7TH GRADE SUCKS!

[thatonestudent1254]

Recently this year our science teacher came up with a new thing on school called edmodo, which is a lot like facebook but a complete rip off made for crappy school reasons and she can actually give us tests on it! These types of websites are why i can't enjoy school related websites! of all the websites they ripped of FACEBOOK?!?!?! HOW LOW CAN THEY GO?!?!!?!?! JEEZ I AM ANGRY ABOUT THIS!
Along with the stuff like this there is that immature group of 8th graders who actually claimed to have seen me masturbate in the stall! yeah you heard me! these freaking pricks went that far! now i have become the center of their immature jokes since 5th grade! yeah i've delt with this for 3 FREAKING YEARS!!!!!!! I have had enough of this CRAP! anyway just wanted to post this so i have somewhere to get out my rage of this!!! it just makes me so mad!!! feel free to reply back your opinions on what i should do i could really use some help... well the edmodo thing i can't do much about... but please help me with the whole immature 8th graders thing... anyway yeah i'm out!
(also i'm a bit new here and just started on this website so forgive me if my grammar isn't too well)

[FUCKSchoolKCUF]

Hey I feel your pain, bro. My school has a similar thing with a website that makes you take tests. It's totally ridiculous. Our tests are extremely difficult and tedious, almost to the point where I would just start inserting random answers in hopes of just finishing. And about that group of a-hole 8th graders, just ignore 'em, or get a group of friends to tell them off. Just don't get into a huge riot over it, the prison warden- er.. I mean the school principal usually takes things like that seriously and you can get arrested depending on the state.

[xcriteria]

Welcome to School Survival! It may take some time to figure out how to deal with all of that, but we can do what we can to help.

With Edmodo, that's part of a recent trend toward putting everything about school online. I feel your pain. A system like that would be ok if school was designed to help you learn things that matter to you, but apparently, it isn't.

You might want to look into options other than going to your current school. Your parents may not be open to that idea, but it's worth learning about your options.

Advice about bullying and harassment works best if you explain more detail about what's going on. Have you talked to your parents and teachers about the problem? Do you have any friends who might help you? And... what are these bullies like when they aren't bullying? I always wonder, why do bullies do what they do. Sometimes knowing that can help with a strategy.

Re: your grammar, posting on School Survival might be one way to develop your writing ability. You would think school helps you learn writing, but I've found it much easier to get better at writing by writing about things that matter to me, and interacting with others in writing. One thing you might do when you post is, break up your post into paragraphs. That can make it more readable.

Anyway, thanks for sharing, and I hope you stick around.

By the way, when you're not suffering with bullies and school software, what do you like to do? Any ideas about what you'd like to do in the future?

[TheCancer]

Edmodo is garbage.

[Missile]

It's only going to get worse (I'm in 9th grade)

[brainiac3397]

My class in HS encountered the trial application of edmodo. Luckily we graduated same year so we didnt have to deal with that crap.

[xcriteria]

(01-23-2015 12:14 PM)Missile Wrote:  It's only going to get worse (I'm in 9th grade)

That really depends. For many people, high school isn't as bad as middle school.

However, it's still worth exploring options beyond school-as-usual, especially if you're miserable. And if you can't get out, or at least not immediately, there are things you can do to take charge of your life and learning, despite the factors beyond your control.

I hated 7th grade, too. I think I was less miserable during 8th grade, but I hated school even more, because I saw how big of a waste of time it was, and how other people were able to homeschool. I desperately tried to persuade my parents to let me homeschool, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Still, it's worth exploring your options -- some people on School Survival were able to persuade their parents take them out of school. (You can learn online, find and connect with friends in other ways, and in some places, find learning centers to go to where advisors help you pursue actual learning based on your interests, rather than torturing you with boring things and miserable peers who pick on you.)

In my case, I wasn't able to persuade my parents at that time, partly because my communication skills, understanding of options, and confidence were so low.

But, for me, 9th grade was pretty calm, easy, and lacking in problems. It was boring as Hell, and nearly-complete waste of time, but I can't say it was "worse" than middle school. For others, it does get worse. And for me, I got even more unhappy with the complete waste of time that school was. Eventually, I persuaded my parents to let me quit high school, and go directly to college, but that's a long story.

@thatonestudent1254, in your situation now, if you can find allies and figure out how to stop the bullying, or persuade your parents to let you homeschool for a while, you might be able to improve your situation even sooner.

Just finding and pursuing things you like and care about, to the extent you can, can help a lot, too!

There's so much to learn about what's wrong with forcing suffering on students and calling it "education."

If you haven't seen it, this talk may give you a sense of what's possible instead. This talk has had 7.8 million views, and I've seen a lot of parents share it.



Watch on YouTube

(Also, Ken Robinson's talk Changing Education Paradigms has a good overview of why the model of education from the past century is not working for many people in today's world. This video has has 12.5 million views. So many people see the problems, yet so many people are stuck in it.)

And, with the rise of Student Information Systems like Edmodo, and high-stakes standardized testing, things are getting even worse. More and more parents are seeing the problems and asking what they can do. But, many don't understand that school is often even worse now, than when they went through it.

Have you talked to your parents about the bullying and stress of school? Are they at all sympathetic?

[c00ldud3]

Our school has Edmodo too.. it's absolute shit

[KFC Nyan Cat]

As clunky as Edmodo is, it's not as bad as Google Classroom. Sure, Classroom has integration with Google Apps (my school whored out thousands of dollars to Google to have Google Apps [which are shit] fully integrated into the school) but at least you can rely on Edmodo actually loading (half the time Google Classroom [and Google Docs.....and Google Slides] says I have no internet connection despite having 4-5 bars, no matter which connection I'm on!) And at least Edmodo actually has the tests integrated with a decent interface! With Google Classroom, you literally have to type in your answers on a Google Doc, and with that, you might as well use a fucking worksheet! My school uses both (depends on the teacher) and I have to say if your school only uses Edmodo, then you are lucky.

