What Did You Learn In School That You Still Find Useful?

Discussion in 'Education & Learning' started by Thomas Stearn, May 14, 2019.

  1. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Unless the pizza is a Pizza Hut pan pizza and it comes as a rectangle. Easy math.

    Now, about history. You ARE a part of history, which is the way I think about it. Now, if you examine the other parts of history that is closely associated with yourself, learn it then expand on that to another fixed date it becomes easy because you have made yourself part of it.
    When that becomes boring then find a fixed date and event and work your way forward until something applies to you.

    Here’s the thing with me. I do not remember names. When I went through seminary for instance, I could remember when, where and how but doggone it who did it was nearly always my Achilles heel.
     
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  2. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I've always loved languages. I got my 2 year degree at night when working full time, and burned out before finishing my bachelors. When at Marymount (in Arlington, VA, not Loyola) I tried to sign up for a History of Languages of the World class, thinking that my interest in languages might give me the frame of reference you allude to. Sadly, it was a graduate level class, and I could not negotiate an exception.

    Regarding names: I spent the first 15 or so years of my career in purchasing, some of those with multinationals (Japanese, French, German), so always paid particular attention to remembering names. In an international environment, it's even more crucial as a sign of respect. Just a couple of years ago I was at a church function, and there was a woman speaker representing an unrelated organization. I did business with her in 1985 100 miles up north, and here she was over 30 years later. I recalled her name and her business. She did not remember me. But that's what I did for a living. Again, as you stated, for me it had a meaningful context.

    That's good advice for me to see that point of reference when studying history. I really want the knowledge. Now I just have to keep my mind from wandering...
     
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  3. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Nothing wrong with minds that wander. In the 12th century Genghis Kahn united a whole bunch wandering minds (nomads) and built the Mongolian Empire.
    Besides that, a wandering mind is that of a dreamer and without dreams, among other things, daddy would not have “known” mama.
     
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  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    That's a good point. I used to carry a little notepad so as to capture fleeting thoughts before their replacements arrived. They seemed to have a short tour of duty.
     
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  5. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Ya know John, in my most humble opinion, children are relieved of their imagination way too soon. They’re not led to have a desire to answer the why’s and why nots but rather given a specific line of knowledge that all things have to fit into.
    If perchance a dream or wayward thought comes near to the notebook it is first re-examined to see if it fits with everything they have been taught to believe and if it doesn’t, well, scratch that otherwise that child must have ADD, ADHD or is even slightly autistic or has Asperger’s syndrome.

    It is a good thing that those labels did not exist when I went to school or I truly believe I would have had to take the short bus to school.
     
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  6. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    You, Sir, just defined "New Math."

    Our answers are the same, but your thought processes are non-conforming. "F"
     
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  7. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Ah yes, I do remember it well. Too well.
    It’s a long story but in short, by the time I hit 7th grade I was fulfilling my math requirements a couple of years ahead of my peers then.....we moved to another city and state.
    When I tried to take the same courses with the new school they told me I couldn’t keep taking Algebra II until I completed a course of “new math”.
    I asked the big question, “why”. The math teacher said, “we know that 1+1=2 but we want to know why 1+1=2”. Then, in the most belligerent voice I could drum up I said, “Dick had one apple and Jane had one apple so between the two they had two apples. Why? Because mama only had 2 apples to give.”

    I guess I sounded too belligerent because my next conversation was with the vice principle.
     
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  8. Ed Marsh

    Ed Marsh Veteran Member
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    Good evening to all-
    This is a very interesting topic to me.
    I learned a great deal when I was a student. I learned a great deal more when I was a teacher.
    Of all the classes and subjects I took in school, the one that has benefited me most was a one-semester class in junior high- typing. That skill has served me very well in a number of situations through my life.
    Being able to put words on paper- and in electronic media- has helped me a great deal.

    good night to all- Ed
     
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  9. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    The "Three Rs" are really only one R....Reading.

    Writing is a "W".

    Arithmetic is an"A".

    Hal
     
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  10. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    If the teacher had a hickory stick, it’s however he or she says it is.
     
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  11. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Captain Obvious checks in. :p
     
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  12. Silvia Benoit

    Silvia Benoit Veteran Member
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    Talking about "useful learning"....

    1. How many languages do you think a kid should learn in school?
    2. What subject and why would you add / remove from the programs?
    3. Would you mandate the parents to be part of the decisions.
    4. Would you go for REINFORCING a kid' s talent/s?
    5. Would you promote student exchange to reach total fluency in a given language?
     
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  13. Ed Marsh

    Ed Marsh Veteran Member
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    Good evening to all-

    Ms. Benoit- thank you for posting your questions- very interesting, I think.
    My responses:
    1. English and another language- I would suggest Spanish for most of the country. Not all kids would be able to master both, but it would be very good for most.
    2. I would add Civics and Government- not taught by coaches- as is most common.
    3. Parents should be given every opportunity to have input in each student's plan at school..
    4. Absolutely. the public schools already do a very good job at recognizing and developing most kids' special abilities.
    5. I found student exchange to be extremely beneficial for everyone involved- both students and teachers.

    Again, thank you for your post.

    you all be safe and keep well- Ed
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I think a school should offer quality language courses and encourage students to take at least one foreign language, but I wouldn't require them. Considering that pretty much everything else has gotten worse, I doubt that language programs have improved since I was in school, yet I found the two years of Spanish that I took to be a waste of time. If there were to be a foreign language requirement, students should have the option to take that course outside of the public school system.

    I don't know about subjects, but all of the indoctrination content should be removed. As for additions, I would like to say that the Constitution should be taught, but I have no faith in the public school system's ability to do so productively.

    No mandate, but those parents who care to do so should have a significant voice. School boards should be parent-run. Anyone without a child in the school system shouldn't be eligible for a school board position. Teachers are employees who should have authority only within their own classrooms, and that authority should have limitations. In other words, teach the subject matter rather than promoting your own social values and politics.

    Definitely. Children who exhibit a particular talent in any area should be encouraged and allowed to develop these skills.

    That would be an excellent idea. After completing a course in a foreign language, the opportunity to attend school in a country where that language is the dominant language would be very helpful.
     
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  15. Lois Winters

    Lois Winters Veteran Member
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    How to use the thesaurus and the dictionary. I love words and these two books have been on every desk I ever owned.
     
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