First: Some UK teachers exchanged the analogue with digital clocks. This was only to reduce interruptions by some students (during a specific kind of UK exams), who had trouble determining the remaining time in the heat of the exam battle.
Secondly: The use of analogue clocks is taught at UK schools. What’s missing is the practice that former generations of pupils had. No more wristwatches, public clocks all but gone, and (what I am nostalgically missing from my youth) no more peeking onto parked car’s dashboards to read the analogue clock there. Times have changed, and this specific partially lost ability is not the schools’ fault. (Not to say that other things aren’t…)
Can we please bury that stupid old meme, as it has been based on some inaccurate buzz and largely giving a completely inaccurate impression of the topic from the start…
Kids don’t know cursive either. Nobody needs it anymore.
I feel that learning cursive is important.
First you learn how to write ordinary letters. That trains your fine motor skills so you can write them reliably (try writing with your non-dominant yourself hand to see).
What cursive teaches you is how to write quickly. Of course, no one will write in pure, perfect cursive. Most people settle for a style somewhere in between. It teaches you the concept of “you can combine letters together to make you write faster” and “here are a bunch of ways to combine them”. It’s a good thing, Especially if they end up going to college.
Giving them a few more weeks of practice in reading and writing is a great way to avoid them being partially illiterate.
Being “taught” cursive in school was torture, anyway.
I was taught block lettering in technical drafting class, 8th grade. Cursive is a lettering specifically created to be easy to handwrite. It flows on paper, as opposed to the repetitive short strokes of block lettering.
The way they taught us cursive was the complete opposite of the intent of cursive. Rigidly proscribed characters with marks only for form, ignoring all function. It was agonizingly tedious and physically painful writing all of those nonsensical scrawls. I immediately switched back to my own chicken scratch after grade school because it was not only orders of magnitude faster, but at least didn’t make my hand painfully seize up into a claw.
Decades later, as my handwriting evolved, a number of my own script letters began to resemble those wretched cursive runes, because I had apparently blindly stumbled upon the actual correct method for writing to flow from nib to parchment, as opposed to whatever those torturous rituals scarred me with as a child.
The problem you describe is very real, and not just in the US or the UK, but in most of Europe as well. A big part of writing is how to actually write, not just the letters et al.
I mean the literal way you move you arm, the angle you write at, how you hold you pen, etc.
I didn’t learn any of that, and as an intensely dyslexic and left-handed individual, writing was extremely painful to me. That is, until 10th grade where I taught myself calligraphy.
It turns out that, when learning calligraphy, you do learn how to write properly.
After that, my handwriting in school (and for the rest of my life) became much better: I didn’t have hand-pain anymore, I didn’t smudge the ink, and, of course, my handwriting was very orderly and neat. Teachers even started commenting on it!
Most notably for me though: writing became fun. For me, as a dyslexic, this literally felt revolutionary.
Anyway, that is what I think they should teach in schools.
Support. First reasonable comment in here.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
I used to troll my teachers with inane questions to help my friends prepare for exams or quizzes that we knew were coming. I can’t expect it’s changed much.
My wrist watches were always digital, public clocks in suburbia I’m just gonna say never existed, in cars wtf?
I can only see this as an education problem.
This was only to reduce interruptions by some students (during a specific kind of UK exams), who had trouble determining the remaining time in the heat of the exam battle
I am not being funny but if someone is unable to read the time perhaps they shouldn’t be in the exam room in the first place.
It is like saying that all questions will be read out loud all the time and verbal answers recorded instead of written ones - because some students are illiterate.
Honestly if you can’t calculate things on an abacus you shouldn’t be in the exam room tbh. Sure, calculators have been invented and have ultimately replaced the abacus in nearly every facet of day to day life, but surely you know how to add beads together?
We’re letting kids use GPS to get to school now? What the street signs and constellations aren’t good enough for you?
Let me rephrase it than - if someone is an idiot, they shouldn’t be in the exam room. If you are concerned about it, it may be because you fit the category.
Yikes.
Also, since you ran out of arguments and started correcting people’s spelling, *then.
“yikes” what?