[TheCancer]

That kid giving the school hacking speech bothers me because it's very obvious he comes from an extremely privileged situation. It's like telling people who live in the projects that they should move into mansions, drive expensive cars, eat at top end restaurants, and spend their spare time at fancy resorts.

[xcriteria]

(01-25-2015 08:37 PM)TheCancer Wrote:  That kid giving the school hacking speech bothers me because it's very obvious he comes from an extremely privileged situation. It's like telling people who live in the projects that they should move into mansions, drive expensive cars, eat at top end restaurants, and spend their spare time at fancy resorts.

Yes, he's in a privileged position -- his family said "yes" to opting out of school.

But, what if more people had the option of opting out of school? What if there are ways to make that work for a lot more people?

As we see here, large numbers of parents see school-as-usual as the only way, no matter how bad their kid is suffering.

But, some parents do change their views on this, and maybe if there was more understanding of options, alternatives could be possible in more cases.

Even on School Survival, I get the sense that many people really don't fully understand their options, and really haven't made every possible effort to inform and persuade their parents about options.

Obviously, even the most exhaustive efforts will still fail in some families, and there are all kinds of reasons why those parent conversations are difficult for all involved. And, sometimes the available options all seem like no-gos, so it's easier for all involved to just go with "the devil they know," which is school, vs. the various (possible) devils they don't.

Here's my take on it:

I think one of the #1 thing many parents want is, someone else -- some organization with teachers, basically -- to take charge of, and responsibility for, their kid's education. Would you agree with that?

That leaves a limited set of options in most cases. Public school is the only affordable, available, obvious form of handing your kid over to someone else. Private school is often prohibitively expensive (like $20-30k/year) and it's often still "school-like." Cheaper options exist in some places, like Sudbury schools, which are often more like $7k/year. Some families could pay that, but it's still over $500/month, and if they have multiple kids, it still ads up pretty quickly.

Homeschooling/unschooling can be nearly free, but it leaves the parent (and/or kid) in charge of the kid's education, which is a deal-breaker for many parents. And, depending on the place, homeschooling means walking away from some other benefits of school, like a place to go during the day, free extra-curriculars, supposed opportunities for socialization, and all that.

One newer option is that many states offer virtual high school, like based on K12's curriculum. This lets people opt out of physically attending school, but do similar work from home with remote teachers and online classes. @Subb is doing virtual high school, for example.

But, virtual high school is still pretty similar to school, with traditional classes, homework, and grades, that many here take issue with. In some states, it's free -- which is something -- because it's paid for by the state. In other states, this option still requires tuition, which can run $1k/month.

So -- for a lot of students, parents won't let them take an alternative. And, even if their parents are open to unschooling, the lack of a plan and some help figuring things out can keep people from diving in.

So, what to do?

There's a newer model that I think will provide an answer for more people, based on North Star Self-Directed Teens in MA. In short, it provides mentors, a learning community, and help figuring things out, while being (relatively) cheap, part-time, and very flexible. For those who live near one of these, or could help get one started, they may very well be the option that allows unhappy students to "hackschool."

In short, they have physical locations that learners attend, generally from 1 to 4 days per week... though attendance is not mandatory. This provides some of the benefits of school, like experienced adults to help guide the learner's learning and path to independence, and an opportunity to regularly interact with other young people.

The cost? North Star charges $3k/year for 1 day per week, $5k for 2 days, or $7k for 3-4 days, though the amount varies. Some places even offer scholarships and sliding scale fees.

So, the 1-day/week option costs less than $60 per week. Not all families can or will pay even that, but <$10/day is a lot more within the realm of possibility for many families, isn't it?

Here's North Star's co-founder explaining the concept:



Watch on YouTube

Perhaps the biggest roadblock for many people is that they still don't live near any center like this.

So, why not create an online version of what North Star offers?

I think that's the next step for helping a lot of people who find School Survival actually opt out of school.

Thoughts?

[Rule_BreakerXVIII]

Eh, 7th grade seems to be the sucky year for a lot of people. I myself suffered from depression for the majority of 7th grade, culminating in my first bunk. I got out of it halfway into 8th, though.

[SkullFucker]

Edmodo is basically online homework. For those suggesting virtual school, if he can't handle Edmodo I don't think he could online school. Plus online school takes dedication to getting your shit done. Its the same thing as public school but you just sit around alone at home all day. I don't know about you guys but I can't stand not having social interaction and talking in person everyday. I know there's probably a lot of people who enjoy the virtual schooling but it was worse than actual school for me

[unschoolmom]

(01-27-2015 07:14 PM)SkullFucker Wrote:  Edmodo is basically online homework. For those suggesting virtual school, if he can't handle Edmodo I don't think he could online school. Plus online school takes dedication to getting your shit done. Its the same thing as public school but you just sit around alone at home all day. I don't know about you guys but I can't stand not having social interaction and talking in person everyday. I know there's probably a lot of people who enjoy the virtual schooling but it was worse than actual school for me

I think the online suggestion was just part of an overview of all options available. That's too bad it didn't work out for you. My son probably wouldn't like it either because he wants more autonomy.

A friend of ours started our state virtual school recently after homeschooling the last half of his 9th grade year and first part of 10th. He was hating school even though he was a "good" student and didn't have any peer issues. He was just over it all. Not privileged by any means, they scrape by and the kids get Medicaid and free lunch at school. He doesn't love the online program but is much happier doing that then being in school doing the same stuff. Plus he can work on his own time much more freely than in school. It's not something my teen would want, but for this guy, it's a better option.