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I like how all these people are saying "typing", with a little shop and home ec thrown in. This is supposed to make us think that what is really needed is more "life skills" type courses.
Now I did take "typing". My mom got this idea from a friend of hers that everyone should know how to type in high school, so she sent me, and then the next year my brother, to typing class the summer before 10th grade (our HS was grades 10-12). Back then, it really was not necessary to be able to type, even for college. And frankly, with those old manual typewriters, it was very hard to correct mistakes, edit, etc. I did type a few college papers. As our world became more computerized, I often said she did the right thing for the wrong reason.
Most people my age have learned to "type" whether they took a course in HS or not because they had to use computers in some form for work. I can't pick one course that I thought was most valuable, but if I could narrow it down, it wouldn't be typing. I could be an RN without having taken typing. Until the most recent years, we entered chart notes by hand.
Hah. I got out of my sophomore typing class by the skin of my teeth. My fastest typing score was 35 wpm.
But the last typing test I took a couple of years ago was 135 wpm. During the intervening time, I worked at a newspaper. Slow typers didn't last long at newspapers.
Your larger point is absolutely correct. I think one of the problems with education today is structural. We herd all the kids down the same cattle chute, expecting them to take the same basic coursework. What's more, with the exception of AP classes, there's not much variation in terms of course offerings based on the interests or needs of the student.
I required all my kids to hold down some kind of job during high school. And I required all my kids to bank half their money in a checking account. When the monthly statements came, I'd go through their first few statements, telling them what to look for and what to avoid. All my kids learned to cook a meal, do a load of laundry (And FOLD it), look for a job, change a tire, and a bunch of other life skills.
My middle child has a friend who, because his mother ran off and his father was in a state of advanced dementia (This is a kid who has had a lot thrown at him in life at an early age) somehow, made it through his senior year in college without knowing how to tie a tie or interview for a job. So he and I went clothes shopping and I showed him how to tie a Windsor and a four-in-hand. I showed him how to act during an interview and how to write the crucial Thank You note afterward. Because his father had considerable assets, I gave him advice on how to manage it, introducing him to a couple of very ethical and conservative financial advisors. But when his dad got worse, the kid didn't even know how to write a check.
And it's really staggering how many kids don't know how to do all those things. A lot of that is deficient parenting, but a lot of parents don't know the fundamentals of money either, especially those in less privileged areas. I don't think schools should be substitute parents, but I'm also pretty sure that someone, somewhere has to teach it.
10th grade metal working, all my books, reports, gym shorts and hat tassels are long gone. Can't remember what Thomas Paine actually did or what the hell an adverb is, but I still got that GD tool box
I graduated in 1987 and I was brave enough to take typing and home economics. These two courses have helped me even today. In the Navy I earned extra cash sewing on buttons and patches and making quick stitches on pants legs before an unscheduled uniform inspection. I can still see back on a button and have it last more than 5 years. I work in a hospital boiler room and I’m the only one in our shop who can type and they rely on me for department emails.
I love reading so literature courses were my favorites. My only regret with literature was English Lit. Our hippy teacher let us sit where ever we wanted. On a test on Romeo & Juliet the jocks forced me to sit in the center of the class while they sat around me. The teacher ordered me to pick up my desk and put it next to her desk facing the class for the test. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. It was like those commercials “wanna get away?”.
Anyone who has cooked from a recipe has used a basic form of algebra to adjust the size and portions for the amount of people being served. I use some basic physical science at work dealing with chemical test and adjustments for water used in the boiler and cooling towers. We test pH, conductivity, chlorides, and descaliing chemical levels. We see daily the results of thermal expansion and contraction. When it comes to physical science some students can’t conceptualize from a book. Actual physical examples help them to learn better.
I was terrified to take it because I was weak, fat, uncoordinated. I got bullied a lot. But if I wanted to graduate I had to take a PE class. The only class that fit my schedule was "Fitness" which was half running and half weightlifting (they combined weightlifting with jumping rope).
They made me run (basically walk) 3 miles a day. Eventually I could run 3 miles. By the end of the running half of the class only a few cross country team members finished before me. They made me do v-ups, lift weights, jump rope. My stomach got flat, my coordination improved (jumping rope). I became a wizard with jump rope tricks and people in the class would line up to watch when it was my turn with the jump rope. Suddenly even some of the jocks thought I was cool. "Watch what he can do" They started lifting with me and encouraging and pushing me to do better. I did. Eventually I became strong and even competed on the weightlifting team.
