Why do I have to do so many questions?

I believe in drill and kill.*

I hear this question from my students every year, "Why do I have to do so many?"

Constant repetitive practice is one thing that helps you remember something to the point it becomes automatic.

Think about athletes. How many foul shots do the best basketball free throw shooters take? How many dives, jumps, passes, and so on in order to make an athlete great?

So, for key topics that are fundamental and must be memorized I assign lots and lots of repetitive questions.

I even have a significant problem with a common modification for students who are on Individual Education Plans for some for of educational challenge. We often reduce the number of questions they do. I actually wonder if this hurts them. They get less practice. I suspect that some of them need more questions not less!

So, when you are in my class and you come to one of those assignments where I've assigned 20 of the exact same type of question, dig in. Whatever it is, it must be important.



*Not exclusively! We must pursue balance in all things!

One of the hardest things I've had to do as a Dad

My 11 year old son goes to the same school I work at.

The other day I turned around during my math class and found him standing at the door to my room. He had a piece of paper in his hand. "Dad, I forgot to get this paper signed at home last night. It's due today, can you sign it please."

I paused and thought for a moment.

Then I said, "To bad your Dad's not here right now. I guess you'll have to suffer the consequences and wait til you get home to get it signed."

I signed the paper later that night at home.

Handwritten notes, yes I still require them

I still require my students to write out notes by hand on paper. I happen to be a big proponent of digital tools, but I still believe the value in having students re-write key ideas in order to help them remember them.

There are a few reasons:

• I then know they didn't copy and paste it from somewhere. 
• I'm so opposed to copying and pasting because doing so doesn't get the material through the student's brain at all.
• I like students to do a variety of activities. We type lots of things, this way we do something else too.
• Pens, pencils, and paper are technologies too. Our students need to know how to use them well.