What was your Favorite class in Jr or HS school? We had the disliked, now let;s do the class you couldn't wait to

[debm55]

go to Mine was Art. How about you?

[cloudbase]

1. Math, particularly geometry.

Figuring out the steps for a proof was cool.

[debm55]

3. Geometry was good too as was Drafting.

[arkielib]

58. Ditto math - of any kind,

[IbogaProject]

66. Geometry for me too

I liked all my classes, as I loved learning.

[lostnfound]

67. Ditto on math but probably algebra 2 the best.

Honorable mention to history. I hated history but the teacher, Fred Bechtel, was so awesome i looked forward to the class.
The plant man, very cool.

[WestMichRad]

93. Another vote for math, and particularly geometry

I had a head start, learning algebra and geometry in junior high, thanks to my dad’s encouragement. So high school math was easy and for me, like puzzle solving every day.

However, when in college, I ran off the rails with calculus. A struggle for me to visualize what was going on there.

[debm55]

97. Geometry and Algebra 2 for me. TY WestMichRad.

[snpsmom]

2. Modern Dance

I was fortunate to go to a large school with LOTS of elective classes. Dance was a sanctuary in the middle of my day.

[debm55]

8. TY snpsmom. Went to a large school were there tons of electives but not Modern Dance I took it my first year of

college. I remember my final dance was to Pink Floyd's "Use and Them"

[lpbk2713]

4. I liked Spanish.

It was interesting picking up a new language. Taught by my favorite teacher too.

[debm55]

9. Thank you lpbk2713, I wonder if the teacher helped your class so special.

[Siwsan]

5. Drama

I loved every aspect of that class. I never thought I could memorize all of the lines of a lead in a play, but I DID. I even got to do some singing and dancing.

It was a real confidence builder.

[debm55]

12. Siwsan, Yes and good for you!!!! We had Drama and Creative Drama, but I was to backward to take.

[Sanity Claws]

6. History, particularly American History

[debm55]

14. Thank you Sanity Claws. I had an excellent American History teacher and he taught us all sides of an issue. Loved him

and the class.

[Onthefly]

7. Music Theory

Along with sight singing. Fun.

[debm55]

15. Thank you, Onthefly. Some classes are so darn interesting and fun. It sounds like you class was.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

10. English/American literature

[debm55]

16. Thank you 50 Shades of Blue. The love of those subjects brought you a great deal of entertainment and joy.

[hlthe2b]

11. Probably German--most took Spanish, so limited class size and we all went by German names.

I took tons of science and math and was good at it--but foreign language was a nice change. It helped that no one took the class each year who did not WANT to take it.

I think the teacher still had qualms about the possibility that WWII veteran parents/grandparents might feel strange about their kids taking German--even though it had been such a long time ago, but I don't think that was ever an issue.

[debm55]

17. TY hlthe2b. It sounds like a perfect class to be having and enjoying. , I was in Spanish didn't like the teacher and

it was packed.

[rsdsharp]

13. Spanish in high school. We played bridge, the whole period, everyday.

In English.

[debm55]

18. rsdsharp, thank you . Did anyone complain about English? How did you get graded?

[rsdsharp]

29. No we didn't complain about English! We weren't stupid.

We proved that by all of us getting As.

Oh, you mean did anyone outside the class complain? No, because we didn’t tell anyone outside the class. Now we’re back to we weren’t stupid.

One Friday night, 20 years later, in a town 150 miles from where I grew up, I was walking from a parking lot toward a grocery store. A man came out of the store as I approached, and stood in my path. I moved to my right; he moved to his left. I moved backed to my left; He moved to his right. Finally, I stopped with a “What the hell?” look on my face. It was the Spanish teacher. When we talked, he told me about how my class had been one of the great ones he taught. Apparently, nobody overbid.

[GreenWave]

19. Honor's Biology.

Lana was there in the senior class as a sophomore. I sure welcomed each day she was assigned to be my lab partner!!!
Then one day she asked me to the sophomore ball. Gulp! What to do? Confess to her that I got triple promoted in grade school, detested by all there, risk losing all my cool senior friends? Admit I still wasn't old enough to drive? Tune in tomorrow!

