High School Typing Class
So why did I take a typing class in high school?
First, we have to back up in this story. I need to set the scene.
In the eighth grade, I took a computer class. That class made me think that computers were a subject I wanted to learn more about.
Once I moved into high school, I found out they had a class on computers. I took that class in eleventh grade. This was a programming course. I remember some of the programs were hard. I got through the class and passed.
I knew I was going to continue exploring computers so I decided to take a typing class in my senior year.
My typing teacher was in her fifties with short black hair with gray streaks. She wore glasses sometimes. She turned out to be my favorite teacher. Although, I did have another teacher (you’ll learn more about her another time) that came in a close second. She taught us how to type and all the fundamentals. Sometimes you hear from people that their teacher wasn’t very good at explaining things. She didn’t have a problem with that. She knew her stuff.
I was in a class with mostly girls. I think there were only two of us that were boys. We had about twenty-five people. Imagine the odds.
While doing this article, I went to find a photo of an electric typewriter. Imagine my surprise when I found the photo in the beginning of this post. I can’t believe I found the same exact photo of the typewriter I worked on. What are the odds! It was an IBM Selectric. Mine was blue. The whole class had the same model. I know it’s the same because it has identifying items like the off/on button and the paper alignment area with the numbers. I just can’t believe I found a photo. Real cool.
I was a fast typist. In the early days of the learning process, I would use the white correction strips to make a correction over items that I got wrong. As time went on, I didn’t have to use as many correction strips. Soon, I didn’t have to use them at all.
One of the things that the other students had trouble with was not looking at their hands when typing. I had no problem with that. I never looked at my hands. I still don’t do that. I’m always looking at the screen.
She was impressed with my typing. She wrote very nice comments on my work all the time. I still have one of those papers. She cared about me and that mattered a lot to me.
If you’ve used an electric typewriter before, you know that it can lock up on occasion. What do I mean? If you turn on the typewriter and push down on the keys and they are stuck, you’ve got a problem. The first time this happened during class, I had to raise my hand while she was instructing us. I told her the problem and she picked up the one corner of the typewriter and let it slam down on the desk. It let out a loud noise that quieted everyone. Magically, it was fixed.
Another day I came in and guess what? It was stuck again. I knew what had to be done but I was scared to do it because of the loud noise. What do you think I did? Did I tell the teacher again? Did I slam it down? I did nothing. The assignment that was given to us wasn’t due until the next day during the middle of the class. I looked in the book like I was working. I wasted a whole hour. It was probably not the best thing to do but I had confidence that I could get it done the next day and finish in time. But you might ask what if it was stuck again? Well, if it was, I was going to tell her. The next day comes and it is NOT stuck. Hallelujah! Some other poor soul got stuck with it. [laughs] I got to work and finished in five to ten minutes. I even had time to spare. I was sitting there while all the other students were still working on the assignment.
Most of the time, I finished so fast that I was sitting around trying to waste time. I would look in the book or go over my notes.
When we had our typing test, I typed 70 wpm (word per minute).
When the class finished, I collected my A.
After high school, I got my own electric typewriter so I could type things. I guess I actually did do some writing back then after all. I hadn’t remembered it until I started writing this now. I know I had fun with it. I remember searching the Service Merchandise catalog for the different versions of typewriters. I don’t remember the brand I got but I know it was blue.
Feel free to comment.
Until next time, happy reading.
-Matt
If you want to read another great story on typing class, head on over to Rebecca Holden’s story called “Sal has a jaffa salad”.
I too took typing class, quite possibly the most valuable course I took in high school!
Great story and it reminded me of the typing class I took in high school (mainly as a blow off class). It was back before PCs were a "thing", so I figured I would -never- use typing in the "real world". I was proven very wrong years later, lol.