Was there ever a class in which you felt so utterly unintellingent that it turned walking through the door of the classroom into daily torture? For me, that class was Algebra 1 in 8th grade. I’d been thrown into the course a year before I was ready (I was SUPPOSED to be in Pre-Algebra) but the school administration decided it was more convenient scheduling-wise to have me in Algebra 1, so there I was. I had one of those teachers that seemed to hate kids, and I often found myself wondering why she even bothered working in a school? I tried everything to catch up- tutoring, staying after school, studying excessively, but nothing helped. The lowest point of that year was spending hours preparing for this one test, only to receive a big fat ZERO on it. A 0%. I hadn’t even managed to get the “work” portion of the questions right.
A few months ago Matt and I stumbled upon this book- “F in Exams.” I felt completely and utterly redeemed from Mrs. Isaacs’ Algebra class, because here was a book full of hilarious (real!) test answers from kids as woefully inadequate as me! So to help spread the cheer of being able to look back and laugh about the situation, I’m giving away a copy of this super awesome book for you to laugh about as well. I mean seriously- take a look at just the back cover.
Here’s how to enter- in the spirit of being past the “Algebra-makes-me-hate-my-life” phase, leave me a comment telling me about either the worst test grade you ever received or the worst class you ever took. That’s it! I’ll announce the winner on my next Monday Mash-up!
Happy Wednesday, and may your woes of Algebra 1 never haunt you again!
Another fun little giveaway!
May 9, 2012
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This is hilarious! Fortunately, as a homeschooler you don’t really get graded, it’s just expected you will do the work until it’s correct. I don’t know if that is bad or good but it was normal for me so I guess it never really phased me.
College calculus… I failed and had to retake the class again! Luckily, the second time I got an amazing professor who actually liked students and had the patience to teach and tutor me, and managed to scrap by with a C!
Ahhhh Abby! Math isn”t my thing either!!!! The worst class I ever took was my 8th grade year. It was a logic class meant for college students! Most of my class failed it…We got scores like 1…..and that was maybe for a bonus question! Some tests we took, our teacher wouldn’t even grade, she would give them back to us to retake because we did so bad!!! You’re right, it is funny to look back at those scores and laugh!! Have a wonderful day!!
Math is so not my thing either! When I was a junior in HS I got put in an Algebra class with a bunch of sophomores (aka the smart ones.) My teacher catered to them and didn’t really take time to help me even when I asked and I ended up failing. I don’t think I got above a 70 on anything in her class (and honestly that is probably a stretch.) As a senior I had to retake the class… and I got put in a class with all the sophomores again. Talk about embarrassing. At least I got a good teacher that time and graduated on time!
Haha thanks for the memory 😉 the worst for me was chemistry in 10th grade. I just did NOT get it. The teacher did not care, she taught from behind her desk and never put examples on the board. She never answered your question but started talking about something else. Or she Told you “its in the book”, “well yes i know im looking right at it, can you explain it?” “its IN THE BOOK.” I’m fairly certain just about everyone was doing poorly in the class. I had an F. Mom and dad got me a tutor, and by the end of the year I scraped by with a D. I was so disappointed. Come chemistry time in college, I was worried, until I found out I could truly blame my teacher because I had the best ADVANCED chemistry instructor ever and got a B all by myself!
When I was a freshman in high school, we had an Algebra teacher who liked to mess with us on purpose! He would create these 2 paragraph long questions with tons of details and information — half of which was completely irrelevant! He made it so hard to sift through the problem to find out what you needed to solve it that every single person in the class got a “C” or less on the first exam! Needless to say it was a looonnggg year (and I never signed up for Algebra 2).
hahaahaha I LOVE THIS. I have to take a HUGE certification test in less than 4 weeks so this would be so perfect and timely! I would have to say the worst test I ever took was my junior year of college when I was in British Literature. Now, I was a creative writing / English major, but the Brit Lit class was THE HARDEST CLASS at my school. No lie. The professor wrote the textbook and if we didn’t know every inch of the textbook – he essentially failed us. I remember I was writing an in-class essay on some “epic” British poem that wasn’t Paradise Lost, and all I can remember thinking is, “this poem is no where NEAR “epic” in nature – it’s boring, it’s cliche, contrite – there’s no romance, no adventure, no strong female lead – it’s a boring story about some boring guy who like to fish. FISHING IS THE MOST BORING SPORT. EVER.” so guess what i did? being a creative writing major, and hating Brit Lit class, I did was any outspoken creative writing major would do – instead of examining the “protagonists plight” or something, I wrote about why, in so many words, i thought the poem was not epic and how I would have written it if I were the ancient author. I made the protagonist get seasick, become allergic to fish, marry a siren, and go to a “Herbert Bardwell and the Crwths” concert. A Crwth is a celtic lyre. Yeah, I’m a dork. Anyway, I turned that piece in and BOOM. I got a D. It was the most satisfying D ever.
