Oolite Bulletins

Has someone ever told you to not participate in something because you're too good at it? My English teacher recently told me. We were to play a trivia game by translating Latin root words, and she specifically told me not to guess. It hurts, that since the population of my school is considered non-intelligent that I, someone with a bit of knowledge is told not to participate. Has this ever happened to any of you? Because it sucks.n

Huntress wrote:

Has someone ever told you to not participate in something because you're too good at it?

My school (going back 45-50 years) was heavily streamed according to ability, even within some lessons, and this did happen. Curious that you mention Latin - as I recall, the Latin lessons were probably the most heavily streamed of the lot, even down to ranked seat positions which changed weekly. The teacher (we called them Masters back then - mortar boards, cloaks, etc) would often exclude a section of the class (usually the smarter kids) from answering stuff on that basis. Reasoning: the smarter kids could be getting on with other, more advanced, stuff.

On a personal note: I learnt early to refrain from answering occasionly, even when I knew the answer.

I'm not quite as old as Cody but we had a similar streaming in school, which tended to associate yourself with like intelligence students. Therefore I never considered myself as particularly intelligent (or at least I felt just as smart as the others in the class). I was particularly bad at English until the last year of school. Looking back I can see the exclusivity of the practice, but at the time I was competetive enough to want to do better than most people in the class, which I guess maintained my 'advanced' level.

There were many times I remember that the person who 'obviously' knew the answer to a class question was overlooked in favour of someone else who was more hesitant in putting up their hand, or who didn't put up their hand at all.

Over the years, a few of things I've had to come to terms with:
I still think I'm only as intelligent as the next person, but lots of people tell me I am smart
Education these days (in general and especially in Australia) generates mediocraty and doesn't promote 'intelligence', which is sad and, I think, detrimental to society.
There are heaps of things that I can't do, and it grates on me because I still believe that if someone else can do it the I should be able, dammit!

Cody wrote:

[The teacher (we called them Masters back then - mortar boards, cloaks, etc)....

Crikey, that sounds a bit posh! 'Sir' used to wear shabby tweed jackets mostly at my old school. We did have streaming, and although not in the top group, I soon learnt to keep my hand down - being a smart-arse was not thought highly of by the other kids, and if 'Sir' did ask me, I could usually surprise with the right answer.

I agre with Steve.. i dont believe i am smarter than most. I am quick to pick up things though.

I moved to a new town when i started High school and by the end of grade 8 i was well aware not to try too hard or to stand out.. it was an agricultural area and "smart " wasn't welcomed...
I do believe my grades did suffer from this and i could have done better.. too late now... lol

It is a pity that intellect makes people a target. But then to be honest anything makes you a target at school.

I feel you have 2 options,
Butter side down: Keep on lightly emotionally spiralling, (which is probably not going to do you any good at all).

Or

Butter side up: Try to wring something positive out of the situation. Ask your teacher "ok, what can I be doing instead that you think I'm a little more shaky on?"

Invite the teacher to teach.

Smivs wrote:

Crikey, that sounds a bit posh!

Aye, it was one of the best grammar schools in SE England at the time (measured by number of pupils gaining places at Oxbridge). How I, a working class kid from the wrong side of the tracks, snuck in is a mystery! Needless to say, I had a point to prove to all the toffs - both in class and on the playing fields!

What Clym says about 'butter-side up' is right - invite them to push your brain!

Well, there's 'intelligent' and there's 'intellectual' and although they tend to go together I don't think they always do.

One of them (I would suggest) is enormously difficult to assess accurately or, on occasion, even to identify. The other can be more of a habit or 'mode' that some like to operate in and is often very easy to identify.

I've known some that I would regard as very intelligent but not particularly intellectual and many who seemed very intellectual but not particularly intelligent. Then there are those who can seem extremely bright in one area and at other times struggle or seem blind in another.
I'm not talking just about 'common sense' here but then this is part of the problem isn't it? Just what is intelligence? Perhaps I'm too simple to really know ... but then thinking ourselves more intelligent than others is likely a dangerously slippery slope...

In terms of your situation, if I may, perhaps consider intelligence as for asking the questions (often unspoken) rather than just for finding the answers.

Hope it works out for you.

Cody wrote:

invite them to push your brain!

Also, push your own brain. You don't have to wait for the teacher to do it.

I suspect that if you looked into all the world's geniuses, you'd find that what they've got in common is that, as kids, they all taught themselves something. Not because their teachers or parents encouraged it, but because they stumbled across it and thought "hey, that's interesting". That doesn't mean if you teach yourself something you'll necessarily become a genius, of course.

kanthoney wrote:

Also, push your own brain. You don't have to wait for the teacher to do it.