[debm55]

24. GreenWave.hahahahahahahahahaha I was promoted once in grade school. HATED it. There were two lay teachers in 5th grade

that I was waiting to have. Skipped 5th and got a 100 year old nun.

[gibraltar72]

20. 8th grade history

Taught by my neighbor a WWll vet. . He was passionate about the subject and had lived some of it. His ending was sad but he made an impression on me.

[debm55]

27. Thank you gibraltar72 that must have been very hard on him to do.

[DBoon]

21. high school history elective on the French Revolution

[debm55]

28. Wow, that sounds great DBoon, Were you in a consolidated HS (I was) were there were tons of electives or a city school.

What a great choice.

[DBoon]

46. catholic high school

[debm55]

48. TY DBoon. Wow very innovative school.

[Mr.Bill]

22. In high school,

it was Journalism, Auto Shop and English. All three of them had exceptionally good teachers.

In junior high school I had a very good music teacher. I never became a musician, but he taught us about many types of music I would never have been exposed to. What I learned from him has brought me countless hours of enjoying music.

[debm55]

31. Thank you Mr.Bill, you had teachers of classes that cared. It has lead to lifelong interests and skills.

[Chipper Chat]

23. Choir

Made high school tolerable.

[debm55]

32. Wonderful Chipper Chat! And it gave you a love of music too. I bet.

[Native]

25. calculus, college algebra, and Latin

[debm55]

33. Wonderful, Native. Did you go into the science/Medical field? TY

[Stuart G]

26. ART .......& .......HISTORY IN SUMMER SCHOOL.............

[debm55]

39. Thank you StuartG, I know you love cartoons, Did you ever think of going into that area?

[Glorfindel]

30. English

I loved everything about it, especially studying "Julius Caesar" in 9th Grade and "MacBeth" in 11th Grade. Having teachers whom I really liked helped, too.

[debm55]

35. TY Glorfindel, in our school it was called Literature. Then there were off shootsLiterature for Youth, Mythology,

Mysteries, etc. Yes, teachers that know their subject can and are a big plus in learning.

[SeattleVet]

34. Photography, Filmmaking, Film History.

Had the biggest argument with my guidance counselor when I was setting up my schedule for my senior year. "That's a vocational course, like Auto Shop! You're college prep." I told her I would be enlisting in the Air Force after graduation. I was adamant that I was going to take that class, as friends that had taken it had clues me in as to how good it was. That photography class set me on a path that I still follow, over 50 years later, with my photography.

Filmmaking was a great class, with a super great teacher. He lived for film, and had some connections. He was able to actually get Oscar-winning director Otto Preminger to come in on our 'seminar day' to review and critique student films!

As a side note, the students had wanted William Kunstler as one of our speakers, since the Chicago 8 (later 7) trial was fresh in our minds. The principal vetoed that - 'he's too radical, a Commie, can't have him'. Since Preminger was the biggest name we had that day the principal was in the Little Theater to introduce him. As Preminger stepped to the lectern he called out to the principal as he walked down the aisle towards the door.

In his thick German accent: "Mr. (principal's name), William Kunstler is a friend of mine. The students wanted him to speak, and you denied him. I have only one thing to say to you..."

...and with that, he brought his hands up on either side of his face, placed his thumbs in his ears, waggled his fingers and blew a huge raspberry, as the principal stood there in shock, before slinking out of the room. It was absolutely glorious, and something that I have never forgotten.

[debm55]

36. Thank you for your terrific post. You must have had some terrific and talented teachers and subjects in your school. My

guidance counselor said I was not college material and was more suited to be a secretary, mother or nurse. I went to him after I placed 30th in a class of 700 and was awarded a one year full scholarship. I went to be a nun but I asked the fundation it they could hold on to it , Left the convent after two years. I went to Penn State University on the scholarship. I told him I wasn't dumb Good for us.

[lark]

37. French and mythology.

I actually liked school and learning new things.

