Atschool, weare often taught how towrite, count, orthink “inthe right way.” And there seems tobenothing wrong aboutit: order, system, algorithms. But the problem begins where the system leaves noroom for our own way ofthinking. So, children who think outside the box sometimes face distrust, judgment, orsimply get misunderstood.
This article has stories just like this. Someone multiplied numbers inanon-traditional way and confused teachers, and someone wrote anessay “not like they were asked for,” and thanks tothis they got their first well-deserved A.
The article uses images generated byartificial intelligence.
Some teachers believe that there iseither their opinion orthe wrong opinion.
- Iam amath teacher. One day, acolleague from aprimary school came tomeand said, “One boy multiplies vertically incorrectly. But his answers are always correct. Idon’t know what todowith him!” And she shows methis:
—Nomath errors, Isaid. —Congratulations! You have achild inyour class who has done something that millions ofschoolchildren can’t thinkof... multiplied numbers inhis own way.
—What amI supposed todowith him?
—Let him multiply like this. Show him the normal way, let him choose which isbetter.
—He’ll choose, but how doI check the solution? And when hegets tosecondary school, how will the math teachers feel aboutit?
What can Isay? People with out-of-the-box thinking dohave ahard time— not because they can’t cope, but because the world around them works inadifferent way.©smile2/ Pikabu
- There was anorganics teacher atuniversity who only accepted “her” solutions toproblems. You could come with the right answer, write itdifferently— she’d cross out everything and say, “That’s not the way todoit. Doitmyway.” Itwas useless toargue.©Kwout/ Pikabu
- Ialso had astrange talent: Isolved aproblem with amistake, but the answer was still correct. It’s unclear how, but the math teacher would look atmewith slight horror. And itdidn’t happen once ortwice— ithappened 10times... ©Kesta/ Pikabu
- Most likely, the boy inthis story was using the Indian multiplication method. So, heprobably didn’t invent ithimself. Though ifhedid, that’s all the more cool.©KapibaraEstArbuz/ Pikabu
- Atmath lessons, our teacher often organized competitions: the first one tosolve aproblem got anA, the second one got aB, and the rest just kept working. Ialmost always won. While she was finishing the condition onthe blackboard, Iwas already saying the answer. Atfirst, itpleased her, then she said, “Give others achance.”
Myclassmates started toget angry— they couldn’t solve itfirst. Atone point, she asked metowrite out the full solution. Iwrote. She read itand was surprised, “I’ve never seen itsolved like that.”
After the lessonI stayed inclass, she decided tocheck mymethod onother problems. Out of20problems, itfailed only onone. Either Iwas tired, oritwas really impossible tosolve like that. After that, Ipromised that from now onI would only solve problems “like inthe textbook.” ©O.DuBAH/ Pikabu - I’ve always loved reading. Ever sinceI learned toread, Inever let abook out ofmyhands. Atthe age of9, Iwas reading 2or 3books atatime— aschool book and acouple “for myself.” Ialso wrote.
But Ihated school essays. Because Iknew that wewere expected towrite template phrases, “correct” analyses and conclusions that coincided with someone else’s expectations, but not with myown opinion. Irarely got anA— not becauseI wrote badly, but becauseI expressed mypoint ofview honestly. Only essays onfree topics brought methe highest marks, they were read aloud and filed inthe class archive.
Only inthe 10th grade, wehad anew literature teacher who changed everything. She encouraged unconventional thinking and was ready toaccept any point ofview, even acontroversial one, ifyou could justifyit. The lessons became lively: arguments, discussions, even those who didn’t like reading started toget involved.
Istill didn’t get an“A” onthe exam because ofthe essay whereI had totalk about the importance ofrespect for elders, andI wrote that “old age always comes with the years, but wisdom... that’s another question.” But she gave meanA for the year for being able tothink. And I’m still grateful toher. Partly thanks toher, I’m writing mybook now.©Pand0rka/ Pikabu - Wehad ateacher inour school who was probably the worst teacher ever, she tortured everyone mentally byreducing marks, doesn’t matter how much ofagood student anyone was! Ifyou ask her doubts orquestion, she would hate you.
