Category Archives: School

Incompetency of School Curricula

There are two underlying issues in the incompetency of the current school curricula. One: not using failure as a learning tool. Two: the emphasis on memorization over application.

Almost everything in school is one shot, and that’s it. In games, there’s a certain amount of trial and error going on. It’s okay to be bad when first starting. It’s okay to fail a level, and retry. It’s okay to repeat an RPG from the beginning, learning from previous mistakes. A writer never has the first draft as a finished product. So, why should timed writes be so emphasized. There’s no time to edit them at all. They have to be organized perfectly at first.

There’s only one try for a homework assignment or test, and then it’s graded. Kaput. This keeps a standard of perfection that no student can achieve 100% of the time. Thus, the standards are lowered so that more students can meet them. Lower expectations begets lower achievements.

If schools allow students to fail, but learn from failures without great consequences, the bar could be raised without fear of stragglers. The stragglers don’t stay behind; they’re allowed to try again. This will makes students more willing to try. School should be for learning. They should learn their limits and adapt themselves. However, if they’re afraid to try, they will never achieve anything.

Memorization hardly achieves anything. I’m near the memorization of 100 decimal places of pi. Where will the get me? If I don’t practice, the skill begins to deteriorate and I can quickly shift back 50 decimal places. Likewise, kids are learning facts in school. Let’s say, the French Revolution. They memorize all these facts for the test. What happens after the test? Go ask the students and see what they remember.

With application, skills build on each other, such as in math. You have to remember your algebra if you want to do calculus. If students didn’t need algebra for calculus, they wouldn’t remember it.

If students can’t critically apply information, then what good is it? So, let’s say you know all the facts about criminals and the jail system in your county… What are you going to do about it? Shouldn’t school emphasize actions?

As I said yesterday, memorization is useless because when faced with variations, students cannot adapt. If they truly understood the concept, they would be able to use and apply it.

Schools should place more emphasis on the why’s and how’s of situations. This truly leads to understanding the topic. It’s said that he who doesn’t know his history is condemned to repeat it. So, are you less likely to repeat history if a) you understand Hitler’s intentions, or b) you memorize which dates certain battles in World War II took place. I’m going with A.

Together, these concepts could work wonders. Think about science. A hypothesis is not always right. Students should be able to form their own hypothesis, and not be afraid to be wrong. Sometimes you learn more from being wrong, than from being right.

Schools vs. Video Games

There’s a very interesting article I read about how video games are better teachers than the current school system. I found this article through Lloyd who found it through someone else.

I agree with the article.

The article says, “Also, good videogames incorporate the principle of expertise. They tend to encourage players to achieve total mastery of one level, only to challenge and undo that mastery in the next, forcing kids to adapt and evolve.” Schools aren’t pushing kids to the limit. If I work hard and try to get 100 in the class, but I am lazy and still get an A, which choice am I going to choose? Hm. Less work, same result… Or, more work, same result.

I’m also reminded how in certain games, one can keep trying to improve their score. To a lesser extent, this is shown in my quest to become Minesweeper King. (And now I’ve upgraded that quest to Minesweeper Messiah — more on that later.) School doesn’t encourage this. Once you’ve studied a topic. Bam! — You’re done with it. Memorization complete. Information DISCARDED! Meanwhile, replayability is highly valued in video games. Kids keep coming back for more. Kids actually learn from it. Information NOT discarded!

The author touts video games and goes on to say, “Schools, meanwhile, respond with more tests, more drills, and more rigidity.” Is it a wonder that so many kids don’t like school, yet so many kids like games? So many kids can drill a topic into their heads, but many, when faced with a slight variation, have no idea what’s going on. With video games, you must wonder what the next boss will do. My friend has a crap cell phone with only one game. I’m forgetting the name, but it’s one where you have a paddle, similar to pong, but you’re hitting it up at bricks on top. Anyway, the game has 3 levels, but once you’ve completed them, the same levels repeat over and over. With no variation. This game is obviously not fun. Not surprisingly, school is often not fun either.

