Chapter 7 - History, Math, and Science
Well, finally.... now I know why I never liked history...I love math and I love science (even if sometimes they don't love me back). But there is no love lost between me and history. The mere mention of the subject sends shivers down my spine and makes me want to crawl into a corner and hide... Why, you ask? Because when I was studying history all I remember was being made to memorize "important" events so that I will learn from past mistakes of other people.... How do I do that with dates and facts and stuff? I still remember this teacher of mine who asked the following question on a test: "How many cows died in WWII?"
Contrast this with my husband who is a history buff. Whenever we are watching documentaries or movies based on actual events, he ALWAYS has an answer to any factoid I bring up. From medieval history to Asian history to current events, he seems to know the subtle interconnections between them. So last night when I was reading the chapter I asked him how come he loves history so much. His answer was that he finds history interesting that it did NOT become HARD to remember dates and facts.
As teachers then, it is important to stimulate the interests of our students enough that they will want to remember dates and facts. And even if they did forget one or two facts (hey, we're only human), they know enough not to say that the Pearl Harbor was in the Philippines (that was me!) or that Russia was one of the bad guys in WWII (me again!).
posted by arlene chua @ 1:35 PM
2 Comments:
At 8:18 AM,
BenBarton said…
Ahaha, I am more of a History person than a Math person by far. I like Science, but only so far as I like to pet animals. All I watch at home is the History chanel. Perhaps I would get along well with your husband.
It's funny, because I had lousy history teachers throughout middle and upper school. Somehow, though, I was able to keep my love for it.
At 4:05 AM,
Pamela said…
I have to say that I love history in a sense that it is interesting to me and it is like storytelling. As far as teaching it, I am not interested so much. As for science and math, the interest level skyrockets, more in science though. I have always enjoyed science as it is more a hands on subject that you can do things and actually see what happens. I remember having great science experiments in school and still incorporate those experiences into my lessons today. I also remember coming to Guam and having a whole semester of classes without a single lab experience. I was constantly asking about them, but the answer I got was always, "Soon". I think back and remember that there weren't many science teachers that were "science" oriented. I love to see the look in my students faces when they have a learning moment, it makes teaching all the more worthwhile to me!
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