The remaining Conley Commentaries this week are about back to school. If you know someone school age, please share these with them.
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – No one promised you everything would be easy at school. Some subjects are hard. For me: math, and science classes that involved math.
So, what should you do if you’re in Algebra 2, or third level physics, and you just don’t get it? Well, first of all, don’t get frustrated and zone out. No one learned anything after they stopped trying.
Here’s what you should do: Raise your hand, and ask that it be explained again. Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t think that others in the class will think you’re stupid. Certainly there are others who are stuck too.
Here is a secret about being a teacher. It’s the teacher’s responsibility to reach you; to communicate the ideas they want you to learn. Your job is to stay engaged. So if you don’t get it, ask that they show it to you again or explain it a different way.
Suppose for a moment I bring you to the radio station. There are three computer programs that you have to master to learn our equipment. Acoustica, Wide Orbit, and News Boss. Acoustica is the easiest. It’s an audio editing program. If you have any experience with podcasting you may have used something similar. News Boss, which manages our news stories and the audio that goes with them, would be least familiar to you. Wide Orbit, which runs our radio station’s commercials, isn’t difficult to master, but unless you have experience it would be unfamiliar. So after about 15 minutes, I leave you in charge. Two of the programs are still mysteries to me, and the radio station begins to fail. Whose fault is that? It certainly isn’t yours. No one knows anything until they’re taught. It’s my fault for not doing enough to teach you.
And it’s no different at school. You’ll be taught concepts and ideas that are unfamiliar to you. Don’t give up. Ask that you be taught again. That’s one of the biggest keys to academic success. Use it.
Chris Conley
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