Wanna hear my highschool rant? Be prepared...

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

before i go back to reading for AP and taking notes... I just want to type some stuff out.

Today I was thinking about stuff that I'm sure everyone thinks about at some point in time. I was just sitting in math lab doodling on my notebook, and making sculptures out of a silver gum wrapper, when it hit me. Why do I still have to be here? I've outgrown any usefulness highschool ever had. Let's take a look at my schedule. English? I already know how to read and write. We just read Huck Finn. Ok yeah, written by Mark Twain... but I'd rather be reading something a little more challenging. I've already shown the state I can pass their standardized piece of shit english exam with a 99. Yet I still have to sit through a class with no value? I'll read the books, I'll take the quizzes. But sitting there isn't teaching me jack squat. AP History? AP my ass, it's still full of standards. There is never time to discuss, it is always rush rush rush through the next thing. Our teacher tries to make it as hands on as possible, but at the same time it's all we can do to finish everything at the end of the year. Standards dumb down the smart kids. We discuss, but we don't discuss enough. Avanced Algebra/Trig. Why??? What use will I have for finding the cosine of angle 45? the tangent of angle 30? I won't. Proofs? Unless I someday grow up to be an advanced algebra/trig teacher, nowhere! Yet we still have to take it? Seems like a bogus way to teach things. Spanish. Now there, my friends... is a useful class. I don't have any complaints about taking Spanish. None except that our new long term sub's worse than most of the kids in our 11th grade spanish class at spanish. No matter. Rock on to Chorus and Photography. These are classes I opt to take. In photography I have learned: Chemistry, English and Math. So can I just combine those for a hands on credit? Of course not. Gotta stick with the curriculum shiz. Oh ok, here we go. Gym. Now, I used to think... why force the kids who don't like sports to do sports? I kind of think this way, except now I think we should have kids elect to take certain types of gym. Like let's say I wanted to take a "soccer" elective. I'd be in varsity soccer AND play soccer during school! Kids who aren't particularly athletic could take something like Ping Pong. Our school has all this equipment anyway, why not just spread it out? Oh last but not least. The science courses! Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology. Our school also offers Astronomy, AP Biology, Environmental and Physics. Now... instead of REQUIRING us to take ES, Chem and Bio, why couldn't we CHOOSE the three courses we wanted to take? For instance, I would take something like Astronomy, Environmental and Physics. Rock on, right?

I say screw standards and let there be choice.

[ms_splash]

1. Ah, to be young again (sigh)

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. High school prepares you for the real world of having a job.

And having to be there every day. There is no choice, unless you are indepedently wealthy.

[PVnRT]

3. I would buy your argument

Except that no one ever argues that people like me, who want to study science, shouldn't have to take history, or english, or art, or whatever. No, we have to be "well-rounded." Lib arts people, on the other hand, just have to take lib arts, and they're automatically considered well-educated. Why is that? Why the hell shouldn't you have to take some science and math classes? If my college is going to dictate to me that I have to take X credits in humanities, the same goes for others - you have to take the same amount in science.

Sorry, but this is a double-standard that really pisses me off sometimes.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

6. Hey

If you'll notice... the science part at the end... I said, um... choose 3 science courses... like meaning everyone and... :D

I agree that we should have to take science classes. But why not take ones we want to take?

[Ediacara]

14. because the sciences that you listed are more important

and well, you can't understand the environment w/o biology first etc. Astronomy is really a merging of earth sciences and physics (depends on what you're looking at), but ya, should be taught as an elective AFTER you have those other classes.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

16. Eh.

In Bio, Earth Science and Chemistry... I've not learned much that I didn't already know.

[Ediacara]

21. that is more a function of your teachers than the classes

I'm willing to bet.

[Donkeyboy75]

7. Amen to that.

We also have to put up with the typical scientist stereotypes. That also pisses me off.

[Interrobang]

74. Huh. What school did you go to?

In my high school, we were required to take a minimum of 3 math courses, 2 science courses, and at least one professional or technical course, plus 2 introductory level social science courses (compulsory Canadian History in Gr. IX and compulsory Geography in Gr. X) and one Senior Social Science, which could be any of a number of things (History, Geography, Sociology, World Religions, etc.). That's hardly an "arts bias," considering that our compulsory requirements for arts courses were 5 English courses, including 2 at the senior level (basically Gr. IX - XIII, which we had at the time -- yes, that says Gr. XIII -- I did 5 years of high school, as did we all at my age in Ontario); and a minimum of 1 French course.

