Classes in School

[Frosty]

If someone were to ask me specifics on what I retained in school, I would likely have a hard time giving them. I never studied at all except in the classes that I really enjoyed, and I almost never ever did any assigned homework. Mom always told me I was always all or nothing when it came to pretty much anything. It was always just so difficult to focus on something that I either thought was stupid or boring.

It sounds immature but I also had a huge problem if I thought the teacher knew less about their topic than I did and I could be pretty disrespectful and avoidant. I still have that issue, if I dislike a subject I will calculate how many points I need to pass it and then I will do that amount of work and no more only so I do not waste money. It isn't really intentional rebellion, because although this might sound like an excuse, I really cannot focus on things that I do not find interesting at all. I just can't, and I do not see why getting an A is so important. Sure it is the schools semi-objective measurement of student performance, but so many fight for the A's it seems without actually absorbing what they have tried to learn.

Generally though, if I found a subject really engaging I would read, read, read, ahead and usually I could pull A's pretty easily. (Not trying to brag, it is what it is). Sometimes though, I would study subjects in whole that were either totally unrelated to the cirriculum, or subjects from previous semesters/years, or those coming up of which I could not wait to learn. Thats how I ended with a mediocre GPA, I did not learn what they wanted me to learn when they wanted me to learn it.

So I guess what I am saying is, it is ok for math not to be everyones favorite subject, but it seems to be a failure on the part of the school system rather than on the individual for the overall fear that is had for math overall. If schools weren't so focused on shoving as many courses as possible at students and as much material as possible in these courses, then the more time could be spent delving deeper into the roots of subjects and really expanding on what is to be learned from that. I do think that [MENTION=23583]21lux[/MENTION] has a good point in that students should at the end of the day be the ones to decide what they learn based off their interests, but I would also push some sort of problem solving class (not necessarily algebra or geometry or whatever, could be a logic class or something else of the sort), because I really do believe there are skills, that a course like that could really help to develop. I don't really think that an equal education has to necessarily be the same education.

Anyways, if I keep typing I'll probably go back to repeating what I said a few posts before, but I do think that the education system, and especially the way that math is taught, needs a major overhaul. There are too many kids who drop out of school, and of course that is their choice and I respect that, but it just seems to me to be a huge huge failure on the system. Lol, this really has repeated itself.

 

[Kensei]

School schmool. I'd rather learn to enrich my life than be forced to do work that isn't even interesting. All school is is a scam set up by the government so that parents don't have to raise their kids. It's profanity of all that is logical and moral.

 

[Frosty]

School schmool. I'd rather learn to enrich my life than be forced to do work that isn't even interesting. All school is is a scam set up by the government so that parents don't have to raise their kids. It's profanity of all that is logical and moral.

I sort of do agree with you. I personally, if I ever do have children, will probably homeschool them, or hire tutors, relatives or whatever. Develop whatever they are interested, whether rocks, literature, geography, whatever. Expand upon that, take them on trips to something that will stimulate further inquiry instead of imposing rigid rules to crush that. With the way the school system is run now it is pretty much a giant clusterfuck, more of a glorified babysitting service if anything. Teachers pretend that what they teach really matters, while students just blindly jump through whatever hoops society demands of them. It really is no wonder that other countries are doing laps around us cognitively, as our Country would rather just blanketly stick to a broadbrush system while pretty much dancing around any sort of repairs.

 

[Kensei]

I know right? I think the student should at least be able to choose the school he wants to be enrolled at and then be provided the proper transportation. If one is to be forced to go through with bullshit, at least let him choose where and with whom he wants to endure it.

I sort of do agree with you. I personally, if I ever do have children, will probably homeschool them, or hire tutors, relatives or whatever. Develop whatever they are interested, whether rocks, literature, geography, whatever. Expand upon that, take them on trips to something that will stimulate further inquiry instead of imposing rigid rules to crush that. With the way the school system is run now it is pretty much a giant clusterfuck, more of a glorified babysitting service if anything. Teachers pretend that what they teach really matters, while students just blindly jump through whatever hoops society demands of them. It really is no wonder that other countries are doing laps around us cognitively, as our Country would rather just blanketly stick to a broadbrush system while pretty much dancing around any sort of repairs.

 

[BWCB1890]

I was good at History, Social Studies, English, Gym, Business Law, and Management. I was bad at Math, Science, and Accounting. I was not very good at art either but the grades were based on effort so I received a good grade. I was decent in Intro to Acting.

 

[BlueScreen]

I liked most classes because I like learning stuff and I usually learnt something. Whether the teaching was okay and I paid attention is another thing...

I liked maths and it was clearly my strongest subject. I liked physics and chemistry, but found physics at school to be a bit simplified and the experiments to be a bit too unexciting. Also, our teacher told me I'd fail and was surprised when I got A+ for the first test, so after that I was even more whatever about it.

I found chemistry at school to be about remembering a lot of stuff rather than understanding things. Still it was fun because my friends and I had the rule that we'd mix all the chemicals on our bench at the end of class to see what happened.

