLINES, ORIGINAL, 87 ; 
 discussion on, 103 
 
 PAPER, DISTRIBUTION OF, 
 
 23 
 
 Pedagogical training, 9 
 Physical strain, eliminating, 
 
 86 
 Pitman, Isaac the genius of, 
 
 6 
 Plans, discussion of, 80 ; 
 
 criteria for judging, 81 
 
 Preparation of commercial 
 
 teachers, 2 
 
 Principles, fundamental, 21 
 Private schools, aim in, 17 
 Problems in Shorthand, 
 
 nature of, 61 
 
 QUESTION AND ANSWER, 56 
 
 RATING THEORY TESTS 
 
 113; speed tests, 115 
 Reading, importance of, 94 
 notes, 94 
 
 Recitation, variety of, 47 ; 
 
 purpose in ; elements of, 
 
 48 ; 49, 50 
 Record card, 135 
 sheets, 139 
 
 Regents of the State of New 
 York, 117 
 
 Repetition, grammalogs 
 and, 53 ; speed practice 
 and, 92 
 
 Reproduction, 55 ; com- 
 monest forms of, 56 
 
 Results, what plan mea- 
 sures, 122 ; percentages 
 unsatisfactory, 123 ; two 
 steps necessary, 124 
 
 Rubber stamps, use of, 37 
 
 SCHEME OF VALUATIONS, 
 114 
 
 Shorthand recitation, mean- 
 ing and variety, 47 ; pur- 
 pose of, 48 ; elements of, 
 48 ; length of, 50 
 
 teaching, nature of 
 
 problems in, 61 
 
 Social service among stu- 
 dents, 22 
 
 Speed, 97 ; teacher's pre- 
 paration for, 98 ; test of 
 preparation by student, 
 98 ; drill, 99 ; repetition 
 in, 100; rating of, 115 
 
INDEX 
 
 147 
 
 Stenographic speed, 83 ; 
 
 vocabulary, 91 
 Stop-watch, use of, 39 
 Student dictators, 100 
 Symbols, 130 
 System, danger from too 
 
 much, 33 
 
 TEACHER OF SHORTHAND, 
 academic preparation of, 
 5 ; general education of, 
 4 ; and knowledge of his 
 subject, 6 ; physical 
 qualifications of, 3 ; prac- 
 tical experience of, 7 ; 
 the ideal, 10 ; training as 
 teacher, 9 
 
 Teacher's Work, 31 
 
 Test sheets, 37 
 
 Tests, 31 ; mode of, 110; 
 from standpoint of stu- 
 dent, 112 ; rating of, 113 ; 
 reasons for, 108 
 
 Time demanded for stu- 
 dent's work, 59 
 Topical outline, 57 
 
 UNIT METHOD OF INDI- 
 VIDUAL INSTRUCTION, 71 
 
 Units of operation in mea- 
 suring results, 136 
 
 VALUATIONS IN TESTS, 
 SCHEME OF, 114 
 
 Ventilation, 30 
 
 Vocabulary, 90 ; steno- 
 graphic, 91 
 
 Vowel errors, marking of, 
 137 
 
 WORD-CARRY CAPACITY, 89 
 Work, arrangement of, 31 
 
 Press of Isaac Pitman & Sons, Bath, England. 
 (499) 
 
Fifth 'Edition. Thoroughly Revised mad Enlarged; 
 
 How to Become a Law 
 Stenographer 
 
 By W. L. MASON, Author of " Supplementary Exercises in 
 
 Isaac Pitman Shorthand " 
 
 A WORK unique in its plan, scope and arrangement is this 
 " Compendium of Legal Forms." Many attempts have been made 
 to compile a book which should meet the requirements of steno- 
 graphers aiming to fill positions in law offices, or to become law 
 reporters, but none have remained long in print because their scope 
 was not broad enough to satisfy the needs of ambitious shorthand 
 writers. Here is presented a series of documents which have been 
 actually used in court work and legal transactions. They are not 
 only carefully arranged as to form, paragraphing, etc., as a guide 
 to the typist, but are accompanied by clear and lucid explanations, 
 making the work intelligible to the average stenographer. 
 