In university, as an Arts major, I was still required to take at least one science course, and at least two courses not from my faculty (which, in my case, meant taking a Social Science course besides the Astronomy course -- I took Journalism, because for some reason, it was a Social Science and Philosophy was not).

I hear that all the time about science majors resenting taking arts courses -- how do you think we arts majors feel about having to take science courses? I *hate* having to do math, and I say that as someone who wrote 40 pages on inferential statistics and probability theory about a year ago, and got paid for doing it, too. A well-rounded education is important. I've used my formal logic course (the Philosophy course I mentioned earlier) more times since leaving school...

Besides which, if you're a science grad who's never done any arts courses and learned how to write, if you discover the cure for cancer, how are you going to tell the journals -- and the world -- if you can't put together a readable paper?

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. I thought you were in college...

College isn't any better, I'm afraid. It's a business, sadly. Enjoy your childhood while you have it. You'll be praying for it back in like ten years.
Duckie

[Ediacara]

5. If you hope to continue in a career in the sciences

(I really don't know) you need to know trig as it's the basis of a lot of calculus.

The universe doesn't work without trigonometry, and a lot of science doesn't work make sense without calculus.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

8. But my point was...

What if we aren't planning on going in to math or science? Seems like a waste of time to know trig, IMHO.

[Ediacara]

11. it's really useful

trust me :-)

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

13. For what?

If I'm not going into math and science. For what?

[Ediacara]

18. well,

If you ever say.... make a volleyball court on the beach, trig is the only way you can create a rectangle with any certainty.

Or any such endeavor where you actually need to accurately measure things yet don't have something like a 20 foot long t-square.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

27. But I learned what a rectangle was in elementary school.

Do I need to learn it again?

[Ediacara]

73. Can you create a rectangle in space?

without trigonometric methods? No. You need it, seriously.

[LastKnight]

23. consider this... without Geometry, Life is literally pointless

(hears collective groan) sorry, i know it was bad, but really its easy stuff and it is useful.

-LK

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

28. But we learned it in elementary school

Shapes, angles... it was done already. Can't we move on?

[LastKnight]

42. you only learn basics in elementry...

once you get up into calc classes and up, youll thank the system that you were required to take the basic geometry classes... it seems easy and useless at the time but you realize later how important it is. but maybe its not gonna be any intrest to you at all, im going deeper into math/science/physics/engeneering... i have no use for english but i do it anyway.

-LK

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

45. Great, but I'm not taking calc OR pre-calc.

Instead, I'll be shooting film for advanced photography... gazing at stars in astronomy... writing volumes in creative writing... learning about other nations in model OAS... welding together metal art in metalsmithing... speaking a foreign language in college spanish... writing more in college level english... singing in chorus and clicking my way creatively on a G4 in advanced graphics. Sounds like the perfect senior year to me.

But maybe I'll take Stats. If it fits into my schedule.

[LastKnight]

49. astronomy huh?

guess what calculus is perfect for... calculating orbits, trajectories of various sattellites, asteroids, ect...

in that metal art... what if you want something at a certian angle and no protractor is handy.

if you want to learn instead of memorize core cirriculum around my area its math/science classes that you take to do those things, i donno, each school is different though, its all in the teachers.

-LK

[Burma Jones]

39. You don't necessarily NEED a point to HAVE yourself a point

If you gets my meaning....


OK, who knows what film/TV Special that line's from?

[Cadfael]

78. Nilsson's The Point

:hi:

[DrWeird]

25. Why don't you tell us what you want to do...

we'll tell you who trig is important.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

30. I'm fine with learning math

But even our math teacher said much of the trig curriculum is pointless unless you're going into a math/science/architecture related field.

Which I'm not.

[Nikia]

44. A teacher never should say something like that

It really makes you believe your suspicions that it is pointless. Trig is an importnat part of calculus and calculus can be used for almost anything. It is really more efficient and descriptive than algebra. It is too bad that I don't remember it well enough to use it for my practical problems.
I work with several idiots that have no concept of math, even algabra. Math is important for almost any job.

[Jim__]

52. Is trig required

I took trig in high school but it was an elective. Is it required in your school?


I think at least an advanced algebra course should be required - it's useful for just about everything - when politician's start bull shitting about budgets and stuff, when you're going to buy a house and you want to look at various payment options, in almost any type of office job you'll be costing projects etc.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

56. Yes trig is required.

I agree that we should have to take algebra. No complaints there.