Passing exams is not an entitlement, it is an achievement. If someone is an idiot unable to understand the clock, they shouldn’t be in the exam room in the first place - and they certainly shouldn’t expect someone will start explaining clock to them when they are supposed to write an exam.
Students with dyslexia do get special treatment. There is no reason to discriminate against people lacking an unrelated skill and it’s not funny to demand it so we at least agree on something
I agree.
That being said, there’s a difference between having a disability and just not having had enough practice.
Just having an analogue clock in all rooms and halls of a school is a way to give people the opportunity to get the practice.
In higher grades you can have an analogue clock in front and a digital “cheat” one in the back. If they’re not sure, they can glance at that. And if that cheat clock is only in every other room. Most will learn because it’s easier that way.
When reading the clock comes as a topic of the curriculum in 1st or 2nd grade, having the teacher ask a student to read the time periodically from the classroom clock for a few months will make sure everyone has had at least some opportunities to practice.
Of course, if someone does have a problem bordering on disability, accomodate them. Regardless of whether their parents took the time and money to have it diagnosed or not. But a quarter of a class having it is either bad luck or just bad methodology.
Edit: all this applies to elementary school.
The post talks explicitly about teenagers in exam halls. Don’t know if “exam hall” is a term for regular class rooms but either way it talks about teenagers. True, younger kids should learn it. Even if without practice, you have a hard time as a teenager, you can revive the skill later. Source: I did.
I am not referring to students with diagnosed disabilities - I am referring to the vast majority without.
… in the context that many students can’t read analog clocks and shouldn’t get help. Pretty sure there is no official diagnosis for this so no problem and they don’t deserve to know how much time they have left in a biology exam. Again, there is no reason to discriminate against people lacking unrelated skills, if diagnosed or undiagnosed.
Let me put it this way: if someone is not disabled and still unable or too lazy to understand the clock, they shouldn’t be in the exam room in the first place.
This is not a “discrimination” - most exams are for the people with a some level of the IQ, certainly above the level of a radiator. Or a stool.
Ah, okay, I can’t take exams because my dyscalculia makes it difficult for me to read a clock (and it’s not worth my time).
👍
No, you shouldn’t pass exams if you are an idiot - and if you do take them, don’t expect a special treatment because of your stupidity.
And no, as I said people with diagnosed disability are a different matter.
Hopefully that clarifies it for you.
Analogue clocks are a great example of kids having to understand a concept and apply it. And it’s simple enough that anyone can learn it.
I often see examples where children are required to memorize a set solution, instead of showing understanding and reaching the solutions themselves.
These clocks are somewhat dated, but removing them just feels like another symptom of a failing educational system.
wait analog is outdated?? what do you mean?? What else do people wear on their wrist?? some dystopian world your living in
Dated, not outdated. Or do I totally have the meaning of the word wrong?
😭
Nah let’s ditch the analog clocks and instead teach them sundials. That will really stretch their brains.
These clocks are somewhat dated, but removing them just feels like another symptom of a failing educational system.
Don’t worry because it’s a fake story.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
I remember getting a compliment more then once jn school. I was good t talong what i learned in once class and applying it to another
deleted by creator
As our schools fail they simply change the parameters to cover up their failures
Ive tried to teach my students (High School) how to read an analog clock. Keep in mind, I dont have time to teach a whole class on it, just a little lesson on how now and then when they ask what time it is. They can read it for the class, but the next day theyve forgotten how completely.
Its not because theyre stupid or lazy. Its because they rarely get practice with it. We know how to read an analog clock because, yes we were taught it in school, but they were everywhere so we essentially had practice with it all the time. These kids see digital clocks 99% of the time. So when do they ever apply their knowledge?
The only students who can read the clock are the handful who have analog watches for fashion reasons because they use it all the time.
Its a matter of practice but in truth these kids dont really have to read an analog clock in the modern world.
As a parent, we made sure to have an analog clock in every room while my kids were growing up, and we made them prove they could read it. Still don’t work. Digital clocks are everywhere else and in many ways more convenient.
Analog clocks are an obsolete decice whose time has passed. I also tried to keep it alive into the next generation but it’s not happening. It’s time to give it up.
