Least Favorite School Subject

[Ponyfan]

In my state there is a requirement that you have to learn to play a recorder in a certain grade. The year we learned to play them we had to perform in front of parents. I tried very hard but when it was time play one of the songs the music teacher looked at me and whispered “Don’t play.” I didn’t comprehend then that she didn’t think I was good enough to play that song in front of an audience.


Ponyfan

[banditpony]

It’s a shame that you had a bad experience with your Art teacher banditpony. I definitely agree that not all people make good teachers and sometimes teachers can sound harsh without really meaning to. It didn’t stop you from getting to where you wanted to be so maybe it made you want to prove them wrong?

Well. I felt put down and self conscious about my art-- so I didn't EVER intend to start a career in it. I wanted to go into the medical field but it didn't work out due to personal troubles... so I had to start over and I went to school for design (since I did website design for a hobby). I got hired at my job to push papers because my boss didn't believe in me despite being the top of my class (see bad art director comment), but slowly got thrown a bone here and there. I mostly do editing and production but sometimes get to do art. I really could of used encouragement and teaching from my teachers. I have a knack for color and design.. but still suffer from low self esteem about the whole thing. *shrug* it's all a learning experience tho. Everything happens for a reason.

I guess the point is, teachers play a crucial part in helping kids grow. those rotten ones can really hurt kids too, but hopefully they have someone in their life to tell them never give up. That's why for me it wasn't if I liked a topic or not, but if a teacher was good or not.

[SnorkMaiden]

PE, 100%. In Germany, you have to take it right through to Year 13. Plus, you get marks for it, and even though you can't fail a year because of PE, it's still embarrassing as anything to get poor marks in it. I only liked PE when we were learning a dance, and even then, the teachers would give the slim girls better marks because they looked more elegant... even if they forgot the steps or were completely out of tune with the music! It was so frustrating.

I didn't love maths, but I liked it okay in some years. It really depended on the teacher. The same went for physics. I always preferred languages to science.

[poniesthatsparkle]

Math without a doubt. I actually enjoy math when I understand it but I've always had terrible math teachers that don't take the time to help me. I usually have to rely on tutoring in order to pass.

I'm surprised so many people hate P.E.! Then again, I had coaches that would just throw out basketballs and let us be. Very rarely was I recquired to run, and when I did I was just happy that we were actually doing something.

[Harmonie]

In my state there is a requirement that you have to learn to play a recorder in a certain grade. The year we learned to play them we had to perform in front of parents. I tried very hard but when it was time play one of the songs the music teacher looked at me and whispered “Don’t play.” I didn’t comprehend then that she didn’t think I was good enough to play that song in front of an audience.


Ponyfan

I'm sorry. My sister got shut down in her first year of band. She pretty much had to quit band, and this was immediately after starting. I had another friend who auditioned for the high school's marching band and was also harshly shot down saying she wasn't cut out for it.

So I just have to say this kind of thing is sadly quite common in school music programs.

[Ponyfan]

Thanks Hamonie. I ended up  not taking  band because I never felt like I could play a instrument well enough to join. I could play the keyboard well but that’s not a band instrument.

I took choir all through junior high and high school but although that teacher basically tolerated me he played favorites when it was time to give solos. Our junior year he promised that all the Seniors in Choir  would have a solo. When it came time to give out the Senior solos the next year every other Senior got one except me. He changed one of the solo parts to a group chorus instead. If he hadn’t changed it there would have been a solo for me but he made sure his own daughter had a solo and she was also the star of the school drama club.

Ponyfan

[Taffeta]

Bad teachers are also a factor. I didn't have any nasty ones at secondary school aside the PE teacher I mentioned, who was generally nasty to anyone who didn't ace sport, not me specifically. I had one who had favourites when I did performing arts. I was one of the students randomly selected to be moderated by the examiners and she was all over how good I was at x or y when the examiner was there because she knew I was going to write the report up to get a good grade standard, but she never paid any attention to my work otherwise and favoured the 'popular' girls who she felt she could 'be cool' by chatting with them. Strange woman...

My bad teacher was in primary. He was the headteacher. My school was small and so he taught classes. I was a bright kid and ahead in all my subjects but I also had serious logistical issues and didn't always understand instructions or know where things were. He thought I was doing that on purpose and thus needed punishing. So the level of punishment he gave me was often disproportionate. One time my friend and I made a mistake in which unit of measurement we used to measure something in a class project. We were punished by being separated in class for the next eighteen months (till she left, she was a year older) and I was made to sit with the class bullies, which continued despite my mother's protestations. There were a lot of things like this. If something happened, I was blamed, even if it wasn't my fault. I was in his class only 2 years but because it was such a small school he'd known everyone from the start and he had therefore targeted me pretty much from the off. It definitely left scars in my self-confidence doing anything, since I was always told I was doing something wrong, and never praised for anything I did right.

At this time I also read the Demon Headmaster book. I really identified with that book. Also Matilda. They basically summed up my primary school as regards my relationship with the head teacher - between the Demon Headmaster and the Trunchbull. All right, so there was no Chokey, but there was arbitrary punishment and a sense that I didn't get the same treatment as any of the other kids, who automatically knew where things were, and how to do tasks that I didn't understand.

