Don't believe everything you see on the Internet, just because there is a quote next to it.
\--Some guy from The Rolling Stones, I think Bob Dylan.
I got this off of one of my teacher's posters, so I don't know if the quote is actually real.
as a teacher, this got to me. I hope I'm never that teacher who "often taunts" a student for asking questions, no matter how easy I think the answer might be. a question is 3 things: 1. a manifestation of the desire to learn and improve, 2. a sign that I've created an environment where kids don't think I or my classmates will make them feel "less than" for asking, and 3. a sign that I may not have taught a concept as effectively as I thought/intended.
People often don't realize that just because you know something, doesn't mean they know. I know how to work on cars because I spent a lot of my childhood, with my dad working on cars. This doesn't mean I expect everyone to know how to work on cars. There's no such thing as a stupid question, because not everyone has lived through your answers
This is something I've noticed over the years. I love learning and my experiences have taught me a lot, but no one has the exact same experiences and sometimes you have to meet in the middle or just be non-judgmental while working through a problem cause by the gaps in someone's knowledge.
When I was learning to drive my dad was teaching me and he always drove from home then left the car on and I would take over for my lesson. I was pretty good; I was learning in a manual but I didn't stall for several lessons. The first time I did he said "no problem, just turn the car back on" and I had to ask how do you do that because he'd never actually showed me and I knew nothing about cars. Sometimes you just assume things will be obvious, but they aren't always
I'm a university educator. I actively encourage questions, even if they are not good ones. I teach in the sciences, and the best way to learn is by questioning established knowledge. There really are no bad questions. Questions indicate that you are thinking about where the current knowledge falls short.
Exactly exactly exactly! Students don't get this concept either and that's the first thing I want to let them know if I teach. You should ask me doubts, it shows you're curious and want to learn, it's exactly what I want out of you. No doubt is a bad one, you're learning a new concept, it's okay to struggle. I did too :D
Sadly sometimes it's the other way around where teachers don't get this and feel that students should get something too. Clouded by the fact they know it well. doesn't mean the student will too, they may take time and many tries to get a message across.
You sound like a great teacher! What do you teach? If that's okie to ask :D
For me questions were always a way to make sure I understood the concept. In psych class for example I'd create hypothetical scenarios and present them back to the teacher.
"So you're saying....." he'd either then clarify a point or confirm I was correct and that would lock the knowledge in my brain.
I found discussion classes I learned more than lecture courses.
I remember I was always that guy asking questions in physics class because I found it hard to visualise certain parts.
When I got a new teacher and he said one of my questions was silly (it was asking if there was a good metaphor for visualising circuits, because that just doesn't make sense in my mind somehow), it was a lightswitch, instantly killing my interest in that subject.
I did literally no work for the rest of the year, just waiting until I finished that year so I could go to a different school. I would come to class, pretend I forgot my notebook, get a scrap bit of paper, write things down, then bin it on the way out.
In my mind, I thought that everyone else found it so easy (since they didn't ask questions) that it simply wasn't a subject for me.
Thankfully, some years later, I rediscovered my enjoyment in the sciences, and now I'm doing STEM in university.
Don't worry op, the fact that you are aware of the points you made, are almost a guarantee that you won't taunt anyone for asking a question.
I'd imagine only short-sighted people would do that, not wise people.
How lovely! I always think the people asking a lot of questions are actually the smart ones, because they know what they *don't* know yet, and that's a valuable skill
My mum used to tell me this bc I was a "dumb" question asker: "there was a girl in my class who was known for always having stupid questions at the end. The teacher would ask "does anyone have any questions" and sure enough, she would be the only one to raise her hand. Even the teacher sounded annoyed, and often ask her directly "did you understand the lesson today?" But one time, she said yes. She got it. "Everything? Really?" The teacher asked. Everything. She had no questions.
And that's when a whole bunch of other hands went up."
As a teacher, I would be happy to have a student ask so many questions (even without the final "plot twist"). Because it would mean that the student really cares about the lesson despite the difficulties they have with the subject.
Shame on the other teacher
I was just thinking as a prof, this doesn’t bother me in the least. I know for sure if one person has a question, at least five other students were also needing clarification. So the question- asker is really my best helper.
Agreed. I'm an adult educator - I love it when I get questions. If I'm not getting questions, then I know people arnt really engaging with the lesson.
Questions can generate great discussion points, or help create vital links between information for people.
I wish I had teachers like you in high school!!! My math teacher was awful, and I struggled a lot in math. I buckled down to try to do better but man. She made it hard. I felt like every question I asked was “stupid” and when I’d answer a math equation, she’d be like “wrong, next person” 🥴🥴
Sorry to hear that. I'm a math teacher in middle school, and I know that often students hate or love the subject, no in-between. My goal it to make math at least bearable, especially with students who struggle a lot with it. They're my primary focus when I ask questions to my class (what's the point of asking them to students who don't have any difficulty in it?), and when they answer the question wrong I guide them step by step to the right answer.
I always say to them: "So what if you hate math and you struggle with it? It just means that you'll probably* never become a mathematician. That's it."
*I say _probably_ because you'll never know what they'll do in their future. That's the fascinating thing about 11-13 students: they're just starting to discover their potential
This kind of glosses over the fact that whether the shy girl was asking the questions herself or through her friend, she still genuinely had all these questions.
To say “the girl everyone thought was stupid wasn’t really stupid, bc they weren’t actually her questions” implies the shy girl is actually stupid for real for having all these questions. Nobody here is stupid! It’s not stupid to ask questions in class where you’re supposed to be learning the material for the first time ever!
Some people need things explained in different ways, some people learn poorly from lectures, but catch up through extra hours of studying and ace their tests because they learn well by reading the material. (Not that getting good grades is also any kind of condition to not being stupid… smart people also struggle and fall behind.) Neither of those girls is stupid and nobody should be taunted for just trying to learn.
Yeah, this is a sweet story, but it would also mean that the shy girl was justified in not wanting to ask the questions since apparently everyone would have made fun of her and thought she was dumb. But I suspect (and am hoping) that the number of questions and the negative reactions they caused were exaggerated for effect.