I was getting ready to receive holy communion (in 2nd)and the nun that was getting us ready had just finished teaching us there were 3 ppl that made up the holy trinity. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So when I got ready to take my test- it asked how many Gods were there… I was so confused so I put 3 lol. Needless to say I got pulled out class, received a zero, and had extra work on top of the work my class- one on one with the Nun….. Such an easy question…such an innocent mistake- because I knew the REAL answer. I hope God found humor in that day lol
My worst class was senior english in High school. My teacher didn’t want to accept that I had a learning disability, so instead just failed me on many of my papers! I did everything I could to get through and graduate! I think he was finally threatened by the administration (since this was the only english i didn’t pass in all of high school and middle school) and gave me a big fat D to end the year, and stopping me from earning my honors diploma 🙁 Oh well, I guess his meanness didn’t stop my excelling 🙂
Man, oh man, this brings back horrible memories. My absolute least favorite class ever was Algebra 2 my Junior year of high school. I hated my teacher, I still cringe when I think about her! I struggled all semester long and I remember we had our last quiz before our final exam. It was on circles and I scored a 10! A 10! Is that grade even possible?! Needless to say, I’m still not a fan of math!
My worst class is kind of because of my flunking a test. In 8th grade I took French and on our very first big test (-er verb conjugation) all my info was correct but I put them in the wrong order (if you know French nous and vous are ‘you’ plural and singular and although my conjugation was correct I had nous above vous and apparently that was such a big error I got 50% off for it. So my first big French test I got a 50. I was so mad after having studied so hard. I continued with French in high school but only to get the needed credits. I hated every min of it!
I LOVE your giveaways!! Well the worst class I ever took was SMAD 101 – SMAD is the School of Media Arts and Design – I was taking that class in hopes of BECOMING a SMAD major! Well… I did… but I paid a price. I got a D+ in SMAD 101 and you need at least a C- to not have to repeat it. BUT the weird this is, that semester you also take the SMAD entrance test and I PASSED and got into the program! So the following semester I continued on with my SMADucation and signed up for SMAD 202… while also re-taking SMAD 101 AGAIN in hopes that I could earn that coveted C-… I ended the semester re-take with a B- so all-in-all, not too bad. SMAD COULDN’T WEED ME OUT, BABY!!!!
Ha Ha! Mine is sad really. In 7th grade we had to take a self-esteem class in home-ec. Well I scored really low and went home to tell my family that I had flunked a self-esteem test and they all busted out laughing. 🙁
My least favorite class would have to be Brand Engagement in College. (Grad School) It’s all group work and your grade is based entirely on peer evaluations. No matter what- if people don’t like you personally you get screwed over. My first C in Grad School came from kids that I had helped outside of class in a multitude of ways. Oh well….
What a hoot!!!
hands down, worst test i ever took: GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY FINAL in college. i was working one full time and one part time job, taking a full course load at william and mary and also taking a photo class at a local community college. it was completely my fault, because i didn’t study. BUT I GOT A 12 ON THE EXAM. that’s right, a TWELVE. i got out of the exam and i laughed hysterically on the steps of andrews (the building where the exam took place) until i cried. because i knew i had failed it. but i just couldn’t care any more. i was exhausted. and it was over. and i cried. it was oddly cleansing. but yeah, greek and roman mythology test = TOTAL BUST.
Ugh! Worst class I ever took was AP Statistics my senior year in high school.. I had a similar situation where the school reassigned me from what I was supposed to take (a basic college prep math class) to this horrendous class. Can’t believe I made it out of there with a passing grade! Hahaha
I actually did nearly the exact same thing in my 5th grade math class. We had exactly 5 minutes to finish a 5 question test and our teacher thought it would be a wonderful idea to play Beethoven/Mozart/whatever while we took it, thinking it would make us…smarter? I don’t know. At any rate, I got so lost in how pretty the music was that before I knew it, 5 minutes had passed and I had not put a single answer down. Needless to say, I received a big fat 0% on that test as well. Mozart and Math…never mix the two!
WORST class of my life was just this past semester. It was Spanish Literature from the 18th century on…IN Spanish. It was AWFUL. I felt sick to my stomach every time I went into class, fearing that Profesora Edelman would call on me. She was a pint size Mexican woman with a PhD and an attitude four times her size. She HATED all of us who weren’t native speakers, and expected that we knew nothing. I cried over that class, spent hours reading poetry and novels that I couldn’t understand to save my life, and studied for days leading up to her oral examination. I got in there, blurted out my answers (to which I KNOW were not correct Spanish AT ALL, but hey, I tried, right??) and she told me I obviously was not prepared, and asked if I even came to class. WHAT!! I showed her. I worked my butt off, lit candles in our school’s chapel, and had a whole team of angels praying for me during the two hour final. I got an A! It was the most rewarding grade I’ve ever gotten in my life, and I would like to say to Profesor Edelman, “ADIOS!!!”
