# Class Participation?



## nycdude (Mar 20, 2010)

I get anxious during class discussions and i just sit there waiting for my professor to call my name and to say something, i really hate this feeling and i feel kinda scared because i do not know what i am going to say. Plus i just enrolled in a class where we have read aloud from time to time, i am really nervous about my upcoming classes, when i read i get all tense, heart pounding,plus i feel a little shaky and i can't calm myself down because i keep thinking about other students laughing at me or giggling on the way i talk, i am trying to practice at home reading out loud and getting used to this and i hope this helps.


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## ValiantThor (Dec 6, 2010)

class participation was a large part of my final grade, we were encouraged to speak up and have a say in all class conversations, he wouldnt have any of us just sitting there not contributing to conversation. I droped that class last week thats how much i disliked the idea. The guy came off as a total jerk, he didnt understand thats its not that easy for everyone.


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## natty8 (Sep 25, 2010)

I always try to do all of the assigned readings before class just in case I get called on, but most of the times students in my class would participate so my prof. doesn't really call on people (which is good) but at the end of the group discussion, he would ask if there's anyone else who would like to say something 'especially' those who haven't. So he would stare right at me but I'll pretend not to noticed or just look away but I know that he was referring to me. But ugg I hate the feelings you described above, good thing I haven't fainted in class or anything yet.


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## DoveAgain (May 22, 2010)

We had to read out loud for one of my English classes in high school. I was the same way. I would start getting really nervous when it was my turn. My advice would to be to just try really hard to not think about how nervous you are. Focus on anything else but that. Try to focus on the content that's being read, try focusing on some other thought, so that when you start reading, you just do it. If you're worried about how you talk, maybe you can also try Googling some articulation exercises, along with the reading out loud you're doing already.


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## kentcharm (Feb 2, 2011)

Ugh I hate teachers like that. This was one of the reasons I dropped out of school and finished up online. It makes me really happy that people are now starting to address the common issue of SAD. Nowadays you can take EVERYTHING online  

I feel for you, man. I've had some awful experiences with reading from textbooks and being involved in class discussions. You can either talk to the teacher about it (some understand, some don't) or just drop the class. Schools should work WITH students NOT against. These teachers are being paid by the government to help students, not fu** them up and make their lives miserable. The times are a changin', honey. And the education system is in for a big surprise if they don't conform to students needs.


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## nycdude (Mar 20, 2010)

kentcharm said:


> Ugh I hate teachers like that. This was one of the reasons I dropped out of school and finished up online. It makes me really happy that people are now starting to address the common issue of SAD. Nowadays you can take EVERYTHING online
> 
> I feel for you, man. I've had some awful experiences with reading from textbooks and being involved in class discussions. You can either talk to the teacher about it (some understand, some don't) or just drop the class. Schools should work WITH students NOT against. These teachers are being paid by the government to help students, not fu** them up and make their lives miserable. The times are a changin', honey. And the education system is in for a big surprise if they don't conform to students needs.


Thanks, but i really need this class to move on to higher classes for my major, i failed it once so i cannot drop it


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## LostOrchid (Feb 4, 2011)

Best advice I can give is to make sure you're prepared. If you are going to be called on to answer a question from homework make sure you did it and wrote in complete sentences so you can just read is as it's written. Read the text and read it out loud so you can catch any words you might have trouble with. Oddly I always get nervous when I see a large number because it's written numerically and I have to pause and see how many digits there are and think about if it's thousands, millions, billions, etc. It's stupid but that always gets me. So look out for things like that or hard to pronounce words so you can master them before having to say them in front of a bunch of people. But also remember that tons of kids hate reading out loud, including all of those without social anxiety disorder, and most kids mess up a little here and there. I rarely hear someone who gets everything perfect. So chances are no one will really care if you make a mistake, happens all the time. Just try to speak up, the only time I've ever heard kids say something to a student who was reading is when they were inaudible.


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## Hello22 (Feb 10, 2010)

Ugh i used to hate class participation, esp in secondary school. I used to keep my head down and say nothing. All the teachers knew i suffered from public speaking anxiety, i had no choice but to tell them.


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## ConfusedMuse (Jan 26, 2011)

I completely understand. I do to that too, I sit there for the whole class unable to relax myself. It is really stressful and unhealthy. I hate it, but I know it is neccessary to attend class if I want to get decent grades. I usually write down what I'll say if asked ahead of time, but sometimes I'm unable to prepare for the class discussion, so I just say "I don't know" or mumble that I agree with the other students' comments. Good luck. 
^_^


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