What Every School Teacher Says Almost Everyday

I was sitting in class. The teacher said the same phrase that I have heard him say over a dozen times. For one of the first times I questioned it. I questioned how following his directions will actually help me in life. You may be wonder, what did he say?

“You need to be taking notes because this information will be on the test.”

I questioned it because more and more I am realizing that those in my class, school, other schools, old and young that are in this education system are taught to learn for the test, but forget the information after handing the test in. I may be questioning this, but I am having a hard time grasping the concept of taking notes, reading the material, and “learning” the information just to forget it after the teacher starts a new chapter. In the classroom students are being threatend that if they don’t take notes or pay attention they won’t pass the test, but they most likely won’t remember the information a month after taking it anyway.

In traditional school everything is about earning the straight A’s or getting on honor roll. Last summer I was denied acceptance at a private high school when they saw my transcript and the fact that I don’t get “good grades.” But the school itself isn’t exactly known for academia the way the school that I am attending now is. As a culture we (especially in high school or lower education) judge others by their transcript. It all comes back to “you need to take notes because this information will be on the test.” I truly believe that there are other ways to measure intelligence.

If you put a student in a situation where they are in their “happy place,” as a teacher you would be surprised how knowledgeable they truly are, but most likely as a teacher you will never get to see that side of your students because the modern day school system is not set up in that way.

Last summer I was studying dog information for my quiz bowl team with my mom. I ran into a teacher of mine and there was a bit of surprise on their end because they saw the “dumb kid” with a three inch binder answering difficult questions about Cinnology.

In school all students are taught is to prepare for a test with information that they won’t remember after the test. In my experiance, teachers give little to no emphasis on serving the community or helping people, but more of an emphasis of persuing what you enjoy in life.

I guess this rant is just me being a frustrated teenager, but this idea is certainly something to think about.

Stay positive Lama-Leah readers!