Also. I'm not looking to get into an office 9-5 job.

[fortyfeetunder]

69. Another KITA for your math teacher

It doesn't matter whether you are going into a math related field or not. Knowing geometry and trig will make the difference between going to Home Depot for do it yourself home improvement vs having to pay someone that knows it. Or not to get scammed by someone's shady construction practices.

Knowledge is power.

[iamjoy]

9. It IS Preparing You for Real Life

You think once you're out in the workforce you never have to do anything pointless or mind numbing because some one else (in this case a boss) says so?

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

15. I'm going to work for myself.

And be my own boss. If you find something you're really passionate about, and find a job in that area... and something you're doing bores you... then maybe that's not the job for you.

And if I don't wind up working for myself, it still won't be a desk job. I've been trapped between four walls for most of my life and it won't happen for the rest of it.

[ms_splash]

20. Stay in school!

Just finished my doctoral degree and now I'm a professor.

Too scared of the real world.

[Beaker]

76. so...what are you passionate about?

what is it that you'll be doing as you work for yourself?

inquiring minds, and all...

[LastKnight]

10. tell me bout it...

i sleep all but one period a day, i stay awake for AP physics... dont care about my other classes, i have A's in all of em so sleeping isnt a big deal... AP physics is the only one that challanges me so its the only one that i bother paying attention to. infact, i have a lab to write up which im not doing this very instant. but i think you basicly just made the complaint that every highschooler makes at least once a month, and to that i say, amen

-LK

[hobbes159]

12. Never let your schooling interfere with your education!

Learn what you can about what you are interested in, whether it's in school or elsewhere....

[DrWeird]

17. Ah few things.

Huck Finn. I've known entire graduate level courses to be devoted to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Read it again, it's not about "challenge." If you didn't come away from it thinking, you're not reading it right.


"AP my ass, it's still full of standards. There is never time to discuss, it is always rush rush rush through the next thing. Our teacher tries to make it as hands on as possible, but at the same time it's all we can do to finish everything at the end of the year. Standards dumb down the smart kids."

You know, I've been told that AP isn't at all about the smart kids. Was told that it's just to make the school look good, they teach to the test. That it can be quite easier that the "standard" history class yet they ship the "smart" white kids there, and they still get to look good on college applications. I missed AP by about a year. What's your opinion?

"Avanced Algebra/Trig. Why??? What use will I have for finding the cosine of angle 45? the tangent of angle 30? I won't. Proofs? Unless I someday grow up to be an advanced algebra/trig teacher, nowhere!"

You'd be surprised. If you're going to college you'll use trig again. And there's a good chance you'll be using it for the rest of your life. It's a very handy skill. As for proofs, it helps teach logic. And logic is essential to everybody. Pay attention in math, it's more important then you think.

"Now... instead of REQUIRING us to take ES, Chem and Bio, why couldn't we CHOOSE the three courses we wanted to take? For instance, I would take something like Astronomy, Environmental and Physics."

I mostly agree, but there should also be requirements. Diversification is important. I hated chemistry up until my sophomore year at college. Now I'm a chemist and quite happy with it.

[Columbia]

19. John Adams

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

24. Grrr

Totally missing my point here. I said we should be studying these things, but not in the confines of the standards at which they are taught.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

22. hmmm well I'm 18 I would have to disagree with somewhat

I'm a senior at high school and I think you have a point. However, many people to not have the motivation to take certain classes at all. So essentially someone body has to force to take a science course or etc. I for one have taken biology 1,2,3,4,5,6 Chemistry 1,2 Physics 1,2. I mean people have to be MOTIVATED inorder to take the classes they want. You must be a bright and motivated kid but you're a rare kind. I mean many people never take any honors or AP or IB. They just flow through High school. Math might seem useless as you advance to higher math but it makes you think. I take English and I read Huck Finn also. The point of reading the book is to understand the message the author is giving out. You can learn a lot of things. For example Huck has this moral dilemma of society expectations and the issue of slavery (jim). We also see an aspect of what being "civilized" is. We can learn many things from a book.

well good luck grasshopper o_O. (I'm 2 years your elder)

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

26. I understood the message in Huckleberry Finn quite fine.

Internal conflict, society's expectations, moral dilemma. I could write a 100 page paper on it. But I'd have rather read it on my own than a teacher quizzing us on it and dictating opinions on it. Shouldn't we be able to formulate our own opinions instead of just reading and following?

