High school math class

[XxToshixX]

Heyy I know it's been. While since I've been on here. Sorry. Just been kinda busy =\

But anyways I'm sitting in math class and I feel so lost. How was math for u guys in high school? Ive Always had problems with math. Like I just can't visualize any of it =(

[Black Cat]

I had this problem too. Don't do what I did though, I left school with only three months to go and never looked back.

Have you tried asking for help from someone? Sometimes having someone else break it down for you can help.

[Zontar]

Math is very difficult, but anyone can do it with enough time and effort. It took me four hours a night to bring my math grade from an F to a C+. You may need to put that same effort in.

[VentinIntrovert]

I had no issues with math what so ever. My word of advice, stay super focused in class. Math is based on sequencial learning, basically learning the steps to get to the answer. If you dose off in class, it's nearly impossible to relearn it through a textbook. You can't really study for math either. You know it or you don't...

[Revan]

Be glad you're not in University Math. I took it, bombed the first exam, we're talking 27%. And my friend? She's taking it for the FOuRTH time and she has a 36% right now. Math is bullsh*t. They created it to piss us off and decided to keep it because it just makes us more furious.

[Owen]

Some people's brains are just better wired for math than others' (mine is one of them). The problem is that math-wired people are the ones who end up teaching it, and many of them can't conceptualize someone having difficulty understanding the subject when they explain it the way they understand it. VentinIntrovert had it right when he said that math is sequential; if you've forgotten what you already learned, you'll have trouble understanding what you're learning now, so if you decide one day that you want to bunker down and understand it, you'll have a lot of lost time to make up for.

But to me, there's a kind of beauty in math. Everything follows clearly from everything else. We make a few choice assumptions (multiply anything by one and you'll get that anything again, multiply anything by zero and you'll get zero, etc.), and from there we can get the whole thing. And it's sequential nature means that nothing ever comes out of nowhere; everything you learn builds on what you already know. It's like one big entity that you just discover more of every time you learn it, whereas other subjects are often so separate and not very unified. I think it just appeals to the more logical among us. I have yet to find anyone who is good at math who has anything bad to say about it.

[Kerze]

I got a B in my highschool maths, out of pure hatered for my teacher. On the last day of school, before study leave she told me I would fail and then I got a B grade. The look on her face at results day was priceless.

[Austin]

Originally Posted by Revan

Be glad you're not in University Math. I took it, bombed the first exam, we're talking 27%. And my friend? She's taking it for the FOuRTH time and she has a 36% right now. Math is bullsh*t. They created it to piss us off and decided to keep it because it just makes us more furious.

Or maybe they keep it because it's useful in everything...

[TyRawr]

Math was easy for me when I had the right teacher. Someone to captivate my attention, because it was difficult for me to focus.

If you are falling behind, perhaps try and find a tutor. It really helps

[Ghostly]

All I have to say is...STUDY! and ALWAYS do your homework because because the few times I did not do that I dropped from an 80% to 68% :/ and I never got back up to an 80% in grade 10 math and I had done pretty good the year before in grde 9 with a 78% -.- dang it -.-

[Revan]

Originally Posted by Austin

Or maybe they keep it because it's useful in everything...

Really? Tell me....when am I ever going to use a factorial in acting or singing hmm? Would love to hear this. Just because you're so brilliant at math doesn't mean math is useful.

[Arex]

I can't keep my mind on the math, so I'm failing my current class ._.

[Nazo]

I don't think math is hard so much as I don't want to do it. It depends a fair bit on the teacher, and how he/she teaches, but they aren't the only ones to fault for a bad math grade. Sometimes, people just are not wired for math at all.

[Mr.Pushover]

I don't think it's very hard. I like it more than English class, cause there's not really a multitude of answers, and it's straightforward.

[Pseudojim]

Want some help?

It always came naturally to me. I never really studied and managed to get 90 something.

[cardenio]

I love math. It was definitely a subject I looked forward to when I was in high school. I guess it also helped that I was part of my school's math team on and off throughout middle- and high school. I was never really very good at it, but I definitely enjoyed it immensely. In college, sadly, I've only taken the one required calculus course.

Originally Posted by Revan

Really? Tell me....when am I ever going to use a factorial in acting or singing hmm? Would love to hear this. Just because you're so brilliant at math doesn't mean math is useful.

I know that this question wasn't directed at me, but I felt compelled to answer, if you don't mind. You're absolutely correct when you say that specific mathematical concepts and formulas will probably never come up in the everyday lives of most people. However, simple memorization and application is not what math is all about. What I think a lot of people find useful in studying mathematics is the thinking process that it requires, which is very different than how you'd approach a post-structuralist analysis of a poem, or even the scientific method. Studying mathematical proofs, for example, can in turn help you in developing philosophical proofs, which can then help strengthen your logic and argumentation, skills that come in very handy when writing essays in pretty much any discipline. Whether everyone in high school should be required to take math is another matter entirely, but an argument can certainly be made that math can be useful, even in an indirect way, for everyone regardless of what they ultimately end up doing in life.

As for the OP: Toshi, is there any specific concept that is giving you trouble in math class? I was thinking that maybe some of our brilliant members could recommend some sites that might come in handy. I wouldn't recommend that you yourself go looking for them since you will probably have a harder time distinguishing between quality sites and others that are not reliable, but I do think that a gentle nudge from more experienced members would go a long way.

The difficulty of math depends on the teacher.

Generally, I am able to teach it to myself so I think it's rather easy.

[ShebbsIsAwesome]

I hate math, it's hard (but somehow I am doing really well in it... :|) My favorite required course is definitely whatever I have to take that is science related (Biology, chemistry, etc)

[TheDarkerPoet]

Originally Posted by TyRawr

Math was easy for me when I had the right teacher. Someone to captivate my attention, because it was difficult for me to focus.

If you are falling behind, perhaps try and find a tutor. It really helps

Can't add much to this because it's absolutely true for me as well. However, if you can't find a tutor or can't afford one, ask your teacher to help you out a bit. Also, try to find online resources to help you. I'm not allowed to post them here, but there are many good math sites out there that can help you.

I usually find math aggravating, but in my heart I do know it's useful in the future (coming from a kid who plans on writing poetry when she's older ) It's actually quite a simplistic thing, which makes it beautiful within itself. It's comforting in that there's always a way to make it work.

[Nat3]

Math is boring =D