<nods sagely> Don't get angry, get smarter!

As a flippant thought...

It might be amusing if this were the by far most commonly chosen answer:
"Does it ever seem to be that you're the only intelligent life-form on this planet?"

ClymAngus wrote:

Invite the teacher to teach.

It would be nice if my teacher actually cared, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't. She's been teaching at our school for about twenty years, and is probably sick and tired dealing with more and more disrespectful and lazy kids. I don't really agree with them saying I'm smart, because I'm not. The thing is, all the kids at my school seem to think that you can pass by not coming to class or doing any work. If they actually paid attention and did their work, they'd have high grades, too. The teachers have already watered everything down in an attempt to boost their grades, but since they don't care it doesn't work. All it does is create a larger divide between the kids who do work and the ones that don't.

Huntress wrote:

The thing is, all the kids at my school seem to think that you can pass by not coming to class or doing any work. If they actually paid attention and did their work, they'd have high grades, too. The teachers have already watered everything down in an attempt to boost their grades, but since they don't care it doesn't work. All it does is create a larger divide between the kids who do work and the ones that don't.

I could be wrong here but I hope you'll bear with me...

Imagine if the questions in this poll were along the lines of, 'has anyone ever called you stupid?'. Now imagine if that was your experience of school: too 'stupid' rather than too 'clever', wouldn't that be frustrating? Not many like to feel 'stupid' (an insult that is thrown around all too readily IMO), so what could you do?

Sadly for some, their experience of school/accademia is failure or of being told they're not up to standard, whether at home or at school or both. Under these circumstances it's not really surprising that these kids learn to find other things to do than to be 'educated'. I dare say many of those who 'don't care' are actually afraid to try. Lie to yourself that it doesn't matter and then you don't have to worry about it, don't have to truly face it, you can cover it up by acting 'cool'. I feel sorry for them, don't you? If they 'woke up' they could learn more important things than just how to get good grades but of course that's the trouble with lying: it hides the truth.

Huntress wrote:

It would be nice if my teacher actually cared, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't. She's been teaching at our school for about twenty years, and is probably sick and tired dealing with more and more disrespectful and lazy kids.

I expect the second part of that is right. Like the kids, she's probably tired of things not working and so ends up getting by rather than really encouraging those she teaches.

Again, I could be completely wrong

Huntress wrote:

ClymAngus wrote:

Invite the teacher to teach.

It would be nice if my teacher actually cared, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't. She's been teaching at our school for about twenty years, and is probably sick and tired dealing with more and more disrespectful and lazy kids. I don't really agree with them saying I'm smart, because I'm not. The thing is, all the kids at my school seem to think that you can pass by not coming to class or doing any work. If they actually paid attention and did their work, they'd have high grades, too. The teachers have already watered everything down in an attempt to boost their grades, but since they don't care it doesn't work. All it does is create a larger divide between the kids who do work and the ones that don't.

It is unfortunate when you can see a problem but are powerless to do anything about it. Apathy is infectious and the malaise runs deep. There are times when teaching can feel more like policing. Maybe your teacher doesn't care, maybe they're quietly cursing under their breath that your all a bunch of prison fodder and dole parasites in the making. it is unfortunate but it does happen. If the teacher is just counting the seconds till the bell rings then make yourself part of the solution not part of the problem.

You can't fix this class, these castles are already burning young lady. You can however save yourself, but it's going to take some discipline.

Ask your teacher at the end of the class, "I understand why you pulled me out of the quiz, but I know I have a lot more to learn, where do you think I'm weakest in this subject? Can you recommend any good books that will help me improve?"

Learning things is fun. Education is fun. You have time now given over pretty much purely to learning. Ask anyone older (the older the better) how precious they think time is.

Also word of warning, watch your 6. Nothing annoys the disruptive more than seeing the gap between themselves and "good" students. They will try to make you more like them. DON'T let them.

I had disruptive classes last time I saw the disruptive ones, they were mid-30's and still shelf stacking in Tesco. You reap what you sow in life.

ClymAngus wrote:

Also word of warning, watch your 6. Nothing annoys the disruptive more than seeing the gap between themselves and "good" students. They will try to make you more like them. DON'T let them.

ClymAngus wrote:

I had disruptive classes last time I saw the disruptive ones, they were mid-30's and still shelf stacking in Tesco. You reap what you sow in life.

No need to worry about me. I'm not really interested in being immature and ruining my life.