 To bring this book more thoroughly up to date, and to make 
 it a veritable vade mecum for the neophyte, the new edition just 
 issued contains an appendix with a very complete list of law words 
 and legal terms, accompanied by engraved shorthand outlines and 
 type key. This, with the list of Latin phrases and their English 
 equivalents, makes the work the most complete of its kind in exist- 
 ence. No teacher, business college or high school Commercial 
 Department can afford to be without it, since it is well adapted for 
 both a text-book and a handbook. It is specially valuable for 
 advanced practice dictation. 
 
 " This compendium of legal forms is entirely unique, and designed 
 to form a ready and practical aid to familiarity with law work and 
 is intended for use in high schools and business colleges as well as 
 by individual stenographers and typists who desire to prepare 
 themselves to fill lucrative positions in law offices or as court 
 reporters. This work fills a need which is not met by any other 
 work on the subject. It does not pretend to be a treatise on com- 
 mercial law, but a book containing a large number and variety 
 of law forms simplified and accompanied by directions and explana- 
 tions for arranging on the typewriter. The forms presented for 
 study are authentic legal documents used in real legal transactions 
 or in actual cases, and among them it will be seen are a set of legal 
 documents peculiar to sections of the country outside of New York. 
 The index is especially valuable and complete, and teachers and 
 students of stenography and typewriting will find the book a genuine 
 labor saver. The compiler of the book is an experienced court 
 reporter and able to handle his subject clearly and authoritatively." 
 ^San Francisco " Call," San Francisco, Col. 
 
 " A valuable text-book on ' How to become a Law Stenographer ' 
 is compiled by W. L. Mason, a court reporter of long experience. 
 It is intended for use in high schools, business colleges and by 
 individual stenographers and typists. It is not a treatise upon 
 commercial law, but a book of law forms, simplified and accompanied 
 by explanations and directions for arranging on the typewriter, 
 admirably compiled and thoroughly practical." Chicago Daily 
 News, Chicago, III. 
 
 " ' How to Become a Law Stenographer ' is a practical aid in 
 securing a familiar knowledge with law work. It is compiled in 
 an able manner and will be of valuable service to individual steno- 
 graphers as well as to teachers preparing students for legal work." 
 Catholic World, New York. 
 
 Price, stiff boards, cloth back, 76c. Full doth, $1.00. 
 
 ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, 2 WEST 45th ST., NEW YORK 
 
ELEVENTH EDITION, Entirely Ketet. Revised, 
 and Printed from New Plate* 
 
 A Practical Course 
 in Touch Typewriting 
 
 (Adopted by the New York, Boston and Baltimore High Schoolr) 
 By CHAS. E. SMITH 
 
 Author of " Cumulative Speller and Shorthand Vocabulary " 
 
 TH reason of the phenomenal success of " A Practical Course " 
 tests mainly in the scientific and pedagogical way in which the 
 student advances while mastering the keyboard. The strong 
 fingers are not strengthened at the expense of the weak fingers ; 
 neither are the weak fingers wearied with drills in advance of their 
 more nimble brothers. All the fingers are trained all the time, 
 with due consideration for the strength and suppleness of each. 
 The student goes from the known to the unknown, the line of least 
 resistance being followed throughout, so that he acquires the ability 
 to write by touch almost before he knows it. This method has 
 been one of the fundamental factors in producing the majority of 
 the most rapid and most accurate typists of the last few years. 
 
 " I have been using ' Practical Course in Touch Typewriting ' 
 in my Day School and Evening School classes for one and one-half 
 years and find it the most practical text on typewriting that I have 
 examined. The lessons are so carefully arranged that my beginning 
 classes never realize that they are meeting and overcoming an; 
 difficulties. The small boy who wants to ' write a letter ' has an 
 opportunity afforded early in the course. The lessons on figures, 
 usually so difficult to learn, or so poorly presented, is arranged so 
 that the pupil cannot help learning it. The legal work, specifica- 
 tions and tabulating work for the advanced student needs no 
 commendation from me." R. H. Baker, Principal, Commercial 
 Dept., High School, Yonkers, N. Y. 
 