Often in school, there are no alternate solutions to a problem. Open ended video games are becoming increasingly popular. Even with older video games, there were secret areas you could unlock. Ah, the satisfaction of finding a hidden area… there’s nothing like it in school. Creativity should be encouraged in school, not memorization.

“Cognitive scientist Andy diSessa has argued that the best instruction hovers at the boundary of a student’s competence. Most schools, however, seek to avoid invoking feelings of both pleasure and frustration, blind to the fact that these emotions can be extremely useful when it comes to teaching kids,” the article states. Shouldn’t it be intuitive “that the best instruction hovers at the boundary of a student’s competence”? A mind must be exercised, or else it atrophies, just like a muscle. Would a kid learn more if he were taught easier or harder information? Obviously, the student learning more difficult information will learn more than the student learning simple information.

There’s a couple of underlying issues in the incompetency of the current school curricula. One: not using failure as a learning tool. Two: the emphasis on memorization over application. I’m running out of time here, and bleeding into a different topic, so those issues will be discussed tomorrow, with a reprint of the first part of this paragraph.

No Internet Sources

It’s dreadful when teachers say that internet sources are not allowed. Here we have the greatest resource at our fingertips, and yet we cannot use it. Their excuse is that the internet is too easy. And I say, yes, it was made to be that way. Ever take a look at Jakob Nielsen’s stuff? He says a lot about usability at useit.com. People use the internet because it is easier.

If they don’t want it to be easy, they want it to be hard. They also want it to take up more time. This makes it a waste of time because they are just adding stipulations to make it more time-consuming.

I liken this to making us use typewriter to type up our essays because a computer makes it too easy. Or, having to do trigonometry using tables because a calculator makes it too easy. Or, having to cook popcorn on the stove because the microwave makes it too easy. It’s easy for a reason!

Making us do unneeded work is stupidity. It doesn’t benefit us, for obvious reasons. It doesn’t add any benefit to the learning experience any more than using log tables will add to the learning experience. Times are a-changing; change with the times. It also doesn’t benefit the teacher because it makes them seem like they aren’t doing their job correctly because they aren’t teaching to make use of current resources and to use time more efficiently.

Now, that I’m done talking about that… some random AIM hilarity:

flymistah19: who this
schizo killer: The question is, who are you
flymistah19: not really
flymistah19: your the one who’s talkin to me
schizo killer: Visit www.psycho-ward.org
flymistah19: what about it
schizo killer: it says visit
schizo killer: actually, someone else wanted to know who you were and I took this opportunity to shamelessly promote my website.
schizo killer: Did you visit, or are you just going to ignore me now?
schizo killer: okay, FINE, you whore-mongering bitch, ignore me.
schizo killer: and then, go visit www.psycho-ward.org

I still don’t know who that person is, but I do so love shameless self-promotion. And to those wondering if I’ve seen any of the comments posted: Yes, I have. I may take tomorrow to respond.

Back to Back Essays

I have one weekend to write a five paragraph essay for homework. Then, next class, I get to do a timed write. Something is seriously wrong with that. Yes, later I will elaborate on how schools aren’t teaching or assessing correctly, but after I do tomorrow what was planned for today. For now… go visit psycho-ward.org or something. I got homework that I mentioned earlier.

My WWI Propaganda Speech

“Fellow Americans! Too long have we maintained neutrality in this war! We must fight now. Why? Listen to this message intercepted by our friends across the seas: [read Zimmerman Note]

What an outrage! The Germans wish to forcibly take our land. These states have been ours for years upon years. Think of the large chunk of land they represent. Mexico has no claim to these vast territories. They have absolutely no right to steal those stars from our flag!

