School Reform: Thoughts?

Jason Ortiz5 said:asap regarding geography: my daughter was cramming for her test yesterday, and since she likes to study out loud, I ended up catching some of it... For example, she had to memorize the population density of Kazakhstan. And then there were all these tongue-twisting, pointless facts designed just to see if you can memorize them.

I mean, seriously. Kazakhstan, plus the names of every single island, river, valley, mountain, and even the specific crops and main industrial exports for every tiny little corner of Asia... All in 6th grade. Or ever, really. I'm speechless. Aside from the obvious ones...

Jason Ortiz5 said:So, she told me it’s just some kind of workbook, but I won't know for sure which one until tonight.

Seriously though, who actually benefits from grinding through useless facts that everyone's just going to forget by tomorrow? It’s such a waste of time when you could be focusing on stuff that actually matters, even if it isn't officially part of the school curriculum.

If you really want to teach yourself discipline, you might as well just give yourself a good smack on the wrist. ☕ It’s about as productive as anything else we're doing here.

I can't believe I actually found this thread! It’s such a vibe. Honestly, just seeing people talking about this makes my whole morning better. Anyway, hope everyone is having a killer day! kaže:
Hey, could you please let me know who the author is? I’m trying to track down the specific textbook title where this is mentioned—you know, the one that actually expects students to have this stuff down.🙂

Jason Ortiz5 said:

I can't believe I actually found this thread! It’s such a vibe. Honestly, just seeing people talking about this makes my whole morning better. Anyway, hope everyone is having a killer day! kaže:
Hey, could you please let me know who the author is? I’m trying to track down the specific textbook title where this is mentioned—you know, the one that actually expects students to have this stuff down.🙂

Jason Ortiz5 said:asap regarding geography: my daughter was cramming for her test yesterday, and since she likes to study out loud, I ended up catching some of it... For example, she had to memorize the population density of Kazakhstan. And then there were all these tongue-twisting, pointless facts designed just to see if you can memorize them.

I mean, seriously. Kazakhstan, plus the names of every single island, river, valley, mountain, and even the specific crops and main industrial exports for every tiny little corner of Asia... All in 6th grade. Or ever, really. I'm speechless. Aside from the obvious ones...

Jason Ortiz5 said:I mean, I gotta say, this feels kind of silly to me, sorry.
It’s just like when you have computer science classes where they’re still wasting time teaching kids about floppy disks...

I wouldn't even be surprised if the teachers were totally on board with it, too.

wanderingbadger44 said:Is it actually "nonsense" to teach a child how to Google something, or how to look up a fact in a textbook—like finding out that almost all of Turkmenistan, for example, is desert?

Sure, it’s much easier to play the victim of a "broken" school system and vent on a forum about how tragic it is that kids have to memorize the population density of some remote place like Truk... Turk... Turkmen... Turkmenistan (what even is that place, why does it even exist??!!11).

But hey, thanks for sharing the assignment so we could explain it to you. 🙂

wanderingbadger44 said:Honestly, who actually has the patience to memorize every single latitude, longitude, and mountain range, let alone decode what all those different colors on a physical map are trying to tell you? Not to mention trying to factor in how much the coast affects the weather versus being stuck deep in the Midwest.

It’s just easier to grind through the studying now and then complain about how much work it was later.

wanderingbadger44 said:Is it actually "nonsense" to teach a child how to Google something, or how to look up a fact in a textbook—like finding out that almost all of Turkmenistan, for example, is desert?

Sure, it’s much easier to play the victim of a "broken" school system and vent on a forum about how tragic it is that kids have to memorize the population density of some remote place like Truk... Turk... Turkmen... Turkmenistan (what even is that place, why does it even exist??!!11).

But hey, thanks for sharing the assignment so we could explain it to you. 🙂

Jason Ortiz5 said:Did I mention before that studying this stuff is pointless? Didn't I? So what's the deal here? Is this just about needing to shut someone down because they dared to offer a critique, regardless of what it was?

Jason Ortiz5 said:Look, no matter what a parent posts in here, there’s always going to be a few folks—usually the academic types—ready to jump down your throat. Honestly, you guys can talk all you want, but I’m perfectly happy just watching our kids graduate from high school or college and actually land jobs. Seeing what our education system is actually churning out is enough for me.

The whole issue isn't about "Googling" things. Let’s be real, kids today are way faster at finding answers online than most of their teachers are. The problem is that dry, useless curriculum that exists just so they can cram it into their heads, pass a test, get a grade, and then immediately forget everything they learned.

Jason Ortiz5 said:Google during a test? And in a class that isn't even computer science? Are we even living in the same country? I mean, half the time the laptops glitch out during actual tech class anyway...

It’s not like I’m misreading the situation here. It just honestly hurts my soul to watch kids engage in this mindless rote memorization that's basically designed to be forgotten the second the bell rings.

My gut feeling is that some educators are just resisting letting go of these totally pointless drills. It would clearly make their jobs way harder if they actually had to teach kids how to think logically or learn stuff that's actually useful in the real world.

Now, don't get me wrong—I don't think everyone is like that. My English teacher gives us assignments where we actually enjoy digging things up online, and the history teacher keeps us hooked with these cool extra facts that make you want to learn more. Same goes for German, and in English lit, we get to write these super creative essays... But yeah, some people just take the path of least resistance. I get it, though. Honestly, it's just easier that way.

Jason Ortiz5 said:Look, no matter what a parent posts in here, there’s always going to be a few folks—usually the academic types—ready to jump down your throat. Honestly, you guys can talk all you want, but I’m perfectly happy just watching our kids graduate from high school or college and actually land jobs. Seeing what our education system is actually churning out is enough for me.

The whole issue isn't about "Googling" things. Let’s be real, kids today are way faster at finding answers online than most of their teachers are. The problem is that dry, useless curriculum that exists just so they can cram it into their heads, pass a test, get a grade, and then immediately forget everything they learned.

Jason Ortiz5 said:Look, no matter what a parent posts in here, there’s always going to be a few folks—usually the academic types—ready to jump down your throat. Honestly, you guys can talk all you want, but I’m perfectly happy just watching our kids graduate from high school or college and actually land jobs. Seeing what our education system is actually churning out is enough for me.

The whole issue isn't about "Googling" things. Let’s be real, kids today are way faster at finding answers online than most of their teachers are. The problem is that dry, useless curriculum that exists just so they can cram it into their heads, pass a test, get a grade, and then immediately forget everything they learned.

nimblelynx7 said:It’s a hell of a lot easier to force kids to memorize stuff by rote than it is to actually make them understand what they're learning.

Jason Morgan said:Stefani, you're dear to me, but you're being cynical for reasons unknown to me.
Kids have almost zero idea how to actually *use* the internet for anything productive, beyond texting, posting photos, watching YouTube, and gaming. And that's something anyone who actually spends time with them would know.

This kind of parental attitude is pretty much the norm anyway. The moment a child is required to actually engage their brain on something unfamiliar—panic sets in. Heaven forbid they actually think for themselves! And yet, they demand "reform."
Reform won't mean less rote memorization and playing school; it means actually using one's intellect. But I suspect we'll only hear the whining once people realize "it wasn't in the textbook"!!!
Good luck to us all ☕