SONG & DISCUSSION

THINK DEEPER: SOME STUDY THAT I USED TO KNOW. 

What do you remember from high school

• MATH PROBLEM: In high school, students are in class for approximately 1,000 hours per year. How many years of school have you attended? Approximately how many hours have you been a student in a classroom?

• ART ASSIGNMENT: What can you remember from high school? Imagine using a large blank paper to create an illustrated mindmap of the subjects you studied and what you remember from those classes. How big a paper would you need and how long would it take to get most of the way through it (80% done)?

• NEUROSCIENCE QUESTION: Think of one of the most memorable learning experiences you had that is still relevant to your life today. What characteristics of the experience made it memorable? In what situations in your life today is it relevant?

• PSYCHOLOGY: Reflect on this line from the song: “Why did I have to learn this stuff? It has never come in handy, never used it for nothing.” On a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (completely agree), how much do you agree with the singer’s sentiment? Why or why not?

• HISTORY/ ENGLISH QUESTION: Over the past 100 years, who has been making the decisions about what material and activities to include in high school curriculum?

• EDUCATION QUESTION: When you are next in school, what could you do to get more value out of the time and money you put in?

• PERSONAL QUESTION: Malcolm Gladwell talks about how it takes many hours of practice to learn proficiency and become an expert in anything. In his book, Outliers, he quotes neurologist Daniel Levitin as saying "The emerging picture from such studies is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything.” If expertise is based on the time we've practiced something, what have you spent considerable time practicing? What else do you want to develop expertise in? What do you need in order to start?