[debm55]

41. TY lark. I took Spanish and mythology. I still like mythology and read it frequently.

[MiHale]

38. Detention...

I got all my homework done and didn’t have to take home my books.

[debm55]

40. Didn't you school have Study Halls? I liked when I had at the end of the day so I could get all my work done. You are

funny,

[maccafan]

42. American Government

I remember debating the pluses and minuses of the electoral college. Most of us agreed that it needed to gotten rid of. Look where we are today! BTW that was in 1970.

[debm55]

43. Thank you maccafan, We had civics in 9th grade. I would have loved to take a class in American History.

[BluesRunTheGame]

44. Art and Literature classes for me.

[debm55]

45. I loved Art and Geometry. Thank you BluesRun TheGame.

[Bludogdem]

47. History and Senior Civics

In particular the Senior Civics. It was taught by a PhD College Professor who specialized in the Constitution. Summer between junior a senior year required reading was the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, and Justice Story’s “Commentaries on the Constitution “ 1833. Entire First semester was dedicated to the constitution. We took the constitution apart phrase by phrase. Late Sixties. Serious stuff. It was wonderful.

[debm55]

72. TY, Bludogdem. Your class sounds wonderful. It seemed almost like it was on a college level.

[Wicked Blue]

49. Theatre arts, art, English

and surprisingly, biology.

[debm55]

73. Very good choices, Wicked Blue.

[Alpeduez21]

50. Physics with Mr Cunningham, different Mr. C

Didn't have the math to do it in college. Didn't have much in my first college go 'round but a GREAT time.

[debm55]

74. TY Glad you got it together. Alpeduez21

[Turbineguy]

51. Economics

[debm55]

75. TY Turbineguy, Did you make it a lifetime choice?

[Turbineguy]

95. I became an engineer

but I was able to run my department for less as a rule.

[debm55]

98. Good for you.

[Lochloosa]

52. Algebra 1 and 2.

Mrs. Watson was the best teacher I've ever had. She used to hand out "G's" in her little book for chewing gum in class. She called me out one day and I corrected her showing the piece of paper I was chewing on.

She gave me a "P".

[debm55]

76. Thank you Locloosa for the funny post. Mrs Watson seems like she was an excellent teacher. I disliked Algebra 1 , but

loved Algebra 2 . Having a great teacher helps.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

53. Civics (which was taught by my high school debate coach)

It was my civics teacher/high school debate coach that taught me the concept that: "No true Texan can sleep soundly while the Texas legislature is in session."

[debm55]

77. TY LetMy PeopleVote. I have to ask ---Did you become a Lawyer? Most of the students in my HS who took debate became

lawyers. You were very lucky to have civics and debate. My school had debate as an elective and civics in Jr. High.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

82. There were a ton of debaters in law school

I debated on the college level for a year and a half and then judged debate during law school.

[LiberalFighter]

54. Had Humanities (history) for three years and art

Had four teachers in the Humanities class.

[Mad_Dem_X]

55. Drama

Even though I was very shy in school, I loved this class, because it allowed me to pretend to be someone else for a little while.

[SarahD]

56. Freshman English.

Big major giant crush on the teacher. Looking back, he was kind of a geek, but I thought he was dreamy. He was only there for one quarter, doing a practicum for his education degree.

[Permanut]

57. Literature, taught by Mr. Bonniwell..

The highlight was a version of "Little Red Riding Hood" with every single word changed.

It was called "Ladle Rat Rotten Hut".

Can't remember it all, but it included the line

"Water bag mouser gut, Grammar!".

[woodsprite]

59. Madrigal Consort!

[happybird]

60. US History and German

Because both classes had great teachers.

[Different Drummer]

61. A tie between French and Spanish.

Took and loved both. Had great teachers!

[debm55]

108. Thank you m Different Drummer, You took two languages? I am glade you had the teachers that cared about their students.

[Different Drummer]

114. I took both, but in different years.

I would have taken more languages if they had been available.

[debm55]

118. TY Different Drummer. You didn't have German?

[Different Drummer]

121. Unfortunately, no. n/t

[k8conant]

62. Math, German, and French

[debm55]

109. k8contant , TY for bringing up the subjects. They are not easy, You must have loved those subjects and had the right

teachers. Very good.

