For the week of Halloween, I managed to catch a seventh grade world history class. (Imagine seventh graders hopped up on candy and costumes. Halloween is not a fun day to sub.)
The assignment for the day had to do with the Byzantine Empire. (I couldn't resist playing "Istanbul (not Constantinople)", the They Might Be Giants version, for them. This still didn't help them figure out how to pronounce Constantinople.)
They had a question where they were to write an imaginary postcard to a "friend back home" about the wonders of Constantinople.
It's a pretty straightforward question. I see these sorts of things in their assignments all the time. But there was one big snag...
They had no idea how to address a postcard.
I was surprised, although once I thought about it, I shouldn't have been. Who uses physical mail any more? They definitely don't send stuff, although some of them admitted to getting birthday cards mailed to them from family. They don't pay attention to the envelopes.
Sigh.
So, I attempted to show them how an address should be written. (Luckily, I had access to the in class TV, so I created a slide with the school's address on it.)
Oh, there was whining. Many just copied the school's address as the address they used. (They were supposed to make up an address in the known world from the period we were discussing.)
In the end, I was happy they got the written portion on the correct half of the postcard. Some had used the lines for the address as where they wrote it. And, of course, some weren't doing much of anything as it was Halloween and a sub day and all they wanted to do was play.
The question, really, was more trouble than it was worth. Considering all the anachronisms inherent in the question (mail delivery? street addresses? postcards?), there are much better ways of formulating a written response than getting the students to address a postcard.
(Although, I appreciated that the work was in the book and on paper. The last time I covered this class, the internet was out for the day.)
This anachronism is something that baffles me a lot here in India where I teach in grade 12. I still have to teach the formal of the snail mail and such things which students will never use in actual life!
ReplyDeleteBut will they never? There are still things that must physically go through the mail, like packages. They should at least know how to address packages if they were to want to mail a gift to family or something.
DeleteI love that song, never heard that version.
ReplyDeleteSnail mail is dying but not dead yet. Sad that they don’t know how to address snail mail.
At some point I would think they would need to mail something, but not quite yet.
DeleteStudents need to learn life skills in school because enough of them won't pick it up elsewhere, but the rapid progress of technology makes it difficult to determine what those life skills are (besides knowing how to click on a smartphone's home screen). Should we be teaching cursive, for example? (My son, who is in his 30's, can not sign his name nor can he read cursive. He never has a need to sign his name-he just prints it. But not knowing how to read cursive prevents students from directly reading source material in history studies) Maybe postcards are as relevant as rotary dial phones, but, as Songbird pointed out, people still have to send packages. Or, do they? Now I have a headache.
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing. What things will they need? What things are going to be gone before they'll have need of them? It's hard to know.
DeleteIt's funny how students will always try to use the easier way.
ReplyDeleteIt might be time to update the assignment to something kids have heard of in their lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteWhile postcards have lost their popularity, kids still need to know how to address an envelope. Some things, you still have to mail.
ReplyDeleteYes, at least birthday cards or packages. I would think. But clearly they haven't done so.
DeleteGood to see this generation while think snail mail is something you receive and not send.
ReplyDeleteThey just don't have anything to send yet. That will change.
DeleteI still send out cards...obviously and do send postcards. I think it's fun to get. Thos made me laugh because I saw a video where the kids had no idea how to tale out a CD.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sometimes it surprises me with what they don't know.
DeleteI had to send a self addressed post card not long ago, and the post office delivered it right back to me. They need a lesson on what side is what! I send post cards to my daughter for fun, and cards now and again. Other than that, just at Christmas, and the number is very low on those.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't mean self address, but on the message side I was to put my address.
DeleteAnd they didn't know how to write an address. I think that was the most troubling.
DeleteThese lessons are baffling, for sure.
ReplyDeleteYup.
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