http://shastay.blogdrive.com/ STENO IS FUN!! Thu, 17 Nov 2005 18:45:09 PST http://www.blogdrive.com Copyright 2005. http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/49.html Fri, 18 Nov 2005 02:43:38 GMT On the home page of CourtReportingHelp.com is a link to three free MP3 drills. I call them the Magic Drills. They are relatively easy to perform, but they will frustrate you at first. Strictly follow the rules that are given for the drills. They address all of the problems that you can have, and they solve them for you very easily. However before you begin the drills, it might be nice to run through the full list of steno problems that affect students. The Terrible Triumverate of Joseph Kinaim, Anna Mae Tedley, Barb DeWitt and myself came up with four possible problems and their... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=49 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/48.html Wed, 12 Oct 2005 04:13:24 GMT QUESTION: Okay, Mr. Steno Rebel, the 100s speed doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as all the rumors that XXXXXX and XXXXXX told me about. For the most part, I have noteably improved on how to drop the "bad" stuff, but I can't seem to throw quotation marks in with the "good" stuff that I'm writing. Is accurately quoting something important at this stage of the game (particularaly during Q & A material), or will not doing so hinder me in the future? Jess ANSWER: Punctuation can be difficult, even when you are talking about periods and commas. Quotations are about the toughest. The rule... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=48 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/47.html Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:40:37 GMT I received a letter from a student who finds herself in a very common predicament. Theory and the first speed classes were not a problem. She was writing well and had few problems. Now the kid gloves have been taken off. The material is much harder than it was in previous classes, and the teachers are constantly drilling on tough material or fast material. She lost her rhythm and her clarity. At times, her hands shook and/or they froze up. It wasn't fun in StenoLand. Here is the basic answer that I gave her. Your situation is that you are faced with dictation that is too... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=47 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/44.html Fri, 19 Aug 2005 01:05:05 GMT Tuesday's homework was very instructive. I gave a list of 25 words. The students had to look up the definitions. Wednesday's homework was based on Tuesday's homework. From that list of 25 words, the students were instructed to make up silly sentences. The purpose of the exercise is not to learn new words. I pass out 100 briefs each week. I give them every brief-and-phrase handout I scrounge up. We review them in each drill. They don't know all of the basic ones yet. Tuesday's homework was to look up 25 words. That forced them to dig out the ol' theory book or the... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=44 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/46.html Wed, 10 Aug 2005 06:02:06 GMT Dropping endings can have several causes, but they always lead back to attention to detail. And if attention to detail is the problem, then the solution is merely to PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS. The best solution for those who drop their endings (s, ed, ing) is to read their notes, type their tests, grade and analyze. That can be hard work, but it will pay off big time. For those who insist on instant gratification, there is a easy fix that has been known to work like magic. When you drill at home, reduce the volume of the drill. Do it little by little, and you... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=46 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/45.html Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:13:26 GMT In traditional sports, there must be winners and losers. That is because the athletes are pitted against each other. If the Red Sox score 4 runs on Tuesday and 2 runs on Wednesday, the Yankees know that scoring 3 runs will win one game and lose the other. Their success is directly tied the success (or failure) of the opposing team. As an Eagles fan, it was always thrilling to beat the Cowboys. Sometimes it was talent. Sometimes, it was luck. Sometimes, it was simply a judge who didn't believe in work release. If we won because we played well, that was fine. And if we... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=45 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/43.html Wed, 13 Jul 2005 06:20:54 GMT Here is a handout that I use in every class. Some students take to it right away. A littlepractice can go a long way. All you have to do is work your way through the list a couple of times each day. Eventually, you should replace the words with other words that represent those endings and/or any other endings that give you trouble. The secret is to do a little work each day. No pain. No long drawn-out drilling. Just a little work, but you have to do it each day. Before you know it, your list of problem strokes will shrink, and you will have a lot... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=43 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/42.html Tue, 28 Jun 2005 07:27:00 GMT QUESTION: Hello, I ordered a practice CD from your website today. I am currently a student in Court Reporting school and I'm having some trouble with getting past the speeds of 120(Literary) and 140(Jury and Q&A).I believe it's my whole mindset because I know I can do it; but seem to get frustrated about it at times. You will notice that I ordered the drill in the speeds of 160 to 180. Please let me know if that's a good speed to practice at this time. I visit your website often and find so much of the information to be so helpful. I was really excited to place my order today... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=42 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/41.html Thu, 16 Jun 2005 00:13:05 GMT QUESTION: I was fortunate to have you substitute for our class a few nights ago and wanted to thank you for offering a different perspective. What I have been doing is not working for me. I am confused about when we should begin building our dictionaries. I have heard differing stories. What is your opinion? ANSWER: In the old days, dictionaries were built from scratch, word by word by word. Nowadays, all CAT software comes with a pretty big dictionary. A lot of work is saved. But not all of the work is saved. We could both start with the standard dictionary, but we both... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=41 http://shastay.blogdrive.com/archive/40.html Wed, 01 Jun 2005 21:28:04 GMT P>QUESTION: Hi. I would like to save your free weekly drills to my computer, but do not know how to. Can you advise me? Thanks. ANSWER: Go up to our site. Find the page that contains the free drills. To start a drill, you left click on it. But you don't want to start the drill. You want to save the drill to your computer. To save the drill, right click on it. A menu will pop up. Choose "Save target as." That will bring up the normal window that Windows uses to allow you to save files. Pick the folder you want, or create a new one. Once you save,... (more) http://shastay.blogdrive.com/comments?id=40