Soone day myEnglish teacher asked meabout mytest. She mentioned mygrades were not satisfactory, and she would take the test every day untilI score decent marks. Iwas really good tobehonest, Iwas speaking fluently, wrote abunch ofessays. Also got myself the best writer award inschool, butI never knew what was wrong with her.
SoIdecided totake arisk. Iasked her about the next test, and she told methat she’ll let meknow. Iasked myprincipal totake mytest for 3days, and she did, she was really happy. After thatI had atest atmyhome and myparents were also quite surprised with myresult. Iwas solving all the questions.
Finally, that freak teacher ofours wanted metotake atest andI wrote all the answers. The exam was of1hour (40questions). After 2days, she tried tocall myparents and also complained toour principal thatI got 5out of40. Myprincipal was shocked asI scored really well inthe test that was taken byher. So, our principal asked that teacher toshow her mypaper, she tried tomanipulate her, but principal was confused and angry.
So, she snatched the paper from the drawer and saw she intentionally gave 0inalmost all answers without checking. After that incident, all the students complained about her, and she was fired. Westill laugh about that incident, and myfriends tell meitwas one hell ofaplan byme.©Erfan Sheikh/ Quora
Odd One Out problems
- The other day wewere solving aproblem: choose anodd object. Mywife andI chose aplane,
because itflies while the land vehicles don’t.
The child chose agarbage truck. Iasked him why, and hesaid, “Agarbage truck carries garbage and the others carry people.” This isthe difference between standard and non-standard ways ofthinking.©MAREMAN/ Pikabu - The comments totests like this usually emphasize that ifaperson can explain their choice, and itislogical, the answer isconsidered correct. After all, the point ofthe methodology isnot tocheck the outlook, but toassess the ability togeneralize.©Shelni/ Pikabu
- Before the first grade, myson had amedical examination. One ofthe doctors isapsychiatrist. Hegives myson tasks for logic. The first group ofwords iscarrot, onion, cucumber, orange. The correct answer isorange, because it’s afruit. Son:
—The onion isodd. It’s not tasty.
The second group ischair, plate, table, bed. Correct answer: plate, because it’s crockery. Son:
—The bed isodd. It’s inthe bedroom, and the other things are inthe kitchen.
The doctor laughed, but said: examination passed.©ya.dazheneznau/ Pikabu
Young philosophers, orexamples ofchildren’s out-of-the-box thinking ineveryday life
- Idecided toask mychild whether heisanoptimist orapessimist. Iasked him apopular question, “Doyou see this glass ofwater? Doyou think it’s half full orhalf empty?”
After giving itsome thought, hesays, “Well, this glass isboth half full and half empty.” Once again, Irealized how unconventionally children think.©bad1611/ Pikabu - The youngest one recently brought out clear and indisputable proof that Santa Claus exists. She simply said, “Well, you just don’t have that much money tobuy the presents hebrings!” All ofus agreed that the logic was rock solid.©PivBear/ Pikabu
- During the renovation, Istayed with mybrother and his family. They have ason who isa7-year-old philosopher. Parents are fighting, hecalmly takes them bythe hands and says:
—Why fight when you can just look atthe sky?
And takes them tothe window towatch the sunset. And ifhedoesn’t want tocleanup, helies onthe floor and sighs:
—Why complicate your life when you can make iteasy?
And falls asleep right there. And Isit next tohim, almost 30years old, and catch myself thinking, “Well, he’s right.” ©Overheard/ Ideer - Iwas 5years old. Every time mymom andI were onthe bus, Icouldn’t understand how the driver knew where wewere going. Wehadn’t told him anything. But hestill tookus where weneeded togo.©Overheard/ Ideer
Bonus: “out-of-the-box” parents
- Mydad has always had anout-of-the-box mindset. When weneeded aTV stand, but had nomoney, hedecided toput theTV set onastump.
Inwinter, heand his friend dragged apine stump onasledge and barely managed tobring itupthe stairs. And when itthawed, the house was filled with the scent ofthe forest, along with butterflies and bugs. The stump stood there for several years, then disappeared somehow.©Overheard/ Ideer
And these stories prove that children feel the world differently.
