YOT Day 23 - Resourceful

I loved open book tests in school.  I know a lot of people did because they were lazy but there were a lot of people that hated them too.  Personally, I think ALL tests should be open book.  I would taken even a step further.  This is what the discussion would sound like in my class:

"Class, we are having a test.  Oh, shut up, you are in school, you know there will be tests.  You'd think you would know this by now.  We are in the library.  You have all resources open to you except your actual textbook (because they know where the answers are in there) and your fellow students.  There are 50 questions.  That gives you enough time to answer approximately 3/4  just by knowing the answer and the rest with research; if you know where to look.  Ok, have fun.  Bah-bye."

I wholeheartedly feel that while it is useful to retain some information, it is also very practical , in many ways, to know where to find it.  There are many topics where you NEED to know the answer and will not be able to look it up.  There is no way I would go to a doctor if he had to look up everything before answering me.  I get that.  I am not saying that you should not KNOW things.  I am saying this:  there is too much regurgitation in school today.  Kids can spout off stats left and right but do they know how to USE it?  Do they know how to check it to even know if it is right information?

This post came about from reading all of the Facebook crap lately.  You know, the one about how if you post that long "legal" wording BS on your status, then people have to leave you alone and not use your information.  Oh, please!  Who seriously thinks that would even work?  Apparently, tons of people.  That is what worries me.  It's not just this Facebook thing but SO many of them.  Why would you re-post something without checking it out first?  It just spreads the insanity.

I sort of lost my track here, sorry.

Today, this YOT  ------ I am thankful for being resourceful.

Many kids people today also cannot just DO anything for themselves.  AAA is probably at its highest membership level.  Honestly, I am shocked at the number of people that call them to change a tire.  In the time it took you to call, them to come, and change your tire, you could have been done and to your destination.

It amazes me almost every day how many people cannot figure out how to use their computers.  10 years ago, I got it.  I understood that not everyone grew up with computers and computer parts covering their dining room tables as I did.  Not everyone had the lecture of "don't use the internet too long, that Prodigy is expensive per minute!".  But today?  Seriously?  How, in 2012, can a person not know how to use a computer?  Especially someone that uses it 5 days a week at work?

Need a tire changed in the middle of a grassy median on I-95 in Florida?  I gotcha.

need a windshield wiper fixed in a thunderstorm on I-95 (same trip)?  No problem, I have this shoelace that I can take off my shoe and wrap around your wiper.

Need a ribbon for that gift you are wrapping in the car on the way to the party?  Here's a plastic bag I will cut into strips - BAM - ribbon with a bow.

Did your childhood bicycle Christmas ornament get broken in half?  No, I don't have any wire - wait - here is an ornament hanger I can bend and voila, your ornament is fixed!

A zombie breakout in Texas? Egads! Wait, the CDC says nope.  


I thank my parents for teaching me to think for myself.  I have tried to pass it along to my niece and am starting with Larzipan, although he is a bit young to be able to figure things out but he sure does a great job of it for a 2 year old!  When they need help, my first response is not to do it for them or give them the answer.  I just say, "hmmm, let's try to figure this out together.  What else can we do to solve this?".

Know how to think for yourself.  That is my point here.  Ask questions, look things up, don't take everyone's word for everything.  Question everything! Right Dad? :)