From my son

This is a post from my 15 year old son. It says many of the same things we have been discussing in education for years. I agree with him through all of this,which is why I stole it without permission. It sounds similar to other posts like this, but interesting to read anyway.

I may be just a student, but I know a few things.

I know that I don’t learn from sitting around all day. I learn from doing.

I know that organization does not imply intelligence.

I know that knowledge is not repetition and recitation.

I know that mathematics is more than worksheets and memorization.

I know that I don’t need fifty notecards to have an idea and an opinion.

I know that I shouldn’t need to study if I learn it right the first time.

I know that I shouldn't have to get help for my weaknesses, because my strengths should make up for them.

I know that homework should not be the same thing over and over again, because I don't learn from repetition.

I know that writing what I learned does not mean I know it, and not writing it does not mean I'm clueless.

I know that I learn best when I’m having fun.

I know that I learn best when I’m forced to think.

I know that I learn worst when I am bored.

I know that I have learned more math in the last two years of Robotics than I learned in ten years of skill-and-drill math classes.

I know that I learned more English by writing than by memorizing vocabulary.

I know that I learned more science from labs than in ten years of structured notes.

I know that I learned more History by watching The History Channel than from ten years of Social Studies classes.

Then again, I’m just a fifteen-year-old student. What do I know?