Wannaskan Almanac for Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Those Were The Days

Oy, the facts Mr. Miller made

Multiplying every day

Writing out every mistake

Those were the days

Learned them all like 9 times 8

Said them at a rapid rate

We all had to multiplicate

Those were the days

We didn't stop at just times ten

We went up to twelve and then

Mister Miller would make us do them over again

If you tried to circumvent

To the principal you were sent

He was not a friendly gent

Those were the days

I'd return to class and then

Take out my facts and try again

Maybe with a little effort

I could pass from zero to ten

Tried my best to get along

Learning math was like a song

When all the lyrics turned out wrong

Those were the days!

Way back when I was a kid we had to learn our math facts.  I have to admit, I really didn't struggle with them at all.  I considered education to be a competition and, like every competitor, I wanted to win.  So when I saw something like the math sheet below, I would rise up and try to be the fastest...the best.

  

Things are kind of different now.  I have worked in Education for over 20 years and I think that I have figured out what the main problem is.  We have switched in mentality.  Instead of asking students why the don't learn their math facts or state capitals or how to spell pneumonia we try to figure out why they can't.  Since there is no consequence to not learning students can choose to remain ignorant while their teachers search for the latest excuses.  

Don't get me wrong.  There are definitely real obstacles that people face in their learning experience.  But...Fortnite is not a learning disability.  Tik-tok is not akin to dyslexia.  Hours of disgusting lyrics are not to be equated with dysgraphia.  Choosing to not learn is the biggest barrier that students face, and the barrier is one that has been put in place by themselves and the people who are supposed to be guiding them.

I will offer a solution.  We need involved parents, respectful and eager children, and teachers who have only one agenda...giving students the tools they need to be able to think for themselves.