In high school Chemistry was my least favorite class as far as material goes and I sucked at it. Oddly enough it was one of my favorite classes when it came to the friends in it with me. I may have to rant a little about this class because it was set up so weird.
The teacher was a real strange guy. At first I hated him so much it was probably unhealthy. By the end of the year I got to like him as a person since he was unique, all the while still holding onto the belief he was a terrible teacher. He had multiple degrees from Columbia and was really smart. So I don't think he understood how students did not understand chemistry. He never lectured and the whole class was basically group work, with him coming around to lend a hand. He also did the flipped classroom, which is when you learn the material at home and do the work in class. Good in theory, but not in practice because there was no fucking way I (or most kids) was going to do the required work at home. Especially due to the fact it was something as boring as chem. This class was set up for failure from the start. Let me explain how a) I wasn't learning, or doing anything at home for this class, b) in class he wouldn't teach and since it felt so informal I would spend the time talking or on my phone. Now if this was a history class or some other subject that I excel in, I probably wouldve loved it. But since it was chem which Im not strong in it was a disaster. No surprise that I would do terrible on the tests and only did not fail because he allowed you to redo every test. Which I would take full advantage of the last day of every marking quarter.
I actually failed the second marking quarter, which was devastating at the time, since I was always a good student. I ended the year with a C+, which wasnt great but I was happy to be done with it. After that I swore a vow to never take another chemistry in my life. I much prefer Bio.
Also strange how my grandfather was a chem teacher for like 30+ years. Those genes totally missed me.
