it's like I have to teach myself

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I cannot retain anything from my teachers' lectures. If expected to take notes, I am too preoccupied with writing down notes to actually learn anything. And my notes are usually too messy or incomplete to learn from anyway.

I feel like I have to teach myself the stuff over again at home. Then why did I bother to get up early in the morning to go to school?

I used to feel like that when I was in community college. Now that I'm working, the boss expects me to have 100% retention from morning meetings.

It's ten times worse when you're working because the boss will rattle of many different points in rapid succession and if you forget to do one he'll say "I told you to do do that". It's like he think I avoided doing it deliberately. I try to tell him I forgot but he just doesn't listen. He could tell me about ten different things I have to do that day and if I do nine of them he'll get mad about the tenth thing.

I think the boss has a really good memory but he doesn't understand that not everyone has a really good memory. He thinks everyone has a memory as good as his.

I remember things better from reading them but we receive many of our instructions for the day verbally in the morning.

So if you have trouble remember things that are spoken to you in school, this will also be a problem for you when you start working. A boss is like a teacher except angrier.

As for college and university ... yes, you are expected to both attend lectures and teach yourself. I discovered that in class, it was better to focus on listening instead of on taking notes.

As for work ... taking notes during meetings can in fact really help. What I've learned is that you don't have to write down every single word, but concentrate on what the boss emphasizes as most important. You can also ask a question before you go if there's something you're unclear on.

And yes, I realize I've just given you different advice here (don't take notes in school, do take notes at work) ... This is what has helped for me, your mileage may vary.

If you read the lesson ahead of time, teaching yourself as you go, then when you go to lecture you can listen for which parts of what you just learned will ACTUALLY BE ON THE TEST. If you're not an auditory learner, just use the lecture to confirm which things you should review before exams. This is why it is very important to do the assigned reading before class; the teacher will love that you are actually prepared, and you can even ask intelligent questions.

This helps with me. It's so hard for me to focus on what the professors saying because I'm so distracted by the florescent lighting, noise, and people that I can't absorb any of the information. If I read what going to be covered ahead of time it's easier because I know the material and I feel less intimidated.

I always try to read ahead, but my school gives more work than the other schools do. Even the principal admitted this. By the time I'm finished doing homework for the day, it's very late, and I just go to sleep. I am already falling asleep while doing homework, which matters quite a bit in my grade. I'll just fall asleep when I read ahead. They use the weekends as an excuse to give more work. Plus, my attention span is practically non-existant on the weekends, so it's hard enough to get the homework done, never mind read ahead.

Life is like that for a lot of students.

Just be glad you don't live in Asia or they'd expect you to read until 2:00AM and wake up at 6:00AM the next day.

Actually, that's exactly what I do. The 2:00AM to 6:00AM thing.

But still, I'm glad that I don't live in Asia.

Oh. That really sucks. No wonder you're tired.

Does everyone at your school do the 2:00AM to 6:00AM thing or is it just you?

when i was at university, in the lecture hall (of about 200 students (comp sci)) whilst the lecturer was explaining things (like really important things) there was always someone in front or behind or even next to me disrupting the lecture for me, although other people weren't bothered by it, I was because of sensory integration issues. maybe this is the cause of my failure who knows. I ended up not attending practical workshops or lectures for about 6 months until I eventually could not continue with university, sure I would like to have stayed but they wouldn't let me and the guidelines regarding extenuating circumstances which says that anyone who failed their units due to sensory issues may be able to retake them and possibly get an extra year funding. I however was not in this group because my sensory integration wasn't diagnosed even though my ASD is. My university was one of those ones ignorant about the spectrum - "if it's not severe, you shouldn't have a problem" sort of places.

A lot of people do it, but not everyone.

I used to fantasize about doing it myself because I thought it would make me tough and turn me into a badass.

They slack off in Japan after entering uni as they worked so hard to get there it isn't actually as hard to do the work. According to my Japanese teacher.



I feel like that too. However, I was like that at school also. So what I do is I don't study until about a week before an exam or when I need to write an essay on something. That way I find I retain all the information needed better. This works for me with most things minus languages and history as they don't amuse me so I spend a lot more time studying them. My school also uploads all the power points and some even record the lectures which saves me writing notes. Are you able to record at all as that might be helpful?