Obsolete Lessons

A colleague with whom I often exchange articles sent me this most interesting link.  On the subjects and skills we were taught in school that will now be obsolete.

Here is a quick rundown of the obsolete lessons:

Cursive.  We have Google Docs for everything now, right?  For some reason this is still taught in elementary schools.  And it's a waste of time.  Most students simply don't retain it.  Out of a class of 30 students, I will have a handful that actually write in cursive.  And lord knows they don't know how to decipher my cursive comments, so I've taken to printing them.  Besides learning how to sign one's name - and how many signatures differ completely from standardized cursive, anyway - kids today don't need to learn the archaic skills.


The Card Catalog or the Dewey Decimal System.  We have Kindles and Nooks now, right?  Really, even when this was popular, did anyone really use it?  Or did we just scour the stacks until we figured where our books was anyway?

Pluto as a planet.  We have discovered hundreds of other planets in our galaxy, so who cares about Plut now anyway, right?  When you consider it's size, it's kind of a joke that it was even considered a planet.

Typing.  Most kids grow up digital today anyway, so they innately know how to use keyboards. It's kind of like raising a kid in a bilingual home.  They will pick up both languages without really being taught.   I won't say they know how to type in the traditional sense.  I had a typing class, and it didn't take.  I didn't learn how to type until I was working for the college newspaper and just forced myself to learn how (given that I was an English major and would have to write hundreds of pages down the road anyway was a motivating factor too).  But even when traditional keyboarding was taught in high schools, I saw plenty of poor souls in the old BSU computer lab pecking away at the keyboards trying to hammer out a paper.

Gym Class Staples.  Not only was I never able to climb the rope in elementary gym class, but I was also never able to see the purpose behind it anyway, unless maybe you were entering the armed forces. Even then, how many troops had to climb ropes anyway?  Besides, thanks to our modern obsession with test scores, many gym class are on the way out period.  Sad but true.

Food pyramid.  Like this ever did any good anyway, not with 1/3 of Americans obese.  Kids better learn about portion control instead.  And how to combat the onslaught of unhealthy, quick food.

Diagramming Sentences.  This never worked for many anyway.  I mean how many were taught this in junior high?  A ton of people.  And how many ever retained it anyway?  I know I never did, and I'm an English teacher!  Total waste of time.  The only reason to do this is to show off what the teacher knows and the students don't.  And that's never a good idea.

Teaching Evolution exclusively.  I see no problem with teaching a variety of theories.  As long as the latest evidence for each theory is supported and debated.

Math Drills.  I'm not sold on this.  Call me old school, but I think it's a good thing for kids to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide by heart.  Not that I'm one who can do math in his head.  I can't.  But I think it's still a good idea to not rely too heavily on the calculator.

Clapping erasers.  Even white boards are on their way out.  We have Smartboards now!

Scales and Balances.  Where can you even find an old fashioned scale today?  Everything is digital.  Let's adapt to our landscape and teach more relevant things.

Here are a few skills or lessons that are on the endangered list but not quite extinct yet:

The Endangered Learning List

In addition to our top 12 lost or soon-to-be-lost lessons, there are also a few skills that may also be in danger of falling into extinction.

• Reading a clock - Don't let digital kill the clock!
• Spelling / proofreading - With word processors auto-correcting or highlighting most potential mistakes, kids don't care to double check.
• Note-taking - Why take notes when you can take video of the lecture or get a print off of the power point? Because it helps you learn and add your own ideas!
• Balancing a checkbook - While not necessarily school-related, it strikes me as odd that most kids won't even know what that means.