Demotivating learning experience

Jul 8, 2014 • Paulina Lach

It was when I just began my high school: new people, new class, new school, new teachers.
This situation took place just before the Physics lesson. In my high school there is no bell before and after any of the breakes — students and teachers just know when the lessons star and end. Also, the classrooms were always opened so pupils could enter it before the end of the break and teacher could start lesson just in time.
Before one of the first lessons of Physics, whole class was sitting in classrom and was waiting for the teacher. I was ending my breakfast sandwich, as it was 9am. The teacher entered the classroom 2 minutes before the end of the break and as she entered she started shouting at me: “What are you doing? You’ll be giant and fat because you’re eating it!” and things like that. I must admit that when I was 16, I was far too touchy about my weight. And the thing that my teacher did — laughing at me about it just in front of the whole class of new people — it almost made me crying. And I’m not kidding: during that lesson the only thing I could think of was ‘not to cry’. That situation changed my attitude to Physics for whole high school. I was very good in Physics in secondary school and I’m good now, at my studies. But during those 3 years in high school I simply couldn’t got good marks, I was in some way blocked. I stopped understand it totally, problems started to be a total magic to me, despite my real effort to understand topics. As I said — at university again Physics started to be a fun for me and again I’m very good at it.

This situation couldn’t be fixed, I think. From the very beggining I knew that my teacher was joking, but still it hurt. She probably doesn’t realise that she ruined 3 years of Physics for me. But there is one thing I learned from it — if you teach someone you have to watch for what you’re saying. Something that for you is just a joke, for somebody else can be very harmful.