In the middle of a math class in which we were studying negative numbers last week, a student asked me, "When will I use this information? What is this for?" I might add that this student is very bright and has a wonderful attitude. It was an honest question.
"Well," I began, "first of all, everytime you borrow money from someone you are technically in the negative numbers. But it's way more than that. Learning all of this is using your brain--expanding it, adding in information that you haven't previously had. Your brain is like a giant sponge, and the more you learn, the more it soaks up. And not only that, but as you learn, you become a more intelligent person. You are able to understand and comprehend more. And then, if you want to be a nurse or a teacher or anything--you've got that much more potential because of all you learned. AND," (I was getting quite passionate about this subject by this point), "when you are sitting in church listening to a sermon or reading the Bible at home, you can understand the Bible on a much deeper level because of your knowledge base. Then you can apply it to your life more directly and serve God better. Whatever He calls you to do, you will be even more prepared if you learn all this stuff!"
I snapped this photo of my whiteboard and front of my classroom after school last week, and realized all that was there after just one day: literature, music, pre-algebra, spelling, geography, vocabulary, and grammar. And I had erased lots of other writing that was on that board the same day. That's a lot of information, and a lot of good, interesting stuff that I hope will enable my students to serve God well and to do whatever it is that He will call them to do in the future.