[ProudToBeLiberal]

29. the quizzes are basically to see if you read it.

Like I said many people are not motivated. These test will basically make the average student read.

[argyl]

31. You remind me of my impatient neice.

She was so bored with high school that she dropped out,took the GED,and began community college courses.She's now in Seattle and should be entering UW at 18 as a second semester sophomore.

Take heart;you may be bored now but as curious and bright as you are you won't be for long.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

32. Thank you

I think you're pretty much the only person who understood what I was trying to get across.

[argyl]

35. You're welcome.

xx

[Lizz612]

33. Nice rant!

You covered all the main points that suck about standards and you did it in a nice chronological order. I wont argue with you, others might. I know I hated it, every effin minute of it. And I still hate it, but "well rounded" is their goal, and I can't argue with well rounded being good.

I don't know why they wont teach you the cool stuff too, they think you need enough calculus to drown in to understand that a star looks really cool when you look at it. I guess it easier to teach the order of the presidents than to have a meaningful discourse on their impact on today.

You will get more choices in college, there are still some requirements, PoilSci majors still have to take a Bio class so they take "disney bio." And us Bio majors still have to take either social studies class, but we can take Sociology or PoliSci or something like that.

Unless you go some where special, like my friend at Tisch, who will never take another math class ever.

So stick with it, all I can offer you is that it gets a bit better, and that you will be a better (if more bitter) person for it. The hoops they make you jump through are BS, but you learn to BS real well. And that is useful.

[Nikia]

34. I hated high school too

I had the misfortune to go to a small poor school that wasn't exactly college prep. We didn't have AP classes or advanced classes. Luckily, I got to take a few college classes at a local college. My standard classes were boring but I took them because that's what I needed to go to a decent college. I disagree with some of their curriculum. In ninth grade we were required to take a general physical science course, which of course isn't much of a science class as far as colleges were concerned. The required English class was pretty boring too. As far as math, everyone should learn math (I wish some people who I work with did.).
Depending on the college you choose, you might have more choices. At my college, there were only 2 required classes. For every other requirement, there were many choices. If this is important to you, you might want to check out the gen ed requirements when considering colleges.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

36. What do you want to be?

How many times have you changed your mind in wanting a certain career? I think education and these standards keep your options open.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

38. I think standards close off your options.

The system's become so bogged down with cirriculum, state testing, and standards that there isn't any learning going on. Just memorization and robotic thinking. Sorry, but abstract learning and creating your own route with teach you more than years in a classroom will.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

40. So you want a school without a core curriculum?

I think Brown will be the perfect university for you. You get to make your own schedule.

[Burma Jones]

37. Well, I almost flunked out of high school because I disagreed

with the curriculum and wouldn't go to classes. I had to go to Community College. I got into a Good School (Knox College)for my undergrad work after two years of proving myself in Community College. I am now finishing my Dissertation in Computer Science. So, even if you tell everyone to go to hell, the world doesn't end, but it does become a much bigger pain in the ass.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

41. While I won't be flunking out,

I do have a disdain for the schooling system as it is currently. I do the work that is necessary to get the grades, but I feel as though all the learning I have had is from outside the school walls.

[Burma Jones]

47. It changes significantly when you go to college

Just make sure you pick the right one.

[4morewars]

55. You should run for the local Board of Education !!!

I'm not kidding. Michael Moore did it when he was about your age, and won !! And they (board of ed) hated it and him. Apparently there was some shenanigans (stealing?) going on and he ruined it for them. It got to the point where they started having SECRET meetings !!!!
Then they demanded a recall, and he won again !!!
You should think about it. The only way you can change things is from within the system.
I also think you would make a great teacher !!
my .02 cents

[Jackhammer Jesus]

43. True, true.

I thought the same kind of thing when I was in HS. The curriculum is too strict, and kids ought to have more say in what they take. Obviously, we know better than anyone else what our interests are and what we're going to be doing after high school. I think the administrators and such just think that we should be REQUIRED to take certain classes so that we won't avoid courses because we think they're too difficult - not because they're not going to have any significance for us.

If I had a say in it, I would have been done taking math courses as soon as I had a choice. I stuck with it, but I'm sad to say I've yet to have to foil or use Pythagorean Theorem in real life. Who'd have thought?!

