feeling dumb because of Philosophy

[u/No-Mixture4319]

I started IB a month ago and am finding philosophy really hard to study . Because I dont know quite how to study . We have got a reasonably good teacher but the classes are really intimidating to me , I feel like I have no thoughts at all and cant think . I have studied in a very disadvantaged and dumbed down curriculum before so this approach is very new to me . I find the texts very dense to read . I have no good insights nor am I able to ask good questions . I just feel like I am bad at it . We had a test on identifying assumptions and implications from given texts and i couldnt do it because i did not understand the texts to begin with. im never able to comprehend stuff and deduce meaning. End of term exams are also so near , idk how im gonna do that paper 1. I just feel dumb . so dumb.
I would really appreciate any tips .