We were still taught cursive through grade school when I was there... and I remained a fair writer in same, when I took the time to do it "right." But by the end of grade school I had developed my own handwriting style which was a mix of cursive and print, depending on which got stuff on the page faster. I expect a lot of people did the same. By high school pretty much everything that involved major amounts of writing had to be turned in as a typewritten document anyway. Writing by hand was pretty much limited to answers on tests and overnight homework.

Now with the advent of the personal computer, I can say with no hesitation that my handwriting has deteriorated to the point that I am perfectly capable of scribbling down something in a hurry that even I can't read if I come across it again after having forgotten what I was scribbling about in the first place. Consequently when I have to write a note out by hand - which happens lot at work, Post-its being a primary means of interoffice communication on various documents that have to pass from person to person to person to person and back again - I make myself write it out in (mostly) block letters to ensure that it's legible to anyone who has to read it.

Kind of a shame really handwrighting is an art.

I used to work as a draftsmen before the days of autocad, one of the most sought out traits was 'lettering' the ability to hand wright text that could be read by all.

It took hours of study and years of practice to be even halfway decent.

To this day unless I am purposely 'lettering' my cursive is more legible than my block letters.

Kind of curious when you think about it how the computer has crushed an art form.

But how do kids take notes in class these days?

In the case of people like Frau Kaleun and me an abstract art. :03:

My hand writing is horrible, print or those squiggly letters for making 'yas mark. Both are indecipherable.

It is so bad that back in high school they had to let me use a computer to write out any essay questions on tests. Actually I got good at typing, and I plan on buying a laptop for note taking when I go back to school.

OH! OHHH! I got this!

I slept. my mind is far more receptive to lessons when I'm not using it to be cynical.
When I actually took notes (between naps and walking from nap room to nap room...ehem, classroom..)
Note taking has become kind of an art form in itself. you get the time to read the powerpoint slide, then an equal amount of time, about 15-45 seconds, to write it all down. usually smashing a few words onto a couple lines in your notebook as quickly as possible.
I usually gave up and slept. I am a better reader/listener than I am a note taker.

The office I work in shares space with the department that maintains the engineering drawings for all buildings on site, as well as a large amount of other hardware (it's amazing what can be considered a drawing, sometimes). One day when I had not much else to do, I opened up one of their drawers, pulled out a stack of early to mid 60s vintage, and looked through them. It looked like pretty standard stuff, much like I saw on their computers.

And then I took a second look, and it hit me. They were done by hand! Holy crap! The precision of the lettering and the drawings was amazing. It really is a lost art, and I really do mean art.

I am with you on this. Back in my IBM Selectric 2 days, I was known to type my post-it notes if it was important.

Had to think back to my days in an LA elementary school to remember what "cursive" means :D The word doesn't quite exist over here.

There's no real distinction in Irish schools, if your handwriting is legible then keep on truckin'. Mine is admittedly horrid when writing up notes for myself, but I can usually put in the effort for something important.

I'm pretty much back in school at my current job, a paycheck really helps the study go down :D