Saturday, 5 November 2011

Why the mainstream class is better

Heh... it's only my opinion, but still, this might count towards you guys as well.

Yo! What's up guys?

Yeah.. Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while with this blog. You know, slow and capped internet, anime, I guess it just wasn't really all that nice updating this thing for a while.

BUT NOW I CAN!
(Cue applause)

So anyways, here's a recap of what happened when I was away... I was kind of bored due to the slow speed of my computer so I re-watched some Kuroshitsuji and Hetalia. Then I was allowed the opportunity to watch Durarara for the first time, which was awesome. *sigh* Somehow, I feel like hugging every single anime character I witness... I guess I'm obsessed, right?

Back to today's topic! I'm going to tell you guys why I find mainstream classes are better. And if you don't really know what I'm referring to, just think of subjects such as maths where they have different streams depending on your ability. But anywho, I will specifically go onto mainstream math classes, since other streams don't have this crappy line to it.

Just so you know, my experience with maths has an off-and-on relationship. I don't know why, it's just the way it is. If there was a graph according to my attitude towards this subject, you would have to rule a line of best fit since there's no set pattern. Overall, I'm not the best student.

Now, for some reason, I was placed into the advanced class earlier this year. At first I didn't want to, since I felt a bit intimidated by the fact that advanced math was, well... harder than normal. But being foolish adults, they just so happened to ignore my request and placed me with all of the "smart" people.

The reason I used quotation marks around the word 'smart' is that most of the people in advanced classes aren't really that at all. They just have a talent for this sort of thing, and apparently, that doesn't require much thought at all. So you could say that most of them aren't as much intelligent as they are talented. And that's what kind of annoys me.

Back when I was in mainstream, there were obviously noisy people who just wouldn't shut up no matter I said or did. But at least then, they weren't overconfident with their abilities and studied hard to achieve seventy percent or more. If they got less, they would shut up for a while and work harder the next time.

Some people in the advanced class are... well... some of them are a bit arrogant. I might be just a bit jealous of their capabilities, but it's annoying how arrogant they can be, and it's even worse that people consider them to be rightly so. They just don't shut up whatsoever. During a lecture, they play with cards, during exercises, they play slapping games. It's as if these people think that they will pass whatever test comes along their way.

I get it. Most of the students in the higher-up groups have tutors or extra lessons to make sure that they are ahead of everyone else. But still. You can't ignore how annoying they can be for those (such as myself) who don't have these luxuries and actually want to learn this criteria at school. They can be inconsiderate, and rude, and they just don't know it because they have some weird safety net of being part of the majority.

The next thing about some of these people is the bit where they always have to make everyone else feel bad about their results as if it's some kind of competition. It's not every single person, of course, but a rare few of that arrogant bunch of people who just so happen to reply to the class average. Say that the whole class got a low score for a test, and that one idiot just comments with "oh, that's fine. I got ninety-two percent either way.". What the hell? And you can't believe how they say it. It's like their boasting about it in that stupid. overconfident voice of theirs, while they have their stuck up noses poised up in the air for added effect. "I got ninety-two percent", well, that's great buddy, but the thing is, the average is really low, so you just about dimmed somewhat half of the room. And what's with the tone of voice? You're proud of getting a high score for just one test? What kind of dumb as hell brain are you compensating for? And you're repeating it time, and time again. Is this some kind of mantra?

Then there are others who just say that they've done a horrible job by getting only two percent off. Great way to make the rest of us feel stupid. If you wanted that two percent, you shouldn't have been talking in class!

And on the issue of scores, in the mainstream class, if the class got a low average, and you received a terrible result, at least you would get the feeling that you were all failing together. Just saying, it's better than being singled out in a smart-people class.

My next argument is the work load and timing they take to notify you of things. If you are like me, and you appreciate a learning schedule while you are educated in a class, and want something a little bit more organised, don't go to advanced. Maybe it just depends on the teacher and how they run things, but really, it's more likely for that to happen if you are in advanced. Being in a class where most (about seventy percent) of students have tutors for these kinds of things, you are basically with a teacher who gives the longest lectures, students who don't care about work in class, and consequentially, you are left on your own for the year to study and teach yourself these things. Trust me, I have had so many of my own notes in my book it's not funny.

And of course, you are forced to learn extra crap from the book that you know that you won't need. It's basically a hassle, since you are also forced fed extra questions in tests in the form of VELS, or something stupid and time-consuming like that. It's also confusing when they suddenly give you tests that are different than mainstream classes, where they combine the analysis and VELS section together to create a super hard task that you have at least ten minutes to complete. What the hell, advanced class? What the hell?

The next thing about these classes is that teachers somehow automatically assume that you are passionate and interested in the topics you are about to learn. HELL NO. The only reason many of us are in this stream is because you forced us to be in there without our consent. If you asked me whether I'd choose the advanced or mainstream class, you bet that I'd go for the latter. So then these teachers will expect you to do the work "for fun" or "for your own personal learning", but really, I just want to pass the test. The students there are just there because they're forced to be, and if they also just want to pass it's because maybe their tight-arse parents are pressuring them for a degree in science.

It's stupid. Since these adults naturally expect that all those in the class to be future doctors, accountants, engineers and scientists. The fudge? I'm just here to pass, and that's all. I dislike maths, I'm not even bothering with methods, and specialist maths is going to kill my brain. So no. Please don't place me in your little basket of stereotypes.

Wuv,
SSV.

P.S.: Stuff statistics, I'm procrastinating.

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