Let that be one of our hallmarks as we age: the last generation with analog clocks. I use an analog face on my digital watch, have analog decorative clocks and I’ll accept that my kids believe that old fashioned (they do accept the analog clock face on my old car I gave them though, or maybe don’t know how to change it)
What kind of boomer would believe this nonsense?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
This has got to be AI written or cherry picked data. They’re pulling clocks to save a few $ if anything. Old schools used to have synchronized analog systems. I could easily see those things being removed.
Really? I never knew any of them were synchronized, that’s cool if so. I seem to remember us pulling them off the wall at our schools and changing them twice a year or replacing the batteries. Having them wired with synchronization may be overboard, but it is kind of cool
Yep. The schools I went to had synchronized analog clocks. They would all “adjust” together if they were off at all. Some kind of clockwork solenoid.
Yes I remember sometimes they would remotely adjust our clocks and you could see the hands moving quickly until they stopped in their intended position. Pretty genius for the old days.
All my schools had them. Sometimes you’d catch them doing a resync and all the hands would spin around. I think they probably couldn’t rotate CCW so had to go around the long way if they needed to roll back a few minutes.
My highschool was small (graduating class under 50; five small towns combined), and in the 90s, ours were synchronized, just realized I always wondered what they used.
Probably the clocks all used a synchronous motor. It spins baaed on ac current. After juat set the clocks to the right time when you plig them in
Thank you, I’ll need to look into it, it was obvious they were synced because they got adjusted for daylight savings from somewhere and they all slowly changed time over the course of an hour if I recall correctly, it always fascinated me.
Would that not mean if the power goes out after say a hurricane, the all the clocks have to be reset manually or can they somehow change them all remotely? A mechanism going threw the walls to change them from a single location sounds like a lot of work to get a synchronized clock
Im sire there is. A way to send a comand to clockw to fast-forward to a certain time.
At what point is it not just a digital clock with an analog interface if it has the ability to receive information digitally and perform tasks off of it. (I assume increase/decrease voltage to the motor).
Unless maybe that’s how they do it, put all the clocks on an individual power source, then manipulate the current to increase/decrease the speed of the motors so they all move synchronized… Idk, cool concept though. Not sure how you would overcome the loss in varying distance of the clocks though… it’s possible but a lot of planning
Its the Hertz of ac current that comteols timing. But that’s just how it counts the seconds not how it would tell if it is noon. But its uses analog electricity to keep time and maybe a digital comand to set time. Does make it digital or analog?
Yes, it’s very easy to debunk this nonsense. I’m kind of amazed that nobody but me has googled this.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
Thank you for posting that.
Every year I taught for the past 30 years I have heard this but I will say that every year I had to go over how to read a clock at the beginning of the year and every time a kid would ask me what time it is I would point at the clock and ask them what time they think it is? At least they left the class knowing how to read a clock even though they were shit at writing essays.
It took me until age 15 to become comfortable reading analog clocks and confident knowing which way is left and right.
Hey cut me some slack, left/right gets confusing sometimes because of mirrors & facing people).
But I think learning how to tell time on an analog clock is an important skill because it broadens the mind regarding mechanics & mathematics, thereby developing more synapses in our brains & logic & mental computational skills.
I’m old af and I still have to think about it
Once I figured out what hand I write with, it was all easy street from there. I used to tell myself “I write with my right hand”
It’s only happened twice, but I’ve run into kids who couldn’t read an analog clock. You know what I did?
I taught them. It took, like, 30 seconds. I know it took 30 seconds because I was wearing a goddamn watch.
Still can’t understand how any kid cannot do it. Isn’t that something you learn from your parents before you even go to school
I remember learning in second grade.
The older you are the more you actually learned in school.
Don’t undersell all of the life lessons you learned from being the age you are.
Part of the reason why kids seem so dumb is because they don’t have that life experience yet. They’re still figuring it out. I’m sure that when I was a kid people looked at me and thought I was pretty dumb, just like many adults do to the kids now. blave has the right attitude about it; teach them. Someone has to. If everyone shrugs it off that someone will do it, then nobody does it.
I think I learned how to read a clock in preschool, not from my parents
“little hand”, “big hand” kind of stuff… yeah, I vaguely recall going over that when I was in JK/SK, possibly in the first few grade levels. IDK, I’m old now, so I don’t remember a lot of what happened when I was around 6.