And as far as teaching not going far enough, don't even get me into that. I had a few wasted classes in my HS years because the teachers didn't know how to teach and no one cared to make the extra effort to understand what we weren't being taught.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

46. Ahhh I love you for saying that!!!

"I stuck with it, but I'm sad to say I've yet to have to foil or use Pythagorean Theorem in real life. Who'd have thought?!"

That is the quote I was looking for from one of you. Thanks.

[jmowreader]

61. I use the Pythagorean Theorem every day

With a rafter square, a tape measure and a calculator, I can figure the number of shingles needed to do a roof without getting on it. I can tell a parent how tall her new playset will be just by considering the angle of the legs and their length. (A 12-foot leg on a playset will not produce a playset 12 feet tall.) I have instances every day where I know the lengths of two legs of the triangle but am selling the third.

I don't know if Pythagoras was a carpenter, but his theorem comes in handy in construction.

And don't say you'll never be a carpenter--unless you become filthy rich, you'll need to work on your house.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

62. Naw,

I'd never work on my own house. Maybe interior work... roofing i'd leave up to a professional. I think at this point, i could figure out things like that anyway.

[jmowreader]

63. Okay, what if you get sent to buy the stuff?

True story: Customer walks in and asks for 105 square of shingles. One hundred five square of shingles is enough to cover 10,500 square feet of roof deck, there being 100 square feet in a "square." By way of comparison, an NBA basketball court is 4700 square feet.

I asked how big the house was. "3200 square feet." Single story? "Yes."

A 3200 sf house is 64 feet long by 50 feet wide. I went on 6:12 roof pitch (which was probably real steep) and got about 3838 sf of roof deck. I then went up to 41 square to cover the starter course, the ridge cap, a few in case some got torn.

Before I told the homeowner how many shingles she really needed, I asked what the roofer intended to do with the extras. "Oh, he said he'd haul them off for me." Then I told her she could shingle the house, the garage, the shed, the horse lean-to and the doghouse with the shingles the roofer asked for. "He asked for a few too many?"

'No, he asked for a lot too many--you could shingle all of those things twice on 105 square of shingles and have about a square left over.' (She found a different roofer.)

This is why you need to know how to buy building materials. Someone who didn't know how to do roofing calculations, like this homeowner, would get ripped off without someone looking out for her.

[pagerbear]

48. The real purpose of an education

I'm surprised no one has talked about this. It's not about Huck Finn or cosines or photography or, for God's sake, getting a job. It's about thinking and experiencing and seeing the world in new ways. I realize this idea isn't very popular in high schools and colleges nowadays, but learning is its own reward.

I agree with someone above who said not to let school interfere with your education. If you're bored, too fucking bad. If Huck Finn doesn't interest you, find something else Mark Twain wrote that does interest you--to study IN ADDITION TO Mark Twain. Or read about any one of the cultural scenes reflected in the book. Or read about the great river itself. Find something that relates Huck Finn to things you are interested in. In other words, don't just sit there complaining--find something new to learn!

I wish someone had given me this lecture when I was in high school making the very same complaints you are. And then kicked my ass (not literally, of course) so I'd do it!

In so many ways I'd love to be in high school again, with nothing to do but learn! Ah, to be 17, knowing what I know at 41. I guess it doesn't work that way.

Anyway, this is just my two cents. Your mileage may vary.

[Lizz612]

51. Ah, but there are only 24 hours in a day.

I would have loved to do that, but they keep you so damn busy with the hoops you have to jump through. I would have loved to read more Twain when we did Huck, but even as a fast reader I had no time. It was all hurry hurry on to the next book, we have to cover these in the next two months. And you have all those other classes to do stuff for. In my experience, showing up for class, and participating and getting A's on the tests will not let you pass the class in high school; they want you to fill out the paperwork.

Sorry, Maggie this is your thread, I'll let you handle your own rebuttals. Its just a sore spot for me too.

[pagerbear]

54. And yet you have time to post on DU

[Lizz612]

58. Touché

but I beg you to take in to account the fact that I've been here since the beginning and note my post count. It was not even at 400 when I came to college in August 2003.

The internet is a wonderful tool and a glorious distraction. It can tell you some really cool stuff about Hoag's object, and thats a really neat thing to know about but it wont get "The God's Will Have Blood" read for me. Whats my point? :shrug: I should be reading...