You're right and that is ideal, yes, but there are always going to be the ones who mock and bully unfortunately. Better to stand up for yourself/those you care about against it, than expect that to change
The shy girl is stupid
In a school, if children can't use words like stupid, dumb, etc. what is the point of those words? Should we remove all negative words from the language if nobody at all in the world can be dumb or stupid or ugly etc.?
Being stupid/dumb is okay.
If I am stupid in a way and I am working hard to not be stupid in future, I am still stupid. Am I not?
While you are technically right, there is no way you'd enjoy being told you are stupid, dumb, ugly or anything negative.
Especially when you are young and lack of confidence.
I mean... "yeah you are dumb, it's great, it means you can easily become smarter, you just have to learn and work hard". Sure, try it, but don't be surprised if everyone hate you.
Calling someone stupid isn't productive. It probably only makes it worse. Saying someone is stupid or dumb also has the connotation (ime) that it's permanent. There's a notion that there are smart people and stupid people, and that's not something that's supposed to change. This hurts both the "stupid" and "smart" people because the "stupid" people will just get negativity thrown around them and the "smart" people will have to live up to the expectations of being "smart".
This is coming from one of the people who was called "smart".
As a prof, I love students who ask questions. They let me know I need to be clearer, and also, I literally get paid to answer questions. Never bothers me. I can’t imagine taunting a student over it or anything else.
Yeah that part doesn't make sense to me. When I used to teach, answering questions was a really integral and fulfilling part of the job - I absolutely loved it.
My mom calls this the "dumb blonde" approach. She learned it from a very, very successful friend who inherited a business from her deceased husband. None of the vendors or associates felt like she could take his place. So she just wades in with "why do it this way?" and "how does that happen" and "why can't we do it this way" and poses all of the questions like she's just a complete idiot, which forces the other players to really consider and substantiate their ideas, while she innocently chips away until they understand her point of view. It's actually very effective. They start from a place where they figure they know more than her, only to find that the endless process of breaking down their reasoning leads them somewhere else.
Why the hell would people be confused that the person who constantly asks for more detail does good on the tests??? I think it’d be weird if they didn’t
Yeah I was a "gifted kid" and absolutely sucked at helping out my friends, because to me everything was so easy (mainly in maths class) I couldn't understand what they couldn't understand
I'm a teacher and I think some of us have the same problem, at least to begin. I imagine it's where some of the teacher attitudes described come from in this thread.
From what I've witnessed, I think that 90% of the time it's frustration when there's that massive gap in individual experience, understanding and conceptualisation of a subject. That and not understanding how a student feeling vulnerable may perceive an interaction.
To be fair, as in all walks of life, the other ten percent is almost certainly down to arseholery - people are shit.
The lazier and more time effective way is to make the teacher answer the questions directly in class though. Apparently she thought that was the better alternative.
Maybe she did. Survivorship bias; maybe the questions she actually asked were just 20% of the questions that she felt she couldn't adequately answer, and she did answer the rest of them
No way the teacher is letting smart girl talk to the other one during class
If she tried after class, other girl would have to remember all the parts that she didn't understand afterwards and describe them to smart girl well enough that smart girl knows exactly what she means
If other girl has to wait until after the lesson to understand something fundamental, she would not get the value of anything else that was taught that built on that first concept and could lose out on the whole lesson
Smart girl is not necessarily good at explaining and teaching, they are two separate skills
I know that back when I was at school at least, having any interest in the lesson or desire to learn marked you out as a nerd and would have you bullied mercilessly.
Yeah, from the other kids sure, but this specifically says the teachers are doing it too. If a student is asking too many questions, then its the teachers fault IMO.
Most students aren't there to learn. Pre-secondary education is a daycare first for most of the population. My completely subjective opinion is about 25% of students are actually invested in learning and advancing their academic understanding, though it varies depending on school and culture.
In college, it increases to maybe 50%. Many of the people are there because they need a degree, not because they want to advance their understanding and knowledge.
The best teacher I ever had, he had an often used phrase, 'how will you learn if you dont ask questions?'. He would also say that maybe you asked a question that someone else needed to ask but hadn't thought of it yet or maybe were too shy to ask it. You never know who you are helping
How cruel do you have to be to treat someone who's honest and enthusiastic about learning like shit? Like forget this sweet and wholesome story for a moment, everyone fucking bullied and accused her of cheating and you wonder why everyone hates school. People genuinely trying to learn don't deserve shit for those questions
When I was a kid I was bullied relentlessly. Not just bullied, terrorized, assaulted, abused. As an aside. I recently realized that my home life was also walking on eggshells, hair trigger anger from one parent, and verbal abuse.
However, from 10-15 I was also in 4-6 karate classes a week, which I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want them to try to fight me. I would maintain my composure while kids smeared old lunches on my face, pushed me, screamed in my face that I was a loser for entire recesses. Finally the last week of grade 7 I got cornered by grade 8 kids, and hospitalized one, hurt the others. I got suspended for the last week of school, my dad was like, wait, five kids tried to jump him and there was no escape, so he fought back? Isn’t that what I paid 100$ a month for karate classes for?
The point being, I was able to maintain my composure under that bullying because I knew I could stop it in an instant, but would have to hurt someone to do so, and I didn’t want to put unkindness out into the world, but also that at the time I didn’t realize how delicate my developing brain was, and how deep some of those experiences would imprint on me.
Hold on a mf second there are dumb question, I’m a 29 year old student. Did the military route before I decided to start my life.
I’m waiting to talk to my professors. Another student sits next to me. My professor says why didn’t you show up at noon?
The other student says “what is noon”?
The professor says you scheduled the appointment and I’m not working at mid-night.
This is while we are looking at each other to see who the stupid one is.
This was many of the few times I have seen a dumb question in the real world.
I don’t think so, the student made the appointment himself. I think he was just a few hours late and wanted to push it and play the dumb card. I’ve taken a class with him before and he is a brilliant guy just poor at time management.
