Stuff that you struggled with in school

[SasQ 1,355]

Are there any subjects you always struggled with in school?
Things that you always had trouble understanding?

I'm curious to hear from you about it, because I'm planning to make some educational videos in a near future and it makes me wonder what are the things people always wanted to learn but encountered problems when trying to study them.

Therefore I'd like you to be more specific than just "I always hated math" or "my chemistry teacher was mad and ugly" because that wouldn't really tell me anything new – I already know that schools suck I'd rather like to know the details – what exactly was difficult for you to understand and why. E.g.
      "I struggled with history because I couldn't memorize all those dates", or
      "I had trouble with physics problems because I never knew which formula should I use"
– stuff like that. Stuff that could help me figure out what exactly causes problems when people try to learn different things, so that I could try finding some better ways of explaining it.

You can also just write about some stuff that you always wanted to learn / understand, but couldn't find any good sources of knowledge about that subject. That would be helpful as well

Another good idea would be to show some example problems that you couldn't solve or didn't get.

Edited August 18, 2020 by SasQ
Clarification

[SparklingSwirls 21,271]

I struggled with my pre-calculus math course because at my school, we were just given a list of formulas to memorize, without ever actually learning their purpose or real-world applications. The topics were just too abstract and left everyone thinking "when does anyone ever even use this?"

Analytic trigonometry in particular was a nightmare . And no matter how much I tried, I could never memorize that dang Unit Circle!

Edited August 17, 2020 by SparklingSwirls

[ExplosionMare 18,012]

I struggled with algebra that went past two or three different steps. WAY too many things for me to process all at once!

History was a bit of a problem in the more recent classes only because my teacher had “open-ended” essays that somehow always found ways to prove you were wrong. I never understood what I was really supposed to say or what side of whatever we were learning I was supposed to support. It also took me forever to realize that Spain’s a part of Europe, so there’s that...🙄

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Two words: Critical thinking.

I hated critical thinking questions. They were really hard for me to comprehend. This was especially in history class.  

[Thuja 3,658]

Mostly everything that wasn't art or gym?  How I passed high school with only one repeat year confuses me.  I tended to pass everything by the seat of my pants...

[AppleButt 8,670]

I struggled at math.  I don’t know if I can give a reason why.  Just numbers and stuff weren’t my thing.  Especially when letters started getting involved. 
 

I also had bad reading comprehension.   Was never really on par with reading like everyone else.  I recently got diagnosed with adhd though so I’d say that’s why. 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,153]

Algebra was probably my weakest class, but I believe inadequate was largely at fault. When I got to college and proper teaching/tutoring; I aced it pretty well. Funny how that works!

[Tom Gallagher 33,535]

I struggle big time in school with a lot of things, maths especially. I only have two years left but believe me, if it was easier to get to college by dropping out of school, I’d do it. 

[Ittoni 536]

math, english, anything to do with memory like history, I couldn't remember when we were supposed to gave presentations so I used to be the one that didn't remember.  

[DubWolf 16,755]

English class. Having to write about how a book is written a certain way to mean something  .

I always preferred just using logic and facts to make a case than trying to sneak some hidden meaning in something  .

[Splashee 28,538]

I struggled a lot, sitting straight in the chair. I usually started wiggling on the two back legs of the chair, or just started laying weirdly in the chair. I fell backwards once.

Very difficult to sit during class, wanted to take nap until recess

[ExplosionMare 18,012]

5 hours ago, WWolf said:

English class. Having to write about how a book is written a certain way to mean something  .

I always preferred just using logic and facts to make a case than trying to sneak some hidden meaning in something  .

I always hated it when I found a meaning and it was “wrong”. It’s MY meaning, literature’s supposed to be deciphered in different ways! 

[Envy 6,026]

Pretty much everything. I was even really mediocre at history, even though I loved it. I was horrible at math and, TBH, also music theory. My music theory teacher straight-up told me that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to go on to be a music major. Miraculously, it was the first semester of college where I 'got' music theory and now I can't even understand how I didn't get it in high school.

But yeah, I really wasn't any good at anything in high school. Truth be told, I'm not wonderful at anything nowadays, either. I just learned how to study. But studying just helped me ace the tests, it didn't make me actually understand things in depth.

[BroomsNHops 260]

I was okay at history, but math was my worst subject. I dreaded the class mostly because I would get confused early on in the lesson as to where they got 'that' number from and what they had done to get the answer. Gods above help me when they wrote just the answer down and I was left wondering how the hell they got it.  It didn't help that the teacher back then used powerpoint to teach math. So instead of me being able to see him work out the problem, he just clicked the next button and there it was solved.  Geometry was actually good to me because the teacher there actually wrote out the problems on an overhead projector and took the time to show how they were solved.

 

[Miss 6,213]

Definitely math. Geometry (when I got to trigonometry), Physics, and Algebra II fucked me, all at the same time, roped up and sweaty when I was in high school. 

Chemistry had its turn with me as well. 

