Notes on rote

Well do we remember agèd Mrs. Houlihan, lioness of the third grade, who demanded we learn poems by heart and recite them for her pleasure. Now it turns out such exercises had more purpose than we suspected. In the New York Times, Virginia Heffernan cites the longstanding prejudice against drilling:

“In educational circles, sometimes the phrase ‘drill and kill’ is used, meaning that by drilling the student, you will kill his or her motivation to learn,” explains Daniel Willingham, a University of Virginia professor of psychology who has written extensively on learning and memory. “Drilling often conjures up images of late-19th-century schoolhouses, with students singsonging state capitals in unison without much comprehension of what they have ‘learned.’ ”

Heffernan opines:

Oh, those schoolhouses — with the hickory sticks and the dunce caps. “Harrisburg! Salt Lake City! Montpelier! Tralalalala!” That does sound kind of fun — I mean, authoritarian.

Authoritarian, fun, and useful, as education critics (and Mrs. Houlihan) have long pointed out. Heffernan trumpets certain apps that emphasize language and poetry.

In fact, if you have half an hour free right now, you might learn, once and for all, the Russian alphabet or how to recite by heart the Billy Collins poem “Litany.” Spinnerpedia ABC HD offers games that teach the Cyrillic and English alphabets. VerseByHeart, which is billed for use with Bible passages, will drill you on any poem you want to memorize.

Bring it, Mrs. H.