I struggled to join the dots between what I was being taught and real life usage. Once I'd made that link I started enjoying it.
Very little of what they were teaching at school was of much help (to me) in the real world, apart from basic Maths and English. The rest was very much a total waste of time. I learned more from my dad doing DIY, my mates messing around with bicycles, motorbikes, and later fixing old cars, after school and at weekends. As I say, my academic life turned around when I started my apprenticeship, and studied engineering, which I found interesting, and relevant to my work.
Yes same. I ended up doing mechanical engineering so as soon as I linked maths to that i was fine
Strangely enough for someone who despised school, later on in life, I got right into maths at University level, and became very adept at calculus, to the point of becoming a right boring nerd trying to tell the "unintiated" of it's potential. I also found statistics and probability really fascinating. It's all disappeared into the mists of time now I'm afraid, and clouded by far too many beers, in retirement !
Yes I'm very similar. Pursued a different career but calculus has been a crucial skilk
Must be older generation, some schools used to do German too I think I was one the first to Spanish instead of GermanFavourites were maths, music and French.
Least favourite were art and the technologies (woodwork, needlework, all that). Absolutely hopeless at all of them.
I'm surprised to see so many people mentioning Latin. I didn't realise that many schools in the northeast offered it.
Some of school is about knowledge, but arguably more of it is about a) learning to learn, b) socialising children and c) free childcare to enable a workforce to be productive.
At school we either did French or German but it wasn't a choice, just a timetabling thing. I've checked my old school's website and they only do French now. I didn't do Spanish or any of the others I've dabbled in until I went to sixth form college and uni. But never Latin.
Think at mine you could do Italian and Mandarin if you were good at French or Spanish but the lessons were after school so I never did
Graveyard of ambition class I use that phrase loads.
Favourites were maths, music and French.
Least favourite were art and the technologies (woodwork, needlework, all that). Absolutely hopeless at all of them.
I'm surprised to see so many people mentioning Latin. I didn't realise that many schools in the northeast offered it.
I wonder how many teachers got away with this years ago. We had a couple of dirty pervs in our school. One PE teacher who would watch the lads in the changing room after swimming. We were one of the first schools to get our own onsite pool. Given the fact you were 12/13 with the natural awkwardness and bodily self awareness you have at that age some went in the shower with their shorts still on. He would stand at the showers and make you give him your shorts as you “can’t have a proper wash” otherwise. We just viewed him as a perv but the sinister nature didn’t hit home til years later.It depended on which teacher was teaching us, over the years.
I hated history because of the woman that taught us. She was miserable and strict. There was no fun element to any of her history lessons. She was Scottish. We called her scotch haggis, at the time. I didn't even know why until later in the year, because I didn't know what a haggis was.
Anyway, her name was Mrs Wilson.
We got a support teacher in for history. He was here for quite a while and simply changed my whole mindset on the lesson, because he really got into it and actually took us back with his stories and charts...etc. Just goes to show you.
I hated English with some teachers and loved it with others. Mr Lancaster was the best of the bunch. He taught us but also his story reading was top class. He really got into the characters of the stories he told. One that stands out was.....of mice and men.....
He brought us all into that story.
I loved art but hated the teacher. He was a filthy git. Tried to, not only humiliate people but sexually play with them when he would have them sat up on a table for everyone to sketch, or paint and he would run his fingers round your ball area and say, "pay p[articular attention to how the groin area is.2
The girls got a finger around their chest as he was pretending to highlight certain stuff.
I was onto him and he knew it. He used to ban me as many times as he could into isolation for shoving him away from prying his fingers at me.
The best lesson was 99% always PE, for me.
Apart from the teacher giving us the rope end across our arses for messing around when he wasn't there, he and a few other were generally decent blokes.
maths was generally ok, just boring.
I’m nicking the graveyard of ambition. I have a thirst for knowledge. What I never had was a thirst for education. I hated school. Every day I was there.
