Yay for School.

[Plaidman]

I love school. I really do. I'm learning, and keeping up despite how it's getting harder. I'm even using off times to learn other stuff because I know I'll need it for other classes ether next term or next.

I never before managed to do well in school. I was always afraid of when the next slap or punch or insult was going to come from, too afraid to ask the teacher for clarifaction because of the giggles or rolls of eyes I'd get from other students, or how even some teachers just wouldn't clarify and told me to ask another student after school. I was resentful of the smarter kids that got to go early because they did the work faster and even got special homework that was two-three levels higher then what the class was being taught which just made me feel even more stupid. Didn't help I had crushs on two of the girls that were in that. I hated that alot of classes I had to miss to go to ether physical therpy or speech therapy, or this stupid teacher I was forced to go to to just talk about stuff. They never told me why I had to talk to her, just that I was required too and no other student in my class did, but my mom was suggested to agree to it and she did. Still unanswered as to why, but I'm willing to bet now that it was some kind of therapist.

I still feel that alot that I'm learning now is likely very very very basic to everyone else. I still feel if I mentioned what I've learn or learning, even here, that people will go "Uh... yeah Plaidman... that was taught in like... second grade...."

Like this week chapter is on Respiratory I learned exactly how diseases and stuff that we enhaled get destroyed. (by Cilia cells that push diseases towards the trachea to be push down into our digestive system where they can be process there). Just kinda intresting. Still learning spelling, and get it 100 right.

I'm thankful for several people here that had helped me with homework questions when I asked them.

I'm a little sad that my writing teacher had decided to quit after all the bullshit that had happen. ( I was going to have her for psychology!) But she has another job lined up, and her royalities will keep her safe for a bit if she didn't. The pals I keep in contact from school and I agree, it's likely the best thing to have a writing teacher that had several books published, some that had won awards, over a would be writer that couldn't publish a thing and blame us for it.

But I'm so thankful for school. Even if I'm playing catch up to be normal education.

What about here? Anyone else love school?

[ottid]

Loved the learning side do much I'm going back... as a teacher!

Going through my teacher qualification at the moment, but by the end of the year I am able to teach without schools going "Are you really sure we should be giving you a job?" most here won't touch you with a ten foot pole if you haven't been through a teaching qualification. Bonus is I should be able to use it to teach anywhere in the world, but at the moment, I'm happy right where I am (I just hope that jobs will open up for my subjects down here too!).

Oh, I'm going to be teaching History, Media Studies and Social Studies to High School students. And yes, I think I am slightly mad for working with that age group!

BTW Plaid, I don't know the stuff you are talking about :P

[Cazzi]

Many years after I left school I'm slowly working towards a degree at home. I'm also learning various bits of Computing/IT from a friend & have finished a course in Cisco Networking, although I haven't had the nerve to go for the CCNA certification with it yet.

What I have learned though all this is, the more I learn, the less I realise I know. I ask my friend some what I think are damn stupid questions, but they may not be stupid to someone who's struggling to get the hang of the same subject I am. Not everyone knows everything & I love learning new things

So, what you think may be basic to everyone... wont be

[AnaKhouri]

There's no such thing as a stupid question. Just stupid people. But then, stupid people don't ask questions.

I think most people would love learning if it was encouraged when they were young. Children love to learn. It's when they get a little older that they need some encouragement and, sadly, that doesn't happen nearly enough.

I learn new things all the time. Just the other day I learned Wilkie Collins was actually a man (I had assume because of the name that he was a woman!).

[Cazzi]

I learn new things all the time. Just the other day I learned Wilkie Collins was actually a man (I had assume because of the name that he was a woman!).

Odd how these things go... I would have been sure that Wilkie was a male name

[Squeaksmyalias]

I'm glad you are enjoying yourself Plaidy. I'm proud of you man.

[tollbaby]

I dropped out of high school when I was 17. I went back when I was 28 (I wanted to get a university degree to try to get a better job, but wanted to prove I could finish high school before I undertook something as major as university). I found it so much EASIER! Information was actually SINKING IN! I was LEARNING SHIT!