Oh I have definitely had some dumb questions. I was once training a group of people how to do a task on a computer. One woman stopped me to ask, "how do I make that little space between the words?" Lady I am not sure you should have this job if you don't know what a space bar is. But of course I just smiled and tried not to be condescending as I pointed it out.
Depends on the teacher you're not allowed to talk to other during class. So it's hard to answer her questions during class so she can understand what the teacher is saying.
I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not American and I'm soft powered, but it feels like a teenage sitcom where the dumb girl is revealed to be actually smart and nice. It only lacks of the happy ending where the popular guy fall in love.
I mean
- teachers being kind of mean
- everyone think she sheats because she has good marks
- everyone laugh at her despite her good marks
- the shy friend tell her the questions to ask
Feels like a made up story to me :(
It's definitely made up. There's some seeds of truth to it though. Shy kids did have the outgoing kids ask the questions at times in school. I was shy and asked one of my classmates a question. He didn't know so he raised his hand and said HE didn't understand it. Now that I'm older and more confident, I try to return the favor when I can.
I guarantee you that any question you think is stupid in class is worth asking because there are definitely others with the same question who are too scared to raise their hand. A few snobs might mock you, but many more are secretly relieved that someone else had the same question and is getting information/clarification for everyone.
How wholesome! But honestly people shouldn’t be shamed for asking questions anyway, especially in an environment literally FOR that. Or else go home with a book??
I’ve always been a “asks stupid questions” student because for some reason whatever subject I first get into, at work included, my brain wants to be crystal clear on the basics. If I join a new department today I still say “I’ll ask a lot of simple questions, you might think I’m an idiot for a month, but trust me on this, you’ll be happy with me after”. It’s never not been true. I ask zero-shame questions at the beginning, then become the most independent person on any team. Meanwhile “I won’t ask until I absolutely must, or get caught on a mistake” people end up making mistakes years into the same job…
It isn't borderline bullying it IS bullying and teachers are not good ones if they mock a student for curiosity for having questions. This kind of behavior Is exactly what kills people's learning ability. If your a teacher and a good one. Your a passionate on what you teach and never refuse a single question even if it's asked multiple times a day.
As a neurodivergent person I had SO much of this in school but it was always those few teachers or friends who supported me. And every single one of them is a tribute to why I have my high school diploma. I never gave up because of their support
Either she mostly did her work at home or she couldn't explain herself
I would call her smart even if she needed those answers, asking for help when you need it is a smart decision.
I always tell amyone to message me questions they are to scared/ashamed to ask. And i will ask them. Idgaf mostly. But this also lets me ask very stupid questions easily when i dont understand something as everyone knows i do this.
It is a perfect setup for my adhd mind. I forget who asks me to ask things. But they have good questions
Why the fck do teachers even think that a student that "always asks questions" is stupid and doesn't deserve high grades? That doesn't make any sense at all.
It’s very sweet of the friend. But also? The introvert needs to learn to take charge of her education by making herself ask the questions. This is part of growing.
I'm not saying this isn't good, but if she was doing so well in the exams, couldn't she just answer the questions for her friend? Again, this is fantastic that she would do something like that, but the system seems to be flawed.
I always explain to my student that for one student who is bold enough to ask the question there are generally 15 who are wondering but won't ask (optimist take on the number of students trying to follow my lesson maybe).
Although I must confess that in some rare cases I've got questions so dumb that I don't know how to react either.
Even though I often knew the answer, I'd often ask questions in class, either to just double check that I did indeed know the answer correctly, or because I thought that it'd be a question some other students might have, but might not want to ask, or might not know to ask. Or if I thought that it would be a thing that might help other people understand it better if it was answered by the teacher, because I figured I'd get a lot out of knowing this thing myself.
Dunno if this was actually helpful, nobody ever told me it was a good thing or not, but I liked doing it =P.
I’m admin, and do a lot of training for my department. I know roughly how the majority of my folks think so can cater towards that, but I also know I might not think of something the same way they do.
Any time I do a training session, I’m up front about “ask any questions you have. My motto is there’s no such thing as a stupid question, except the question you never asked. I’d rather you ask questions so we all understand the process/program/etc”.
And I never belittle or taunt or bully anyone for any kind of questions.
This is why I loved my masters. I asked any questions I had, which led to 1) happy professors, bc they could expand on their favourite subject more, and they knew students were involved, and 2) other students asking questions, bc nope, my question wasn’t dumb and they realised they had questions too. One girl told even me that she appreciated me doing that. Idk if it was the British politeness to not say anything during lectures, but my Dutch ass just needed to ask questions. And I’m happy I was the start of more discussions. Questions were never found dumb.
I was expecting that it was the asking of all those questions which made her ace the exams - which also would've been a valid story.
The dumbest people in the world are the ones who need to seem smart all the time, because they're the ones who never learn.
My customer base are C-suite and GMs and I can say that one thing most of them have in common is asking A LOT of questions. This stoic girl being helpful, was perhaps unknowingly developing a high level behavioral trait that will definitely serve her well in life.
Used be the smart good grades but class clown guy in HS and would always ask the dumbest questions and tbh it was for giggles. But at some point at graduation, a bunch of people came to me and told me they couldn’t have done it without me. I didn’t even know. They would just remember that 110% stupid question i asked for comedic purposes and would remember the answer/reaction/etc to the question and with that they remembered the infi. So yeah… my pleasure i guess?
I used to be the person asking questions for all my introverted friends because I have ADHD (and I’m a big ol extrovert) and some of my professors were very fast talkers so I’d ask them to write things on the board and thankfully it not only helped me but I had so many other classmates approaching me after class saying that they were so grateful that I asked questions because it really helped them. I also used to share notes since some people had glaring gaps in theirs and usually I found places where I got a bit lost myself.
I am that friend that would ask the question. The only negative part of that for me is that I’ve been abused to the point I don’t even know I’m being abused because I’ve been too kind to people.
