~Susan~
Pearl Clutcher
You need to check your boobs, mine tried to kill me!!!
Posts: 3,259
Jul 6, 2014 17:25:32 GMT
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Post by ~Susan~ on Aug 7, 2015 14:25:51 GMT
I have at least one student (senior in high school) who cannot tell time on an analog (not digital, not sure what else to call it) clock. And they are doubly screwed if said clock has Roman numerals rather than numbers because they don't know those either! So I have to teach 18year olds how to read Roman numerals so they can learn the amendments to the Constitution. This was my youngest DD a couple of years ago (she's 15 now). We have a analog clock w/Roman numerals and she would have to stand their and count to figure out what time it was. It just floored my DH and I. We have noticed that sometimes when we are talking about certain things that DH and I learned in school our DDs would get quiet. So we started asking them if they knew what we were talking about. Most of the time they didn't. I really hate that common knowledge or what I thought was common knowledge isn't being taught any more. I think teaching for the test is hurting our students. |
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Post by anonrefugee on Aug 7, 2015 14:26:20 GMT
Don't tell ds14 I told you this  A couple weeks ago we went to Chicago. On the websites we read prior to the trip the hotel was supposed to have a basketball court. We couldn't find it so ds went and asked at the gift shop. She said the don't have one. We walk two more steps and ds exclaims that she was wrong, there's the sign! The sign read: O'hare Ball Rooms  . Poor kid was so disappointed by what ball rooms actually were I love this, you've got to write it down! |
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Post by gryroagain on Aug 7, 2015 14:33:14 GMT
DD (14) saw dh writing in his planner and asked him what it was.
"It's a planner."
"What's a planner? I've never seen a planner. What does it do?"
"Seriously? It's got a calendar and you write stuff in it and has my phone numbers and appointments and things in it."
"Oh, like an iPad? It's a paper iPad then."
So ever since we refer to dhs planner as the paper iPad.
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Post by anonrefugee on Aug 7, 2015 14:34:28 GMT
I have at least one student (senior in high school) who cannot tell time on an analog (not digital, not sure what else to call it) clock. And they are doubly screwed if said clock has Roman numerals rather than numbers because they don't know those either! So I have to teach 18year olds how to read Roman numerals so they can learn the amendments to the Constitution. This was my youngest DD a couple of years ago (she's 15 now). We have a analog clock w/Roman numerals and she would have to stand their and count to figure out what time it was. It just floored my DH and I. We have noticed that sometimes when we are talking about certain things that DH and I learned in school our DDs would get quiet. So we started asking them if they knew what we were talking about. Most of the time they didn't. I really hate that common knowledge or what I thought was common knowledge isn't being taught any more. I think teaching for the test is hurting our students. But sometimes they can teach us too. The DS I keep referencing compared a recent conversation to an obscure 1840ish decision. His older brother chimed in and they had their own American history discussion. I had to google to get details. I'm positive I was only taught the recitable facts, but not the depth or consequences like they have. |
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Post by bianca42 on Aug 7, 2015 14:39:10 GMT
We hired a college graduate at work who couldn't get calls to go through from his desk phone. He's always used a cell phone and never had to dial 1 before the area code for a long distance call.
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~Susan~
Pearl Clutcher
You need to check your boobs, mine tried to kill me!!!
Posts: 3,259
Jul 6, 2014 17:25:32 GMT
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Post by ~Susan~ on Aug 7, 2015 14:40:42 GMT
My DD first car has roll down windows. We got a VERY good deal on it. I bought it in an affluent town and the salesman said it sat there forever because 1. these kids didn't know about rolling down window manually and 2. when they did they wouldn't be caught dead in a car with them. DD is happy to have a car and glad no one there wanted her little car. She loves it. A couple/few years ago, DD took a selfie to imitate <<< this photo using 5 pair of cheap sunglasses she had. She captioned it "Look, I'm Lennon." crickets... she said none of her friends got the reference. I told her she needed new friends.  Funny enough she is friends with more drama/musical kids now, so they do know. She also told me, the high school band could be heard from her classroom playing "suicide is painless" aka MASH theme. She said to no one in particular "oh, MASH". No one knew what she was talking about except the teacher. I think it's because we couldn't get cable here while the kids were growing up, so they got into older shows. She actually doesn't know some of her friends cable show references. She said to me, that with the references she uses people will think she is older but damn, she looks good for her age. My kids would get it. They've been raised on Beatles' music. It surprises them that kids at school don't know Queen, Beatles, Styx, etc. My 15 year olds good friend is totally in love with all kinds of music artists from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I got a real hoot out of listening to hear talk about different bands and songs. |
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Post by craftsbycarolyn on Aug 7, 2015 14:41:22 GMT
My granddaughter is not a teen (yet) but the other day I told her Pappy and I had to do some errands and she said "what are errands?"
