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We didn’t learn how to hand sew. We learned how to embroider a pillow, which our teacher even admitted was nothing at all like sewing a button.
I can embroider, I can sew a button, it is the same. Thread the needle (same in both) knot the thread (same in both), push the needle through the fabric in one spot and back in another (same in both). Literally the only difference is before putting the needle back into the fabric, put the button on the thread.
My parents were my biggest teachers. My parents taught me to speak,read and write. My dad taught me how to hit a baseball along with the little league coaches. Paid teachers and administrators wasted my time. Once I learned to cope and problem solve by watching my parents, life was easy. No paid educator every taught coping skills or problem solving skills in any of my classes. Memorizing worthless crap was a complete waste of time. By the way, I taught English and coached high school baseball for over 30 years. My classes performed Shakespeare, we did not read it outloud or watch a movie. We searched for motives, themes and expectations.
My parents were my biggest teachers. My parents taught me to speak,read and write. My dad taught me how to hit a baseball along with the little league coaches. Paid teachers and administrators wasted my time. Once I learned to cope and problem solve by watching my parents, life was easy. No paid educator every taught coping skills or problem solving skills in any of my classes. Memorizing worthless crap was a complete waste of time. By the way, I taught English and coached high school baseball for over 30 years. My classes performed Shakespeare, we did not read it outloud or watch a movie. We searched for motives, themes and expectations.
Nothing inspires good teachers more than having bad teachers.
My mind wanders while walking the dog. Today it wandered to all the time spent "learning" useless information in school that was needed only for the test and how much more effective school could be if it focused only on the important rather than trivial pursuit.
Just as an example, thinking back to my history teacher, he was a wonderful teacher. Really created an interest in history. Yet at least half the curriculum and most of our brain power as students was used to memorize useless trivia. Take for example, having to memorize the names of the counties or the eight lords proprietors. What does that really matter vs understanding how government works, and why it was designed that way. "Why?" is an important part of history, yet so little time was spent on it vs names and dates.
Saw similar things across so many of my classes -- a focus on the "easy to test" memorization of trivial facts with little emphasis on causes and effects. Even most of our science classes were about memorization, not understanding.
Makes you wonder how much better it would be if we put emphasis on "why" and "how" rather than "what year was so and so born?"
The so called useless information is training your mind to memorize and persevere, kind of like exercising muscles. Also, at some point in our lifetime, we actually may remember something familiar about that useless information. But I think it's mostly to train our minds to think and stick with a problem.
I remember my 3rd grade teacher (public school, suburban Essex County, NJ, 1968-69) telling us something about "the Indians used every part of the buffalo", which contrasted to the White Man who only selected the choicest meat and threw the rest away. That was true, but it wasn't because of some mystical wisdom the Indians had. Every subsistence culture uses every part of food animals, which is why to this day we still eat tripe, haggis, light & lungs, and so on. We consider those things as generally kind of gross, but our European ancestors ate them because they didn't want to starve to death.
Today we grind it all up for sausage.
The so called useless information is training your mind to memorize and persevere, kind of like exercising muscles. Also, at some point in our lifetime, we actually may remember something familiar about that useless information. But I think it's mostly to train our minds to think and stick with a problem.
The fact that most of us forget most of what we learned in school once the test is past means that either the wrong things are being taught, or that teachers are using the wrong techniques to teach it. I understand what you are saying, but since we forget almost everything, what is being done is clearly not working.
OP, I'm thinking that either your history teacher wasn't as good as you though, because a love of history isn't inspired by memorizing lists, or he may have been required by national education guidelines, to do that. In some states in the US, history or "social studies" teachers are required to have the students memorize the states + their capitals, and all the Presidents. Interestingly, in some states, private schools are exempt from some of the state requirements, so in those schools, history teachers are free to focus more on political and social trends that frame historical events, and other conceptual approaches, like the "why" behind events. Your teacher may not have had a choice with certain elements in the curriculum.
The fact that most of us forget most of what we learned in school once the test is past means that either the wrong things are being taught, or that teachers are using the wrong techniques to teach it. I understand what you are saying, but since we forget almost everything, what is being done is clearly not working.
This is 100% WRONG. You really should read up on how memory works. Information is not moved to long term memory unless it is used regularly. This is why people remember multiplication tables but not specific math problems. That is not a function of how it is taught, but rather how your brain works.
This is 100% WRONG. You really should read up on how memory works. Information is not moved to long term memory unless it is used regularly. This is why people remember multiplication tables but not specific math problems. That is not a function of how it is taught, but rather how your brain works.
Then what is the point of learning things that aren't used regularly if we are just going to forget it all?
This is 100% WRONG. You really should read up on how memory works. Information is not moved to long term memory unless it is used regularly. This is why people remember multiplication tables but not specific math problems. That is not a function of how it is taught, but rather how your brain works.
Some good points. I had to memorize multiplication tables in 3rd grade. We were timed reciting them with a stop watch. I can do most multiplication and division problems in my head and I'm glad I had to memorize them.
What I don't understand is why I still remember the soliloquy from Macbeth that I had to memorize in 1972. I have rarely had to remember it but I can still recite it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001
Then what is the point of learning things that aren't used regularly if we are just going to forget it all?
Are you talking about learning or memorizing? I learn things by reading or hearing them. They fit together like a big puzzle. I'm not good at memorizing, but I can remember facts, dates, etc. For example, I never had to memorize the states and capitals, or the list of presidents. I would probably get most of them correct but would probably miss a few.
The issue is that in many fields you have to remember a certain amount of information to put other concepts in perspective. How much you retain over time is going to be dependent on how much you use the information. I don't remember much from biology, chemistry, physics or calculus. Does that mean I wasted my time taking these classes? I don't think so. There is certain information that I do remember and it helps to put other things into perspective.
Keep in mind that some people do remember most of everything they learn. My son is a physician with incredible memory. Information just sticks in his mind. His knowledge is just not medicine but most topics such as history, politics, financial planning, literature, sports, computers, etc. These are subjects that are not part of his daily job but his knowledge is probably in the top 10% of the population in any of them. He simply remembers everything he encounters with little effort. You, on the other hand, complain about having to learn anything.
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