When I was in regular high school as a teenager, I was having problems at home (my dad kicked the crap out of me until I the day I left home, I had an uncle who was doing creepy shit to me when no one was looking and things were just generally bad) and I had so much on my mind that school was the least of my worries, so I flunked my way through high school until I finally dropped out. I had the hardest time understanding anything, never had time to do homework (I worked all through high school as well) and was basically not all there during the day. When I went back as an adult, it felt like I was finally *ready* and it all came so easily that I couldn't believe it!

Now my boss has asked me if I'd be interested in obtaining an accounting certificate from the local community college so that we can do away with the bookkeeping service we use and add the bookkeeping to my duties as an admin assistant and I'm thrilled Math isn't my forte, but accounting is easy (I did one class at college a long time ago, and my mom's a bookkeeper). I'm so looking forward to starting it

You should be very proud of yourself for sticking with it. There is so much to do, it's hard to find time to devote to schooling, and most people wouldn't bother. You're doing something awesome for yourself, and you deserve it

[ottid]

Oh, something I forgot to mention earlier, but everyone's stories of returning to education made me remember.

As a teacher my main focus will be on creating Life Long Learners, I'm not just going to be teaching students the stuff that I know, and the stuff they will be assessed on, I will be teaching them how to find things out for themselves, to be aware in looking for answers and therefore learning more.

Looks like all of you have nailed that though

[Solumina]

I had an IEP (individual education plan, not sure if they still use that name, or ever used it where you are from) since I was in 1st grade so I know how it can be when you are treated differently than the other students. I was lucky enough that, while I did have special accommodations (no timed assignments, 1 hour weekly sessions with a special education specialist (who I think was a behavioral therapist), always being sat near the teacher, etc.), my parents pushed damn hard to make sure that I was given every opportunity to show that while I was different I was just as good as my classmates (thanks to them the first person in my school system with an IEP that was also in a gifted and talented program, soon after there were a few more so obviously the potential was already there, it was the push from my parents that made the difference). I can't thank them enough for that, or the teachers who helped them. While some of my educational experiences were wonderful others really were hell. In fact 2nd grade was the hardest year of school I ever had, exclusively due to the fact that my teacher thought that ADD wasn't real and that I was faking any disorders because most of the time I "seemed too clever to have any mental problems".


I also hate the fact that I would do so well in some areas but be hopeless in others that my peer's reactions to some of my questions in my "bad" subjects caused me to totally loose confidence in myself. It got to the point where I stopped asking questions on all subjects, even the ones that I was good at, and would only answer if I was 100% sure of myself, which of course only led to me falling behind because I was too busy trying to find the answer to my question to follow what we were learning next. I really didn't wake up to the fact that feeling hopelessly lost was normal until 11th grade. That year I had 2 classes that changed my world. Class #1 was Philosophy, what made it important was that I was damn good at it and my older brother (who always applied zero effort and still made honor roll and has a massive ego) was in the same class. After our first test he sat me down and said "I'm a dumbass and you need to help me". Turns out he was too prideful to ever let anyone know that he didn't get everything instantly so he wouldn't ask questions in the classroom but if there was ever something that he didn't get he figured out who did and talked with them until he understood it. Class #2 was Physics and what made that an eye opener was that sitting next to me was the girl everyone knew was going to be Valedictorian (and we were all right). She asked about as many questions as the rest of the class put together. Her perfect grades (and I do mean perfect, since entering high school she never got anything less than an A+ on her report card) weren't because she was the brightest student but because she was compelled to understand and not just learn facts.


Essentially my point is that you aren't the only one who feels dumb, it even happens to the "smart kids" the key is to just not let it get in your way.


As for learning things that others may find basic: you may be really surprised at what others find basic. When I got to university there was a lot of stuff that I was totally shocked at what was new to my friends and there was a lot that my friends were amazed was new to me. Enjoy your love of learning, it is something that should be cherished your whole life, no matter how early or late you discover it.

