SPEEDY

Back in the early 1960s, a woman named Evelyn Wood developed a speed reading course called The Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics course.  Wood's method involved using a pointer, such as a finger, pencil or pen, to move along a line of text or page patterns.  The pacing of your hand improved reading efficiency.

My ninth grade English teacher must have taken a Reading Dynamics course because she introduced it to us.  I remember spending time for weeks in English class practicing speed reading.  We'd read to ourselves using the method while being timed.  Then we were also tested on what we comprehended.  My ninth grade English teacher was rather intimidating as she would walk around the classroom supervising our speed reading.  Sometimes, I felt like she was going to whip out a ruler and rap my knuckles if I didn't have my pointer in the position and moving it along fast enough.

I must have learned something from this method because I read fairly quickly.  When reading just for facts, it's great to be able to read entire sentences and, sometimes, paragraphs, all at once and still get the facts.  When reading for pleasure, it is sometimes difficult to slow down to relish what's been written.   It's a blessing and a curse.