[sinkingfeeling]

63. In Jr High it was American History with World History in high school.

[debm55]

110. Thank you, sinkingfeeling. I loved teaching World History in Junior High.

[ms liberty]

64. Chorus and Madrigals, entry was by audition only.

I started taking chorus as soon as we had electives where I could choose it. In junior high school I was a 1st soprano with 6 octaves plus, and excellent pitch. When I moved to high school I continued, then won a spot in madrigals. Since our madrigals group in high school was strictly a capella, the pitch part was really important. I've still got most of my range, but not all of it because now I'm old lol!

[debm55]

111. TY ms. liberty but you still have the memories as your post points out and the love of music.

[ms liberty]

116. Yes, and I practice and sing every day, just not professionally, lol!

[Aristus]

65. German.

I took three years of German classes in high school. For a number of reasons. I was (and still am) a fan of Richard Wagner's operas; and I like listening to them in the original German. I also like and admire Germany, the German people, and German culture. Finally, since until 1,000 years ago, German and English were roughly the same language, there are plenty of similarities between the two to make it relatively easy to learn.

My German teacher was a brilliant educator whose love for the German language and love of teaching were infectious.

His brilliance at teaching us formal as well as idiomatic German paid off years later when I was stationed in Germany with the Army. I made a number of German friends who complimented me on my grasp of the language. I always made sure to credit my teacher for that.

I got back in touch with him on Facebook about ten years ago, and thanked him for helping me learn the language. I told him how much my German friends admired my grasp of the language, and that it contributed to making my time in Germany wonderful and memorable.

He died from Alzheimer's Disease a couple of years ago. His wife posted the notice on his page. I responded with a memorial to him mentioning all the things I wrote above. His wife thanked me for sharing.

He really was a life-changing teacher. I'll always be grateful.

[debm55]

113. Thank you, Aristus. Your post is heartwarming to read and your respect for the teacher touches my heart. Thank you so

very much for sharing a story about a teacher that did it right.

[yellowdogintexas]

68. Junior High Kentucky history in 7th grade and Civics in 8th grade. Both required in Kentucky

High school
All the histories and Literature especially Senior year which was English Lit from Beowulf to as far as we could get by May 31. My Senior teacher was one of the best!!!

However, the one which tops them all was Biology; not something I would have expected to like as much as I did. The teacher was a fierce and strict instructor but by the end of the first 9 weeks many of us thought he was the greatest. It was in his class that I learned of the assassination of JFK

(Anyway because of that class, I took two levels of Bio in college and ended up working in health insurance most of my life. All that anatomy was a great help over the years)

[debm55]

115. Ty so much for teachers making learning a life long memory of enrichment and knowledge. yellowdogintexas. your post is

wonderful ,

[Luciferous]

69. History because those classes

always had the coolest teachers

[debm55]

91. Ty Luciferous, They did. and they were more in tune with modern practices and the students they taught.

[Jeebo]

70. Creative Writing.

Last edited Mon Feb 19, 2024, 12:34 PM - Edit history (1)

I took a Creative Writing class my senior year in high school. We wrote stories and poetry and shared them with each other and read them aloud in class. I loved that class. I made a B, but nobody else in the class made a better grade. There was one girl who made an A one semester, but a B for the whole year. The teacher said she didn't think she should give anybody an A unless that student was already writing stuff that was publishable. I thought that was an unreasonably high standard for high school kids. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed that class. Somewhere I still have the stories and poetry I wrote for that class -- I think -- but I would have to hunt for them.

-- Ron

[debm55]

90. I agree that her standards were way to high. Regardless of grade you enjoyed and kept your poems and writings. That says

alot about you feelings at that age. And you learned from it, regardless of what the teacher thought. question for you---did she have anything puplished? You learned about the feelings and thoughts. I would look for those poems and writings. to see where you were and were you are now. TY Jeebo for posting this.

[marked50]

71. Lunch

[debm55]

89. Not at our school. HAHAHAHAHHAHAH. Ty marked50

[Ocelot II]

78. I liked art and choir pretty much. Everything else sucked.

I hated high school.

