SO HAPPY!!!

Today I FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY passed my 160 four-voice test!!! It has been 7 mos in this class so it feels great!!! Not to mention missing the test by 2, and another by only 8 mistakes.

Now I just need to pass my 180 four-voice to be in the 200's!!

Great way to end the semester so I'm happy. :) That was my goal was to pass it before Christmas break.

Hope everyone is doing well!!! :)


-Alyson

Ooohh Back to School! :)

Today was my first day back to school from vacation! We got 2 weeks off, and I was SO ready to go back! I also started my court and deposition procedures class (it seems like it's going to be reallly boring) lol I hope I can stay awake!

Anyway, so today after I got home I relaxed for a little bit and then decided to get a little bit of practice time in. I listened to my 2 classes that I had today from my voice recorder. It only came out to about a full hour of dictation, but I typed it anyway. One class was strictly medical, and the other was jury.

So, I've been on a brief kick lately because I bought this new book:



and I absolutely LOVE it! I know it's not a "Sten Ed" brief book, and it's not 100% conflict-free, but HEAVEN forbid your writing isn't 100% conflict-free! I don't even think that's possible! I just love how the book gives briefs on pretty much every word imaginable, and they're easy to remember AND easy on the fingers! So I've been adding words to my rolodex of briefs so I can quiz myself every day, and I also add them to my personal dictionary on case catalyst.

When I talk about this book having way easier briefs than the Sten Ed dictionary, I will give you this example:
The word "perform." With the Sten Ed way it's P-FRPL or you can do it in two strokes. With the Brief Encounters book it gives you this option: PORM. EASY to remember and WAY easier on the fingers than trying to twist your fingers into the P-FRPL position!

So it works for me. I've always been pretty good about remembering briefs -- especially if they're easy on the fingers.

So just throwing out that other option to any of you that are reading this that are in the Sten Ed theory!!!

--Alyson

It's been a while!

Sorry I haven't posted something in what seems like forever! I have been on a 2 week break from school, and honestly I have only been on my machine, I think, like 4 times. BAD ME!!

But, I really needed a break since court reporting is an every day thing, and I think when you become burnt out, that's not good! You need some kinda days off! I recently got back from a 3-day Mexico cruise and it was so much fun! (Much needed, too.) :)

So anyway, I practiced last Wednesday (the 3rd) and I forgot to post a blog on what/how I practiced.

This is what my schedule was like for Wednesday:
Started off by looking at my rolodex of briefs (just started from the beginning) and stroked those out several times each for about 45 minutes, and added what didn't translate into my personal dictionary.

Then I worked on some dictation material that the court reporting director uploaded onto my laptop. One of the exercises was phrases that ended in dashes (in a Q/A format) which was dictated at a nice easy pace of 120wpm. I went through that about 4 times. That was a good exercise! And I think you can get it on www.courtreportinghelp.com.

After that I worked on stroking out addresses which was dictated at 100wpm. I worked on accuracy.

Then I finished with a 180 literary dictation for about 30 minutes. I didn't type for very long it seemed like, and I honestly kind of jumped around in my exercises that day. Not too sure if that's the right thing to do, but I'm trying to work every session like this: brush up on briefs, work on accuracy, and push. (At LEAST get those 3 components in).


--Alyson

On a test-passing roll!!

Yesterday I passed my 160 Jury Charge. The first of three tests that are needed to pass out of this 160 class. Now I need to get my 160 Lit and my 160 4-Voice.

Ever since looking at Lady Steno's site, it has truly motivated me and amazed me at how much she did during her practice routines, and how many hours she would practice. That was a big wake up call for me to step it up, and I truly have! I'm already seeing results!

Normally, I would just get home from school and not even touch my machine until the next day at school. NOT a good thing. Now my goal is to practice at least 1-2 hours every day after school. Spend about 30 minutes typing 160,180, 200 dictations. Then I go back down to 160.

I feel the need to practice some literary material though, and this is what I found on Lady Steno's site that I am going to try which sounds like a great idea:


Practicing from the Hard Copy



I was on e-bay all last month ordering back copies of the JCR. I came across an article about practicing from a hard copy in the May 2001 issue. This seems like the best thing for me. It will help me add build my dictionary, focus more on accuracy, build my vocabulary.

So here is the daily recipe for me:

1. Pick an editorial from the New York Times.
2. Identify preview words.
a. Words that might cause hesitation
b. Proper names
c. New words I have never heard of
d. Words with difficult strokes
e. Phrases that I want to incorporate
3. Practice the preview words by pyramid sentences, reading back, and finger spelling them.
4. Write from the straight copy as perfect as I can, and defining any untranslates.
5. Read back. Evaluate. Make notes.
6. Practice the weak spots I evaluated in my read back.
7. Write from the straight copy again, and time myself.
8. Write from the straight copy for the third time, and trying to beat my time by one minute.
9. Read back
10. Redo, until the hour is over!

