Some people say drill and practice is really "drill and kill." What can teachers do to make sure this kind of use doesn't happen and drill and practice can serve a useful function?
I think that the success of the drill and practice will depend on the teacher. As teachers we are able to make ordinary thing seem a lot more fun if we take the time and encourage our students. My son teacher uses drill and practice to help them retain their math facts. She does it in a neat way that does not seem boring or ordinary. The students take a deck of cards and race each other to see who can collect the most card pairs. In order for them to get the set, they must multiply the two numbers pulled and answer first. Who ever has the biggest stack wins. They do this in class quite often, I would consider this drill and practice without being drill and kill, because the students enjoy themselves and still have fun. There are many websites out there that also are fun and entertaining (yet educational) for the students. Drill and kill is only for those that do not explore their resources or creativity.
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I agree with you that the success of drill and practice depends on how it is implemented in the classroom. If the teacher is having students work on drill and practice worksheets for the entire subject time then of course it isn't going to be successful or motivating for the students. With all the advances in technology and the internet there is more availble resources for teachers out there to explore different ways to practice drills. The deck of cards technique you mentioned is a good one. Teachers can also implement different games such as jeopardy to practice drills. There is a lot of stuff out there it is just up to the teacher what they want to use and what works best in their classroom.
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