Of all the courses I've ever taken from elementary to University, the most useful class I ever took was 7th grade typing. As I recall, I couldn't get into my preferred electives, so I chose typing as the booby prize. But the teacher was good - and ruthless. I didn't like him which is why I can't remember his name. He MADE us learn even if we didn't want to. But I can safely say that now, it is the one skill that I appreciate daily. It is amazing to me how many people use the two finger method. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
What about you? I know that the Calculus, History of Slavic Civilization, Costume Design (I was a drama major haha) and Civics classes that I took don't really come into relevance much in the day to day. What class do you most appreciate from your educative history?
33 comments:
Hiya!
Art for it brought something out in me
most amusing course has to be mechanics!!!
I'm a course junky at times!!! feel a bit odd not doing one right now, tried to get on a silversmith and Film set design course recently.. no go, one full, t'other not running
I will just comment on the typing class. I work as a computer professional. If my typing teacher ever knew that I was earning a living using a keyboard she would be spinning so fast in her grave that we could connect a turbine to her and light Manhattan!
My Senior year I needed an extra credit so I took Art 101. The teacher was a wonderful lady. She opened my mind to understanding and Appreciating Art.
My typing class used typewriters. There were not any Personal Computers at that time.
I had an amazingly eccentric crazy teacher for my Grade 12 "enriched" English course. She gave me lots of "extra" reading material that was homoerotic - just on a hunch I guess!
And yes, I'm typing this with two fingers - like everywhere else in life they may "get the job done," but two fingers can leave a lot to be desired. :(
I agree with you, typing class was the one I have used the most throughout my life. I write horribly because my parents made we write with my right hand when I should have been learning with my left.
But typing has let me express my thoughts more succinctly
In 7th and 8th grade we split 1/2 of each year alternating from Home Ec and shop. SHop was pretty useless (although I still have my wooden snoopy) but Home Ec did teach me things (which I hated then but appreciate now). Some basic sewing and cooking (which I grew to love).
Don't laugh - but it was HS Band - not because of the music stuff, but be cause of the instructor - he taught us all the importance of being on time, self reliance, independence, respect, teamwork and responsibility - I hear his voice in my head many times a week...
Favorite class was Anthropology 46 "Introduction to Moral Consciousness", a freshman elective at my undergraduate college.
I was introduced to Descartes, the Gahuku-Gama, and Melville's Moby Dick; and learned the enduring truth that if you love something, it's not studying, it's having fun.
The most useful class?
Grade 10 gym. I realized that I was tougher than most of the psychotic jocks, and stopped being wary of them. It was all mental strength.
It helped me on my way to being an individual.
Spanish definitely. Sparked my interest in languages and the rest is history. :)
music for sure!
11th grade typing class, you're right, is probably the one I used most.
Which do I most appreciate? Anything taught by Mr. Ebersole, social studies-wise. The man was a little ecentric and weird, but DAMN he knew his stuff. And he took an interest in each of us students personally. He showed me that a figure in authority could still show compassion and care about those under him. He showed me that you didn't have to be a dictator to have power and earn respect. And respect him I did. he's the only teacher I ever had who'd funeral I attended. And a bunch of other former students as well.
So it wasn't so much the class, but rather the teacher.
typing was good. i learned lots. i only passed with a 54%, but i learned the basics that allowed me to get to the point i'm at now, which is fast touch typing.
i don't know why, but i was surprised when i found out that typing is done on computers now instead of typewriters. apparently i'm brain dead.
in my theatre degree i had loads of classes i learned huge amounts in, but i think it was my intro to theatre that effected me the most. that was all about the prof though, usually that class is a joke. but we talked extensively about different forms of performance (we went to a baseball game as one of the theatre pieces we went to see in the semester), about gender vs sex, about 'gaze', and the thing that helped me the most throughout my university career, he taught me how to write a good essay. it was a first year course and he was teaching it at a third year level, which kicked our asses. be he coached me through it 'cause i went to see him outside of class and that one class in first year, first semester helped me through the rest of my university career.
I took Food classes from my Freshman year (Basic Cooking) to my Junior year (Gourmet foods).......I have to say that class helped me in so many ways......now I can cook.....
Hmm - As an undergraduate, I took an Archeology Theory and Methods class. While in it, I found it hell. I often thought that the professor was too demanding and unrealistic in her expectations.
It turned out, though, that the class greatly informed my approach to research and posing academic questions. I regret now the unkind thoughts that I had about her because it really did turn out to be critically important to my intellectual development.
Of course, I also appreciate being able to type.
Can I choose only one?
A Cappella Choir taught me that adults can sometimes be total assholes, but my friends and I became closer because of our insecure director.
English with Mrs. Green taught me to believe in myself, and my abilities as a writer.
And ceramics in college. You just gave me my post for today.
