July 30, 2009
LAST DAY OF SUMMER SESSION
July 29, 2009
TODAY WAS A GOOD STENO DAY!
July 28, 2009
A BREAKDOWN MOMENT
July 27, 2009
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND MORE PRACTICE
By Carolee Freer
JOURNAL OF COURT REPORTING JUNE 2003 p. 30
Practice makes perfect - or so they say. After teaching court reporting for over 20 years, I have again returned to the genesis of all court reporting programs: theory. Believe me when I say it was not an easy decision to go back once again to the very beginning and resume instruction in court reporting theory. But all of my dreams and expectations for this crop of theory students are materializing. They are bright, quick, and eager to learn. Although I teach other classes, my focus on ensuring success for my group overshadows many of my thoughts during waking hours. After having taught high-speed classes for many years, I was reminded by my theory students that those same perplexing questions about practice are on their minds, too: What should I practice? How long should I practice? When should I practice? That's when I decided to go back up the ladder of success to my high-speed students and ask them what had worked best for them in their practice regimen so that I could share this invaluable information with the theory students. Their answers to my question "What is your best practice tip?" follow: 1. Practice at least one hour every day. 2. Transcribe your notes at least three times a week. This helps you to know and understand what you are really writing and what you are not writing. 3. Read back your notes and circle problem areas. 4. Write problem words on 3x5 cards and practice repeatedly until you have mastered the word. 5. Practice in a comfortable environment with tapes, reference material, books, and a dictionary at your fingertips. 6. Review theory outlines. 7. Analyze your typed transcripts for drops, fingering errors, and mistranslates. 8. Warm up before every class and be prepared. 9. Practice slower material for control and accuracy. 10. Type up your tests as frequently as possible. 11. Practice a speed tape until you can write it smoothly with control and accuracy. 12. Use brief forms and phrases only if you feel comfortable using them. 13. Practice to your favorite television show if it is within your speed range. 14. Use hard copy to build your dictionary and to write unusual words and phrases. 15. Practice for short spurts on football and basketball games. This provides excellent practice for numbers and fingering dexterity. 16. Practice with a metronome on hard copy sentence drills. 17. Practice to court TV programs for multivoice experience. 18. Practice briefs and phrases and try to write without hesitation. 19. Practice multivoice videos and tapes. 20. In a notebook, write down the words that cause problems and review them daily. 21. Go to a trail speed class to clean up your notes. 22. Go to class every day. 23. Read everything to increase your vocabulary. Improved vocabulary helps on the machine when you are taking difficult material. 24. Set up a practice schedule with a wide variety of material and stick to it. 25. Don't make excuses. 26. Practice consonant compounds and difficult fingering. 27. Practice finger drills and finger strengthening exercises. 28. Focus your energies on attainable practice goals. 29. Relax and write. 30. Practice little words. 31. Keep track of your progress. To tell you the truth, I could not have said it better. Thanks a lot, Cypress College students. Your success is well deserved! Carolee Freer,CRI, is from Cypress,California, and editor of CASElines.
Click here to read "Practice Hints on How to Be a Successful Reporting Student" -- compiled by Kay Smith, taken from CASElines, Issue 2, 2006.
July 26, 2009
300-PLUS SUBSCRIBERS!
MY SUMMER PLANS
July 25, 2009
FUNNY STUFF
Q: What is your date of birth? A: July fifteenth. Q: What year? A: Every year.
Q: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact? A: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? A: Yes. Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory? A: I forget. Q: You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten?
Q: How old is your son, the one living with you? A: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which. Q: How long has he lived with you? A: Forty-five years.
Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning? A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?" Q: And why did that upset you? A: My name is Susan.
Q: And where was the location of the accident? A: Approximately milepost 499. Q: And where is milepost 499? A: Probably between milepost 498 and 500.
Q: Sir, what is your IQ? A: Well, I can see pretty well, I think.
Q: Did you blow your horn or anything? A: After the accident? Q: Before the accident. A: Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it.
Q: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo or the occult? A: We both do. Q: Voodoo? A: We do. Q: You do? A: Yes, voodoo.
Q: Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing? A: Yes. Q: Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car? A: Yes, sir. Q: What did she say? A: What disco am I at?
Q: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
Q: The youngest son, the twenty-year old, how old is he?
Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?
Q: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August eighth? A: Yes. Q: And what were you doing at that time?
Q: She had three children, right? A: Yes. Q: How many were boys? A: None. Q: Were there any girls?
Q: You say the stairs went down to the basement? A: Yes. Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?
Q: How was your first marriage terminated? A: By death. Q: And by whose death was it terminated?
Q: Can you describe the individual? A: He was about medium height and had a beard. Q: Was this a male, or a female?
Q: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? A: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people? A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
Q: All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to? A: Oral.
Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? A: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m. Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time? A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.
Q: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? A: No. Q: Did you check for blood pressure? A: No. Q: Did you check for breathing? A: No. Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? A: No. Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor? A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. Q: But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless? A: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.
Q&A taken from Avolites Online: Jokes, Cartoons & Funny Stories
Cartoons taken from Stu's Views: Law & Lawyer Cartoons
July 23, 2009
TIMING YOUR PRACTICE SESSIONS
- Writing at a faster speed: 20 minutes
- Writing at your goal speed: 20 minutes
- Learning new briefs: 20 minutes
July 22, 2009
I PASSED MY 160 JURY CHARGE TEST
July 20, 2009
I PASSED MY 160 LIT TEST
July 19, 2009
THE IMPORTANCE OF A HOME OFFICE
July 16, 2009
NO MIND
- what happened earlier in your day.
- what you're going to do later in the day.
- what that unknown word that the expert witness just spouted means.
- why that attorney is being so cocky.
- and on and on and on...
July 15, 2009
HOW TO STUDY WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE TIME
- Writing at a faster speed: 20 minutes
- Writing at your goal speed: 20 minutes
- Learning new briefs: 20 minutes
July 14, 2009
STICKING TO IT
- Steno Machine - 80%
- Transcribing (Dictionary Building) - 20%