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~Susan~
Pearl Clutcher
You need to check your boobs, mine tried to kill me!!!
Posts: 3,259
Jul 6, 2014 17:25:32 GMT
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Post by ~Susan~ on Aug 7, 2015 14:42:56 GMT
This was my youngest DD a couple of years ago (she's 15 now). We have a analog clock w/Roman numerals and she would have to stand their and count to figure out what time it was. It just floored my DH and I. We have noticed that sometimes when we are talking about certain things that DH and I learned in school our DDs would get quiet. So we started asking them if they knew what we were talking about. Most of the time they didn't. I really hate that common knowledge or what I thought was common knowledge isn't being taught any more. I think teaching for the test is hurting our students. But sometimes they can teach us too. The DS I keep referencing compared a recent conversation to an obscure 1840ish decision. His older brother chimed in and they had their own American history discussion. I had to google to get details. I'm positive I was only taught the recitable facts, but not the depth or consequences like they have. Oh I totally agree. Both of my girls floor me with some of the stuff that they learned in school. |
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Nicole in TX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,951 
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Post by Nicole in TX on Aug 7, 2015 14:50:09 GMT
My 27 year old daughter doesn't know right from left. The incredible part is that she's a teacher! LOL! I have issues with right and left too.. It's actually pretty common. I do as well. I really have to think about it. |
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
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Post by perumbula on Aug 7, 2015 14:57:06 GMT
My dd was shocked the other day to hear me listening to Nirvana. "It's the music of my teens, dear, of course I listen to it." She was shocked that Nirvana was that old. She has a bunch of friends who are fans. She thought it was just a few years old. Cracked me up.
I told my younger ds some piece of trivia a couple of months ago, can't remember now what it was. He exclaimed "What!? My whole life is a LIE!" And then asked me for more meaningless trivia and proceeded to call all his friends to tell them what he had learned.
I have also encountered baffled children when faced with a busy signal, a crank car window, and analog clocks. The analog clock thing is very common at school. There's a good percentage of kids who never bothered to learn how to read one.
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Post by craftsbycarolyn on Aug 7, 2015 15:00:38 GMT
Also, I am a grown ass adult and cannot make coffee. Do not know how to use a coffee maker. Epic fail. I just never have coffee and when I was married, my now ex-DH never had coffee so we never made it. My visitors had to make their own. I can sometimes operate a Keurig now but I have to really focus to do it all correctly. My DH always makes the coffee. I've made it twice and both times the coffee didn't perk and all that came out was hot water.... |
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Post by utmr on Aug 7, 2015 15:26:36 GMT
Some of its generational. My parents were horrified that we didn't learn to use slide rules in school. Pea-livid, threatening to call the teacher. In hindsight, they were probably more upset at having to spend $75 (in 1982 dollars) on a new fangled TI-35. But I managed to survive to adulthood lacking any slide rule skills.
My kids don't understand crank windows and rotary phones, but have a much better understand of US history and other academic subjects than me.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Aug 7, 2015 15:56:17 GMT
My 27 year old daughter doesn't know right from left. The incredible part is that she's a teacher! LOL! That is a pretty common phenomenon that is completely unrelated to intelligence (doesn't matter if she's a teacher or a MENSA member). Some of us are just hard-wired differently and no amount of holding our thumbs and forefingers up, or looking at our wedding rings (which I'm forever putting on the wrong hand anyway) is going to change it.
