How I Learned Hand Lettering

I remember when I was in grade school, my mother always finished my project by doing

some lettering on the front cover to make it more appealing. We lack fancy decors, colorful

markers, or glittery stickers at that time, so we must be more creative to come up with a beautiful

project. During those days, calligraphy is not yet popular, so most projects and school reports

were done with hand lettering.

We were always fascinated and in awed whenever our mother creates decorative letters

by just using a simple marker, a ballpen, or a pencil. She would decorate our folders, envelopes,

notebooks, and nameplates effortlessly. Relatives and neighbors would come by to asked her if

she can hand-letter their projects too. Hence, I become interested in learning the art of hand

lettering.

Mother patiently taught me and my sister how to create fancy hand letters. We practiced

making different designs by hand lettering the alphabet. We just used the available materials and

incorporate our own designs. We even learned how to create borders that we used for our

scrapbooks and bulletin boards at school.

Eventually, we got the hang of mixing and matching materials, colors, and designs to

achieve the final finish that we wanted. In high school, I was able to earn a little from hand

lettering the projects of my classmates and neighbors. Moreover, my sister was always the class

secretary (definitely because of her nice penmanship) and we were always present in school

presentations as part of the decoration team. We enjoyed our younger years creating beautiful

letters not only for school projects but for special occasions as well.
 Like any other skills, hand lettering requires patience and plenty of practice but what

made me enjoy it is the fact that it serves as a bonding activity for the family. We may not be

able to enjoy luxurious travels or dinner outs but by learning hand lettering and exploring

different designs, we had the chance to enjoy each other’s company.

Our mother is of course, the number one reason why we learned hand lettering and we

owe our nice penmanship to her. Up to these days, whenever I miss her, my sister, and my

childhood days, I would get a piece of paper and marker and create hand letters.

Vgotsky and Bandura’s Theories Applied in Teaching

Teachers are one of the many factors that can influence the learning process. While

children will first learn from their parents and families at home, we also play a critical role in

determining what and how the students will learn.

As what Albert Bandura proposed in his psychological theory, observation and modelling

is significant in learning since children are like sponges and they tend to absorb everything that
they experience. One of the many ways I can relate this to my profession as a teacher is that I

should allow my students to learn from doing which John Dewey also remarked in his book,

Democracy and Education.

For an instance, even if my students have no experience in writing an autobiography, they

will probably write it with all the important details about themselves and that is because some of

them may have already read or seen an autobiography before.

Other behavioral theories suggest that learning is a result of conditioning and

reinforcement however, Bandura believes that learning can take place simply by observing

others which is also a teaching method being implemented.

Thus, I incorporate hands-on activities, collaborative works, groupings, and

demonstrations in my class. However, online, and modular classes limit these interactions among

students. I am still finding alternative activities that will allow my students to observe things and

learn from it. Showing them video tutorial is helpful and since we are in the new normal

classroom setting, I can walk through them in doing the activity through video conferencing or

demonstration videos.

Aside from Albert Bandura, Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory is also applicable in

teaching as it proposed that a person’s full cognitive development needs social interaction. It is a

man’s nature to interact with others and develop relationships to survive.

As mentioned above, learning by doing is an effective teaching method for me and those

activities require social interaction. Children are curious most of the time which is evident when

they ask tons of questions. Likewise, they usually want to get involved in every task. Allowing

them to observe, interact and play an active role in the class will enable them to learn more.
 This is how most of us learned a specific skill. We first observed, asked questions, and

eventually practiced doing the activity and it does not only apply to children. As professionals,

we were first mentored by someone more knowledgeable. We experienced on the job training

and demonstrations, attended seminars, coaching sessions and listened in numerous discussions

so we can be our best in our chosen careers.