I had my English typing lesson on Typewriter in 7-8 Grade. I remember that it was quite fun and then it was replace by Computer class (DOS and Monochrome monitor).
Now I earn my money with my hap-hazard computer skills. Many comments that I can fix their computer while Computer science student can't... I guess it's not in their curriculum
Try boolean algebra:
P + Q = -P < -Q
Now prove that the left side equals the right. Note, you will need at least 2 full pages to expand the formula.
I was also forced to take a course in Discreet Mathematics. To this day I have no idea what it was about or how I even passed.
My very best class ever was Applied Philosophy. Straight A's, baby, plus it taught me that there is no argument, viewpoint, or opinion without an equally valid opposite.
My favorite was calculus and statistics, however I got 103% in typing. Yes, she let us do as many bonus assignments as we wanted and I was a keener.
Dirty 230 was my most useful. Human Sexuality 101 - in college. = )
The most useful class I ever took was probably a color and shape concepts class that I took in design school. The lessons in it apply to everything from web page and graphic design to decorating your home or even organizing you desk.
My favorite classes were probably biology and music theory, even though I've never used them since high school. There's something really enjoyable about learning something just to learn it rather than to use it in your professional life.
The class I wish I'd taken was an astronomy class.
A creative writing elective my senior year in high school gave me some initial confidence in my writing and was the first time I realized I might have a "voice."
All I need to know I learned in Kindergarten :-)
Typing, Computers and English. The rest was a joke and I even did the math sequence.
Ummm... Chorus... seriously, I'd still be a fat, closeted, pretending to be christian married dolt if it hadn't been for Chorus.
I taught myself to type properly however (with 'Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing' program, thank you very much) and I'm very happy to have that skill, otherwise it would take me three years just to finish one of my stories on my blog!
I have to give a vote to typing as well. I had a nasty teacher, but I did learn to touch type. I also learned a lot in grade seven home ec.
I reckon English was the only useful high school subject for me. The most useless? - Shop. :P
Believe it or not, I'd say either Jr High typing or Highschool accounting. Never had another accounting class, but have run two businesses and been the sr programmer over a business accounting system at work for 5 years.
typing is the one i use the most, to be sure. but it was english that got my juices flowing.
I have always maintained that typing is the only thing I really learned in high school that I retained. I got a 4.0 in everything and yet typing is the only thing I remotely remember. Cause you couldn't just memorize typing long enough to ace a test.
Ah public education.
My dad uses the 2-finger typing method. LOL!! Personally, I never finished my typing class because I broke my wrist that semester (in 10th grade). I had to wear a cast for 12 weeks! So, I guess you could say I used the one-hand method...And, the teacher still gave me an A....
And, to answer your question, all I ever needed to know, I learned in kindergarten:)
Maybe it's just me, but it seems that, thus far, the most useful stuff that I've learned, I've learned on my own.
In high school, I took German. In retrospect, maybe I should have taken Spanish like my siblings, but it just didn't seem interesting to me. I loved how German sounded. I still do, but I can't understand around two thirds of it. However, I did learn the three most useful expressions possible:
"Bringen Sie mir die Speisekarte, bitte" = "Bring me the menu, please"
"Ich moechte ein Glass Rottwein" = "I'd like a glass of red wine"
"Die Rechnung, bitte" = "The check, please"
But on my own, I've studied Esperanto and have gotten pretty good at it. It's amazing, as I'm sure that you've noticed from French, how much better you understand grammar when you have to correctly know how to assemble sentences in another language. I'll leave out the whole cultural enrichment I've gotten from it, though.
I'm in college now, about a decade after leaving (notice that I'm not saying "graduating") high school. I thought my position was odd, but many in my class are in the same boat as me--ten years later, life going nowhere and finally taking the plunge.
My point is that I always sucked at English in school. I was a straight-D student (well not straight, but you know what I mean) in just about all subjects (except science, of course). With those kinds of grades, it's no wonder I winded up in a remedial course in a community college. Oh well, it's a start.
The freaky thing is that, due to Esperanto, I understand grammar so well. I was complimented by the teacher the other day for my mastery of prepositional phrases. It's amazing the number of people that had a hard time differentiating between prepositional phrases and verb infinitives. "Iri al la vendejo" = "To-go to the store". There's things like that that I've had to learn in Esperanto and now just translate to no-brainer concepts.
In the class conversations, I've felt like bringing up transitivity and clauses on the relevant occasions, but I didn't want to confuse everyone.
Another thing is that I have learned to type, but outside of class. It was a couple years ago, and I decided that I should learn how to touch type. I had read that Dvorak was faster and less strenuous on your hands, so I decided to learn typing through it. The advantage of not having the tendency to look down was definitely a perk. :)
But I guess I'll have to wait two to eight more years (depending on what degree I want and am able to get) before I can give a definitive answer.
I'm sorry if this came off as Esperanto and Dvorak propaganda.
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