Um, when was the civil War?

[samgrant]

Teens miss the boat on knowledge of common historical references

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...ge0225-ON.html

(Good thing they got those 50 year windows to work with.)


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[9thKYCoC]

That's sad. When I was in school, history was AMERICAN history. Things have changed. Now kids are being taught history about everyplace else EXCEPT America. THE greatest country on the planet and people that live here hardly know about it.

Pvt. Kirk

[ole]

I'm not quite so hard on it, 9th. It's a bit difficult to cram 400 years of US history into a few semesters of study -- especially when there's so much else for the theoreticians to play with.

We kinda resent the idea that the kids aren't getting taught history. Remember that we are fruitcakes -- that history is far more important to us than it is to others. If you leave it to me, I'll see that history takes about 5th place to the 3Rs and geography.

Meanwhile, you and I and each of us can at least influence our local school board. You don't like what they're teaching? Make their lives miserable until they listen to you. It takes some work.

ole

[mt155]

I was a HS social studies teacher in TX and I was dumbfounded my first year teaching. I wrongly assumed that everybody had the same knowledge that I had when I was their age. I always started the semester by having my students learn to identify each of the states on a blank map. I always told them that is important to know where the events we talk about took place in relation to where they or their family members live. Some didn't even know that Los Angeles is a city in CA; they thought that since they always heard about LA that it was the state. Some didn't even put north above the south (Carolina, Dakota). There is too much emphasis put on standardized tests that the schools here end up teaching the test to avoid the dreaded visit from the TEA because their students performed poorly. It went so far that I had to teach the English and math test objectives the first 15 minutes of each class on Mondays. We had to review various math problems and subject verb agreement. I'd have to say that I agree with Ron Paul. We need to put education back at the state level and get it away from DC (the kids their still deserve an education though...LOL).

Mike T.

[tackitt27]

I am a US History teacher now. The hardest part about teaching history is wagering quantity vs quality. I start my ciriculum at Jamestown and go to the Great Depression. I wish I could do a whole semester on the Civil War alone, but time isnt permitting. I am required to teach the Constitution, which I do in about 3 weeks. My school does 2 years of US History. Schools that try to cram it all in one year takes away alot that can be taught to our students. I do 3 debates for our Civil War unit. 1. Is slavery a good/bad institution? 2. Can a state seceed? 3. Which side started the war? Also alot of what is taught is based on location. Im sure teachers in Texas emphasize the Texas Revolution. I try to since I had an ancestor die at the Alamo. Im sure out west they talk more on Indian Wars etc. Here in Illinois we try to emphasize Illinois role in national events. Lincoln in the Civil War, George Rogers Clark's role in the takign of Fort Vincennes in the Rev. War etc.

[ole]

I don't envy your your spot, tackitt27. Nor do I envy any of you teachers. It must be frustrating to want to teach something for which there is no time available. I will be forever grateful that I opted out, and I was scheduled to teach music.

ole

[cash]

Originally Posted by tackitt27

My school does 2 years of US History. Schools that try to cram it all in one year takes away alot that can be taught to our students.

Every year there's another year's worth of history that can or should be taught. Add to that new discoveries in science our kids should understand. Add to that the relatively new field of computers.

And the school day hasn't been lengthened, and they're still only going to school 180 days in the year. We're trying to put 10 pounds of dirt into a 1-pound sack. As far as the amount of time available goes, it's not so much bureaucrats in Washington. Take away the Department of Education and you still have that same problem.

Of course, there are other problems--schools that are literally crumbling apart while our kids are in them. Teachers getting burned out by kids who don't respect them and administrations that don't support them. A culture that treats learning with disdain. Textbooks that have to keep from offending various committees of all political persuasions and end up saying nothing. But fix all those and you still don't have the time available to fit everything in. Increase the time available and you at least have a shot of getting across the amount of knowledge that needs to get across.

Regards,
Cash

[elektratig]

My initial reaction, like most of you, was, "How ignorant kids are these days!"

But then I started wondering whether this was too simplistic. Probably our parents thought that about us (or at least our generation) . . . were they right? Does anyone have a sense what the percentages of correct answers would have been if equivalent or similar questions had been administered 25 or 50 or 75 years ago? Is there any hard evidence that teens as a group are becoming more ignorant? Or was it always so?

[ole]

Is there any hard evidence that teens as a group are becoming more ignorant? Or was it always so?

Don't get me started.

ole

[elektratig]

Originally Posted by ole

Don't get me started.

ole

C'mon, Ole, now you've got me really curious. Tell, Tell!