 " We have used your ' Practical Course in Touch Typewriting * 
 in our Shorthand Department for several years. We have exam- 
 ined, I believe, practically every text-book on typewriting so far 
 published, having tried out several of them in the classroom, but 
 each test makes us like your text the better. One feature which 
 especially appeals to us is that practically the entire keyboard is 
 covered in the first five budgets. In other words, we believe that 
 with this system the very best results are reached in the shortest 
 possible time, which is, of course, a very important item in this 
 work." /. Kugler, Jr., Principal, Coleman National Business 
 College, Newark, N. J. 
 
 Price 50 cents. Cloth, 75 cents. 
 
 Published lor Single and Doable Keyboard, also for the Oliver and 
 Remington and Smith Premier No. 10. 
 
 A separate cardboard Chart of the Keyboard printed in five colon 
 accompanies each copy. 
 
 ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, 1 WEST 45th ST., NEW YORK 
 
Cumulative Speller and 
 Shorthand Vocabulary 
 
 By THE AUTHOR OF " A PRACTICAL COURSE IN TOUCH 
 TYPEWRITING." 
 
 THIS work meets mudern requirements and represents the best 
 of the old and new methods. The stenographer who aspires to 
 greatness through the mistaken notion that inaccuracy in the matter 
 of spelling is an evidence of genius will do well not to lay his claims, 
 in the shape of a letter for signature, before his employer. While 
 the subject of reformed spelling is attracting general attention all 
 over the world, it is safe to say that never before have business men 
 placed so high a value upon the ability to spell the words of the 
 English language correctly. It behooves principals of schools and 
 colleges, therefore, to see that the students who attend their institu- 
 tions with a view to entering the business world, become possessors 
 of a good vocabulary of business terms and the ability to spell all 
 difficult words in general use without the least hesitation. 
 
 " After a thorough examination of the ' Cumulative Speller,' 1 
 am convinced that there is no better book on this subject published. 
 We have ' Spelling Books ' and ' Spellers ' the greater part of 
 them being made up of words not in common use. Such text-books 
 do not cover the real need. The ' Cumulative Speller ' contains a 
 large number of common words, most frequently mispelled. Its 
 definitions are clear and accurate ; the plan suggested for teaching 
 in itself, emphasizes the importance of this subject. The mechani- 
 cal construction of the book is not the least of its merits. The 
 book has a just claim, and if progressive teachers will give it a 
 careful examination its adoption will undoubtedly be assured." 
 W. H. Shepard, Commercial Department, High School, Paterson, 
 
 "Your 'Cumulative Speller' will meet a positive want. Short- 
 hand Schools would greatly lessen the labor of their teachers, and 
 place an honest advantage in the hands of their students by adopting 
 this book." . E. Mutt, Mull's School, Broadway and 66th St., 
 N.Y. City. 
 
 " I have carefully examined the ' Cumulative Speller and Short- 
 hand Vocabulary ' and am so well pleased with it that I have ordered 
 copies for use in my 2B and 3A shorthand classes. I feel confident 
 that the use of this book will not only be a great help in increasing 
 the student's vocabulary in both shorthand outlines and in English, 
 but also will be invaluable in helping to make more efficient spellers 
 of them." Eldon M. Van Duten, Far Rockaway, N. Y. 
 
 Cloth, gilt lettering. 145 pp. Price 50c. 
 
 * A special edition of this work is published without the shorthand 
 Vocabulary at 400. 
 
 ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, 2 WEST 45th ST., NEW YORK 
 
FIFTH EDITION REVISED 
 
 Style- Book 
 
 of Business English 
 
 By H. W. HAMMOND 
 
 Teachers College, Columbia University, 1909-1911 
 INCLUDING 
 
 Card-Indexing and Letter Recording 
 
 " IT is a real pleasure to me to testify to the merits of your ' Style- 
 Book of Business English.' I recommend your book for the fol- 
 lowing reasons : It is so comprehensive, thoroughly practical, and 
 above all, it is so plainly composed that a teacher even unfamiliar 
 with the subject can conduct a class with it. Moreover, it is a 
 system that holds the attention and interest of the pupils from 
 start to finish." Prof. F. R. Beygrau, Columbia University, New 
 York City. 
 
