10-16-03 will be my 4th Algbra Class.
In a short victory, I tested into Math 90 at one college, never passed it, then went to another college, and tested into Algebra 1111. So all I need now is just this class.

It is so annoying. it is the only credit left for me to get my AA.

I missed getting the needed C last semester by 6 points. What is the answer to Algebra and ADD. I know how to do the math, but as a teacher in highschool quoted hamlet to me "I die the death of a thousand cuts" simple needless errors.

I don't want this to be the hurdle that I never cross... (Well I dont want any hurdle I never cross... but....)

If i may suggest you redifine "what a test is" and "what homework is."

For you, instead of a thing you do from start to finish, it is a thing you do 5 times.

In addition, work the problems backwaards, the steps backwards, all the math separately in a highly orderly way and place. Use lots of paper, but disallow disorder, diagonal 'figuring' etc.

Multiplicity and multiple passes in multiple directions will get you out passing.

Document and classify your errors... then hunt for places where you could have made them. You'll find a bunch.

When you find an error congratulate yourself, do not reproach yourself. Consider making the errors as a known fact, catching them a victory. Be earnest and sincere in this. You have to be on your side, not against yourself.

spend more time on your tests than you 'expect" you should need.

You'll do well enough to get your degree.

try not testing out of prerequisite courses. Go through the prior level course to find nd document errors you are likely to make, and to have a chance to develop defenses against them.

Good luck.

Great input wheel. I am in pre-algebra that I elected to take on starting back to school. I was exempt from the TASP but I knew i was very weak in math. I am so glad that I did it. And to top it off, I have an EXCELLENT instrutor. I wish I could get him for introductory algebra, but I doubt that will happen. But I can promise you, if I don't understand, I will do my best to look him up.


One of the main things he said you have to do is to PRACTICE and keep doing the problems over and over and over.

Also, if I may add , do not be afraid to ask a question. No questions are stupid. I also find it easier to understand algebra if I can relate it to the real world. Doing it is one thing, but understand why you are doing it is something completely different. Call your instrutor on the phone, email him/her or whatever it takes. Stay late if you have to....but don't walk out of the class not understanding.

Well Hyperandhopeless,

Did you pass that algebra class? I see your post is from October 2003. I hope all went well. I was going to say that the trick to a math class is: Don't Get Stuck. I remember Calculus was impossible for me but I found that whenever I didn't understand something, that if I just skipped ahead to the next chapter, I could usually find the previous chapter summarized in a more digestible format -- so that they could teach you the current chapter. I think those books are all smoke and mirrors, designed specifically to spin your head around when it's totally unnecessary, just to see how you squirm! Someone once told me, "Don't sweat the small stuff. P.S. It's all small stuff!" I try to keep the focus. That's the problem with my AD/HD. I don't know when to focus on the big picture vs. the small picture. Oh yeah, yeah....so how did you do? Please let us know.

Lissa

I so can relate to what you quoted. I can do the math but its coutnless LITTLE errors that I make!

oh my gosh add1234, so true. I am the same way. I know what to do and how to do it but I make stupid mistakes. For example 4 to the second power could end up being 8 instead of 16. I could add instead of multiply.

The one thing I have always found helpful in doing math is to write down everything...EVERYTHING. If you are rearranging an equation in algebra, write down each step in as much detail as you need so that everything becomes a visual process. If 8^3 (six cubed, or six to the third power) is something that you always make errors on, write it 8x8x8. Break it down into a form that you can work with more easily. If manipulating equations gives you trouble, then instead of going straight from something like (6x=3y) to (y=2x), go in smaller steps:
6x = 3y
(6x)/3 = (3y)/3
Then take your pencil and actually cross out what cancels, leaving:
y=2x

Careless errors kill me, so I break it down as far as I need to in order to make sure that I don't miss something. The hardest thing about algebra, trig, calculus, etc. is that it is presented in such an abstract form. You have to get out of the mindset that you can do it all in your head, since none of these concepts are given a visual description. You have to get creative and find your own way of visualizing the process, taking it out of the abstract. Write it down, draw arrows, whatever works.

One last thing. If you find that you always make a specific error when you get to a test, make a conscious note to do that step the wrong way just so you can put a giant X through it. Then work it correctly so you'll have that wrong answer there for comparison. You'll never overlook it again because you are actively looking for that step where you multiply when you should have added, or integrated when you should have derived. (This may sound crazy and like you're begging to make a careless error, but you'll do it once and it'll become such a joke to you that you literally cannot screw up that step because you recognize it immediately!)

I never was very good at math in high school. I took and dropped out of college algebra 4-5 times before I found a teacher that I really clicked with. I don't know if it was her personality or her method of getting information across but I got a B in the class and I think that was my highest math related grade ever.

I found math easy. Right up to calculus. I found math prior to calculus easy because it essentially was "Here's the problem, the solution is technique A". All I had to do was yank out the proper technique, apply it, and poof. Yes, I'd usually work it backwards too, just to be sure, but it wasn't that bad. I should note that I also have a relatively photographic memory, which was the only way I was getting through with it being "easy". I'm not trying to say I'm better than other people at it, I just had an advantage in that kind of simple (as in, single solution to each problem, not as in easy) math.

Then I hit calculus. Early calculus wasn't too bad. But when we hit integrals, my mind crapped out on me. It couldn't handle the "Here's the problem, the solution is one of these 50 techniques, you should be able to tell which one is right". I now realize it's because I couldn't focus enough on the problem to fully analyze it; simpler math I could figure out almost at a glance which theorem applied, but not here. I found it nearly impossible.

Long story short, I left my pre-engineering program, and am now an Honours student in History. Where at least, while there's tons of stuff to keep track of, it's a different kind of keeping track. Much happier.

But sure, complicated math, especially if you lack the advantage of a photographic memory, is a nightmare if you can't focus. For the same reason, my math-graduate-student friend makes hundred of dollars a month playing online poker with the system he's working out. I go gamble, and make stupid mistakes all the time despite me knowing better because I get distracted or lose focus.

Again, I'm not claiming I'm a better person for having a photographic memory. It's handy, but I gots plenty of faults. And I'm sure each of you have your own advantages. I only mentioned it as explanation for why I found pre-calculus math a little easier.