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

59. What you're saying makes sense. But it's not for me.

It's for the kids who do sit there and do nothing about their situations. I don't just sit here complaining. While keeping tabs on this post, like most other days I am actively reading if not participating in LBN, GD, and GD2004 and other forums. That to me is learning. I don't care for your lecture because it really doesn't describe how I am. I've been here at DU since I was 13. If that isn't taking an active role in learning new things, I don't know what is. I read, right now I am reading a book called Snow Falling Upon Cedars. On my desk next to me I have a huge stack of books/poems by Hawthorne, Haley, Steinbeck, Sundatessan, Pitt, Dickinson, Cummings, Twain, etc. It's not that I don't do other things. It's that I'd like more time to do them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

50. You can't predict what you will need later in life

When I was in high school, I hated math and was indifferent to science, but now that I work as a translator, I find that the math and science I took in college are serving me very well, and I wish I had taken more.

With the role that technology plays in our society, you have to know science to be a well-informed citizen.

[LastKnight]

53. she speaks the truth, ive seen it first hand...

in my coworkers, they all thought they could make it on thier own without math/sciences and now thier in late 20s-mid 40s and some teenager like me is earning the same wage as them. they were all highschool and college grads, all intellegent people, but stuck in a low paying job. i dont want to sound like im lecturing anyone here, but ive seen how it could turn out. and that straightend me up.

-LK

[cally]

57. I agree with you

I think the HS curriculum for Juniors and Seniors is ridiculous. I don't understand AP courses. Much more work for less credits than a college course. I've never used my Trig even though I did well in it. I've used my Algebra, Calculus, and proofs throughout my life.

My daughter, your age, just dropped out to attend Community College. I'm not completely comfortable with the decision but she loves her college courses--Calculus, Biology, Cultural Anthropology, and Myth and Folklore. I've never seen her so interested and involved in school. She loves it. I'm beginning to believe that for some students a typical HS is just not right.

[AlFrankenFan]

60. HEAR HEAR!

I agree with you. I'm only in 8th, but preparing for high school, and I must say even at my grade I see your point.

We have to take "summer school" this summer before high school to get a few classes out of the way - some computer class (like I don't know how to use a computer), a geography class, and a health class. Now, two of the subjects have been eliminated as required to optional, geography and the computer class. But still, we for some reason have to take health, and we can't "pass" high school without it, and to top that off, we can't take it during the damn summer school. What's the point?
My god I'm going to hate high school. :(

[BlackVelvetElvis]

64. Interesting thread-my turn to gripe

I graduated 20 years ago, things sure have changed. What a mess standard testing has made out of LEARNING. I teach, as do most of my friends, and there is no time to TEACH because of these damn tests. Every teacher I have spoken to hates standard testing and when we organize, we are called "terrorists" by the governmental talking head of the day. Here's something you can do, turn your parents into activists! A united group of parents can be effective. Most of my friends who teach public school have major complaints about most parents not caring. That I don't understand.
BTW, if you want to read some good Mark Twain, read "Letters from the Earth" or "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven". Both short and timely. Fundie parents would have a fit over those.

[kher-heb]

65. thats why I quit high school at 10th grade

dropped out, got a GED and went straight to college.
I needed a challenge and high school was just day-care for teens.

[Goldberg]

66. I too complained about that shit in high school...

then before I knew it, I graduated. :)

Ahhh...If I had a chance to go back to high school...I wouldn't. It was shit. Thank God I was done in 2000.

Man..I complained about taking art classes all the time. I hate art. I can't draw-hell, stick figures are tough for me. I can't sculpt. Hell, I can't paint. But we were still forced to take it. Choir? Jeez. That was pure hell for me. I can't sing. I also hated the math classes. I have trouble with simple (oxymoronic, eh?) calculus.

At least here in college you get to pick your own classes.

My advice: wait it out for a year. Put up with those shit classes. Before you know it, you'll be taking classes you like. :) Maybe you could go PSEO and join college early?

Good luck. :hi:

[alittlelark]

67. "It is preparing you for real life"

I, personally hope it is not!!! With few exceptions (higher math, logic, advanced literature) you are experiencing the 'dumbing down and bored to shit' school system currently in place. I found it disgusting, and decided to home-school my kids.

I am sick of revisionist history. I am sick of 'Black History Month' being the only time my kids hear about the contributions. I am sick of being told that 'other kids will catch up'. I am sick of having my kids in 'leader' positions in the 'low functioning group' (they tell me that it is a benefit to all - true if my kids become teachers). I am sick of the Los Altos school system!!! I found a great atheist home schooling site which has helped.

