5.) Your least favorite subject in school.
When I was in fourth grade my little sister’s Kindergarten class paired up with us for a reading sessions. The Kindergarteners chose which fourth graders they wanted to read with and I glared at her, shook my head no and made slid my fingers across my neck in an “I will kill you if you sit next to me” motion.
I would NOT be working with my little sister in my own classroom!
I started falling behind in math when I was in 7th grade. A huge majority of my class failed a test and our teacher was all, “I don’t know what’s happening with you guys, but this is serious…” and I raised my hand and was all, “Ummm, no offense, but if so many of us are failing your test I think it’s pretty clear the problem is not with us, but with your inability to teach.”
Blink blink.
We didn’t like each other.
The problem with my little theory is that while the rest of the class came around and moved forward, I still struggled.
My Mom was beside herself when I brought home my first D on a report card.
In high school I took advantage of the answers to all the odd questions in the back of the book and then cried my way through the rest of the problems. I blame math homework for the serious rage I feel when I think I’ve followed instructions for something and it still doesn’t go together properly. And also for my inability to help my kids with their homework without some serious deep breathing exercises.
Perhaps the only rewarding moment that came of my downward spiral with math occurred for my little sister. That small Kindergartner turned into a high school Freshman. She walked into my math class my Senior year and this time I could not threaten her to leave. She smiled, pulled up a seat next to mine and proceeded to Ace that class.
I got a C.
Maybe.
Dominique Goh says
I didn’t like Maths too as a kid but am able to get by teaching the kids maths now.
Beth @plasticrosaries says
Mine’s a bit similar to yours (it’s my first go!) but I chose a science rather than maths as I liked it when maths had letters in it!
I’m gonna try hard to ensure my daughters are a bit more enthusiastic about maths and sciences!
Tiffany says
I love how it came full circle! I’m sorry you had a bad experience in Math…that’s what I teach!!! :)
Tina says
Bad math! Bad! I wonder how many of us will write about how evil math is today. At least you had a sister to help you–my brother went to a completely different school.
MJ says
Ah math! Who really uses that stuff anyway? Oh… well, it’s dumb anyway.
Kat M says
I was great at math (sorry!); my trouble spot was english class. I hated writing essays and disecting the “meaning” in books. Kind of ironic that I now have a blog and spend so much time with my nose in a book ;)
mryjhnsn says
Math was never a favorite of mine. I still remember Sr. Patricia humiliating me into learning my math facts.
Lindsey says
Math always made my cry too! I cried my way through Algebra in high school and Calculus in college. Twice. Calc 1 and 2. Best I ever got was a C. What’s funny is now I’m the “math person” at work! How did that happen?
Miriam Gomberg says
Math didn’t bother me so much except when I had to do word problems. EEEK! Just seeing the words on the paper would get me all freaked out and my mind would shut down before I even tried. Thank goodness I wasn’t a math major.
Sue - The Spin Cycle says
Yeah. Math sucks.
To be clear: *We* don’t suck at math. *It,* in and of itself, SUUUUCKS.
Diane says
Oh how I feel your pain so, so, so deeply. I failed Algebra 2 my sophomore year, went ahead with Geometry my junior year and then retook Algebra 2 my senior year with a class full of sophomores. Now I am reliving my Algebra nightmares through my son (a freshman this year) who inherited my inability to comprehend or even care who the heck x even is, much less if he is or is not equal to y!
Betsy says
I am horrible at math! To this day I cringe when remembering my high school mat classes.
Anitra says
Math is no friend of mine, either! That makes for some very interesting homework sessions with the kids.
kelley says
I had similar run ins with teachers (where I told them it was there problem I couldn’t learn) great post today. Stopping by from mama kats kelley at the road goes ever ever on
Gigi says
I am in complete agreement with you – I hate math! And to be honest, I haven’t used Algebra since I was forced to take it in high school.
Rachel says
I’m bad at math, or at least I was until around 9th grade. They put me in remedial algebra and I was the best student in the class. I got straight As all year. The next year I had geometry (that was a nightmare but I had a HORRIBLE teacher. Nobody got good grades in his class) and then my junior and senior year I took math with a really wonderful woman, who gave us great tips for studying and explained the lessons in ways I was able to understand. I went back to getting As (no more remedial level classes at this point. Technically only 2 years of math were required to graduate), mostly because of her. I did even worse in geography as a little kid. I remember in third or fourth grade, we had to fill in the name of every single state and it’s capital city (spelling counted) on the proper place on a map. I spent weeks studying for that exam but just before we started my mind went blank. I ended up cheating (I had a copy of the map in my desk, which I pulled out and used to fill in the test) but the only person who saw that was my friend Amya, and she didn’t tell on me.
Jerralea says
Wow, the look on your face in that photo … that says it all!
Allison says
Ugh, math is the worst! I still freeze up when I have to do simple math (or remember a phone number)! Numbers just aren’t my thing! I can definitely relate to your experience in school, and I’m not looking forward to dealing with math homework when my daughter starts school! Yuck! I’ll take English, history, science projects, book reports, or craft projects any day over math!
Lisa says
I always struggled with math. I was the oldest of 4 kids and my parents had an awful habit of comparing my math skills with those of the second oldest, my sister. While I occasionally got E’s, though mostly C’s and D’s and worked really hard to get them, she got mostly A’s with barely any effort and a B would bring her to tears. I, of course was told I needed to “apply myself”, “work harder” and asked “why can’t you be more like your sister?!” I also relate to not wanting to partner with your sister as I’m still not close to that one. I love the arts and that’s where my strengths lie. Unfortunately my parents were under the impression that the arts weren’t useful in getting a career so they were not encouraged.
Maria says
I was VERY afraid of math back in my school days and my parents knew it. The night before a math exam used to be a nightmare when I stayed awake for hours on end and being totally groggy on the actual day of the test actually made matters much worse. And today, when I have a daughter of my own, I can see what people mean when they say ‘History repeats itself’. She’s terrified of the subject too and my husband blames it on her genes (indirectly me because he ‘claims’ he was awesome at math). Though I try my level best to help her out with sites like http://www.mathblaster.com/ , I know it just isn’t enough. However, I’ve drawn up a conclusion: It’s not me, neither is it the genes. It’s the subject. Agree, fellow math haters?!
Andrea says
Ugh. Worst case scenario. The least she could have done for you was let you copy her homework.