[Magpie]

I had an IEP (individual education plan, not sure if they still use that name, or ever used it where you are from) since I was in 1st grade so I know how it can be when you are treated differently than the other students. I was lucky enough that, while I did have special accommodations (no timed assignments, 1 hour weekly sessions with a special education specialist (who I think was a behavioral therapist), always being sat near the teacher, etc.), my parents pushed damn hard to make sure that I was given every opportunity to show that while I was different I was just as good as my classmates (thanks to them the first person in my school system with an IEP that was also in a gifted and talented program, soon after there were a few more so obviously the potential was already there, it was the push from my parents that made the difference). I can't thank them enough for that, or the teachers who helped them. While some of my educational experiences were wonderful others really were hell. In fact 2nd grade was the hardest year of school I ever had, exclusively due to the fact that my teacher thought that ADD wasn't real and that I was faking any disorders because most of the time I "seemed too clever to have any mental problems".

Jackdaw was screwed out of the gifted programme in elementary school (I don't think his very rural school would have had a lot anyhow though), because the special education teacher figured that he couldn't have both a severe learning disability AND be gifted. I'm frankly amazed that he stayed in school, given how badly his elementary schools didn't accommodate (he also had teachers who didn't believe his learning disability).

And my grandmother, who was a teacher and should know better, gave the "Jackdaw has a learning disability? But he's so smart!" reaction. I now know why my mom doesn't want to tell them that I (and probably mom) have Asperger's.

[Cazzi]

My daughter has Aspergers traits among other things (anxiety, social phobia, Agoraphobia to name a few), she is very bright, but as soon as she starts doing well in school, as in a row of A+s, its like a switch goes off in her head and makes her stop working and doing well Its quite heartbreaking.

What makes it worse is she wasn't diagnosed until she was 17, so spent a lot of her teenage time at school in trouble at school and by me for being what we thought was just "awkward teenager" syndrome, it took several years of her not talking to counselors, doctors etc before we found out the problems. Now I feel that if we'd known about the Aspergers long before we did, then she wouldn't be suffering from all the other stuff now & would have had a happier & productive learning experience, but her traits just didn't show until she hit her teens

On the other hand, her brother showed some mild behavioral problems from junior school age and I almost had a very verbal run in with the head mistress of his school. She was trying to get him seen by behavioral specialists and made out he had more problems than he did to boost her budget for teachers aids.. not that I'm against the teachers aids, but just what she did. Luckily, she was not at that school for very long after he started and the new headmaster was a lot nicer

And my son has grown up to be a lovely, well mannered teenage boy who is just finishing off his GCSE's at school and planning 6th form college & then Uni courses as well as looking for a part time job to give himself a bit of cash to indulge in his hobbies

[Plaidman]

Don't we all wish to go back in time with knowledge of what we have?

I suffered from depression for many, many many many many years before I finally just snapped and broke down and had to go to the hopsital, where I finally talked exactly how long I suffered, what i've done, what people done to me, my own regret for liking what the babysitter did even at that young age, my overwhelming need for some sort of attention that I fixated on toys to give it to me. (Everything had personality. I loved my legos. I even for a brief time declared that these two chairs in the living room were my parents). But I do know my earliest attempts were more then ten years ago. I snapped and was in hospital I belive around 21 years old. (I'm 25). So... 19 years I suffered silentally?

Now I have major depression, minor schizophrenia, bipolor somehow, and a host of other stupid things that make me feel worst that I can never be normal.

[Solumina]

Screw being normal. No amount of pills or therapy, while they may make life easier, will ever make me normal but I can still be happy and have a damn good life, sure things may sometimes be more difficult than they are for other people but that just means I have to push myself harder.

[Plaidman]

Your likely more normal then me Solumina. I'm a late boomer in everything.

Hell, I'm still ugly to most people. The only girl to ever kiss me strongly dislikes me at least. That makes me feel worst every day as time goes on. I want kids, but no girl can stomach me. I would adopt, but I doubt any place would allow a single male that has depression issues, and only managed to ever attract one girl in his life to adopt.

Let alone have any decent job. Though I am learning now to have a better job.

[trailerparkmedic]

The only girl to ever kiss me strongly dislikes me at least.

If you think that's bad, you should hear what some of my exs call me, especially the ex husband.

Honestly Plaid, you seem pretty normal to me. Someone in his mid 20s, going to school and struggling with a terrible job. I admire you for rising above what you've been through and what you're pushing yourself to do. Maybe you don't fit the mold for "picture perfect" but honestly, few people do. They just like to pretend.