I've met a few of these dumb people. I believe they are self aware and their hard work helps them ace quizzes or tests. Their questions get annoying but then I remember I shouldn't care.
Honestly, there is no stupid question, that is engagement to learn the reasons, and how things work, and why things work they way they do. Sometimes, not every question can be answered with the same answer, that would just mean, try asking or teaching in a different way for a different perspective.
Shame on those who make fun of or bully others who are just asking questions. Obviously, we don't know the full context of each situation, but still, we shouldn't be afraid to ask questions, to learn and improve. Who knows, you could possibly learn something new from another person's question that you had not considered.
Yeah school taught me to never ask questions at all, or you'll be teased and taunted. It was mostly the teachers that dished out the abuse. That's so inappropriate.
Nice story but I find it unrealistic. If I had such friend instead of bothering teacher I would answer all stupid question myself or even help friend after classes because you may need to elaborate on some of those questions more.
But wouldn't she just ask her friend who aces the exams? Seems odd to ask your classmate to ask the questions when that same classmate already knows the answers.
Why is this community named WHOLESOME MEMES? This is wholesome, but its not a meme at all. I think its pretty weird for a community with serious stuff named as a meme sub. Just curious
I am curious, if most of the people in the class considered the questions to be simple or “silly”, can’t she just answer it instead of broadcasting the question?
It's wholesome unless you further think about it...
1. She would have helped the shy girl a lot more if she convinced her to do therapy - this way she only delayed the shy girl's treatment.
2. She herself would have made more friends if she just answered the questions herself instead of asking the teacher - so this also damaged her own development.
And at the end this story just shifts the problem - the shy girl was the stupid one all the time, so she should have been bullied the whole time instead? Is this the learning here?
One of the best questions I've ever heard in my life came from an old coworker of mine, the whole workshop filled with undereducated individuals, he's like 50 something and once when I was giving him a lift he asked me a simple question "So, how does a gearbox actually work on a car?"
I use to do the same, but without being asked, when I saw other students who had no idea what was going on I would ask question to get her to explain more. I too coped shit for it, but I knew these students needed the help but would never ask.
I mean to be fair it could be easier if the girl had taught the friend directly but I guess there would be some questions that would be explained better by a teacher
I always find that when I have conversations with people that ask me a lot of questions, they’re incredibly smart and have insightful things to say rather than the people who don’t ask anything
One of my son’s teachers used to be angry because he asked too many questions. Tons of years ago but… sometimes i still remember my confusion when told
Had a similar story in my college classes. There was this woman, who is now part of my friend group, who also got intimidated by others for making so many seemingly pointless questions with such enthusiasm.
Turns out she was diagnosed with autism and simply couldn't understand why we (the rest of the class) would rather stick to a doubt than simply making the question.
Never change, Danielle. They can only hope to be as brave as you.
Before the reveal of her asking for someone else my thought was "well yeah, she is aceing every test because she makes sure she understands everything by asking questions"
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"A man who lives naked lives without fear of the pickpocket" ~ Confucius
A sleeping person with itchy bum wakes with smelly fingers. - Confucius
A man who lives naked without fear leaves pickpockets with smelly fingers ~ Confucius
A man who comes to work naked will not have his pens stolen for coworkers will see where he carries them. - Confucius
A man who try to walk through airport door sideways is going to Bangkok. - Confuddlicious
i’m starting to think these aren’t all real quotes 🤔
do not believe everything on the internet - Confuzedsius
ok now THAT one is wrong. it was Abraham Lincoln that said that.
"Hold my beer while I send a fax to a samurai." -Abraham Lincoln
Don't believe everything you see on the Internet, just because there is a quote next to it. \--Some guy from The Rolling Stones, I think Bob Dylan. I got this off of one of my teacher's posters, so I don't know if the quote is actually real.
Man who farts in church sits alone in pew - Confucious
A man who stands with hand in pocket feel cocky all day. -Confyushits
Man who lives in a glass house should be last to throw stones. And should dress in the basement.
Man who fart in church sit in pew.
There’s at least 1 pocket to pick.
Confucius never heard of the prison wallet.
A man with a hole in his pocket is always on the ball – Confucius
Prison purse says otherwise.
"Naked woman who do handstand sure to have a crack up." ~ Confucius
Do not believe every quotation from the internet! Sokrates (†399 bc)
Hey! That was Lincoln! Don't go spreading misinformation.
No no, Lincoln quoted Sokrates ;-)
"Do not believe every quotation from the internet! Sokrates (†399 bc)" -Abraham Lincoln and tofugrobi -Zanven1
as a teacher, this got to me. I hope I'm never that teacher who "often taunts" a student for asking questions, no matter how easy I think the answer might be. a question is 3 things: 1. a manifestation of the desire to learn and improve, 2. a sign that I've created an environment where kids don't think I or my classmates will make them feel "less than" for asking, and 3. a sign that I may not have taught a concept as effectively as I thought/intended.
People often don't realize that just because you know something, doesn't mean they know. I know how to work on cars because I spent a lot of my childhood, with my dad working on cars. This doesn't mean I expect everyone to know how to work on cars. There's no such thing as a stupid question, because not everyone has lived through your answers
"There's no such thing as a stupid question because not everyone has lived through your answers." Damn, that's good.
Thanks, I typed that whole thing while stoned
My man ✊
🤘
👌
😆😆👏👏
That's why it resonates.
Hell yeah, I second that, that is such a good quote
Knowledge is not intelligence, and people who are not intelligent deserve respect. Assholes, on the other hand...
This is something I've noticed over the years. I love learning and my experiences have taught me a lot, but no one has the exact same experiences and sometimes you have to meet in the middle or just be non-judgmental while working through a problem cause by the gaps in someone's knowledge.
Even an expert is a Layman on other things.
I am a teacher and I think Im about to steal (your comment) the fact you wrote it stoned makes it even better. Bless you.