I found I liked English once I left school and realised it was far more interesting and intricate than the crap we got taught. It was always you get good marks because you have an opinion on this book that is the same opinion as you are meant to have, or read this book and recite stuff back to us telling us what arbitrary thing you are meant to read into it (which usually missed the true beauty of what the author was really saying). Not sure where grammar and any real love of the arts went, but our school definitely missed out.

I took business but can't remember what we learnt in it.

 

[Frosty]

Correlation between classes enjoyed and MBTI type?

 

[Poki]

I enjoyed shop class the most
I slept through Math and Science and passed with A's
I struggled in History and English

Computer classes I slept through and made A's. I took an intro to C class in high school and in the first week I had looked in the book and figured out how to write a pong type game to keep me entertained while the teacher explained how to do a simple hello world program.

PE was ok, I hated suiting up though and usually almost failed due to that. I still would always end up playing while the coach wasn't looking. Memory sucked and I always forgot to get my gym clothes after school and I refused to wear stinky nasty gym clothes.

I was in Martial Arts instead of typical school sports. I went 3 classes a day 3-4 times a week. I helped train the little kids, trained with my age group, and my instructor allowed me into the adults class as well even though I was only 13.

 

[Hitoshi-San]

I was always good at English. Except when the whole grammar thing came along and I had to decide what was a demonstrative adjective and what was a subordinate clause. But I've always liked to write and had decent grammar and spelling, so that would easily be my favorite.

Science I like, but if math or physics gets into it, I'm out. I prefer more branches of science like biology, health, etc.

Math of any kind can suck my ass if it's more complicated than 2 + 2.

I admittedly was not fantastic in gym class, but I wasn't the worst either. I liked it because I got to watch people goof around and got to tell elaborate crazy stories about peoples' antics to my friends, and got to burn off a bit of excess energy .

Social studies was alright but it got pretty bland sometimes. I took AP Human Geography and thought it was the same concepts over and over, just different wording every time.

I am so truly sorry for anyone who had to take music class with me in elementary school. I can't sing above a whisper, and if I do, I sound like I'm trying to make dying cow noises....on purpose.

 

[93JC]

In primary and secondary school I liked pretty much all of my classes. I was especially fond of math, social studies and the sciences; they were always my strongest subjects. My worst were usually English and French, but I still had straight-As. Oh, and Phys Ed, if one even deigns to count that as a class...

In university? Ugh... not many favourites to be sure. University wasn't fun, university was a slog. I particularly despised differential equations, and it was one of my worst grades (C-; tied with dynamics). My prof was awful.

I had to take two C++ courses in my first couple years and I didn't mind the theory--flowcharts and the like--but I wasn't very good at writing concise code. I did pretty poorly in the second of the C++ courses; C+. I had one other course that I got a C+ in, but I can't remember which anymore. I think it was circuits, because I know I failed the final exam.

All of those courses (C++, dynamics, differential equations, circuits) were in the first semester of my second year. My GPA was 2.23. I struggled with the workload more than anything. I bet if I was taking two less courses that semester (I also took "acoustics, optics and radiation" and probability & stats) I would have substantially improved my marks.

There were some that I found more interesting than others, I suppose. I had "Mechanics of Solids" in the second semester of my second year and it restored some faith in myself in continuing to pursue my degree. By third year things got a lot more interesting, like "Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines and Mechanisms", "Heat Transfer" and "Mechanics of Materials". Some of the stuff in my last year was fascinating too; "Vibrations and Machine Dynamics", "Turbomachinery". I did pretty well in those classes.

I had to take a couple of general entry-level classes in order to fulfill my degree requirements too. I liked intro anthropology, despite only getting a B+ (if I remember correctly I also had a B+ in sociology, but it was kind of boring and I didn't really give a shit about it at the time). If I cared to study even a little I probably would have had an A quite easily, but I had five other (engineering) courses at the time.

 

[Bknight]

I had trouble in gym classes because of bad coordination. I know that, if I wanted too, I could build leg strength and stamina by practicing running and sprinting in a predefined direction -- but I could never play a fast-paced contact sport because my reflexes aren't good enough for me to change direction and exert all my energy at once at a moment's notice. I'm coordinated enough to play musical instruments, but that's it.

This might seem odd, but try FPS gaming. I've found that it really helps boost reflexes.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

I know this thread is old, but i'm reviving it.

English- In elementary I sucked at reading so much that I had to have a tutor, but role playing on warrior cats sites gave me a reason to become better (I was 12 okay). Now reading is my life. In my current class I'm not that good at writing essays, but I do good on the discussions.

Math- I hate it. It can be tolerable if I try and understand the concepts, but it's so boring and it goes by way too fast.

Science- I love science. It can be difficult, but I'm willing to put in the extra effort to figure it out. It's kinda weird because I can actually enjoy math in physics, but I hate it in regular math classes. Maybe that's because the problems are simpler.