In secondary I had issues with some kids, but bad classes were more boring ones, rather than bullying teachers - except for PE. And that was just the one teacher. The other PE staff were actually fine and I have some good memories of that class after she left, as I was lucky enough to be in the same PE group as my friends in year 10 and 11, which was fluke but made things easier. My year 7 form was not a great form - it was basically the class in which all the troublemaking kids were put. I am certain I ended up in there because of a bad record from that primary school headmaster...but I can't prove it. In any case, my year 7 and especially year 8 form tutors were amazing, and then we were reorganised into house classes and finally I escaped...

Music - I loved music at primary when we did singing. I loved orchestra too. If I have a regret it is that I didn't apply myself better when I could to both clarinet and violin. Especially clarinet, which I loved and played till I was about eighteen -but never really committed enough to practice. Music at secondary was part of Performing Arts when I did GCSE and that was fine, too - but I feel like the regrets I have over music are my own lack of engagement, maybe confidence, rather than the class being bad. Music prior to GCSE level was basically really easy, designed for people who couldn't read music and didn't know anything about it, and I was already learning two instruments at that point, so I kind of dont remember it being very worthwhile but the teacher was nice and so that made it ok.

I loved playing in the orchestra though. It was the only club thing I did at secondary and kept up with through the whole five years I was there. Albeit I'd probably have stayed in Drama club if the teacher hadn't left and it hadn't been more or less shut down. Ditto dance club - we put on shows in year 7 and 8 but then there was nobody to help us organise it (we had to do most of the organisation in year 8 anyway). And I did do choir for a while, but I think orchestra really was the thing I loved doing most, so music was always fine with me.

[Loreofyore]

Was homeschooled the majority of my childhood and not allowed much opportunity to be with other kids unless I had to see the pediatrician or something. We rarely went to parks, wasn't allowed to leave the yard, and was forbidden to go outside until my father was home and only then until dark. No playmates really or hardly ever. Had no internet in those days... had a secret friend penpal who was evasive when I tried to find out who she was but then she totally forgot about me. Found out years later she was faked by a parent for a while until they felt like giving up... they'd have known years before then that I was hurt by it, considering they were the person watching me check the mail.
I've had good and bad teachers, was in public school enough to get what it is to be bullied by your peers, as well as some things I'd been through as an adult. I think my favorite part about when you are old enough to college is that it's possible sometimes to pick your teacher but my least favorite part is it costs money so if the instructor signs up to teach a class and turns it into a personal biography fan-club instead there is basically little way to stop them or get your money back. I've had one or two teachers others described as abusive... I've never been able to figure out whether I dislike more the thorough abusers who pick on everyone outrageously, or the vain ones who try to divide the students against one another so they can blame the people who need help for not teaching the course while berating instead of helping the people who need help and natter on unrelated stuff about themselves as role models to college kids. The thorough ones are usually the most drastic, but the vain ones who manipulate everyone are kinda also worse in their own way, you know?
Most teachers I've had were basically average to really good. And I'm still glad of the caring ones who were into both their subjects and teaching them.
I think the internet has helped democratize adult learning to some extent, but it's still hard to make up some gaps while living as an adult because you have more relationships and responsibilities that rarely pause. I know there are a lot of people who teach for free now just because they love to and share their gifts online... I hope that one day that willingness changes the way we think about instruction... most especially as it's also been proven that people follow for no other reason than a love of learning, minus any credit. I'm not sure how much we get from being forced into student/pupil relationships. I'm not sure how much we get out of grades. I don't like it when people call anyone stupid or crazy. I do like it when there is value for each person as unique and no better than anyone else, when that happens learning does.
I'd have to say I am limited in some areas, but my least favorite subject no matter what it is the kind with a timer, especially a noisy timer. There is too much inside my head to filter out.

[Harmonie]

Thanks Hamonie. I ended up  not taking  band because I never felt like I could play a instrument well enough to join. I could play the keyboard well but that’s not a band instrument.

We actually had a piano player in the wind ensemble at the university I just graduated from. I think it is more commonplace than one might assume, but I know where you're coming from. Either way, being able to play the piano well is actually quite an accomplishment and you should feel good about that!

I could only play piano well enough to get through my Class Piano classes, and I feel like I can only say I was barely good enough for that. Speaking of least favorite classes, class piano probably gave me a grey hair or two. Last Spring there was a point where I was concerned I might somehow fall below C (I made 70% on the dot on an exam I practiced extremely hard for) and not be able to graduate just because of that class.

I took choir all through junior high and high school but although that teacher basically tolerated me he played favorites when it was time to give solos. Our junior year he promised that all the Seniors in Choir  would have a solo. When it came time to give out the Senior solos the next year every other Senior got one except me. He changed one of the solo parts to a group chorus instead. If he hadn’t changed it there would have been a solo for me but he made sure his own daughter had a solo and she was also the star of the school drama club.

