Recently I learned that Alaska wasn’t an island. I know you are laughing, then you are questioning whether I am smart enough to be a teacher. I am going to blog about this so I can set some people straight. First, I want to say I am not the only adult that recently learned this. Sorry Brunette BFF, I am throwing you under the bus too.
When I went to school (kindergarten through 8th grade), there would be a huge poster on the wall of the United States. On the bottom left hand corner of that poster, were two boxes. One held Alaska, and the other held Hawaii. They were islands.
Now think about this for a second. If all a child ever sees is those two states out in the middle of the ocean, how would we know that that isn’t where they are actually located? As an adult, I assumed that Hawaii was located next to Alaska out in the middle of the ocean under California and to the left of Texas. If I have never been there, how would I know any different? Can you blame the stupidity? YES YOU CAN! You can blame the education system. This tiny little piece of information was left out of the Geography lesson in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. After that, you are on your own and are expected to know where the states are. I remember studying the states. I can even recite all 50 of them in alphabetical order, along with the capitals, but I must have been absent the day they explained that Alaska wasn’t an island.
Okay, why the hell is it tucked inside of Canada? Why isn’t it part of Canada? They should take ownership of it since it is in their territory! No, lets just confuse kids even more. Call it one of the 50 states and then stick it in China. Good call. Oh but wait, even though it’s over in China, we are going to stick it in the middle of the ocean but expect 10 year olds to know that it is secretly tucked away in China. Excellent. Now you have 30-year olds that look like idiots. Or maybe just me. Or me and the Brunette BFF. Or so you think....
So I am a substitute right? Last week I was in a 4th grade class for the day. Do you know what I did? I tested my theory. I had a little extra time between subjects. We had just finished Geography, so I told all the kids to put their heads down. Confused expressions appeared all over their little faces. I assured them, this was just a fun thing and to put their heads down and hide their eyes. They did. I then asked them to keep their heads down, but raise there hands if Hawaii was an island. Sixteen out of 16 students raised their hands. I then told them to put their hands down, I had one more question. I told them to raise their hands if Alaska was an island. Do you know how many students raised their hands? Out of 16 students, 11 of them raised their hands. Fourth grade. That is more than half of them! Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? Maybe we should change the maps! After they lifted their heads, I explained that Alaska wasn’t an island. One student promptly jumped up, ran over to the US map and pointed to it and informed me it was. I explained that it is placed in the ocean, because it is tucked into Canada, and they don’t really show Canada on a US map. I felt that I did some good that day! Not only did it make me feel better that I wasn’t the only one who missed that fact, but that I was able to correct it in their minds before they reached adulthood and looked like morons. So there!
I also want you to know, that a couple semesters ago, I took a Geography class. For the final, we had to write a paper about one thing we would change about Geography education. This is what I chose to change. There were 42 students in my class, and my teacher emailed my paper to the entire class because he thought it was awesome. Most of you probably think this is a common sense thing, but apparently it isn’t. Educators aren’t doing any favors to kids by saving space on the map. Stick Alaska where it belongs and while your at it, put Hawaii where it goes too (don’t stick in under California).
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