From: werme@alliant.com (Ric Werme)
Subject: Student: Teach Thyself
Organization: Alliant Computer Systems Corp.
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 15:10:36 GMT

I wrote the following as part of a discussion carried out in our local
newspaper.  Part one was coverage of a school board meeting for a new
high school.  A pair of students had come to request that the school
carry an advanced placement program.  Part two was a response from the
principal and dean of students defending the choice of an ungrouped
curriculum.  That got my dander up, and resulted in part three, which
I include below.  In between were a number of shorter letters from
other members of the community.  I'm posting it here [misc.education]
partly to satisfy a request from someone I've been having an Email
discussion with, and partly because I may get appointed to fill a
vacancy on the school board.  I figure the USENET is a fine place to
get some sense bashed into me quickly.  Feel free to flame or post
other tricks for surviving school.

On May 20th an article in the Cabinet reported the concerns of two
students about the lack of an honors program at Souhegan High.  I was
pleased to see the June 3rd reply by Messrs. Mackin and Penberthy, but
after reading it I now have great sympathy for the students' plight.  I
don't think a school can run a class with students of all abilities and
not lose the slower students or bore the sharper students. 

As a member of Mensa, I've shared many anecdotes with other members
about survival skills with teachers who don't understand that bored
students become adept at getting into trouble.  My favorite subjects
were math and science, and my least favorite were english and history. 
Perhaps another reader can present experience from the opposite
perspective. 

There are two skills schools should teach, but generally don't.  First
is the hard work of thinking.  Too many students get into the rut of
cramming for a test for the best grade and then forget everything they
learned until they cram for the final exam.  The other skill is teaching
oneself.  The two skills are closely related, and some of the tricks
below help to acquire both. 

I spent seventh and eighth grades in a private school.  I did fine in
their algebra classes, but was woefully unprepared for english.  Back in
public schools I was put into the most advanced math class they had but
could still go faster than the rest of the students.  My teacher had a
simple solution.  I just sat in the side of the class and read the
textbook at my own pace.  All he required was that I take the tests with
the rest of the class.  The only problem I had was a 'D' on one test
which triggered some good natured ribbing from my teacher.  After that I
started reviewing the old material before tests and had no more trouble. 
That review was also helpful in remembering the material. 

Reading ahead in science classes is a little harder if they have lab
sessions.  The labs presented their own problem.  The reading
comphrension skills honed in math let me understand and finish the labs
early, whereupon I helped the slower students with their labs.  In your
heterogenous classes, you may find yourself becoming teachers'
assistants, helping your slower classmates.  Explaining something to
another student is useful to prove to yourself that you know the
material but it does hold you back from your potential. 

The standard complaint I received on my lab reports was that they were
never detailed enough.  I knew the teacher knew the subject and I knew
that he knew that I knew the material (whew!), so write all that stuff?
The solution would have been simple.  If lab reports were graded by the
science and english teachers, then I would have covered everything,
assuming that the english teacher did not know the material.  It would
also be a real world application of english.

Reading and writing skills are vital, but english teachers seem to have
an English literature background.  That's fine if you're interested in
English literature, but our curriculum included only one science fiction
short story and no technical writing.  Still, there are good
opportunities to do your own thing.  Once, when we had to do an oral
report on poets, someone else beat me to Robert Frost.  The teacher
accepted my choice of Paul Simon.  I wrote down many of the lyrics,
brought in my Simon and Garfunkel albums, and turned my presentation
into a group exploration of Sounds of Silence and other poems.  Science
fiction should be a sizable part of the curriculum because it helps
prepare people for our changing world.  My favorite novel is Heinlein's
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.  One of its subplots explored surrogate
motherhood decades before invitro fertization made it possible. 

History was another bane, and I think much of my trouble with it was the
political nature of the history taught in schools.  The mystery of
Tolkien's Middle Earth fascinated me, as did science history.  Two term
papers worth writing are "The History of Stoplights on Route 101A" and
"Computer Memory Systems".  (The latter was ignored in the recent PBS
series on computer history, much to my annoyance.) A more "politically
correct" approch to take is to examine some of the tenets of the
Libertarian Party.  Just don't explore the decline of education that
began with compulsory public education!

I had Latin in French in that private school, and Spanish in public
school.  One of the reasons for studying a foreign language, according
to my administration, was that it helps to understand the structure of
English.  If that's the case, then you should study Esperanto. 
Esperanto was designed from scratch, drawing on many European languages
for word bases.  The result has no special cases and can be learned
about 25% faster than foreign languages.  There are Esperanto magazines
that are international by their very nature, and teach a lot about
multiple foreign cultures.  If the school doesn't offer Esperanto, this
would be a great subject for an after school club. 

The one course I should have taken but didn't was typing.  I imagine in
these days of computers it's now mandatory and I assume it is taught on
word processors.  Learn your word processor forward and backward, and
use it for everything.  If I had a computer, the courses it would have
improved the most would have been english and history.  A word processor
makes writing much easier for a novice writer. 

Consider taking some extra courses and maybe skipping a grade. 
Educators and Mensans are split as to the benefits of grade skipping. 
Problems include insufficient emotional maturity and athletic abilities. 
I don't have a solution for the former, and class scheduling often makes
it hard for a student to attend a gym class with his age group.  About
the best I can offer is to concentrate on individual sports like
bicycling and skiing.  If people protest that you are not learning the
teamwork skills often touted for the athletic program, point out that
other activities like Odessey of the Mind or Dungeons and Dragons teach
teamwork better. 

Ultimately, always remember that you are in school to learn, and that
should be your primary goal.  I am not fond of grades or class rank.  I
didn't start making the honor roll consistantly until I was a senior and
it wasn't until people started applying for colleges that I realized
anyone cared about class rank.  However, by concentrating on learning
instead of scoring well on the next test, I got three 800s on SAT
achievement tests which colleges found more impressive. 

Many of the horror stories I hear through Mensa include items like the
student who answered the question "Which country has the highest
population density?" with an answer he remembered from an almanac.  This
was not the country taught in class, so it was marked wrong and the
student couldn't sway the teacher to accept his answer, even after
further research on his part supported his answer.  The inflexibility I
see in your adminstration's rebuttal seems consistant with this "We're
right, you're wrong, we know what's best for you" stance.  Well, school
is supposed to be challenging.  Good luck. 
-- 
| A pride of lions               | Eric J Werme                 |
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