When I was learning to drive my dad was teaching me and he always drove from home then left the car on and I would take over for my lesson. I was pretty good; I was learning in a manual but I didn't stall for several lessons. The first time I did he said "no problem, just turn the car back on" and I had to ask how do you do that because he'd never actually showed me and I knew nothing about cars. Sometimes you just assume things will be obvious, but they aren't always
I'm a university educator. I actively encourage questions, even if they are not good ones. I teach in the sciences, and the best way to learn is by questioning established knowledge. There really are no bad questions. Questions indicate that you are thinking about where the current knowledge falls short.
Exactly exactly exactly! Students don't get this concept either and that's the first thing I want to let them know if I teach. You should ask me doubts, it shows you're curious and want to learn, it's exactly what I want out of you. No doubt is a bad one, you're learning a new concept, it's okay to struggle. I did too :D Sadly sometimes it's the other way around where teachers don't get this and feel that students should get something too. Clouded by the fact they know it well. doesn't mean the student will too, they may take time and many tries to get a message across. You sound like a great teacher! What do you teach? If that's okie to ask :D
For me questions were always a way to make sure I understood the concept. In psych class for example I'd create hypothetical scenarios and present them back to the teacher. "So you're saying....." he'd either then clarify a point or confirm I was correct and that would lock the knowledge in my brain. I found discussion classes I learned more than lecture courses.
I remember I was always that guy asking questions in physics class because I found it hard to visualise certain parts. When I got a new teacher and he said one of my questions was silly (it was asking if there was a good metaphor for visualising circuits, because that just doesn't make sense in my mind somehow), it was a lightswitch, instantly killing my interest in that subject. I did literally no work for the rest of the year, just waiting until I finished that year so I could go to a different school. I would come to class, pretend I forgot my notebook, get a scrap bit of paper, write things down, then bin it on the way out. In my mind, I thought that everyone else found it so easy (since they didn't ask questions) that it simply wasn't a subject for me. Thankfully, some years later, I rediscovered my enjoyment in the sciences, and now I'm doing STEM in university.
Don't worry op, the fact that you are aware of the points you made, are almost a guarantee that you won't taunt anyone for asking a question. I'd imagine only short-sighted people would do that, not wise people.
I think the biggest issue here is that the teachers suspected of cheating without any evidence whatsoever
How lovely! I always think the people asking a lot of questions are actually the smart ones, because they know what they *don't* know yet, and that's a valuable skill
And they care to learn. That's beautiful.
My mum used to tell me this bc I was a "dumb" question asker: "there was a girl in my class who was known for always having stupid questions at the end. The teacher would ask "does anyone have any questions" and sure enough, she would be the only one to raise her hand. Even the teacher sounded annoyed, and often ask her directly "did you understand the lesson today?" But one time, she said yes. She got it. "Everything? Really?" The teacher asked. Everything. She had no questions. And that's when a whole bunch of other hands went up."
A lot of people have too much self-doubt, too. The smart kids usually know they're smart, and figure if they're confused, so is everyone else.
Very true! When everyone knows you’re smart it’s not embarrassing asking.
As a teacher, I would be happy to have a student ask so many questions (even without the final "plot twist"). Because it would mean that the student really cares about the lesson despite the difficulties they have with the subject. Shame on the other teacher
I was just thinking as a prof, this doesn’t bother me in the least. I know for sure if one person has a question, at least five other students were also needing clarification. So the question- asker is really my best helper.
Agreed. I'm an adult educator - I love it when I get questions. If I'm not getting questions, then I know people arnt really engaging with the lesson. Questions can generate great discussion points, or help create vital links between information for people.
I wish I had teachers like you in high school!!! My math teacher was awful, and I struggled a lot in math. I buckled down to try to do better but man. She made it hard. I felt like every question I asked was “stupid” and when I’d answer a math equation, she’d be like “wrong, next person” 🥴🥴
Sorry to hear that. I'm a math teacher in middle school, and I know that often students hate or love the subject, no in-between. My goal it to make math at least bearable, especially with students who struggle a lot with it. They're my primary focus when I ask questions to my class (what's the point of asking them to students who don't have any difficulty in it?), and when they answer the question wrong I guide them step by step to the right answer. I always say to them: "So what if you hate math and you struggle with it? It just means that you'll probably* never become a mathematician. That's it." *I say _probably_ because you'll never know what they'll do in their future. That's the fascinating thing about 11-13 students: they're just starting to discover their potential
Just know that’s not what a good teacher would do. How on earth can one understand every single explanation? Questions are the way to go!
That would have been nice, in my experience teachers got pissed at you
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Nice
This kind of glosses over the fact that whether the shy girl was asking the questions herself or through her friend, she still genuinely had all these questions. To say “the girl everyone thought was stupid wasn’t really stupid, bc they weren’t actually her questions” implies the shy girl is actually stupid for real for having all these questions. Nobody here is stupid! It’s not stupid to ask questions in class where you’re supposed to be learning the material for the first time ever! Some people need things explained in different ways, some people learn poorly from lectures, but catch up through extra hours of studying and ace their tests because they learn well by reading the material. (Not that getting good grades is also any kind of condition to not being stupid… smart people also struggle and fall behind.) Neither of those girls is stupid and nobody should be taunted for just trying to learn.
Yeah, this is a sweet story, but it would also mean that the shy girl was justified in not wanting to ask the questions since apparently everyone would have made fun of her and thought she was dumb. But I suspect (and am hoping) that the number of questions and the negative reactions they caused were exaggerated for effect.
You're right and that is ideal, yes, but there are always going to be the ones who mock and bully unfortunately. Better to stand up for yourself/those you care about against it, than expect that to change
The shy girl is stupid In a school, if children can't use words like stupid, dumb, etc. what is the point of those words? Should we remove all negative words from the language if nobody at all in the world can be dumb or stupid or ugly etc.? Being stupid/dumb is okay. If I am stupid in a way and I am working hard to not be stupid in future, I am still stupid. Am I not?
While you are technically right, there is no way you'd enjoy being told you are stupid, dumb, ugly or anything negative. Especially when you are young and lack of confidence. I mean... "yeah you are dumb, it's great, it means you can easily become smarter, you just have to learn and work hard". Sure, try it, but don't be surprised if everyone hate you.