[debm55]

88. in high school I liked it because of the electives systems. But my favarites were Art , Geometry and Drafting. classes.

They were fun and with the shit going on in my house it was a getaway for me.

[Pinback]

79. Band!

Many of my best friends were musicians, and we had a great time in band class. Actually learned something about music in the process, too, incidentally!

[debm55]

87. Always wanted to learn to play an instrument. When I was in the 6 th grade a government program was set up with free

Instruments and lessons during the summer. I wanted the fllute, but I was given the French Horn. I really liked it but got made fun of by my family , so I quite.

[Pinback]

103. French horn is a beautiful instrument.

Challenging to control the pitch, but once you get the hang of it, it has a lovely, mellow tone. I was a trumpet player myself. Never got to Great, but it was fun.

[debm55]

106. Family made fun of me. They knew I was going for a flute and got the French Horn.

[Pinback]

120. So sorry...

That was pretty callous. As a friend of mine said once, “I bet therapists hate the family.”

I may be an unrealistic optimist, but I really believe if you have the desire (and a good teacher), you can start a musical instrument at any age. Not talking about getting to Carnegie Hall, just playing for pleasure. Just a suggestion.

[debm55]

122. I did take something a few years ago, I always wanted to take tap dancing , My mother said no to tap, swimming classes,

piano, baton and tap. No to all as kids took those were show offs. Well a couple of years ago I saw that the local community center was offering tap for Seniors. I took it, I loved it. My childhood was very abusive to me. Brother and sister got whatever and whenever they pleased.No matter what i did it was not good enough or I wanted to be better then them. But I survived. TY for your kind words.

[Xolodno]

80. In Jr. High, it was woodshop.

Made a chess board, a number of shelves and some artsy wood things. After I moved out from my parents, it all disappeared sadly.

In high school, it was Dungeons & Dragons

[debm55]

85. I wanted to take wood shop, Female students were not permitted. I loved looking at the display they made of their

projects. They were beautiful. All my art projects "disappeared " after I left for the convent. Never asked if I wanted them.

[Tikki]

81. Favorite High School "Home Ec." this teacher was kind and wise.

Jr. High favorite was General Science, also an outstanding teacher.


Tikki

[debm55]

83. Thank you , Tikki, I liked General Science in 9th however the teacher didn;t do one single experiment with us.

Book stuff was interesting.

[Niagara]

84. There were a few classes that I excelled at.

Reading, Vocabulary, and Creative Writing.


Life and Environmental Science.


Physical Ed was for the most part alright. There were a few times that I wanted to tell the P.E. teachers to shove it because the redundancy of activities was ridiculous.


Art class was okay. Sometimes the art teacher didn't exactly explain exactly what they wanted so I didn't understand the assignment resulting in a low grade. If I understand the assignment I received a high grade.

[debm55]

86. Very good list, Niagara. Don't cut yourself short on art. My teacher gave us a minimum amount of instructions and it was

up to each of us to interpret what we would do---clay, weaving, printing, batik ect.

[av8rdave]

92. Physics

Great teacher, and the textbook was written by Isaac Asimov.

[jmowreader]

94. Mr. Santos' science classes

Mitch Santos was this California surfer dude the district hired because he was so awesome of a volleyball coach. They got their money’s worth on that one because until recently the only sport we ever won the state tournament in was volleyball.

Anyway, Mitch’s science classes were fun in part because he would work real-world subjects - read: surfing - into them.

[debm55]

99. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, That is so funny but sadly so true. At the school I taught at a 6th grade teacher was hired to

teach AP History and coach football.

[happybird]

102. That reminds me of my Odds and Probability teacher

I never took SATs so had to take non-credited, lower level math courses in community college as prerequisites for Math for the Liberal Arts. Anyhoo…

He was a gambling addict– the perfect person to teach us about Odds and Probability, lol!
All the lessons were based around figuring out how to beat casino and card games. A very fun class!

[malthaussen]

96. Honestly, I didn't have one. I *really* hated school.

There's a reason I dropped out. Several, in fact.