I know if I continue to practice like this I will see great results, and get over this “plateau.”

Well, I'm off to find a newspaper or magazine article to write up! :)



-Alyson

Oh, Happy Day!!

Hallelujah!!!

So, today I passed my 140 four voice. It was SUCH a good test!!! I got so nervous/excited in the middle of the test because I KNEW I was getting every single word. You know that feeling, right? Heart pounding, trying to tell yourself to continue concentrating and move your fingers lol.

Anyway, after typing it, it came out to 10 PAGES long!! Yes, 10!! I felt so accomplished after finishing it. I also only had 14 errors for a 10 minute/10 page long test. I felt pretty good with myself!

Okay, so one of my practice routines I do here at my on-campus school is, I bought a 30 dollar voice recorder (you can get these at Wal Mart or Target). These are fabulous. They have great sound quality, are cheap, and in no way bad at all. Here is an example of one that almost got 5 out of 5 stars in quality. This one is from Wal Mart and is $34.81:

So I record my teachers in my classes and then during lab time (I have about an hour to kill in there before my final class starts) and so I plug in my headphones into the recorder directly (such a cool feature!) and I retype the day's classes. I also pull out a little notebook I keep with me and write down words I want to shorten or briefs I want to look up.

While other girls in the lab are surfing the internet, I decid to make the most out of my time at school and type, type, type!

Another way I make the most out of my time is, I always usually get into class about 10 minutes before it actually starts. This is a great time to review briefs I have written down in this notecard rolodex type thing. This is what I'm talking about:

These are similar to what I have. I have the notecards and they're held together by 2 tiny little binder rings at the top. These are great because you can stick them in your purse or backpack for school instead of having a million loose notecards floating around your room like I did! lol These bounded notecards are like 3 bucks. So, anyway, on one side I have like 10 words, and then on the back of the card I have all their briefs. I go through all of these before class. 10 minutes is a lot of time to review your briefs!!

I don't really have a routine that I do before taking tests. We get tested every day in all of my classes, and I don't do anything in particular to help me. I just try to block out everything in my mind and try to convince myself that it is not a test that I am typing lol. Which is very hard to do, but I try to tell myself that it doesn't matter if I pass or fail. Just try to get every word.

One thing that I think did help me today, was I was listening to my voice recorder in the lab, typing, and I was listening to a teacher's dictation today and she was doing a Q and A literally, it felt like, at 180wpm. I was barely getting half of what she said. So then, naturally, the four voice right after at 140 seemed slower.

Always practice about 40 over your speed limit.

-Alyson

Motivation

Found a new court reporting blog: http://stenonerd.blogspot.com/, thanks Linda! :)


I saw these pics on the above blog and I LOVED them. These were my fave.

-Alyson

Amazing Website

So, I stumbled across this website, and WHAT a goldmine!!!

Check it out. This is truly such a motivator.

www.ladysteno.com

Enjoy!!

-Alyson

4-Voice=HELL

Okay. Seriously. This 4-Voice thing is going to be the death of me!!!

It is sooo hard to pass one of these things! The tests are 10 minutes long and the error count you're allowed to have to get the passing percentage sounds high, but unfortunately I make more errors than are allowed.

Hearing the teachers dictate at 140wpm in the regular classes (like literary and jury) sounds slow.. but when 4-voice comes up, and it sounds like 160 to me! And especially if they are jumping around in speakers a lot. My fingers just feel like they're flying aimlessly around and my notes are garbage.

Hope I can pass a test soon..... :/ Been in this class for about almost 4 months.

-Alyson

Good News!!

Yay! I am very pleased with myself because just last week (On April 21st, 2010) I passed my last 140 test (I passed my literary and I passed my jury charge a while before that) and now I moved up to 160!

Technically, it's not my very last 140 test that I need to pass. See, at our school, in the 140 class and above, the tests that are required to pass are: Jury Charge, Literary, and 4-Voice. But the school director says that you are able to move up in speed classes even if you haven't passed the 4 voice yet.

So, I'm still working on that 4-Voice at 140wpm. It is SO tough!! Especially when they jump around in speakers a lot. I have typed up one so far just to see how I would do, and it took me an hour and 15 minutes to type up a 10 minute test. It was insane! I tried my best to follow a sample 'form' to write out the 4-Voice how it is supposed to be.

Alright, well, I've been slacking on practicing this weekend so I'm gonna get to it!

-Alyson

Crazy!

Hahah it's crazy because I just wrote my last (and only) post that I wrote in July 2009. It has been about 9 months that have passed, and I am now writing at 140wpm! I thought 120wpm was fast?! hahaha it's funny how now I think that's an absolute breeze to write. :)

Just goes to show you that I AM progressing, and in another 5 months I will think that 140 is a breeze to write! I hope I get done within the next year or so.

I started school in August 2008 with Bryan College (just doing online classes) and now I have switched to Westec through Taft College out in Shafter. I LOVE it there! I love forced writing time. It helps a lot. :)

-Alyson