I am pretty sure I flunked my Spanish final…this morning. Literally, an hour ago. I have a bachelors degree in music, and can speak French, and translate and sing in 7 other languages (like Hungarian and Russian!)…but I CANNOT.GRASP.SPANISH. I took Spanish 101/102 last semester, and barely survived with my life. I took Spanish for Nursing (working on my nursing degree) this semester…and I have cried every day about it. This morning, on the exam, I got all the medical stuff no prob…and FORGOT THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. My Irish husband, fluent in Spanish, is still laughing at me.
I guess I’ll be the one nurse hiding in the background when my Hispanic patients come in…
I was always bad at Math. In 10th grade I had a geometry teacher who admitted to his football team that the only reason he taught was so he could coach football. I did everything I could to get a B. One day I went after school and he asked what specific problem was giving me trouble (it was proofs–I still can’t do them). When I told him it was the concept, he said, “If you didn’t understand it the first time I explained it, you’re not going to understand it now. You’re wasting my time.” Needless to say, I was shocked and loathed that class all year. We learned more with subs then the actual teacher.
I had a 10th grade geometry teacher who admitted that he only taught so he could coach football. He only spent a few minutes teaching per class, the rest was seat work. That method’s never worked for me, so I went for after school help (we were studying proofs). He asked what problem I was struggling with, and I told him that it wasn’t a specific problem, but the concept. He told me, “if you didn’t understand it the first time I explained it, you won’t understand it if I explain it again. You’re wasting my time.” I still loathe geometry because of that man, and no, I never figured out how to do a proof (although I came close with subs–we learned more from them and loved sub days because of that). Lucky for me, there was no SOL that year!
In college there was this class (environmental economics) that I had an A in and I knew the teacher offered tons of extra credit. I wasn’t worried about my grade in that class, and the final was the same day as this other class that was really hard. I decided not to study AT ALL for the env. econ final!! That was a bad decision – I got to the exam and felt SO dumb! I only needed like 35% to keep my A in the class, but I was honestly worried if I would get that! I ended up failing the test horribly, but somehow kept my A in the class! Phew!
Well, in general I love learning, so there have been very few classes that i HATE… but plant biology at VT was pretty dreadful. It SHOULD have been great, but, the teacher was a horrible teacher (great guy though, I’m sure), and was more into research and GENETICS than plant biology. I wasn’t in a genetics class, I needed the foundations of plant biology… and I didn’t get it. I was in the front row, as a way to force myself to pay better attention, but shamefully I feel asleep more than a few times. On the front row! How embarrassing. Ugh, he was just so dry, and was always talking about genes… I miraculously got an A in the class, but I give all the credit to my forest biology professor Dad, who painstakingly taught me everything that this teacher was SUPPOSED to be teaching. To make me feel even worse about falling asleep and hating the class, at the end of the semester he said I was one of the best students, I got the top grades! I felt bad for disliking him so much :-p
I cant even remember the name but it was the first math class I was placed into freshman year but after 3 weeks of me being in tears having to stay after everyday and struggling through homework my teach informed me I was requiring “too much attention” and requested I drop the class!! Math is the worst! This book looks hilarious!!
Bio 102, Junior Year of College.
I have never felt so dumb and unintelligent in my life. I dreaded every part of that class…except the feeling I got everyday I was walking out of that class.
I tried my hardest and studied and everything; but I ended up dropping it on the very last day I could with a overall grade of 43%…
10th Grade AP Statistics.
A. I should not have taken this class.
B. I should not have taken this class in 10th grade when everyone else was a senior.
C. Should not have taken the AP exam (I got a 1 on it – you get that for putting your name on it).
D. Got a “D” the first semester, Failed the second.
E. Even though I loved the teacher, Statistics makes me feel dyslexic – nothing made sense and it’s all out of order.
-All of the above made me feel like a little kid trying on Mommy’s make-up. Important at first, then I realized how ridiculous I looked. Glad that ended!!
Lets see… There’s the time I failed college calculus TWICE and barely passed the third time (you can only take a class three times and I needed this class for the degree I wanted). Then there’s the time I decided to pull my first all nighter to study for accounting and ended up falling asleep during the test and got a 19 out of 100%. I woke up 5 min before the class was over and looked down to see I wrote randomly about Bill Clinton on the short answer section. I only had enough time to erase it and turn it in. And no one even woke me up!
Bleh! The worst class I ever took was in college. Picture this: 8 AM, World History class all the way across campus from my dorm, Professor constantly biting on his glasses. Once, my friend looked at his watch and Dr. Clark asked “do you have somewhere to be?!?” in front of everyone. Awful, awful class. Oh, and once I took Calculus: Enough said.
You’re so funny! I want to win this book but if I don’t, where could I get a copy?
The worst classes I took were social studies. I sucked at that. I could never get a good grade and I hated it! I tried studying hard for it, but it just never stuck in my head and I thought the subjects we were going through were boring. So yeah i think those were the worst ones. I really liked my teacher though.
It looks like such a fun book!