[Venomous 18,819]

I struggled with math terribly. I did okay my freshman year but after that, I kept failing. I had to attend summer school twice to re-take the classes and even then, I barely passed with Ds. During my senior year, I was put in a remedial mathematics class. I ended up passing but that was because it was a very slow paced class. To this day, I still suck at it. I either need a calculator or have to work out the problem on paper even if it’s simple.

My freshman year of high school was when I was first diagnosed with panic disorder. My panic attacks were so severe that I refused to attend school. After missing a week, I was sent to a school refusal program for a month. When I finally returned to school, I was able to work out some deals with the school’s staff to help me deal with my anxiety better. If I felt overwhelmed during a class, I could step out for 10 minutes without permission. 

Way back in junior high, I was awful at PE. Pretty much every sport we played was something I sucked at. I was almost always chosen last to be on a team and the other students gave me death stares whenever it was my turn to serve a ball. 

[ShadOBabe 18,985]

Spanish was the worst. The unfamiliar grammar rules would trip me up, but much worse was my professors. The best grade I got in Spanish was when I had my second semester professor whose first language was actually English. So she was really, really good at explaining Spanish to an English speaking student.

Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure my first semester Spanish teacher didn’t even understand everything WE were asking her.

[DubWolf 16,755]

1 hour ago, ExplosionMare said:

I always hated it when I found a meaning and it was “wrong”. It’s MY meaning, literature’s supposed to be deciphered in different ways! 

Aye. Although my own interpretations kinda did suck usually because I didn’t pick up the rhetorical and “literary devices” very well or understood them, or got a bigger meaning out of them  . Trust me, it was basically fluff or BS  .

Math I loved  .

[Cagey 4,214]

Understanding math is like a switch in my head. If I don’t understand how it’s done, it sounds like nonsense until the switch flips and I suddenly get it. 

English writing became progressively harder for me as I found it more and more difficult to explain my reasoning and as “quality” writing became more and more pretentious-sounding.

I found history difficult because of memorization. 

Physics was a hard science for me. Concepts + formulas + word problems = confusion. It helped when I was working in a small group. 

[Gaines 1,150]

Surprisingly, I struggled during PE. I was never really a fit or active as a kid, and I suppose I discouraged myself from even trying. After 7th grade, I stopped taking PE classes.

[Vefka 1,499]

I love algebra (in fact it's favourite subject), but I struggle with geometry. I just can't understand how this "proving" thing works and I can't memorize theorems

History sounds pretty interesting, but I'm terrible at memorizing names, dates and events order. I kinda abstractly remember large events in history, but when it comes to details and persons...

Social studies. There's nothing good about this subject, completely uninteresting and extremely complicated. So many terms which are sometimes blending together and barely distinguishable, so many tiny pitfalls in laws, these social institution things, etc. I just can't understand anything

Biology. The whole subject is straight up cramming and my brain refuses to do this kind of things

Literature. I'm not a person who can see deep meaning, I can just scratch the surface with facts and that's all. I always get C mark in essays

Russian. Not really relevant here, I know, but still. So many idiotic, illogical rules, even more exceptions in every single rule. My the most hated subject

[Dreambiscuit 8,382]

Things like algebra, calculus or anything I knew I’d never have any need for. These were hard to retain because I had no interest in learning them. To learn you have to be interested, at least to some degree, and I can’t get interested in wasting time and effort on something I have no use for. I love learning and have interest in almost every kind of subject, but they have to be presented by someone who can teach effectively rather than just droning on dryly by rote. 

I also was bad at gym. I'm not very good at sports; I'm fit but not good with coordination I guess. This made it difficult when gym classes focused on playing competitive sports where I was always the one responsible for losing the game for whatever team that was unlucky enough to get me on their roster. Focus should be on learning the rules of the sport and general sportsmanship rather than 'whoever wins passes the class and the loser gets beat up after school by their teammates.' 

[TheRockARooster 47,991]

Just now, Dreambiscuit said:

Things like algebra, calculus or anything I knew I’d never have any need for. These were hard to retain because I had no interest in learning them. To learn you have to be interested, at least to some degree, and I can’t get interested in wasting time and effort on something I have no use for. I love learning and have interest in almost every kind of subject, but they have to be presented by someone who can teach effectively rather than just droning on dryly by rote. 

I also was bad at gym. I'm not very good at sports; I'm fit but not good with coordination I guess. This made it difficult when gym classes focused on playing competitive sports where I was always the one responsible for losing the game for whatever team that was unlucky enough to get me on their roster. Focus should be on learning the rules of the sport and general sportsmanship rather than 'whoever wins passes the class and the loser gets beat up after school by their teammates.' 

Algebra was the biggest pain in the ass.

[Treeglow Flicker 13,105]

Physical Education. I was not made for team sports and had no interest in it whatsoever. So motivation and any kind of enjoyment got in the way of it. Couldn't we have just played Snooker or Darts?

[DixonTheAdversary 1,631]

Science was always my worst subject, but when I was in Elementary school, I struggled with anything that wasn't Reading.