How can there ever be peace when the Germans continue plotting and signing secret treaties that threaten our borders? Our neutrality is constantly threatened by Germany! United States civilian ships are destroyed by German U-boats without warning or provocation in their ruthless campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. Think of the possible women and children minding their own business on a ship that’s not even in the war. From nowhere, a torpedo takes out the ship in a giant explosion. A blaze quickly overtakes the ship. There’s no chance for survival. Some are annihilated without ever knowing what happened. Some are horrendously burnt and then cast into the sea, left to drown in the cold Atlantic. Could it be your sweetheart, your wife… your children who go on a trip and never come back — because of the Germans! The German U-boats! The German treaties! The German war! Will you stand for this?

That’s why you must back Wilson, to put a quick end to this heartless, inhumane violence caused by the Germans and their war. America will not let herself be continually harassed. Enlist now! Defeat the Germans! And join the many defending our great country!”

This was written last year for a history project. It hasn’t been edited for the display on this website.

I still think it’s rather good. I’m particularly fond of the image of stealing stars off the flag. Painting the war as the German war makes even those opposed to the war see the Germans as the villain. It twists the truth by making the listener (or reader) believe that the German’s attacked civilian ships for no reason. The US was shipping supplies to Britain, and that’s why the Germans attacked them. For a time, they did have to stop ships and tell all persons from neutral countries to leave, but one can imagine how useful this was in a war-time situation for the Germans. The intercepted Zimmerman Note was very persuasive in making the Americans go to war.

Homework Load

Teachers make a big mistake in assuming that their class is the only class we are taking. They assign homework as if we have no homework from any other class. My handy-dandy handbook says that students should devote at least 2 hours each day for written and study assignments. My school has an alternating day schedule, so that can mean 30 minutes per day for one class. The homework load is never ever at the minimum. Let’s also think about someone not on an alternating day schedule. I’ll let you do the math. It also says students should spend ample time reviewing and studying.

Here, I’ll chart out a schedule. I don’t get home until at least 3:00pm. Let’s say I go to sleep around 10:00pm. (Hah! I’ll assume it for argument’s sake, since that would allow me a good amount of sleep.) That’s seven hours to do everything. Now, factor in eating. That can be 30-60 minutes, especially if one eats out. That leaves 6 to 6 1/2 hours. It says minimum two hours a day. That leaves 4 to 4 1/2 hours of free time. Then, we have to factor in studying. Let’s say that’s an additional 30 to 60 minutes, and it can be more when tests are scheduled. That’s 3 1/2 to 4 hours of free time. I’m in band, so I’m supposed to practice 60 minutes a day. That leaves me 2 1/2 to 3 hours of free time. This isn’t always free free time. People have extra-curricular activities. I’d be dead if it weren’t for the alternating day schedule. Indeed, I had to quit piano lessons while marching band was going on.

That’s a mostly minimalistic estimate. Teachers have a habit of assigning projects and tests on the same days. I don’t believe there is any way for this to consistently happen if it were mere coincidence. They plan it. What else do they do at their meetings? Anyway, on the weeks with projects and tests assigned, workload will double or triple. It’s tiring because I get burned out after having to do so many.

Then, there’s the issue of weekends. Weekends aren’t there to give students a break, they’re there for teachers to use up more time with homework. Students don’t need social lives. Why do students always get more work over a 3-day weekend? How many teachers honestly believe that most students won’t put off the work until Sunday night (or Monday morning)? It just makes life more stressful.

Okay, I’ve been making some generalizations here about teachers. I’m don’t profess to be an expert on teaching, but I’m just giving a high school student’s perspective, so please read my suggestions in the next paragraph.

Getting things done more quickly in class would decrease the homework workload and help a lot. Not assigning busy-work would be a plus, too. Most of math is just busy-work. If you understand the concept, then you don’t need to do 100 problems. I hate easy work that’s just a waste of time. I guess one problem is that I could be doing something more productive with that time, but most people won’t. They’ll just slip in another TV show. Oh well.

If only there was a world without so much homework. *sigh*