I remember being in middle school and high school when I complained about how many dates my history teachers made me memorize. I didn't understand why it was so important to know exactly when something happened. Of course, by the end of high school, I understood that dates were extremely important because things that had happened in the past or previous philosophies greatly affected the time and caused future events to happen.

Now that I'm teaching middle school, I understand that students this age cannot memorize as much as a high school student, but they should know some basic times of the year, like the month Thanksgiving is in, and Independence Day. I'm sorry to say it, but about 25% of my students did NOT know when Independence Day was in my class, perhaps more. I was not asking for the year, simply the month. I could not believe how many students asked me about when it was. I was dismayed. Something must be very wrong in the educational system if there are these huge holes in student learning. I don't teach history, but I'm sure that my students learned some history from me this past week.

The way teachers are assessed these days is based on standardized test scores and student grades. Parents also get angry if their child's grade is too low. Rather than have their child study more and redo assignments, the first person they blame is the teacher. This is one of the reasons students are not learning as much as they should. While it may be more difficult for the teacher to hold firm on grades--the teacher may in fact lose his/her job for doing so--it is a a disservice to students and the country to let the next teacher deal with it. I will do my best to hold students accountable.