Honesty

One thing that I remember thinking a lot in high school is, “Why do I have to know this? When will I ever use this?” I hope to have the sort of classroom in which students don’t have to ask those questions because I make it clear to them how the material will benefit their future. While it may not be the easiest thing to do in an English classroom, I do believe that it can be done. Part of this I believe is being honest with students in the fact that as far as essays are concerned, they probably won’t be using those skills in the future. Instead the part that they are learning is the art of learning. That is to say that they are learning how to be prepared for the challenges that they will be facing in their inevitable careers that they probably won’t like anyway. \\

Or maybe I’ll be honest with them and say that in high school they aren’t really learning anything other than how to get through college, and in college they will be learning things that are relevant to life after school. (I don’t believe in the idea of “The Real World”.)