I'm very tired. I spent most of the day running, put over 100 miles on the car today alone. All important things that were accomplished, but still, I'm worn out. So here's a little something I've been thinking about. Was there any class in high school that you still find of practical value today? For me, it's touch typing, for obvious reasons! It helps so much when blogging and IM'ing. Not to mention all the papers I wrote in high school and college that I typed. Did you know that I'm so old, that when I started college, I used an *actual typewriter*? No, really! By the time I graduated, though, the college had a computer lab.
Somehow, my husband, who works on computers for a living, has managed to create his own sort of touch typing. Kind of the Christopher Columbus method, find a key and land on it. I didn't make that one up! No, really!
I did take computer programming in high school, so I guess I can't be *that* old. Okay, it was on an Apple IIe, and we learned BASIC, but still. It helped later on when I actually had a job programming in COBOL. Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that. :)
What about what high school class(es) you most enjoyed, helpful or no? I enjoyed history classes, for the most part, and German and Spanish. I've used my German and Spanish, even went on to major in German and minor in Spanish in college. I don't know what I would have done with them, but I've used them in lots of non-career scenarios. And I'm teaching my daughters German now, so that's useful. I got to know my husband partially by being his German TA, which was *very* useful! ;) Plus the ten-week trip to Germany/Austria. I probably would have learned most of the history on my own, because of my own weird interests in reading. But I suppose it's just as well they be required, for those who don't/won't read on their own.
The classes I think were the least useful, you can guess, were the math and science classes. As a matter of fact, I forgot all the formulas I was supposed to learn for chemistry before I even took the final. Which is why I flunked the final. I think I would do better in science and math classes today if I re-took them. I have more life experience, and being around my math and science geek husband for so many years now does not hurt. Actually, I wonder if style of teaching does not contribute something, because I actually did fairly well in Algebra II. Of course, I don't remember any of it now. Explain to me again why we need advanced math and science courses for everyone?
6 comments:
When I was in high school, there was a class called "Computer Math". In my senior year, I had to beg the guidance counselor to let me in the course because I didn't have the prerequisite math class...I was just taking the class that year. (I got stuck in General Math in 9th grade even though I was in advanced classes for other subjects. All of my peers were in Algebra or Pre-Algebra, so I was behind them math-wise.) I had been learning BASIC programming on the TRS-80 Color Computer we had at home. The computers we used for the Computer Math class were regular TRS-80s. Anyway, they let me take the class because I had been learning computer programming at home.
I did great in the programming part of the class, and would have gotten A's if that was the only thing the grades were based on. I think I mostly made C's on the math stuff, so I made B's in the class overall, IIRC.
I'm very glad I took the class because it was great preparation for eventually becoming a computer science major in college. And now I work in IT as an Oracle developer.
I took several years of French and even won an award at a state French meet for being able to read passages and translate them. However, I never was comfortable with actually speaking it because my pronunciation wasn't that good. I've mostly forgotten my French and now wish I would have taken Spanish instead.
I had about six weeks of typing class in middle school, but I never could master official touch typing. However, I pretty much know my way around the keyboard and I only look at it sometimes while typing. I mostly type with my middle fingers.
I forgot to mention, I took Latin in high school as well, and believe it or not, I think that was more useful than the French was.
You may have seen that the Scientist studies Latin. She and three other people have a Latin class once a week under the tutelage of one of our pastors. I think Latin will indeed be very useful for her, although it helped my husband not at all. He went to a Catholic high school and took two years of Latin, but forgot it all. He also took one quarter of Attic Greek in college for kicks, and two quarters of German. He remembers some German, only because he and I speak it together, especially when we don't want our daughters to understand what we're saying! Now that I'm teaching them German, though, that is already changing!
I think that the most useful class I had in high school was my Composition class my senior year. The teacher was tough, we read fairly advanced literature, and we had great vocab words.
I always liked my history and English classes, but I guess for a reader that's pretty normal. I hated math, although I agree with you that teaching style made a huge difference. My Alg 1 teacher was the foot ball coach and I'm not sure if he even understood what he was teaching. My Alg II teacher was a brand new enthusiastic math geek and he made it so clear. He also only lasted two years because when the layoffs came, he had no seniority.
As a college prep student, I was steered away from typing. I always wished I had taken it, although I've done a passable job at learning.
I took several useful classes, Art Seminar, AP History, Sewing and Senior Composition.
AP History and Art Seminar were absolutely invaluable in preparing me for college classes. They were seated, taught and tested like college classes and they were both wonderful experiences.
Sewing class was good ol' fashioned practice.
Senior comp was all about teaching how to write research papers. Having majored in English, that was valuable too.
But to more specifically answer your question which classes are giving me the most practical value *today*, I would have to say typing and French.
I still can't successfully touch-type, and I don't remember if I dropped the class or got a C in it, but just the intellectual knowledge of the correct typing methods helps a little today. And when I was working as a writer being slow at the keyboard was never a problem.
In helping understand the way languages work it helps to have had grammar lessons in a second language. With the Artist learning Latin, German and pieces of Polish and Korean I'll need all the understanding I can get.
The class that has been the most fulfilling and brought much beauty and joy to my life is the Art Seminar class. We surveryed art history in visual arts, music and literature from the ancients through today (which was the 1980's!). I loved every minute of the class and I still treasure my notebook to this day.
i loved french, well, not the language learning so much, but the enthusiasm i now have for All Things French.
i wish i took art.
hubby still loves maths.
D17 loves maths and chemistry.
maybe it's a boy-thang??
*grins, ducks and runs*
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