However, I did take a Chemistry course at the local Community College after I dropped out to fulfill a requirement to get into a four-year college. The teacher was a complete drunk, but he was hilarious and a very good teacher. I enjoyed that class.

-- Mal

[debm55]

100. TY malthaussen great post.

[bif]

101. Photography

I had a very inspiring teacher who basically turned my life around. I was a drifter who was way into drugs. He was a mentor who helped me change. I'm forever in his debt. Just shows you what a difference a great teacher can make.

[Chainfire]

104. I liked history.

My main history teacher was a WWII tanker that fought for Patton. We didn't call it that then but he certainly suffered from PTSD, he was quite nutty, but could teach history in a way that you never forget the important parts. I can still see him performing his lectures in my mind. A imperfect man, and a heavy drinker outside of school, but an outstanding teacher.

I will always remember you with a smile, Mr. Marcus.

My second favorite was band. It was not so much the music, but those long trips, lightly chaperoned, on a bus, after dark going to festival. Many an embouchure was ruined on those trips.

[debm55]

107. Ty for the post Chainfire. Mr. Marcus was self medicating. What he did and saw only he knows. But he made history come

alive for you, That was his gift to you and the other students he taught. I'm happy to see you accepted the gift. I was not in band but even I heard about the things that went on to and from the destinations.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

105. Music, orchestra...

electronics shop in HS.

[Emile]

112. Miss Riggle 7th grade English class. She

was my first teacher crush. Wore mini skirts and sat on a stool in front of the class. Broke my heart when she married the math teacher.

[dai13sy]

117. My favorite

class was English in both Jr. High and Sr. High because of my 2 over-achieving Teachers.

[debm55]

119. TY dai13sy. It's nice to have teachers that care about teaching.

[pansypoo53219]

123. I liked metals.

[GoodRaisin]

124. Math and Physics

[electric_blue68]

125. HS: Art, History. JHS: Art, General Science...

I went to a specialized Art & Music HS, so I had plenty of Art classes.

I loved the oil painting part. Like ceramics a lot though I wasn't too good at it. 😄
There was a cool graphics design, and Illustration kind of class that did much of the HS's yearly magazine. And I did my first Artist made book there! Acordian style. 👍

We had some good History teachers.

__________________
In JHS we had Art classes, including one where we did art for the yearly magazine.

We had a nice Science Teacher. Looking back on it I don't know how unusual it was then (but it seemed ordinary to me then) but the teacher was a black woman.

Anyway the worst thing was when she opened a container of what I called "swamp water". Omg! Half the class moved to the back to get the least of the stink! 😄
She placed a drop on the slide, and we each went up to look through the microscope.
I still remember I saw a paramecium!

The coolest thing was a machine that would split water (H2O ) back into it's components: Hydrogen & Oxygen. Each gas would be sent through a nozzle to which a balloon was attached.

Because there was Twice the Hydrogen (H2) than Oxygen (O) the hydrogen balloon inflated twice the size of the oxygen balloon. Fascinating. 👍


The most usual thing were our language classes. In 5th & 6th grade top class we had a French teacher. Didn't like her so turned me off to learning French.
I wasn't interested in learning Spanish. But we had a third option...

No, not Latin, but... (and this was 66/67)

Russian! Yeah, Good ole Soviet Union Ruskie! 😄

Now my dad was First Gen Ukrainian-American. I know the language was similar so I thought we could exchange some talk. He grew learning English first (I think), he did speak to his dad in Ukrainian. If he learned Ukrainian first; he never had an accent.

I also wasn't aware yet that many Ukrainian-Americans hated the Soviet Union. But my dad didn't say anything I remember.

Russian has three ?tenses: masculine, femenine, and ? nuetral (n). So an extra there 😄 plus learning the Cyrillic Alphabet. A bit of a challenge!
But I did well got somewhere in the 80's range.

Didn't continue bc the Specialized HS only had Spanish, or French.

[calimary]

126. Mrs. Baker's history class.

Just ate it up.

And any art class of any sort, official or otherwise.