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More right than I thought
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 157289" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Just a thought for your son in science class - I can sympathise with him. When I was in high school I chose to study science at the highest possible level. We had to specialise, I was torn between Biology and Physics. I chose Physics, thinking it would hook in to Astronomy, my all-time favourite thing for most of my childhood.</p><p></p><p>But it didn't. To make matters worse, Physics was taught by a bloke who had recently married one of the other staff members, the whole school had watched their courtship (giggling behind cupboard doors; her grabbing him as he walked past the service room; all the embarrassing stupid stuff) and we were watching the relationship break down within months of the marriage. He now hated ALL females. I was the only female in the class, studying what was considered a male subject, and the guy that everyone in the school assumed was my boyfriend (we were close, but the relationship was very ambiguous) was in the same class and the teachers all assumed I had chosen Physics just to be with this guy (not true).</p><p></p><p>So this teacher gave me a really hard time. Most of the time he totally ignored my existence in class. If I had a question, he would ignore my raised hand. If I blurted out the question (there were only six of us in this class) he would ignore me, so one of the other students would then ask the same question. he would answer them.</p><p>The other five students (all male) were all very kind to me, very helpful. We would all study together, we spent a lot of time together. They totally ignored the fact I was female, I got dragged over to look under the hood of various cars they drove to school just like their other mates.</p><p></p><p>But this teacher - I couldn't get through to him. And he wasn't covering the entire course, only three topics. The final exam (after two years) dealt with three topics, he was only teaching the bare minimum and I liked other topics, so I made a decision - I taught myself. I went into my textbook and read through it, cover to cover. I did that with all my other science textbooks to, I read them as if they were the latest novel, or the latest Harry Potter. I'd curl up under a snuggle run in front of the fire, with my Physics text. Instead of studying Tension in Strings and Simple Harmonic Motion, I studied Compton Effect and Subatomic Particle Theory. I also learned how to derive an equation from first principles, by looking at the units in the constants and working from there. I did study our set topics too, but I wanted more.</p><p></p><p>Come the day of the exam - I managed to do the compulsory question (Rotational Mechanics) but I took one look at Tension in Strings and gave up. So I looked at the other questions, liked the look of them even though we hadn't officially studied it, and did those instead. I derived my equations from a combination of common sense, the data they had given us and the constants (with their units) printed on the front page. </p><p></p><p>And I passed. </p><p></p><p>And that so-and-so teacher had the hide to take the credit.</p><p></p><p>Not that it mattered - I knew who was owed the credit (me) and that is what mattered. And I hope the teacher, inside, felt guilty.</p><p></p><p>So, advice for your son - success in spite of this teacher is the best revenge. Science is a great subject to study on your own. It's interesting, it covers so many areas, there are a lot of people around who will help you understand any tricky bits. If this had to happen in any subject, it's good it has happened in science. All he needs is a list of the topics, and he can use each topic title as an individual research project. Read the textbook; look it all up on the 'Net; talk to the other students about what they understand; find a neighbour or relative interested in the same topics and discuss it with them; teach the topic to your parents or younger siblings. I used to teach my mother about Special Theory of Relativity and Nuclear Physics.</p><p></p><p>So help him understand - success is the best revenge. Plus, it will ALL be his credit.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 157289, member: 1991"] Just a thought for your son in science class - I can sympathise with him. When I was in high school I chose to study science at the highest possible level. We had to specialise, I was torn between Biology and Physics. I chose Physics, thinking it would hook in to Astronomy, my all-time favourite thing for most of my childhood. But it didn't. To make matters worse, Physics was taught by a bloke who had recently married one of the other staff members, the whole school had watched their courtship (giggling behind cupboard doors; her grabbing him as he walked past the service room; all the embarrassing stupid stuff) and we were watching the relationship break down within months of the marriage. He now hated ALL females. I was the only female in the class, studying what was considered a male subject, and the guy that everyone in the school assumed was my boyfriend (we were close, but the relationship was very ambiguous) was in the same class and the teachers all assumed I had chosen Physics just to be with this guy (not true). So this teacher gave me a really hard time. Most of the time he totally ignored my existence in class. If I had a question, he would ignore my raised hand. If I blurted out the question (there were only six of us in this class) he would ignore me, so one of the other students would then ask the same question. he would answer them. The other five students (all male) were all very kind to me, very helpful. We would all study together, we spent a lot of time together. They totally ignored the fact I was female, I got dragged over to look under the hood of various cars they drove to school just like their other mates. But this teacher - I couldn't get through to him. And he wasn't covering the entire course, only three topics. The final exam (after two years) dealt with three topics, he was only teaching the bare minimum and I liked other topics, so I made a decision - I taught myself. I went into my textbook and read through it, cover to cover. I did that with all my other science textbooks to, I read them as if they were the latest novel, or the latest Harry Potter. I'd curl up under a snuggle run in front of the fire, with my Physics text. Instead of studying Tension in Strings and Simple Harmonic Motion, I studied Compton Effect and Subatomic Particle Theory. I also learned how to derive an equation from first principles, by looking at the units in the constants and working from there. I did study our set topics too, but I wanted more. Come the day of the exam - I managed to do the compulsory question (Rotational Mechanics) but I took one look at Tension in Strings and gave up. So I looked at the other questions, liked the look of them even though we hadn't officially studied it, and did those instead. I derived my equations from a combination of common sense, the data they had given us and the constants (with their units) printed on the front page. And I passed. And that so-and-so teacher had the hide to take the credit. Not that it mattered - I knew who was owed the credit (me) and that is what mattered. And I hope the teacher, inside, felt guilty. So, advice for your son - success in spite of this teacher is the best revenge. Science is a great subject to study on your own. It's interesting, it covers so many areas, there are a lot of people around who will help you understand any tricky bits. If this had to happen in any subject, it's good it has happened in science. All he needs is a list of the topics, and he can use each topic title as an individual research project. Read the textbook; look it all up on the 'Net; talk to the other students about what they understand; find a neighbour or relative interested in the same topics and discuss it with them; teach the topic to your parents or younger siblings. I used to teach my mother about Special Theory of Relativity and Nuclear Physics. So help him understand - success is the best revenge. Plus, it will ALL be his credit. Marg [/QUOTE]
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