Seperation of subjects

[Guest]

Last week I borrowed the Teenage Liberation Handbook from the library and as I read it tonight I read something that made perfect sense. At school all the subjects are divided into neat little packages but outside of school it is possible to combine subjects into one experience.

For example, I like to go backpacking. Usually I go to Algonquin Park. If I feel like backpacking I need to set aside time for it, otherwise known as time management. Once I know that I have free time I need to decide where I am going and where I will stay. This requires basic math skills and a knowledge of the self. When I get to the start of the trail I begin to hike. This would be physical education. I always bring my digital camera. Taking pictures of hills, rivers, and interesting trees is artistic. When I stop for the night I cook some supper. The skill there, of course, is cooking.

Another example is building a computer. First you need to choose and price parts. Then you need to budget, if necessary. Finally you need to actually build the computer. This process includes critical thinking, research skills, accounting, and computer engineering.

It would be false to say that doing teaches everything. I cannot learn mathematics without sitting down, reading, and learning. But the only way that proficiency of a subject is achieved is by doing. To be proficient at mathematics I must use it, in programming or in civil engineering for example.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Wrote:All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

[Doc Johnson]

True that. I often have thought that it would be nice if my role as a teacher was simply to be a guide and resource for people who actually want to learn about something. Instead (although this does happen at times), I tend to be a stepping stone toward gettting that degree.

[Remaining_Anonymous (R.A)]

Very wise words (maybe by doing It would also stop the boredom that prevents us from coping from the book what was the point in make us do that anyway?…. )

[Guest]

Copying notes seems to be mostly busywork. It doesn't help me in the least. The official reason is that by copying notes you have to actually read the words to copy it down.