Forgive the rant. I know that few can afford to home school, unless they are in one of those fundie groups that provide all the literature. But, unless you are in one of the top 8-10 states, your education is SH*T. My 4th grader is now 6th in all subjects, but grad. level in Pol Sci.. My 2nd is doing 5-6th grade math, and programming (the kid LIVES for math!!).

Please, please, become your own teacher (you are doing so at this site!) Let your inner light shine. Your future college professors will see that light!!!

Guide Your Own Light, Gina

[alexwcovington]

68. WOOOT!!!!!!!! LPFF, NYRA. NYRA, LPFF.

http://www.youthrights.org

If I get elected to the North Dakota Legislature... Real School Choice is going to be on the table. Choice for the STUDENT. The choice to leave the herd, get full equivalency, and get on with life.

High Schools are holding far too many people back. I could be a year or more ahead in my life if I hadn't been forced to dully sit through the last few years of K-12.

[fortyfeetunder]

70. Keep your options open

Your generation will change jobs more frequently than past generations. Hence, it's to your advantage to get as much education as you can so you can be flexible and adapt as the job market changes.

Don't like the classes you are taking? Can you enroll in a community college program ahead of time to get the courses you want?

Do you have a mentor that can help you figure out what you want and can help you get there? Maybe a DUer who's in your field can help you focus on your goals.

[camero]

71. It's a drag. I know

I had the same discussion with a friend of mine 20 years ago. This was when the standards were just starting to be put into place.

Required classes are fine to a point but there should be more electives. And tests don't automatically equal knowledge. If anything they stifle the love of learning. It is fun. It's just more fun when you come to it yourself.

[trackfan]

72. On the one hand, I agree completely with your general thesis -

I felt that way in High School, and still feel that way now, at 44. However, it is also true that many of the benefits of education, even the seemingly arcane and useless things, don't become clear until you are much older. (I know how little effect the argument, "You'll understand when you're older" probably has on you, because it always had ZERO effect on me). Learning a lot of seemingly useless things does serve to make you seem educated to others, which may open some doors for you. It is true, though, that you probably are never going to be very successful financially based only on a good education; unfortunately, personality, shmoozing, nepotism, etc. are much more important. What about trigonometry? Well, it seems pretty useless..but someday you might own a house.. and there might be a tree on your property...and you might read in a book that such-and-such a tree, in a neigbboring city, is the tallest tree of its species in the county...and you then look at your tree and think, "I think mine is actually taller than that"...and if you know trig, you can go into your yard and easily figure out how tall your tree is, and then say to yourself "I KNEW IT. My tree IS the tallest such-and-such tree in the county!!!" (I cite this last example from my own experience).

[VOX]

75. Go, Maggie! You sound like an artist to me...

What you're chafing against is the fact that you're way too intelligent and sensitive. Seriously. It's obvious that you've outgrown high school.

My nickel's worth: It may seem like a long time, but just hang on -- college is *nothing* like high school, especially the right college. You have so much more freedom, both personal and in terms of courses, and the profs are usually there because they are passionate about their subjects, and not to kill off a day.

I've walked this path. I graduated HS with honors, but I flunked trig twice, because I knew that it had no practical application in real life. Well, I was right, I haven't had to vector anything yet.

Good for you in seeing through the game. The only problem with that is that it's harder to keep up the charade. Just hang in there -- things will change for the better -- sooner than you think.

:hug:

[Loonman]

77. High School prepares you to sit quietly and do what your told

By the time you are an adult with a career, you will be prepared to sit quietly and do what your boss tells you to.

[philosophie_en_rose]

79. I ran away from high school.

In Washington, there is a program called Running Start where juniors and seniors in high school can take college classes for high school AND college credit. The school districts or the state pays for the tuition, but students are responsible for their own books.

I feel your pain. I almost dropped out of high school in my sophmore year, because I couldn't stand the monotony. (Thank goodness for Running Start!)

But things do get better. You'd be surprised how much choice you actually have in college. You'll have to take the prereqs for any major that you choose, but there's plenty of time for electives and fun.

[curlyred]

80. you sound just like my daughter

who is a junior this year.........I do feel for you, but hang in there and it will be over soon. My daughter actually has a tentative schedule for her senior year that she likes, having gotten all the crap out of the way.