Dictation

I'm surprised how easy it is to use the Dragon 12.5. I speak into a microphone and my laptop types what I say. My thoughts have always been limited because I type so slowly. I'm now using this software to write my blog by speaking my thoughts. One problem has become evident which is that there are spelling mistakes when the software misunderstands awkward eyes. What I said was when the software misunderstands the word I say.



About 20 years ago on a trip to Islamorada in the Florida Keys, we were moving through about 4 feet of water in a small aluminum boat. We spied a beautiful shell called a LIGHTNING WHELK.

Lightning Whelk

It was about 8 inches long cream-colored with brown lightning images covering the outside. I have it yet today in my china cupboard.  I wonder if these beautiful shells still live in the waters around the keys.

I also have Apple murex shells, banded tulips, sea urchins, Queen Conchs, and many others in my collection. I will include those pictures in my next blogs.

It is a shame so many students nowadays don't write well. Years ago in French class we had a daily exercise. We entered class and always prepared for a 10 to 15 minute dictation. The teacher read sentences in French and we wrote. We learned punctuation, spelling, and the use of French idioms through this daily exercise. Sometimes we just couldn't think about what to write on our own. By copying  a famous author  we access better writing.  I believe dictation would be a great way to teach  writing to students who are having problems.

It is difficult to come up with new ideas, to write them in the correct form, spell and punctuate correctly. Why not start with exercises copying great authors such as Meyer ingénue,  I said "Maya Angelou"... Mark Twain or overnight, I said "O.Henry". I guess in some ways this talk and write system doesn't always work. Back to the subject I think copying great works of art might be a good system for students learning to write. Let's say you copy a great poem. Not only do you really learn the words, the spacing, the rhyme, but you could also work on handwriting. The practice that you do on handwriting also helps with art, geometry,and other hand eye coordination activities.

Would it not be a good idea to copy, read and write a Martin Luther King speech?

It would be a valuable lesson to write the Gettysburg address as an exercise in writing for history.

In spelling class why  write individual words, when sentences and paragraphs from Edgar Allen Poe makes so much more sense?  The poem,  "The Raven", would be a great exercise in writing poetry, spelling, literature, proper spacing, and handwriting.




But dictation is pretty important . I think it's an exercise from which the students of today would greatly benefit.