struggling with algebra

[logan.c]

please help me ... i am struggling . i have been diagnosed with a.d.d .

through high school i did very well i kept a gpa of 3.75 the only classes i struggled with was algebra. i could do any other type of math i was great at physics geometry, and chemistry. but now i am in college and must retake algebra and i can not do it ! my grades are as good in college as they were in high school but now i am having to retake algebra and i cannot pass i have tried 3 times now and just can't understand it. i have to get a 70 to pass and i just can;t do it i feel like i am the only person in the world that has this inability to do algebra it makes me very unhappy . so what kind of help can i get in college tutoring simply does not work with me. i am so close to graduating i can taste it all i have are these math classes

what kind of help is out there for me


also i would like to add .. could i have dyslexia or dyscalculia ?
my writing is horrible i cant read it also i have a problem reading sometimes.. when i am very focused also i can not read cursive.. well i can but it takes along time


sorry guys im just a bit frustrated i just failed my algebra class tonight.i put so much work into the class i just feel like no one else see this stuff through my eyes

[ubiq]

Logan.c,
Wow, I was about to type the exact same post today, as I am in the same boat as you. Same thing-my only weakness is college algebra, graduating hopefully this Saturday,tutoring not helping me, add on top of that, diagnosed with ADHD as well (receiving meds in two weeks-two weeks is too late for me ) and sufferer of depression as well. This is a horrible mix right now, including taking the final math exam which I feel I did poorly on.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I just wanted you to know that I'm in the same boat as you. And I too, feel hopeless.

Daryl

[logan.c]

Originally Posted by ubiq

Logan.c,
Wow, I was about to type the exact same post today, as I am in the same boat as you. Same thing-my only weakness is college algebra, graduating hopefully this Saturday,tutoring not helping me, add on top of that, diagnosed with ADHD as well (receiving meds in two weeks-two weeks is too late for me ) and sufferer of depression as well. This is a horrible mix right now, including taking the final math exam which I feel I did poorly on.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I just wanted you to know that I'm in the same boat as you. And I too, feel hopeless.

Daryl

i here you man i think i will go talk to my teacher and maybe the dean and beg for a few points to pass i was so close . hey does college have a 504 program for add students

i hate to hear your having it rough but its also nice to know that there are people out there like myself

[K-Funk]

Yeah math was HORRIBLE for me in high school and college. Tutors all around and still barely passed. My math skills were so bad I had to take a remedial math class for no credit just to be allowed to take college algebra. Still BARELY passed the class (it was math002 or "double oh duh" as it was affectionately reffered to) even with my girfriend, who was awesome at math, tutoring me every night. So I sat in my algebra class in college, feeling like the dumbest person on the planet for not getting it and would get back to my dorm, have my girlfriend sit down and basically work through every single problem with me over and over and I still barely squeaked by with a 70%. Pretty sure I can make a good case for dyscalculia, lol...

[Impromptu_DTour]

LOL!!

my Posse!

ive posted threads on here looking for help on various problems in the maths.. for some reason i felt that since i have ADD, maybe asking other ADDrs who were in college how to understand things their way if they succeeded at it at would help.. but that didnt work out so well.

Im scraping through college algebra right now too. Currently doing Exponential and Logs. Im not doing terribly well.. and i know the "Concepts" of Algebra 3 arnt completely sinking in at all.. (i imagine that would be something akin to seeing "the matrix").

The only spec of advise is to relate to the different styles of learning. And reading Algebra out of the book didnt really help me too much.. and in alot of cases Dictoral didnt really help too much either.

I have a couple whiteboards at home here, and a set of color coded dry erase markers.. to be honest.. they've helped immesurably. I'll end up rewriting how to do specific aspects of Algebra.. and run through the theories.. Like that Descartes Rule of Signs stuff.. i would draw Color Coded arrows, to color coded signs to show HOW the signs changed.. etc.. i mean.. ya its alot of work to learn one topic.. but thats the style of learning (when it comes to math) that works best for me.. rewriting and then teaching it myself.. (in this case .. to myself).

Though for studying for chapter tests my whiteboards look like the technicoloured scrawlings of a mathimatical madman, with arrows and drawings and crud thats really not conducive to the actual book.. and ive been halfway tempted to just buy a new whiteboard and frame the old one. LOL!

Another thing that ive found that helps is teaching lower levels of math.. while going through A-3 ive found that the concepts are generally the same as previous levels, just more complex - but the rules are the same.. but its so easy to get mystified in the dichotamy of the equations that i forget the simple concepts that ive learned previously. So.. tutoring friends who are in lower levels of math.. (even back to Introductory Algebra) has been really helpful in remembering how far along those "root concepts" carry through.

Im not "acing" math by any means.. and to be honest im not sure if i'll get by this course on this attempt.. but i dont know yet. These are the habits that i have noticed that have assisted me this far though..

Recitation, Repetition, reTeaching and Tutoring.. and unfortunately just grinding it out over and over and over ;(

I_DTour

[StoicNate]

I was great in Geometry back in high school, but Algebra/Trig was horrible for me.

[steelpenguin79]

I was pretty good at math actually and I went thru Calc 2 in college. When I did math I would do three or four steps in my head. Teachers and Professors always thought that I was cheating but I was not at all. If I wrote down all the steps I would screw something up. I am now just being diagnosed with ADD at age 30! Just try doing steps in your head if you can. I don't know if it will help you but that's how I did it.