That gave me more confidence and, after high school, I continued working out, running, jumping rope, took up cross country skiing and won some medals. I took martial arts in college and became more coordinated, balanced and disciplined. I got tough and no longer had to tolerate physical bullying (of myself or others). I took up racquetball and became very skilled. I kept these things up for much of my life (until my knees started to fail). All of this led to my being fairly healthy for most of my life. It led to far greater confidence.
I became an outdoor enthusiast. Loved working hard at anything physical. Developed great endurance for biking, running and skiing. Being strong allowed me to get involved in some crazy pastimes like extreme hiking and free climbing. When we had kids, carrying four of them back form a long hike was not impossible (hard but doable). This allowed me to challenge my kids to try for more, go further. When you can go no longer, I will just carry you.
I went places I would not have gone, did things I would not have done, and met people I would not have met had PE not forced me to get healthy, strong and confident.
When I met my wife in a chance encounter at a bar, she was attracted to me because I was very confident. Walking her home that icy winter night she fell and twisted her ankle. I picked her up like she weighed nothing and carried her a mile to her sorority house without getting winded or tired. That had a significant influence on why a bubbly, fun, popular, co-ed beauty would consider dating the big awkward law school nerd.
If I had continued on the course I was on before being forced to take PE, I would have remained overweight, unhealthy and un-confident my whole life. Being forced into PE significantly changed my life for the better. I do not think I can say that about any other single class.
(I never had typing - I learned to type in the 1990s playing an online game Gemstone III. Before then I could not type worth a darn, but now, although I only use 6 fingers, Ic an type better than 100 WPM (with lots of errors)).
Last edited by Coldjensens; 04-16-2018 at 10:49 AM..
It was high school elective that was essentially a critical thinking class. It taught us how identify credible sources of knowledge versus biased and/or garbage sources and how to effectively and efficiently research topics using those tools of discernment. Probably should have been a graduation requirement for the whole school...
Though, TBH, typing was probably a close second - especially given we had to learn on those old typewriters too! I SO appreciate spell check and the delete button as a result!
Did you attend a Jesuit high school? "Tools of discernment" sounds awfully Ignatian to me.
Speedwriting. Forkner Shorthand to be exact. The year was 1987. Worked for a defense contractor and I needed to pass the shorthand test to move up a grade in my clerical position.
I know, it sounds so antiquated now. I took the class, passed the test, moved up a grade, got a raise, then came a massive corporate-wide layoff and I lost my job.
However, I use that speed writing for my own use even to this day - over 30 years later. It was much easier to learn than straight Gregg shorthand because it uses part of the actual letters in the alphabet. People are amazed that I can "write shorthand" in the 21st century! And I'm still amazed I remember it.
what a great question and one I've never considered. Other than the obvious reading, writing, and arithmetic classes, the only class I refer to again and again was a master's research class that taught me how to read, write, and evaluate scientific studies.
many have said typing was their most valuable class. I didn't learn how to type until I got my first personal computer in the 90s.
I am not "enamored" of it, but it's certainly been useful in my line of work! As a librarian, I spend a lot of time typing up program and grant proposals, press releases, bibliographies, blog posts, emails, etc. And if I were "hen-pecking" instead of typing 80-90wpm, that extra time would eventually make a difference in my productivity. Also, just being able to type without watching the keyboard is great - since it saves time when I'm the "scribe" for staff meetings, transcribing written notes, or anything else that can't be electronically copied & pasted. So I do think it's a skill we should know, unless your career aspirations will never involve computer keyboards. And that's rare these days, at least for anyone with a college degree.
There are lots of skills that are useful that don't make them necessary classes. You can learn to type online on your own time. Why does it need to be a class?
There are lots of skills that are useful that don't make them necessary classes. You can learn to type online on your own time. Why does it need to be a class?
It doesn't need to be a class, but the OP and many others are saying it was the most valuable class taken in school.
There are lots of skills that are useful that don't make them necessary classes. You can learn to type online on your own time. Why does it need to be a class?
When my son was ten years old, he asked me, "Hey, Dad. What kind of computer did you have growing up?" He was shocked to learn that I didn't have one. In fact, I didn't own my own computer until I was 25.
Back in the Dark Ages, relatively few people had typewriters at home. Electric typewriters in the home were rare. And even the most basic computers were unbelievably expensive to the average family. That's why just about every business of any size had a slew of clerical workers to bang out correspondence.
Today, my kids learned to be touch typists by the time they hit 2nd or 3rd grade. Computers are just that pervasive.
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