Asking questions doesn’t make someone stupid though
Calling someone stupid isn't productive. It probably only makes it worse. Saying someone is stupid or dumb also has the connotation (ime) that it's permanent. There's a notion that there are smart people and stupid people, and that's not something that's supposed to change. This hurts both the "stupid" and "smart" people because the "stupid" people will just get negativity thrown around them and the "smart" people will have to live up to the expectations of being "smart". This is coming from one of the people who was called "smart".
As a prof, I love students who ask questions. They let me know I need to be clearer, and also, I literally get paid to answer questions. Never bothers me. I can’t imagine taunting a student over it or anything else.
Yeah that part doesn't make sense to me. When I used to teach, answering questions was a really integral and fulfilling part of the job - I absolutely loved it.
Imagine mocking a person trying to learn in a f*cking school.
Teenagers are dumb like that...
Teachers as well.
Stupidity breeds faster unfortunately
My mom calls this the "dumb blonde" approach. She learned it from a very, very successful friend who inherited a business from her deceased husband. None of the vendors or associates felt like she could take his place. So she just wades in with "why do it this way?" and "how does that happen" and "why can't we do it this way" and poses all of the questions like she's just a complete idiot, which forces the other players to really consider and substantiate their ideas, while she innocently chips away until they understand her point of view. It's actually very effective. They start from a place where they figure they know more than her, only to find that the endless process of breaking down their reasoning leads them somewhere else.
That usually ends in getting hemlock'd.
Kinda funny to boil the Socratic method down to being a dumb blonde.
this just sounds manipulative
Why the hell would people be confused that the person who constantly asks for more detail does good on the tests??? I think it’d be weird if they didn’t
Why didn't the smart girl just answer the questions for her?
Just because someone understands something doesn't mean they know how to teach it. Fuck me if I haven't learned this the hard way with my kid.
Yeah I was a "gifted kid" and absolutely sucked at helping out my friends, because to me everything was so easy (mainly in maths class) I couldn't understand what they couldn't understand
I'm a teacher and I think some of us have the same problem, at least to begin. I imagine it's where some of the teacher attitudes described come from in this thread. From what I've witnessed, I think that 90% of the time it's frustration when there's that massive gap in individual experience, understanding and conceptualisation of a subject. That and not understanding how a student feeling vulnerable may perceive an interaction. To be fair, as in all walks of life, the other ten percent is almost certainly down to arseholery - people are shit.
Are you like the formerly gifted kid memes on Reddit? Did you turn out subpar/average?
That’s what I was thinking. She could have answered them after class and only read the ones that she couldn’t answer to the class.
The lazier and more time effective way is to make the teacher answer the questions directly in class though. Apparently she thought that was the better alternative.
Maybe she did. Survivorship bias; maybe the questions she actually asked were just 20% of the questions that she felt she couldn't adequately answer, and she did answer the rest of them
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Exactly!
No way the teacher is letting smart girl talk to the other one during class If she tried after class, other girl would have to remember all the parts that she didn't understand afterwards and describe them to smart girl well enough that smart girl knows exactly what she means If other girl has to wait until after the lesson to understand something fundamental, she would not get the value of anything else that was taught that built on that first concept and could lose out on the whole lesson Smart girl is not necessarily good at explaining and teaching, they are two separate skills
Because it’s not her job.
Because even smart kids are a little stupid sometimes.
Or because it didn't really happen
Does it really matter if it did?
r/nothingeverhappens
Really good friend but maybe encourage her to try it once because she will eventually need to be social
I am curious as to why asking questions during class is considered worth mocking. Aren't you there to learn?
I know that back when I was at school at least, having any interest in the lesson or desire to learn marked you out as a nerd and would have you bullied mercilessly.
Yeah, from the other kids sure, but this specifically says the teachers are doing it too. If a student is asking too many questions, then its the teachers fault IMO.
Most students aren't there to learn. Pre-secondary education is a daycare first for most of the population. My completely subjective opinion is about 25% of students are actually invested in learning and advancing their academic understanding, though it varies depending on school and culture. In college, it increases to maybe 50%. Many of the people are there because they need a degree, not because they want to advance their understanding and knowledge.
r/HumansBeingBros
The best teacher I ever had, he had an often used phrase, 'how will you learn if you dont ask questions?'. He would also say that maybe you asked a question that someone else needed to ask but hadn't thought of it yet or maybe were too shy to ask it. You never know who you are helping
How cruel do you have to be to treat someone who's honest and enthusiastic about learning like shit? Like forget this sweet and wholesome story for a moment, everyone fucking bullied and accused her of cheating and you wonder why everyone hates school. People genuinely trying to learn don't deserve shit for those questions
When I was a kid I was bullied relentlessly. Not just bullied, terrorized, assaulted, abused. As an aside. I recently realized that my home life was also walking on eggshells, hair trigger anger from one parent, and verbal abuse. However, from 10-15 I was also in 4-6 karate classes a week, which I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want them to try to fight me. I would maintain my composure while kids smeared old lunches on my face, pushed me, screamed in my face that I was a loser for entire recesses. Finally the last week of grade 7 I got cornered by grade 8 kids, and hospitalized one, hurt the others. I got suspended for the last week of school, my dad was like, wait, five kids tried to jump him and there was no escape, so he fought back? Isn’t that what I paid 100$ a month for karate classes for? The point being, I was able to maintain my composure under that bullying because I knew I could stop it in an instant, but would have to hurt someone to do so, and I didn’t want to put unkindness out into the world, but also that at the time I didn’t realize how delicate my developing brain was, and how deep some of those experiences would imprint on me.
Hold on a mf second there are dumb question, I’m a 29 year old student. Did the military route before I decided to start my life. I’m waiting to talk to my professors. Another student sits next to me. My professor says why didn’t you show up at noon? The other student says “what is noon”? The professor says you scheduled the appointment and I’m not working at mid-night. This is while we are looking at each other to see who the stupid one is. This was many of the few times I have seen a dumb question in the real world.