… Unless the parents are idiots as well.
No doubt the parents are idiots just like their kids
Reversed Darwin. More and more of these.
I loved when a class would get quiet enough to hear the seconds hand click on the mechanical motor. I lived to see how close it was to the end of minute. One time in class I counted how black dots were on the ceiling. Wow I was bored
I counted the dots along the x axis, multiplied by the y axis count and took that as an estimate for the tile. Then did the same with the number of tiles across the ceiling. Then multiplied that by the number of classrooms… Same with the floor tiles. There was no end to it.
Imagine falling for this boomer rage bait when half the details are obviously and clearly censored.
Analog clocks are just annoying, I support this change. Also let’s change format to 24hr format
I’m all in on 24hr clocks. I’m a veteran and currently work in healthcare. Use that 24hr times 40+ hours/week.
But, I also like regular clocks. Especially BIG building clocks or old time 4 side post clocks you can still find on some corners of cities & towns around the globe.
AND PLEASE STOP CHANGING IT EVERY SIX MONTHS!!!
One part of me wants to feel disappointed that kids aren’t learning to read analog clocks, but another part of me thinks there was a time when people grew disappointed that the younger generations stopped learning to use an abacus in favor of digital calculators. I certainly don’t want some old geezer giving me shit because I don’t want to learn to use an abacus. I also don’t want to be that old geezer.
very few continue to use an abacus. analog clocks will still be around for decades
No doubt. I wasn’t trying to imply that either one is useless, but things change and new technology takes over. Another person replied to me comparing cursive and typing on a computer. I catch myself thinking that new generations are at a disadvantage because they don’t learn the same things I did. But it may not always be necessary that they do. I am of the computer typing generation. I didn’t learn to write beautiful cursive, but my life hasn’t been negatively impacted even though many people have expressed sympathy for my awful education. I was just trying to say I think it’s a rather normal thing for old systems to get phased out of a classroom from time to time. It’s not really a good reason to believe that younger generations are doomed. But like I said I fall into that line of thinking myself from time to time.
Teacher here.
I’m pretty certain that the only place where my students ever encounter an analog clock is at school. But teaching how to read analog clocks is required in our math education standards, so I have one and I use it, even though I think there are other, more relevant places to put our academic focus.
I’m 45 years old. I’m pretty sure we only ever had one analog clock in our house when I was growing up in the '80s, and that was my grandpa’s alarm clock. The only places I’ve been where only analog clocks were available have been schools. Even our local bank in my small town changed to a digital clock on its sign outside.
Unfortunately, education systems are dictated by legislators, who are often old and out-of-touch. So I doubt we’ll see a change in the education requirements any time soon. But, just like how keyboarding has replaced cursive in classrooms, it will eventually come.
Teacher here.
I’m pretty certain that the only place where my students ever encounter an analog clock is at school.
What the actual fuck? Are you not using wrist watches at all at whatever US hole you are a teacher at? Because most of these are analogue.
Unless it change in last few years the cheapest wrist watched arw digital
Not currently teaching in a “US hole.” I’ve been teaching in South America for 5 years and I have never noticed an analog clock in a public place here.
Surely this comes from the American, not European point of view, yeah?
No need to feel disappointed about fake news.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
It’s only happened twice, but I’ve run into kids who couldn’t read an analog clock. You know what I did?
I talked to them. It took, like, 30 seconds. I know it took 30 seconds because I was wearing a goddamn watch.
To the title, that’s always been the case.
“no child left behind” turned into “make it easier until everyone passes” Shit isn’t new. it’s been going on for a long, long ass time.
Do the blackboards in the US also say “breathe in, breathe out, repeat” so that half the class doesn’t just die?
No that’s silly, there’s no guarantee that they could read that.
Shit isn’t new and it hasn’t always been the case.
It’s fake.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
I didn’t say it was always the case.
This statement just seems like agreement to me… Idk.
What was scribbled out of this screenshot with black lines, and why was it scribbled out?
Maybe it was the link to Snopes explaining how this is fake?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schools-removing-analog-clocks/
