Students think history is a waste of time

[The Dharma Bum]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_s ... experiment

Maybe discussing this will help them relate to you

[The Dharma Bum]

You could discuss how blacks and whites both took part in the experiments.

[The Dharma Bum]

That's a pretty good point. Due to the way technology and society are changing we don't have to commit large amounts of raw data to memory.

We have thinking aids and therefore rote memorization is less valuable as a tool for learning. We have endless amounts of raw data literally at our fingertips.

[The Comrade]

[fstarcstar]

[fstarcstar]

[Stratego]

Did you know that the Roman Coliseum was so brilliantly engineered that they sometimes flood the stadium and have water shows?

[The Dharma Bum]

[fstarcstar]

[Hyperion]

Just don't dumb it down. Our district is pushing hard for project-based and problem-based learning - which I'm excited to pioneer - but there's also an incentive to make the material easier so that more time is available for these projects. Our department (chemistry) has actually done the opposite. In fact many of our kids are taking chemistry at community colleges when they're still in HS because our curriculum is more rigorous. We touch on some concepts that appear in organic chemistry. I created a forensics mock trial that really requires every student to know solutions, nomenclature, stoichiometry, pH/pOH like the back of their hand. The kids also learn a lot about how criminal court works. In class I refer to this project frequently and discuss DWI/DUI nuances and drug crime. It's truly interdisciplinary. The emphasis is always on the chemistry.

We also converted nearly every piece of paper to interactive online modules. By next semester every single kid in a classroom will have different practice questions, and in labs they will have different unknowns. We completely control when they can collaborate and when they have to work independently. It really kicks the slackers in the arse. Kids who have skipped by math classes just memorizing a few problems and copying homework from their peers are actually having to learn math before they can even start on the science. *GASP!*

There will always be kids who hate school regardless of what you do, though. Some people just want to live vainly.