History- It used to bore me because the teachers always gave us busy work, but I'm enjoying APUSH this year without busy work.

I love my screenwriting class. I love analyzing films and writing stories. I don't plan on entering the filming field, but I think I can take what I learned and apply it to my own stories.
I took film my sophomore year. I liked the film studies part, but didn't like actually filming it.

I took an intro to agriculture class last year for some reason. It was the easiest class I have ever took, but it was so boring.
Also took an outdoor and adventure class freshmen year. I was originally going to take web design, but that class got canceled. It was basically a PE class, but half the time we had a free day. I liked archery, but I sucked at it. I was surprisingly good at kayaking.

The thing I hate most about school is how I have to put so much effort yet I only remember a few things from it. I wish I could study things on my own, but I don't have the self discipline for that.

 

[Coriolis]

Science- I love science. It can be difficult, but I'm willing to put in the extra effort to figure it out. It's kinda weird because I can actually enjoy math in physics, but I hate it in regular math classes. Maybe that's because the problems are simpler.

I suspect it is because you could see the purpose of the math, and relate it to something real.

 

[Chrysanthe]

I have no intrinsic nor extrinsic motivation to learn in school, which makes all subjects difficult to learn now. Telling me to do something usually makes me less inclined to do it, since it makes what used to be an activity I enjoyed doing into an obligatory task... it ruins my own positive perceptions of that thing and replaces it with the idea of "work"... it's just not fun anymore. I may love Chemistry and enjoy learning it, but as soon as you tell me it's required I instantly hate Chemistry... I complained to my parents throughout Middle School that I wanted to learn everything by myself at home so I could feel motivated and accomplished by my efforts rather than feeling like I'm doing chores 24/7. Of course, when I do graduate to college this year I'll be much more focused and dedicated since I'll be more self-reliant and acting out of my own interest.


BUTT.... I'll still answer the question the way you want it to be:

Highschool-wise, my Easiest classes were Chem/AP Chem and Human Biology. Most difficult were Physics and Calculus.

The thing both of my easiest classes had in common were:
1. Grade based about 90% off Test grades.
2. All Tests were weighted heavily.
3. Human Biology's tests were mostly short answers with different possible perspectives one could take, and so as long as you backed up your answer with solid evidence and logical analysis, you'd be fine. I didn't even know most of the terms or theories but I could still make a plausible answer with faint glimpses of knowledge from days before I could piece together to form a solid argument. As for AP Chem... I just sorta knew how to do everything lol
4. Both teachers were NTPs.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

I suspect it is because you could see the purpose of the math, and relate it to something real.

That's probably right.

 

[pixie snax]

I feel the most engaged when I'm learning and doing math, and now it is my major in college. It is English that has sometimes been the bane of my existence. I hate formal writing and being told what to write about, as these things require to be more focused on the structure of my writing and do not allow my thoughts to flow as freely. I either struggle to put my thoughts into words, or have to milk my brain for content just to meet certain criteria. It feels very forced. Similarly, it's like I'm dragging my feet whenever I have to pull some analysis out of my hat. Creative writing is a bit more enjoyable for me, although I wouldn't say I'm as naturally gifted at it as some people.

 

[Hawthorne]

Struggled and disliked: History
Disliked : That science class with the rocks and stuff, college lit
Enjoyed: High school lit, social sciences, art
Good at (and enjoyed): math things

 

[cascadeco]

Junior/High School:

I liked math, science, and art classes the most. (math was my strongest on standardized tests, science second, english third, reading last)

I was able to do well in all of my classes, but I disliked english/literature and history classes the most. And P.E. class made me really anxious; I was always good at the individual fitness-type aspects, but team sports 'scared' me, for lack of a better word.

The english/literature dislike is kind of ironic, because I was always such an avid reader. But, I can't say I was naturally great at the way those classes were taught. (And I have never really liked poetry, lol)

History has grown on me with age. Once out of school, I picked up some history books of my own accord to learn about a lot of that, and I enjoyed it. But in the school format I did not.

-----------

In college I liked my ecology and plant biology / general bio/genetics classes the most. I wasn't a fan of the anatomy and physiology side of things; though I did ok. It just didn't click with me the way ecology did. I did ok in chemistry, and I did well in college linear algebra and differential equations but I totally sucked at calc of several variables and college level physics. (only got a B's or C's due to the curve, otherwise I objectively failed miserably on the exams)

 

[/DG/]

Hate: Anything that has anything to do with reading and writing (especially writing), history, government, chemistry
Like: Math (though I tended to not enjoy applied math like physics, etc.), biology, human related sciences

 

[Yama]

Hate: Anything that has anything to do with reading and writing (especially writing), history, government, chemistry
Like: Math (though I tended to not enjoy applied math like physics, etc.), biology, human related sciences

Finally, a piece of evidence that does in fact prove that we are two separate entities and not the same person

I'm the opposite--I liked reading/writing assignments more than math/science-related things.