Blanking in classes

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Ok this is silly but I want to get it off my chest. I don't really want to talk to my parents/friends because I'll just sound ridiculous.

I could do with some advice I guess.

So, this semester I've taken a module in Italian. Fine, I love languages and Italian is one of the most beautiful in my opinion.

However I'm not doing too well in this class. My grades have average a 3rd which is disappointing, but worse still I often find it difficult to respond to questions in class, occasionally I completely blank and am left staring like an idiot at my lecturer who ends up looking vaguely confused: other students are happy to offer up even a wrong answer, which I'd love to do.

After my written exam today we practised for the oral exam. As we were writing notes for speaking practise I could feel my chest tightening and my heart racing, even as I tried to convince myself this was fine, that my answers all made sense and were grammatically correct.

Finally, it's my turn to speak. I go red and say a few words then stutter a few more. I can hear my class partner commenting from the other side of the room. Then I lose concentration for a moment and somehow forget I'm in the classroom until the lecturer calls my name a few times (panic moment). How embarrassing is that, I mean I'm twenty years old.

Apologies for the long post, have you any advice for dealing with such (completely ordinary) situations? I'm now worried about my oral exam which is coming up in a few weeks time.

I don't know if this is similar to what has happened to you, but I do have a really hard time focusing in a classroom. Inevitably I would be off daydreaming, when I would be brought back to reality by hearing the phrase from the professor-"OK, make sure you got that-because it is really important"-and I would be left saying huh? what? The solution that I found, unfortuneately won't help you finish this class, but it is something to stick away for the future maybe. The only way that I was ever able to eventually complete my undergraduate degree was by doing it online. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to continue their education, but struggles with classroom logistics. I ended up graduating with honors, and I am now in an online master's program, that is going extremely well for me only because it is online. I wish I could be more helpful for you with your current class, but I don't have much to offer there. Good luck with your oral exam!!

At 42, I am a much older than average student. I think that when I was younger I went to at least 3 or 4 different universities, and just couldn't seem to finish. It wasn't until 2007, when I guess I was 37, that I finally finished the degree that I had started some 18 years earlier by doing it online. At the time I blamed it on maturity, but now I know it is the online format. My BA is in early childhood education. My MS will be in speech language pathology. There were prerequesites that I was missing, so it will take me 4 years to complete, but I started 2 years ago so I am exactly half way through.
I have an intensive fear of public speaking, that I have always had, and so online that is a big problem that is solved. I might have to do a chat presentation to the class-but that I can handle. All of the reason why NT's are warned about going to school on the internet like the isolation and the need to be able to maintain focus on your own, is what makes it so perfect for an aspie. It's kind of funny.
What about you? Do you know what you want to study, or are you still deciding?

I personally find it really difficult to answer questions in class. Even if I fully know the material inside and out, being put on the spot like that just makes it really hard for me to think properly and give a decent answer. I think some of my teachers think I cheat because I get everything they ask me in class wrong but get near-perfect scores on the exams lol.

Since you actually have oral exams, I'd just recommend practicing as much as possible. If you have people you can practice in front of, do it! The more the better, to alleviate any anxiety you may be having.

I am in College studying Business Management and Entrepreneurship. I tend to drift off and daydream like crazy during class. I sit right in the front to try and keep from getting distracted, it helps a little but not enough. In my Business class right now I am known as the hardest working student. I tend to know every question the Professor asks. (She askes outloud and anyone may answer) People tend to think that I have a good memory but what they don't realize is that I'm spending between 30-40+ hours a week studying and doing work for just two classes. A lot of the time I will begin answering a question than forget what I'm even talking about or as soon as I begin to answer something I know well the answer just dissapears from all thought.

Hypnotriloquist-that does sounds similar, I tend to take a crazy amount of notes just to keep concentrating in lectures. Also, 40 hours a week on studying-I'm impressed!:)

Sounds like classic ADD symptom triggered by stress/anxiety. If this didnt happen to you before it couldve been just an overly anxious moment.