<p>Well, I'm in high school. So today in physics we did a lab and we had to do our usual "come to our own conclusions" thing. We got into our little circle and started discussing our 'findings'. So...no one EVER talks besides me. It's the same thing everyday. I explain my findings and why I'm right (which certainly isn't always true) and then my physics teacher will be like, "Does anyone disagree with him?" and everyone will just sit and stare. So today he was asking us questions about an electricity lab and no one was answering (I was falling asleep..I think I might have passed out for a few minutes actually)...but when I woke up I started getting frusturated because no one would answer the fricking questions because they were too scared of being wrong. So I just started answering. This is how the questions went. </p>
<p>Him: "How does the battery w--"</p>
<p>Me: "The electrons flow from the anode, which is the negative end of the battery, through the copper wire to the cathode--which is the positive end of the battery."</p>
<p>Him: "Why does a complete circuit need to--"</p>
<p>Me: "A complete circuit is essential because the electrons will not flow if the connection is not complete between the cathode and anode."</p>
<p>Then he started lecturing me about my "inuition" in front of the entire class. </p>
<p>He was like,</p>
<p>"You need to approach these questions in steps. Such as, this leads to this, which leads to this, which leads to that. You have a pretty good intuition--which isn't a bad thing, it is a gift--but you need to learn how to think and not just rely on your intuition because later in education and in life you won't be able to apply your intuition. That is why you are so good in AP Chemistry (how he knows? stalker much?). See, I'm not very intuitive so Chemistry was one of my least liked classes. But your intuition is great and that is why you are good in Chemistry.....blah blah blah"</p>
<p>Okay. I was concentrating more on keeping my eyes open when he said this than what he really meant, but I just started getting angry when I got home. To me it sounds like he's calling me un-intelligent. Like, without my "intuition" I wouldn't be a good student. Firstly (which is why I asked this in the science major section), how the H<em>LL can you apply intuition to chemistry?? "Oh, hmmmm...I have a feeling the Kb of this base is 1.0</em>10^-19...I just have that feeling..." NO. The only time I can apply intuition to chemistry is with application questions such as, "What does CO2 do to the environment? (which was a question on the free response of the actual test...worded to be much more difficult though)...The only class I can apply intuition to is physics. His class. I mean, I'm not cocky nor would I ever feel better than anyone else, but in a way I feel as if he was telling me to "stop being intelligent." But didn't want to say it nicely. What do you think? </p>
<p>I doubt anyone on this board is going to give you the exact reason why your physics teacher is upset with the way you conduct yourself in class. It might be a better idea to ask him yourself so you can have a definitive answer rather than answers provided by a thread that will only be comprised of guesses at what the perceived “issue” is. Face to face conversations are always better, so give that a shot before relying on people with no knowledge of the situation.</p>
<p>Intuition is a form of intelligence. What he’s saying is you’re so smart that you often don’t have to really reason to your answers, it just makes sense to you in your subconcious. I was the same way with math. For the longest time I could quickly come with answers in my head to problems that others. Had to write out. But when I got to upper level math courses this was no longer possible for obvious reasons. It took me a while to retrain my mind to actually reason things out instead of just getting it. To me, it sounds like your teacher actually cares about your success and wants you to do well. He probably has a hard time communicating well. He actually might have a point about your reasoning skills considering that you immediately jumped to the conclusion that he hates you when that doesn’t appear to be the case at all.</p>
<p>Thanks guys.
But I wouldn’t tell someone, “Your really good in chemistry off of the word of another teacher. Because his standards for good are high.”</p>
<p>Thanks guys.
But I wouldn’t tell someone, “Your really good in chemistry off of the word of another teacher.” Because his standards for good are high.</p>
<p><strong>Sorry I forgot about the quotation mark</strong></p>
<p>Based on how I read your post this is what I gather:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You only wrote the very first words of the question from your teacher. This leads me to believe that you didn’t let your teacher finish the question. When you answer somebody before they can finish a statement, that is considered by many to be rude. </p></li>
<li><p>Your answers were very very surface level from what you wrote down. If that is in fact all you said, the teacher deserves to be critical. You in fact did not answer the questions at hand taking into consideration all of the basic electric circuit/current theory in mind (Yes, even in high school you should have enough understanding to provide a much better answer). For instance, when asked how a battery works, the surface level answer is that it causes electrons to flow from anode to cathode. Instead, also mention how it causes this? Where does the potential difference originate from? Can you look at a circuit from an alternative view (conventional current)? </p></li>
<li><p>Your teacher has high expectations of you. This is why he can be critical of you in this way. He can’t be critical of your classmates since he never really expects them to answer anyways seeing as that is the trend. All the teacher is doing is trying to make you better.</p></li>
<li><p>Intuition alone is not sufficient in the sciences. It is a nice gift to have, but your intuition will get you in trouble if you don’t be careful. Physics is especially a dangerous place to use it.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ultimately, to a lot on this board who are in a college setting, this is going to come across as whining. If you want your teacher to respect you and your answers, you need to back them up with a better argument. He is simply demanding more, so you either give him more or he will continue to feel the way he does. </p>
<p>**if any of my assumptions above about the nature of the situation have been wrong, I will apologize. I am just going off of what your wrote and do not know any more than what was given.</p>
<p>I understand, and it’s not that I couldn’t explain the answer more concretely, it’s just that I was trying to get done with the assignment since no one was answering and the bell was about to ring. My answers are usually very concrete and sophisticated (sometimes too sophisticated) which is why I am slighty upset he felt that way. It’s not like this is an everyday thing. I have a good understanding of physics theory, he knows that, and I assumed he didn’t need me to go into a comprehensive analysis of the question. The reason I found his statement as rude if firstly–chemistry was hard for me. I had to study and read and work hard to do well in that class and become that student that my chemistry teacher always brags about. If intuition really was my saving grace for chemistry like he stated, I wouldn’t have had to work hard. I wouldn’t have had test in chemistry that almost made me cry because I didn’t understand the material. On the other hand, in physics I haven’t done my homework in months, I doze off in his class, and I rarely do the labs–and yet I still get an A because I usually receive 96+'s on his tests. If intuition helps me anywhere–it’s his class…and if he were to say that intuition was the reason I was so good in HIS class, I wouldn’t have taken it offensively. My friend said he was trying to complement me on the ‘down-low’, but to me it sounded like an insult. If you have something to say to me, just say it. Stop trying to make me decipher your speech to get the meaning. </p>
<p>For example, my chemistry teacher…during labs she doesn’t usually do much besides sit behind her desk and answer our questions, but the labs are independent unless it’s a very dangerous lab. So yesterday, I was using acetic anhydride and 18M sulfuric acid and she critized me over every little aspect of the lab. She can get rude when she critizes me, saying things like, “and you wanted to be a chemist,” but she never insults my capabilities. I know clearly when she speaks to me that she has high expectations from me and I don’t have to decipher her comments to understand that. Also, her comments are short and sweet. My physics teachers comments are like…30 minutes long it feels like. So usually I doze (day-dream) off while he’s talking.</p>
<p>And when I doze off, it’s not intentional. I’m graduating high school a year early and I worked my *ss off to get the credits I needed. Now that I finished all of my courses to graduate early, I’m burnt out…bad. My attention span is only 5 minutes for any class if that.</p>
<p>Based on my academic qualified hypothesis, keen sense of deduction, and the presence of a sense of a common type, my conclusion is that you are a ■■■■■.
Thank you.</p>
<p>Actually, you can very well screw yourself over by jumping to conclusions when problem solving. I’m not agreeing with your teacher or saying he was right to be an *******, just saying.</p>
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