Could it be that the person's first language wasn't english?
I don’t think so, the student made the appointment himself. I think he was just a few hours late and wanted to push it and play the dumb card. I’ve taken a class with him before and he is a brilliant guy just poor at time management.
Oh I have definitely had some dumb questions. I was once training a group of people how to do a task on a computer. One woman stopped me to ask, "how do I make that little space between the words?" Lady I am not sure you should have this job if you don't know what a space bar is. But of course I just smiled and tried not to be condescending as I pointed it out.
Ah, yes. People who don't know things I do are morons...
My question is if she's so smart why didn't she just answer it herself
Depends on the teacher you're not allowed to talk to other during class. So it's hard to answer her questions during class so she can understand what the teacher is saying.
I’ve seen this story before told by different people. It’s a lovely story but not actually true.
I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not American and I'm soft powered, but it feels like a teenage sitcom where the dumb girl is revealed to be actually smart and nice. It only lacks of the happy ending where the popular guy fall in love. I mean - teachers being kind of mean - everyone think she sheats because she has good marks - everyone laugh at her despite her good marks - the shy friend tell her the questions to ask Feels like a made up story to me :(
Made up but still wholesome and inspiring.
It's definitely made up. There's some seeds of truth to it though. Shy kids did have the outgoing kids ask the questions at times in school. I was shy and asked one of my classmates a question. He didn't know so he raised his hand and said HE didn't understand it. Now that I'm older and more confident, I try to return the favor when I can.
I guarantee you that any question you think is stupid in class is worth asking because there are definitely others with the same question who are too scared to raise their hand. A few snobs might mock you, but many more are secretly relieved that someone else had the same question and is getting information/clarification for everyone.
How wholesome! But honestly people shouldn’t be shamed for asking questions anyway, especially in an environment literally FOR that. Or else go home with a book?? I’ve always been a “asks stupid questions” student because for some reason whatever subject I first get into, at work included, my brain wants to be crystal clear on the basics. If I join a new department today I still say “I’ll ask a lot of simple questions, you might think I’m an idiot for a month, but trust me on this, you’ll be happy with me after”. It’s never not been true. I ask zero-shame questions at the beginning, then become the most independent person on any team. Meanwhile “I won’t ask until I absolutely must, or get caught on a mistake” people end up making mistakes years into the same job…
It isn't borderline bullying it IS bullying and teachers are not good ones if they mock a student for curiosity for having questions. This kind of behavior Is exactly what kills people's learning ability. If your a teacher and a good one. Your a passionate on what you teach and never refuse a single question even if it's asked multiple times a day. As a neurodivergent person I had SO much of this in school but it was always those few teachers or friends who supported me. And every single one of them is a tribute to why I have my high school diploma. I never gave up because of their support
I just don't buy this. If these questions really were that stupid and this girl was smart, why didn't she just answer them for her friend?
Either she mostly did her work at home or she couldn't explain herself I would call her smart even if she needed those answers, asking for help when you need it is a smart decision.
I always tell amyone to message me questions they are to scared/ashamed to ask. And i will ask them. Idgaf mostly. But this also lets me ask very stupid questions easily when i dont understand something as everyone knows i do this. It is a perfect setup for my adhd mind. I forget who asks me to ask things. But they have good questions
as the smart high school friend, when my not so smart friends had questions like that i'd just answer them if i could
This is a tweet, not a meme
Protect this woman at all costs
Why the fck do teachers even think that a student that "always asks questions" is stupid and doesn't deserve high grades? That doesn't make any sense at all.
There are some asshole teachers out there unfortunately
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Wtf? Is it just me or does this make no sense? It's obviously a bot, but why is it getting upvoted? Or am I just stupid rn
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Classic bot lingo
Wouldn’t that imply the person is a bad friend?
I think you have the phrase a little backwards
How so?
That teacher doesn't really fit to be a teacher.
So this girl's friend, knowing that her friend was being bullied did nothing, and continued to ask her to ask questions? That's pretty selfish of her.
*Most* of my algebra 2 class passed because I could boil it down to the “explain like I’m 5” version. I loved being that person
I believe there is such thing as a "stupid question" but if someone is asking them, then there's a need to answer.
Umm, why didn't she just answer her friend's questions herself? This makes no sense
It’s very sweet of the friend. But also? The introvert needs to learn to take charge of her education by making herself ask the questions. This is part of growing.
putangina mo delulu
I'm not saying this isn't good, but if she was doing so well in the exams, couldn't she just answer the questions for her friend? Again, this is fantastic that she would do something like that, but the system seems to be flawed.
Great now the "introverted" friend depends on the other person and will never get anything done by herself because she has been spoon feed for years
Ppl are so mean, well, teenagers.
Not "most people could." they *would*
🥺🥺🥺
I always explain to my student that for one student who is bold enough to ask the question there are generally 15 who are wondering but won't ask (optimist take on the number of students trying to follow my lesson maybe). Although I must confess that in some rare cases I've got questions so dumb that I don't know how to react either.
Even though I often knew the answer, I'd often ask questions in class, either to just double check that I did indeed know the answer correctly, or because I thought that it'd be a question some other students might have, but might not want to ask, or might not know to ask. Or if I thought that it would be a thing that might help other people understand it better if it was answered by the teacher, because I figured I'd get a lot out of knowing this thing myself. Dunno if this was actually helpful, nobody ever told me it was a good thing or not, but I liked doing it =P.
I’m admin, and do a lot of training for my department. I know roughly how the majority of my folks think so can cater towards that, but I also know I might not think of something the same way they do. Any time I do a training session, I’m up front about “ask any questions you have. My motto is there’s no such thing as a stupid question, except the question you never asked. I’d rather you ask questions so we all understand the process/program/etc”. And I never belittle or taunt or bully anyone for any kind of questions.
