Who else has ever crammed for a test?
Cramming versus the Law of the Farm!
Did you ever “cram” in school? Goof off during
the semester, then spend all night before the big test trying to cram a semester’s worth of learning into your head?
In our social culture we sometimes think we can dismiss natural processes, cheat the system, and still win the day. And for some of those high school or college classes, it worked. At least for passing the test!
In the short term, cramming may appear to work.
Yet it takes time and effort spent reading the textbooks, listening to the teacher, and doing the homework to give us the mastery of the subject we are studying.
How many of us wish now we hadn’t crammed? We got the degree but didn’t get the education. We passed the test but didn’t come away with the knowledge.
Can you imagine
trying to cram on the farm?
Can you imagine forgetting to plant in the spring, flaking out all summer, and hitting it hard in the fall-ripping the soil up, throwing in the seeds, watering, cultivating- and expecting to get a bountiful harvest overnight?
In the long run, the Law of the Farm governs most areas of our lives. The Law of the Farm means we have to plant the crop we want first. Then cultivate, water and weed our plot. All this before we get to harvest. It takes our planning, time, and effort to be successful in harvesting what we desire.
There are lots of areas in our lives where cramming doesn’t work!
We eventually find out there’s a difference between succeeding in our school system and succeeding in the development of our mind skills.
It takes our time and effort to develop the ability to think analytically, creatively, at deep levels of abstraction, to hone the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing ,and to rise above outmoded practices and solve problems in newer, better ways. Cramming doesn’t work here.
And what about character? Can you cram and suddenly become a person of integrity? Cramming doesn’t work here.
Or physical health? Can you overcome years of a potato chip, chocolate cake, no exercise life by spending the night before the marathon working out in the gym? Cramming doesn’t work here.
What areas in your life have you been successful with cramming?
What areas in your life have you paid the price with your energy, time and effort and earned your rewards by using the Law of the Farm?
4 Comments
Oh, dear. Cramming. Learning to play an instrument comes immediately to mind – yup, a lesson this week. Cramming doesn’t work here. Darn! I actually, even this late in the game of life, try cramming. And dagnabit, it still doesn’t work. It’s amazing to me that I could go through to my mid-60’s and STILL not ‘get it’ about cramming. Getting through a test – or a lesson – isn’t mastery or competence, which is what we’re really wanting.
Something to consider for myself, anyway. Maybe working on the farm this year will help me to visualize how I might approach other areas of my life without the cramming creeping in to the cranium!
Thanks for bringing up an idea that is a little problematic for so many of us!
Fay,
I’ve always said I want instant competence. Sometimes confusing the journey (learning, process) for the destination(mastery, completion.) So maybe “learning to play” your instrument could be enough? Maybe not?
The learning and understanding came to me in pieces – as: weekly tests, midterms, finals. Learn and understand the small pieces, makes the final easy. Same in my job, learn form by form by explaining it to others ( as a teacher ). Preparing for “teaching” is to see and understand the parts and then makes sense “teaching” to others. Learning also means to keep current because things change. Keeping current with the changes ( the small parts ) makes it easier keeping an understanding of the total. Stays easier in the head if one also talks it out to others. Sometimes a light comes on when you see something you didn’t see before. Cramming is not the way to do it – takes time to see and understand and keep it in your head until it is really needed. Passing “the test” is not the moment but the end of the long road of learning.
Earl B
Earl,
How true! I know that one of your gifts was that ability to walk us through the forms, step by step. And it worked, because you knew them so well. Sorta like “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”
And I sure agree that it’s easier if we keep up with the changes (small parts)to keep an understanding of the whole!
I really appreciate hearing from you!