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Post by mzza111 on Aug 7, 2015 22:36:14 GMT
I still remember the look of horror on my parents face when, as a teen, I couldn't name the 4th Beatle! I knew John, Paul and Ringo but had no clue who George Harrison was!
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Aug 7, 2015 23:33:05 GMT
My college son had to provide an addressed envelope to a prof from whom he was asking for a recommendation letter.
See where I'm going here..?
I had to text him a photo of a business envelope I'd addressed. He'd never done it before, and wasn't sure where everything went. Also, he'd never bought stamps before.
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boop
Shy Member
Posts: 14
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Post by boop on Aug 7, 2015 23:43:18 GMT
I can remember having a difficult time learning an analog clock even in second grade. I still don't prefer it and thankfully I don't have to use one often. Things like that, that people take for granted is so 'easy' for them, isn't always for everybody. I don't think the vast amorphous entity known as public education is really to blame, really.
And on the flip side, often times the ignorance goes both ways. Kids can be faulted for not having lived and experienced, but, to paraphrase Dumbledore, Adults have lived, and should know better. That said, I was delighted talking to a senior auditor who was attending classes for free, as you can do at state universities past a certain age. He was saying, "I love taking history classes! I lived through this but I never knew all the things that were going on."
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Post by marg on Aug 8, 2015 0:04:26 GMT
My husband and I had a business with mostly teenage girls working for it (quick food service). They were supposed to put the cash in an envelope at the end of their shift and drop it in the safe.
More than one of them didn't know you could lick envelopes to seal them. I kept getting envelopes of cash that were either stapled all along the closure, taped, or at times they used our expensive food labelling stickers to seal the envelope. When I asked them not to use up all our stickers on the envelopes, they didn't understand - we had to show them how to lick the envelope.
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TheOtherMeg
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,541
Jun 25, 2014 20:58:14 GMT
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Post by TheOtherMeg on Aug 8, 2015 0:11:10 GMT
I agree!
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Post by penny on Aug 8, 2015 0:55:21 GMT
DD (14) saw dh writing in his planner and asked him what it was. "It's a planner." "What's a planner? I've never seen a planner. What does it do?" "Seriously? It's got a calendar and you write stuff in it and has my phone numbers and appointments and things in it." "Oh, like an iPad? It's a paper iPad then." So ever since we refer to dhs planner as the paper iPad. Live this  I'm another that doesn't know how to use a coffee maker of dishwasher... Never had them as a child, don't have them now... I learned how to use a coffee maker when I worked summers for my uncle at his restaurant... And I learned how to run a dishwasher at my job - we have a communal kitchen that has one... The kitchen has a coffeemaker but I avoid making the coffee - my coworkers are very picky and vocal, and I'm not confident in my abilities  |
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Post by librarylady on Aug 8, 2015 2:24:23 GMT
Regarding knowing left and right
If you teach younger children, the teacher often has to demonstrate left/right--and if the teacher is facing the class, the teacher must raise the incorrect hand, otherwise the children NEVER get the concept.
And, speaking from experience, then when the teacher is out in the real world, her brain is confused regarding left/right.
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Post by k8smom on Aug 8, 2015 5:31:12 GMT
I was surprised to learn that they don't teach kids how to balance a check book any more in school. I can't remember what class we learned that in but I think it's critical. Both of my kids use debit cards linked to their account and keep a ball park "mental tally" of their purchases and approximate balances! It makes my eyes twitch to think of it! DD over drew her account when she was in college, and I told her if that ever happened I would not bail her out. Her dad did, and I think it ended up being a few hundred dollars fees and all! ...Sadly, she hasn't started using a check register but does check her account balance online every day.
