How much do you actually remember from school? How much do you actually remember from childhood? Well, if you say your memory isn’t very good, I can tell you that mine probably isn’t a whole lot better, and I doubt many other young people’s are either. In fact, one of my older friends always used to tease me that I had Alzheimer’s disease for young people. It’s probably not far from the truth. I have a terrible time remembering things. Ok, I should actually probably clarify that. I cannot remember appointments, which I think is God’s sense of humor, as it is the most embarrassing thing to forget. Oh, my gosh...embarrassing. I can remember long strings of numbers (including credit cards, so watch out) and languages. Anyways, back on track here to my point. Your children, unless they are wonder children and completely unlike me, will probably not remember much of what you teach them. That’s a depressing thought, but it is true. I can’t even probably remember the curriculum that I learned out of. I can’t remember much of Calc II that I took two, almost three, years ago. Now, don't abandon ship just because they won’t remember it, but rather don’t be afraid to break the schedule for something that they will remember far longer than everyday lessons. And all those chemistry and biology experiments that are a challenge to set up? Do them. Why? Your kids will remember them. And if you pass out while dissecting a frog, they will REALLY remember that.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyday lessons are important, and I don’t want to underestimate how important it is to complete core subjects like Math, English, Science, and History. However, the important question to ask is how to teach it memorably. Now, here’s the tricky part – everyone learns and remembers things differently. My mom can remember anything if you put it to music – even chicken-of-the-sea tuna commercials from I have no idea when. I remember anything if it is put into a story format; hence, why I loved history so much. While this is all well and good, I know that none of you are wonder woman (well, not that I know of) and it is hard enough just to get through a day. So, here’s my encouragement: lessons are lost, but principals are remembered.
The best example I have of this is learning horseback riding and horse training. I took lessons for four years, and that’s what I tell people and they think I really know what I’m talking about. The truth is, I took lessons for four years, but...I was so young at the time – probably about 5 years old, that I remember very little of the lessons I was taught. What I do retain, and probably always will, are the principals that my horse teacher taught me. Can I still train horses? Oh, yeah, and I love it, but I’m going off of principals. It’s the principals that guide me. It’s what seems natural at that point in time to me with the knowledge that I have. The same is true for math and especially now, programming. I can’t remember the exact process, but I understand the underlying principles of how math works, so I can usually figure it out. Programming is an impossible art in some ways because it is impossible to remember and retain all of the syntax. So, what do you remember? Principles, and look up the syntax. The knowledge/realization is interesting because it causes you not to “sweat the small stuff” so much and just work on the really big important principles. Principles are hard. I know because I've sweat over them a lot lately. I have a databases class that has odd concepts and it makes it extremely difficult to learn principles, especially when these principles have their own jargon and are spread out across three chapters. However, once I learn them, the material makes sense, life makes sense, and life is good. Back on track. I’m going to post a link on here to a comical video called the five minute university.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4
It makes a good point of what people actually will remember. It also brings up an interesting point about the art of taking tests, which will be the next topic I will try to get around to addressing. Anyways, enjoy the video – it is short, only 4 minutes. Copy the link and paste it into the browser. If nothing else, it is good for laughs...
Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyday lessons are important, and I don’t want to underestimate how important it is to complete core subjects like Math, English, Science, and History. However, the important question to ask is how to teach it memorably. Now, here’s the tricky part – everyone learns and remembers things differently. My mom can remember anything if you put it to music – even chicken-of-the-sea tuna commercials from I have no idea when. I remember anything if it is put into a story format; hence, why I loved history so much. While this is all well and good, I know that none of you are wonder woman (well, not that I know of) and it is hard enough just to get through a day. So, here’s my encouragement: lessons are lost, but principals are remembered.
The best example I have of this is learning horseback riding and horse training. I took lessons for four years, and that’s what I tell people and they think I really know what I’m talking about. The truth is, I took lessons for four years, but...I was so young at the time – probably about 5 years old, that I remember very little of the lessons I was taught. What I do retain, and probably always will, are the principals that my horse teacher taught me. Can I still train horses? Oh, yeah, and I love it, but I’m going off of principals. It’s the principals that guide me. It’s what seems natural at that point in time to me with the knowledge that I have. The same is true for math and especially now, programming. I can’t remember the exact process, but I understand the underlying principles of how math works, so I can usually figure it out. Programming is an impossible art in some ways because it is impossible to remember and retain all of the syntax. So, what do you remember? Principles, and look up the syntax. The knowledge/realization is interesting because it causes you not to “sweat the small stuff” so much and just work on the really big important principles. Principles are hard. I know because I've sweat over them a lot lately. I have a databases class that has odd concepts and it makes it extremely difficult to learn principles, especially when these principles have their own jargon and are spread out across three chapters. However, once I learn them, the material makes sense, life makes sense, and life is good. Back on track. I’m going to post a link on here to a comical video called the five minute university.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4
It makes a good point of what people actually will remember. It also brings up an interesting point about the art of taking tests, which will be the next topic I will try to get around to addressing. Anyways, enjoy the video – it is short, only 4 minutes. Copy the link and paste it into the browser. If nothing else, it is good for laughs...