I Think Schools Need To Emphasize More That They Arent Teaching Specific Facts But Rather Skill Sets

I think schools need to emphasize more that they aren’t teaching specific facts but rather skill sets

are you gonna remember your algebra formulas ten years from now? Probably not. Are you going to be able to use basic logic to solve problems? Well hopefully with some solid logic practice, such as math, yeah!

did Shakespeare really mean that all of the themes of dark and light in his plays indicated internal struggle and opposing forces? Who knows! Is the ability to critically analyze a piece of writing and see larger trends and symbols useful? Hell yes!

Schools should really be upfront with students that no, this isn’t going to be wholly applicable, but any amount of school will develop your self-discipline and  overall versatility- and that’s a good thing 

Learning with ADHD

ADHD can and does cause memory issues. It can affect short term memory (eg, remembering phone numbers for a bit), working memory (ie, manipulating information, like doing sums in your head) and finally, recall (bring back up the information stored).

Of the three, issues with recall feel like the worst (to me) as it means that we have difficulty bringing back stuff we should already know. It’s frustrating cause we know the information deep down, we just struggle with recalling it when we want to.

This friend I have known for years now? Forgot their name again.

My house number? Forgot it again.

The name of the restaurant I have been to multiple times? Nope.

One of ADHDers’ most common catchphrases (“umm, what was just saying?”) is because of this recall problem. We get distracted mid sentence and can’t recall what we were saying.

ADHD in general, from concentration to these memory problems, can make learning very challenging. And it certainly did for me until I found a strategy that worked (for me).

Imagine you lost something in your house. The common advice given would be to retrace your steps. This involves going down paths you took, chained one after the other to finally reach what you were looking for. The strategy is that even if you don’t remember the final destination, you can retrace your steps to recall it.

My strategy involves exactly that, with the metaphorical house being our minds.

A fact or a piece of information is easily lost. To make it easier to find, you have to connect it to other pieces of information. I see it in my head as a massive spider web where all interconnected information is connected. So even if I forget one piece of information on that web, I can navigate down other paths to help me find it.

So a real example is when I needed to learn about electricity generation (I am an energy engineer). I couldn’t just learn about generators and have it stick in my head. So what I did instead was start from the basics… from how electrons work. Then how wires work. Then how AC and DC electricity works.. And so on. So now, even if I forget a detail about a generator, I can essentially start from scratch to re-remember it.

Yes, it does take much longer to learn but the information is stored and recalled more solidly.

This is the method I use to study and learn that has taken me from failing everything to getting As and Bs. I start from the very basics and build my knowledge up like a web, making sure to take time to understand in the process.

Of course, I won’t claim this will work for everyone, nor that this is the one true method. But it worked very well for me, and I hope that even if it didn’t help directly, it can give you some helpful information.

just because someone can articulate their point better doesn’t make them right, it makes them articulated. 

Hey shoutout to

People with “minor” disabilities who aren’t sure if they belong in disabled spaces

People who have rare disabilities and don’t see other people with the same disability, even in disabled spaces

People who’ve been told nothing is wrong with them even though is something clearly wrong that now feel like they’re just making stuff up

People who have been dismissed by doctors because they didn’t fit the image the doctor had of what a “sick” person looked like

People who tried to get help for their problem and are still waiting

People who have unaddressed health problems in general

Y’all are great and deserve the world!

DO NOT SHOP AT TARGET OR ORDER FROM THEM ONLINE ON MAY 1st THERE IS A STRIKE

for people who are unaware of why the riots in minneapolis started happening, here’s the facts:

it wasn’t george floyd’s protesters who started reacting violently; it was the cops.

the protest was peaceful until the cops showed up in riot gear, and started using water cannons, followed up by tear gas and rubber bullets. i got videos from friends who were there, of people screaming and running away from the cops shooting the water cannons, rubber bullets and throwing tear gas at them. they were even shooting at the protesters dragging people away to get medical attention.

speaking of medical attention, dispatch refused to provide any medical attention to the protesters. people literally had to drive their bleeding friends to the hospital because they refused to send ambulances.

cops are using non-lethal weapons in a lethal way. they shot rubber bullets into people’s heads and injured them. there’s dozens of photos of protesters with bleeding head wounds from the rubber bullets.

multiple people used police scanners and heard that there were undercover cops pretending to be violent protesters who were throwing rocks and whatnot at the police, with dozens of eyewitness accounts confirming that information.

the person who instigated all the chaos last night (it was a fire at an autozone) with the looting and burning buildings is highly suspected to be an undercover cop pretending to be a protester, because the video of him keeps getting taken down. protesters tried to stop him but couldn’t because he had a hammer and they were scared for their safety.

the cops jammed cell phone towers and cut live streams to interrupt broadcasts and to prevent people from seeing what was really going on and who actually started the violence.

the cops lied about protesters being armed and about throwing rocks and are literally trying to continue the violence happening and yet no one is holding them accountable for that.

and during all this, the cop that murdered george floyd still hasn’t been arrested. he has had more than ten complaints filed against him and was involved in three other civilian shootings in the past. and yet he’s still out free along with his three other buddies involved, probably sitting on his couch while all this chaos is happening.

so don’t get it twisted. the cops just want to change the narrative to make it look like they’re the wounded and righteous party, when they’re the ones who started reacting violently in the first place and are still acting violently. so don’t you ever forget who started this tragedy and murdered someone, and who are continuing to react to the situation with violence.