Allow Redos, Retakes, and Revisions

Emphasize the Importance of Learning

“When are we ever going to use this?” is an often irritating yet perfectly valid question students ask. Teachers occasionally can make a sensible connection, but far more often, an uncomfortable silence permeates the classroom. If we were to be completely honest, more often than not, the answer to this question would be, “Beyond this class, probably not a lot.” With rare exceptions, a good deal of information will be gone shortly after the final exam. For example, I would be unable to tell anyone what a polynomial is much less manipulate one, which I learned how to do in eleventh-grade mathematics. I would be hard pressed to differentiate an igneous from a sedimentary rock, which I think I learned in middle school. Yet I did very well in school!

At a social gathering, one of the most important Supreme Court cases (Marbury v. Madison; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020) came up in the conversation. I had to sneak away and ask Siri what it was about to feel like I could join in. These once-known facts have undoubtedly been dulled by an aging memory. Grant (2018) states that most of what we learn is forgotten within two years. So in response to students’ questions about relevancy, the best way to respond is to connect the content to students’ life experiences and interests. You might ask students to find connections (for example, “Who has some ideas about how this information could be helpful to you?”).

A teacher might answer the “When will I ever use this?” question with a sprinkle of humor by telling students, “I’m not sure, because I don’t know what each of you will do in your life. Probably most of you don’t know yet or aren’t sure, but if you want to give me a list of everything you plan to do and accomplish, I’ll do my best to let you know when we cover something that I think you might use. Many of you may never use this, but you need to learn it because it’s going to be on Friday’s test. At the end of the year, it is probably going to be on the state test, and I want to prepare you as best as I can.”

Suggestion

Let students know that not everything you teach will make sense at the time. Although you will do your