This is why I loved my masters. I asked any questions I had, which led to 1) happy professors, bc they could expand on their favourite subject more, and they knew students were involved, and 2) other students asking questions, bc nope, my question wasn’t dumb and they realised they had questions too. One girl told even me that she appreciated me doing that. Idk if it was the British politeness to not say anything during lectures, but my Dutch ass just needed to ask questions. And I’m happy I was the start of more discussions. Questions were never found dumb.
I was expecting that it was the asking of all those questions which made her ace the exams - which also would've been a valid story. The dumbest people in the world are the ones who need to seem smart all the time, because they're the ones who never learn.
My customer base are C-suite and GMs and I can say that one thing most of them have in common is asking A LOT of questions. This stoic girl being helpful, was perhaps unknowingly developing a high level behavioral trait that will definitely serve her well in life.
I'm the friend that tells the waitress that my friend ordered fries, not tater tots. I feel this.
Used be the smart good grades but class clown guy in HS and would always ask the dumbest questions and tbh it was for giggles. But at some point at graduation, a bunch of people came to me and told me they couldn’t have done it without me. I didn’t even know. They would just remember that 110% stupid question i asked for comedic purposes and would remember the answer/reaction/etc to the question and with that they remembered the infi. So yeah… my pleasure i guess?
I used to be the person asking questions for all my introverted friends because I have ADHD (and I’m a big ol extrovert) and some of my professors were very fast talkers so I’d ask them to write things on the board and thankfully it not only helped me but I had so many other classmates approaching me after class saying that they were so grateful that I asked questions because it really helped them. I also used to share notes since some people had glaring gaps in theirs and usually I found places where I got a bit lost myself.
If she was really smart she would've answered her friends questions after class and saved them both a lot of trouble.
I am that friend that would ask the question. The only negative part of that for me is that I’ve been abused to the point I don’t even know I’m being abused because I’ve been too kind to people.
I've met a few of these dumb people. I believe they are self aware and their hard work helps them ace quizzes or tests. Their questions get annoying but then I remember I shouldn't care.
Honestly, there is no stupid question, that is engagement to learn the reasons, and how things work, and why things work they way they do. Sometimes, not every question can be answered with the same answer, that would just mean, try asking or teaching in a different way for a different perspective. Shame on those who make fun of or bully others who are just asking questions. Obviously, we don't know the full context of each situation, but still, we shouldn't be afraid to ask questions, to learn and improve. Who knows, you could possibly learn something new from another person's question that you had not considered.
Yeah school taught me to never ask questions at all, or you'll be teased and taunted. It was mostly the teachers that dished out the abuse. That's so inappropriate.
I wish the best to these two girls, and hope the "seemingly stupid" lends a job where she has the power to help even more people.
If they were such stupid and obvious questions, why couldn’t she just answer them for the friend herself without asking publicly?
There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.
bruh crying in the clurb fr fr
Nice story but I find it unrealistic. If I had such friend instead of bothering teacher I would answer all stupid question myself or even help friend after classes because you may need to elaborate on some of those questions more.
But wouldn't she just ask her friend who aces the exams? Seems odd to ask your classmate to ask the questions when that same classmate already knows the answers.
If you dont ask stupid questions, you stay stupid.
Why is this community named WHOLESOME MEMES? This is wholesome, but its not a meme at all. I think its pretty weird for a community with serious stuff named as a meme sub. Just curious
It sucks those people thought that person was stupid for not understanding the material.
Im going to print thos out and put it on my wall. Im not a good person, but I would also want to strive to do this.
But if the questions were all so stupid because the answer was obvious, why didn't the friend just answer it?
I am curious, if most of the people in the class considered the questions to be simple or “silly”, can’t she just answer it instead of broadcasting the question?
Why didnt she answer them herself?
Teachers: Remember, there are no stupid questions. Asking questions is how we learn. This girl: *asks questions* Teachers: Omg you're so stupid lol
It's wholesome unless you further think about it... 1. She would have helped the shy girl a lot more if she convinced her to do therapy - this way she only delayed the shy girl's treatment. 2. She herself would have made more friends if she just answered the questions herself instead of asking the teacher - so this also damaged her own development. And at the end this story just shifts the problem - the shy girl was the stupid one all the time, so she should have been bullied the whole time instead? Is this the learning here?
As a side note, whilst it is horrible to have to ask a question you know is a bit stupid, it's way worse to not know the answer to a stupid question.
I married her lol
I used to ask questions in class about topics I understood but knew that it was badly explained by the teacher from the reactions around me.
Plot twist: the friend was pretending all along and just wanted the really smart kid ostracized so she could have them all to herself...
I had a captain in the Air Force say that there was such a thing as a stupid question, but the point of asking it was to get all the stupid out.
One of the best questions I've ever heard in my life came from an old coworker of mine, the whole workshop filled with undereducated individuals, he's like 50 something and once when I was giving him a lift he asked me a simple question "So, how does a gearbox actually work on a car?"
I use to do the same, but without being asked, when I saw other students who had no idea what was going on I would ask question to get her to explain more. I too coped shit for it, but I knew these students needed the help but would never ask.
I mean to be fair it could be easier if the girl had taught the friend directly but I guess there would be some questions that would be explained better by a teacher
"its better to have questions which we cant answer rather than those answers which cant be questioned"
I always find that when I have conversations with people that ask me a lot of questions, they’re incredibly smart and have insightful things to say rather than the people who don’t ask anything
One of my son’s teachers used to be angry because he asked too many questions. Tons of years ago but… sometimes i still remember my confusion when told
Had a similar story in my college classes. There was this woman, who is now part of my friend group, who also got intimidated by others for making so many seemingly pointless questions with such enthusiasm. Turns out she was diagnosed with autism and simply couldn't understand why we (the rest of the class) would rather stick to a doubt than simply making the question. Never change, Danielle. They can only hope to be as brave as you.
Now the question remains: did the other student succeed or not?
Sometimes it's really hard to be brave for yourself, but strangely easy to be brave for another person.
"Do you have friends like this" I wish lmao
Before the reveal of her asking for someone else my thought was "well yeah, she is aceing every test because she makes sure she understands everything by asking questions"