Ponyfan

I'm so sorry. Just rotten experiences with music classes all around! 

[Mami Tomoe]

goverment by far my teacher could not go a week without missing and when she was there she never actualy teached she just gave us big assignments and we were given quized for what we were never taught

im bad at math but my teachers were always nice

my piano teacher yelled at the mentally disabled

[Taffeta]

I guess the point is, teachers play a crucial part in helping kids grow. those rotten ones can really hurt kids too, but hopefully they have someone in their life to tell them never give up. That's why for me it wasn't if I liked a topic or not, but if a teacher was good or not.

This is so true.

Both my parents were teachers, my Dad till he retired, and then after as a cover teacher. He was really popular because he talked to the kids as people, listened to them, and made his own judgements about them rather than listening to other teachers complain. My mother stopped school teaching when I was born, but later worked as an English teacher for adults and we have lots of Japanese friends thanks to that however that's a bit different.

I think kids are vulnerable to harm from bad teachers which makes the job a heavy one. By harm I mean collateral damage to confidence, or a loss of interest in a subject they may be good at, because they had a bad teacher at some point.

Teachers these days are overworked and the curriculum, at least here, is insane in its setup.

But I worked with a lot of kids at the vocational college, not just in their vocational courses but also in English and Maths. And all of them, no matter what school they came from, said that they had been basically ignored by the school if they didn't understand something, because the teachers only cared about helping the bright kids who would help the league table scores, and if they couldn't do something they were just ignored. People like to pretend this doesn't happen. But it does. And I ended up teaching seventeen year olds how to punctuate a sentence and how to do basic multiplication and division.

[BubbleTea]

Math. I hate math. I'm good at it it's just that I do not enjoy it AT ALL. I just hate it.

Time for an unpopular opinion: PE isn't that bad. I just see it as an easy A since it's mostly (mostly) participation. Well at least for me. And some of the games are pretty fun. even dodgeball. 


Science isn't bad it's just that teachers can make it reaaaaaaaaaaaaally boring

[kiwimlp]

Maths for me.  I really struggled with it until I had a new teacher who singled me out for extra work after class. I didn't thank her for it at the time but she took me from a D in the first term to a B in the second.  Sadly she didn't stay at the school for very long and moved on. I would like to thank her now if I ever ran into her.  Teachers like that don't come along often

[Taffeta]

Math. I hate math. I'm good at it it's just that I do not enjoy it AT ALL. I just hate it.

Time for an unpopular opinion: PE isn't that bad. I just see it as an easy A since it's mostly (mostly) participation. Well at least for me. And some of the games are pretty fun. even dodgeball. 


Science isn't bad it's just that teachers can make it reaaaaaaaaaaaaally boring

Interesting point, I wonder how different countries deal with things like this.

I mean, thinking back, I had a grade on my report for PE, which my parents ignored and I ignored...my mother hated PE as much as I did when she was at school so I was lucky there and it wasn't like we had to pass a year to get to the next one, so it was completely meaningless. In the UK you just progress automatically from one year to another, it's really rare for that not to happen. Even if you fail end of year tests you don't get held back - but the exams that matter are the end of school ones, and the groups you are in to take those exams are decided by the other tests along the way. Unless you specifically chose to take PE for GCSE, you didn't take an exam in PE, ever, therefore it was really a waste of time. I used to walk to and from school as well, so the idea it was to 'give us exercise' was also wasted. I dunno whether it's different in other places, whether you have to pass PE to pass a year or what..?

I'll say it, though. Girls are nasty in PE lessons. I don't know what guys are like, but the guys in my year seemed to be able to connect over sports. The girls in my year used it as a way to torment and clique up. I raise this because when we were in the higher years, 10 and 11, some of our sports was mixed (like badminton). And it was much less horrible when it wasn't segregated. I hated PE, but in year 11 it was mostly ok because we did bowling, skating, badminton and volleyball was ok and bearable too. No hockey. And the only PE obsessed girl in my class was my friend who didn't have a malicious bone in her body xD.

[PoserBeachball]

I've put 'other' - Latin and Music,could not get on with these at all. Maybe it was the expectations behind the subjects rather than the actual subjects as I love language and have a good sense of rhythm. I'm from a very musical family so a bit of pressure there though I have always been keener on visual art. At our school we were streamed from the start and those 'expected' to try for top academic universities (Oxford/Cambridge in UK) had to take Latin. I still am a bit bitter that I had to give up subjects I really liked to take these two.

Didn't mind PE but seemed to get away with avoiding it a lot, can only really remember swimming, but I was good at that ,. Maybe the teachers just gave up as I was a bit of a rebel, and because I was getting a lot of exercise outside school with horse-riding and cycling everywhere my parents didn't care much either.

Most of the teachers were great, especially a lovely inspiring English language teacher and a super pair of biology teachers. I liked the chemistry teacher too, she had a sense of humour about detentions. If pupils were caught wearing nail varnish they would be sent to the chemistry lab to be handed acetone to wipe it off with - I was one of the worst offenders, and it got to become a bit of a game between how long I could keep the day's polish on before being spotted by a teacher