 " Your ' Style- Book of Business English ' is the only text that I 
 know of that contains completely and in lesson form all the points 
 on business correspondence needed by students of stenography, 
 bookkeeping and typewriting." Irving Green, St. John's College, 
 Brooklyn, N.Y. 
 
 " Instruction in business English has always presented serious 
 problems to those charged with the direction of commercial courses 
 and the new enlarged fourth edition of Mr. Hammond's well-known 
 Style-Book cannot fail to be welcomed by many teachers of English 
 in commercial high schools, and by those engaged in commercial 
 instruction of every scope. The attempt to teach formal grammar 
 in the short commercial English courses has proved of doubtful 
 value, and the point of view which Mr. Hammond holds in approach- 
 ing his task is obviously the most practical one." The School 
 Journal, New York. 
 
 " For the young man and young woman who have but a year 
 or two to spend in high school and then expect to enter a business 
 office, ' Style-Book of Business Enghsh ' will be of more practical 
 value than the best work extant on English liteniry style. It 
 presupposes a thorough knowledge of grammar aud spelling and 
 proposes to teach those special forms of diction which are both 
 good English and good business form. The first half of the book 
 takes up those general principles of diction which every business 
 man should be acquainted with, and the second enters at length 
 into those details of correspondence typography which the steno- 
 grapher alone needs to have at his fingers' ends. An appendix 
 contains a description of the leading modern filing systems, a glossary 
 of commercial terms and abbreviations. Students who seek to 
 qualify for regents examinations will find that the book covers all 
 required topics." The American School Board Journal. 
 
 232 pp., cloth, gold lettering, 85 cents 
 ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, 2 WEST 45th ST., NEW YOkK 
 
THIRD * EDITION REVISED 
 
 = Pitman's ===== 
 
 Progressive Dictator 
 
 The Latest and Best Dictation Book 
 
 ALL the letters in this book originated in actual business dictation 
 and are intended to illustrate the use of the English language in 
 up-to-date business correspondence. As each business, trade or 
 profession has its own peculiar terminology, familiarity with it 
 can be acquired only by careful study of actual correspondence. 
 The present work comprises letters relating to twenty-seven 
 different professions and trades, each selection being preceded by 
 an engraved shorthand vocabulary and a list of phrases. The 
 letters of each business are divided into quarter-minute periods 
 for 60, 80, and 100 words a minute, while an original method is 
 given by which the divisions of 15, 20, and 25, may each be used 
 tor dictation at any one of the three rates. This valuable device 
 actually increases threefold the amount of dictation matter by 
 making every letter serviceable at any rate per minute, whether 
 60, So, or 1 06. 
 
 Many pages of supplementary matter are also provided for 
 advanced writers, marked off for speed practice, while there is 
 given the entire dictation matter used at the International Speed 
 Contest at Philadelphia, April iS, 1908. All this matter is marked 
 off in quarter-minute periods for speed up to 260 words a minute. 
 
 " I did not use the ' Progressive Dictator ' very long until I saw 
 that you had placed in my hands by far the best dictation book that 
 has come to my notice. The spacing of the letters for various rates 
 of dictation, the variety of the correspondence presented, and the 
 correct shorthand vocabulary at the top of each page are features of 
 surpassing merit. Another feature of your book, which I regard as 
 more important, perhaps, than any of the three already mentioned, 
 is the general correctness of the letters grammatically and rhetori- 
 cally. Much time is saved by the use of this book, for it is not 
 necessary for the teacher to correct letters while dictating." Frank 
 E. DeM, High School, Flushing, N. Y. 
 
 Cloth, gilt, 220 pages. Price 85 cent* 
 
 Teachers' Examination copy, postpaid. 57 cents. Mention school 
 
 A special edition of this work entitled " The Progressive 
 Dictator " is also issued, without the shorthand characters, for 
 those schools teaching other than the Isaac Pitman system. 
 Price 75 cents. 
 
 ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, 2 WEST 45th ST., NEW YORK 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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