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Post by PolarGreen12 on Aug 8, 2015 6:06:41 GMT
I'm sure I am, but I can't think of an example. (Except that they're always dumbfounded when they can't pause live TV in my room, we don't have a DVR in there.) I AM always astounded by their excessive knowledge of random things. My 15 year old is a wealth of WWII information. And he knows all of the Greek & Roman gods, I'm not sure where that came from! Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Lol |
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Post by DinCA on Aug 8, 2015 6:49:20 GMT
My 19-year-old daughter complained the other day that I didn't teach her how to balance a checkbook. I asked her why would I do that, as she doesn't actually have a checkbook. So, yeah, both of my kids have never written a check because they have only used debit cards. They do teach that in high school math here but I guess both of my kids weren't paying attention. |
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Post by Bitchy Rich on Aug 8, 2015 11:23:15 GMT
My college son had to provide an addressed envelope to a prof from whom he was asking for a recommendation letter. See where I'm going here..? I had to text him a photo of a business envelope I'd addressed. He'd never done it before, and wasn't sure where everything went. Also, he'd never bought stamps before. I am astounded a college age kid wouldn't know how to address an envelope. |
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Post by hop2 on Aug 8, 2015 12:12:58 GMT
DD (14) saw dh writing in his planner and asked him what it was. "It's a planner." "What's a planner? I've never seen a planner. What does it do?" "Seriously? It's got a calendar and you write stuff in it and has my phone numbers and appointments and things in it." "Oh, like an iPad? It's a paper iPad then." So ever since we refer to dhs planner as the paper iPad. "What does it do?" I think that's a generational thing. Young people today expect everything to *do* something. And I don't mean that in an entitled way or a bad way, just that it's second nature. Things do stuff. The older generation would have said 'what do I do with it' or 'how do I use it' or something like that. Definitely a sign of how society changes over time. |
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Aug 8, 2015 12:57:57 GMT
I am astounded a college age kid wouldn't know how to address an envelope. Are you astounded because my son has never had occasion to address an envelope before, or because it shouldn't need any instruction? My husband subscribes to the latter. Example: We were in Rome Vatican City and Husband bought postcards with the Vatican City postmark to send his sister. He was astounded when both college-aged kids claimed ignorance when he asked them to fill out cards. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN you don't know how???" Even after I explained that they had never sent nor received a postcard, and he had simply handed them a card with a line down the center and a few words in Italian, he kept saying "They just have to fill it out!" So I gave them a few seconds of "address on the right; message on the left" (which is counterintuitive when you think about it), and they did it. Just yesterday, one of them graciously showed me how to make my first Skype call - even though it is second nature to her. |
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Post by brina on Aug 8, 2015 13:26:17 GMT
My college son had to provide an addressed envelope to a prof from whom he was asking for a recommendation letter. See where I'm going here..? I had to text him a photo of a business envelope I'd addressed. He'd never done it before, and wasn't sure where everything went. Also, he'd never bought stamps before. My son has been going to camp and every summer before he leaves he asks me, "who do I write the address again?" And then he makes up 4 or 5 envelopes before he goes using a piece of mail as a guide. |
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,969
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Post by AnotherPea on Aug 8, 2015 13:33:40 GMT
My 27 year old daughter doesn't know right from left. The incredible part is that she's a teacher! LOL! That is a pretty common phenomenon that is completely unrelated to intelligence (doesn't matter if she's a teacher or a MENSA member). Some of us are just hard-wired differently and no amount of holding our thumbs and forefingers up, or looking at our wedding rings (which I'm forever putting on the wrong hand anyway) is going to change it.
Just to be clear, some teachers ARE MENSA members. Your post makes it sound as though teachers are at the bottom of the intelligence scale. |
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,969
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Post by AnotherPea on Aug 8, 2015 13:36:56 GMT
Regarding knowing left and right If you teach younger children, the teacher often has to demonstrate left/right--and if the teacher is facing the class, the teacher must raise the incorrect hand, otherwise the children NEVER get the concept. And, speaking from experience, then when the teacher is out in the real world, her brain is confused regarding left/right. Teaching left and right really should not be a teacher's responsibility. That should be something parents teach continuously from a very early age. |
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,969
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Post by AnotherPea on Aug 8, 2015 13:39:59 GMT
Regarding check books: my daughter learned how to write and balance in middle school math and high school economics. I taught her in middle school. But she only remembers being taught by her Girl Scout leader.
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. Poor kid was so disappointed by what ball rooms actually were 
Funny enough she is friends with more drama/musical kids now, so they do know.
Time to get off the internet!
