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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.

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Eq0@literature.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I also wonder: what’s the goal of teaching this? Sure, a cursory lesson is a good idea, but making it a fundamental step seems nonsensical in a world that doesn’t require it at all. It’s like teaching how to sharpen a quill, it’s not needed anymore

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- olenkoVD@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Of course it’s still needed. There still exist analog clocks almost everywhere. (At least in my country)
  
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- foodandart@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  NGL, wind up analog clocks are useful in places where the power goes out often. I have a 7-day grandfather clock and it’s been a godsend when northeasters turn into ice storms that take down the power for days…
  
  (Northern New England had wretched winter weather some years)
  
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  - bleistift2@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I don’t have a horse in this race, but your argument doesn’t hold up. If you want a way to tell the time during a power outage, you don’t need an analogue clock, you need one that runs on batteries.
    
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    papalonian@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I’m also horseless, but their analog clock is a wind-up, no batteries required. So if you’re snowed in and can’t get to the store, it’s one less thing that will take up batteries.
    
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  - AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I’ve always wanted one of these but really only to remind me of my grandparents house from when I was a kid
    
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- GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  It’s an easy way to introduce fractions, especially since it’s common to hear/say it’s a quarter passed 2, half passed 5, and a quarter to 9.
  
  Also teaches multiples, since the numbers on the clock represent multiples of 5.
  
  Helps with directions, clockwise is when the hands spin to the right and counter-clockwise to the left. You’d be amazed how many students can’t tell their left from right.
  
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  - MeThisGuy@feddit.nl ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    You’d be amazed how many students can’t tell their left from right.
    
    wtf? this goes back further than analogue clocks… we used to have a ribbon on one hand until we learned to distinguish right from left
    
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    GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I understand that learning left from right is a skill to learn. However, it was rare for a teenager to be unable to distinguish their left from right, unlike today.
    
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AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
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)

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Default_Defect@anarchist.nexus ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

Its because they rarely get practice with it.

I would argue that a lot of what I learned in school didn’t have much opportunity to practice outside of school, but I agree that analog clocks are not a learning priority.

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- Comrade_Spood@quokk.au ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Most of the things that I was taught that I don’t get practice with I do not remember how to do it anymore. Now I do have ADHD so that definitely does not help.
  
  However I will say I do think in some cases learning how to do things you wont necessarily need outside of school can be useful as it can teach you other helpful things subconsciously. There are certain supporting skills that are developed when you learn those things that can be used in other contexts. Are there more effective ways to learn those supporting skills besides teaching things most people likely wont use again? Probably, but I don’t really have an answer for what
  
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