The Complaint Thread

joshsquash729 said:
Saaaame. But hey, at least I was "a joy to have in class!" 🤪
Click to expand...
That's what my mom always got at teacher conferences. One teacher told her I was flat out lazy...but pulled good grades.

Another told her I did "absolutely nothing" in class to which she replied "He has an 85 average. He must be doing SOMETHING." She told my mom I was acing tests, but bombing homework. That's because homework is stupid.
 
DarthDre758 said:
That's what my mom always got at teacher conferences. One teacher told her I was flat out lazy...but pulled good grades.

Another told her I did "absolutely nothing" in class to which she replied "He has an 85 average. He must be doing SOMETHING." She told my mom I was acing tests, but bombing homework. That's because homework is stupid.
Click to expand...
This was exactly me as well!

What I did put effort into, during the beginning of every year, was figuring out how many tests I could bomb and how much homework I could miss and still pass. I also rarely did homework at home, doing one class's homework during the following class. I failed exactly as many classes as I could and still be able to graduate. I was a diligent underachiever.
 
DarthDre758 said:
Another told her I did "absolutely nothing" in class to which she replied "He has an 85 average. He must be doing SOMETHING." She told my mom I was acing tests, but bombing homework. That's because homework is stupid.
Click to expand...
This was me too. I remember having well-meaning teachers literally begging me to just do something in class so I could be a straight A student and my answer was always "why?" As in, what was the difference in 10th grade between 'passed' and 'got straight As?' It meant nothing to me. Still doesn't.
I was already diagnosed with ADHD well before any of this, but this was the '80s and '90s where diagnosis meant nothing because no one knew what ADHD even really was. Back then it was still the 'can't sit still' disease, and the answer was mostly 'just make them.' Or Ritalin. They fucking loved Ritalin back then.
 
I remember in High School I would deliberately take the classes that required the least of me. One reason was to avoid having to do unnecessary bullshit, and another was to keep eligible for theater, which I loved. I could EASILY have taken honors English, but nope...didn't want the extra work that required when I could breeze through regular English. As we've established, I sucked at math, so I took the "dummy" classes just to be able to somewhat survive. As a result, I took the only math class that has ever been beneficial to me: consumer math. It was considered a class for people who sucked at math like me, but it actually taught me things like how to balance a checkbook, how to calculate gas mileage, how to figure out interest, etc.! It's the only math class I've ever used as an adult.

As for homework, I still believe it is complete bullshit. I hated doing it back then, and I would hate it now if I had to do it today. I frequently would skate by with the bare minimum in classes, but score well on tests, because to me that time spent doing homework was time I could spend doing far better things.
 
Oh god, I was terrible at homework too. Half the time I didn't remember to do it, the other half I did it but didn't remember to turn it in. Some classes like math I barely scraped by with like a D-, and even that was due to the mercy of my teacher. My sister's kiddo doesn't really have homework much these days, and not because they finish it in school, they just don't have it. Maybe once a week or so, and they can easily get it done on the iPads they're provided by the school. Times really have changed.
 
I was just obstinate about it. I knew about the homework. I just didn't do it, and also did not give a single fuck. I also have massive problems with authority. So the minute someone said 'you HAVE to do this' was the minute I decided I would rather be burned alive than do it.
 
I'll die on the hill that standardized testing is the devil and completely unnecessary. So many of my friends and I were just terrible at testing. We'd do well on a lot of the in-class work but bomb the tests. There's really no such thing as a "standard", since everyone learns and retains information so differently, and the fact that it could basically make or break your grade in a lot of ways is just bullshit. We actually had a kid who tried to kill himself after he flunked the end-of-year test; he'd done so well up until that point, but the test knocked him down like a whole percentile or something and kept him from getting into his dream school. The fact that so many places use standardized testing as a way to either dole out or without school funding is absolutely terrible too.
 
Man, school was so weird for me - social anxiety meant I hated every single minute of being there, but I daydreamed, I drew cartoons, I wrote stories, I barely listened, and I just aced everything they threw at me. Teachers actually called me Doctor a few years. Then I went and disappointed everyone, including myself, by becoming a writer instead.

I remember a few teachers telling my folks "he's clearly bored, but he's getting the work done so just leave him be." And those teachers would often just tell me to sit in the back of the class and read if I was too far ahead of the other students. On the upside, I never bothered ANYONE, so if you're going to softly neglect a kid, I was the one to neglect.

joshsquash729 said:
I'll die on the hill that standardized testing is the devil and completely unnecessary.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure every single educator I know feels the same way. I know so many folks who have left the profession because of standardized testing.
 
docsilence said:
Man, school was so weird for me - social anxiety meant I hated every single minute of being there, but I daydreamed, I drew cartoons, I wrote stories, I barely listened, and I just aced everything they threw at me.
Click to expand...
Yeah, same here. I had plenty of friends, and never had trouble making new ones, but internally I was so stressed out the entire time and really hated it. And I'm STILL like that. At work, whatever they give me, I knock it out fast and well and I'm known for being the one to go to for a lot of projects, but if they just leave me alone, I'm writing.
docsilence said:
Teachers actually called me Doctor a few years. Then I went and disappointed everyone, including myself, by becoming a writer instead.
Click to expand...
Haw!!!!
docsilence said:
I remember a few teachers telling my folks "he's clearly bored, but he's getting the work done so just leave him be." And those teachers would often just tell me to sit in the back of the class and read if I was too far ahead of the other students. On the upside, I never bothered ANYONE, so if you're going to softly neglect a kid, I was the one to neglect.
Click to expand...
Heh, I was similar but I would often get in trouble because I finished my work quickly, then would get bored and distract the other kids with stories. Kinda shitty now that I look back; I handled my business, but no one else is gonna!

My kids now... I envy the shit out of them because my son started high school this year, and we drive him kinda far to get there every morning, but he has a great head for math and science, and it's a school geared around that. My youngest daughter is more artistic and will probably end up at a high school we found with a focus on arts, while my middle one kinda goes both ways so she has a couple years to decide which one she feels a pull toward. But I would have killed to go somewhere more art-driven. I just went to the closest high school and spun my wheels for four years; I can't imagine what would have happened if that had been different. But, I'm so glad my kids have these opportunities at least.
 
With the exception of assigned reading—which I rarely bothered to do—I think homework should be outlawed.

I can't begin to guess at the number of evenings I wasted or social gatherings I skipped to do my homework. My AP classes would heap on two or three hours a night. As an extreme introvert, it killed me. Eight to 10 hours of school + a bus ride to and fro + clubs/sports, only to come home and do more school. No time to recharge or relax. I used to stay up until 3 or 4 a.m. every night to claw back some free time (it's since been dubbed revenge bedtime procrastination).

At least there aren't any long-term consequences for sleep deprivation, right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top