How do I become a student?

[Pixilated]

*snip*

In addition to the reading and computer use, our textbooks are printed on paper that has a glare. *snip*

Sounds like my textbooks. They are awful. I don't even try studying at the computer desk anymore because the lamp on the desk throw such a glare onto the pages.

Thanks you, all of you, for your suggestions.

Regarding the headaches, it may just be tension from being forced to do something I hate. I hate math, have always been math-stupid, and will always be math-stupid. When I'm sitting in front of my computer (all the homework is online) trying to force answers out of formulas that refuse to work for me, I'm probably quite tense. I'll try to relax and see what happens.

This is driving me insane this year too, and I only see it getting worse next year. Besides a tutor and/or study buddy, does your school offer seminars in math? Niagara College did and the best thing about them was they were run by teachers. I can tell you from my experience with chemistry last year, all I needed was to have it explained to me in a very simple and straightforward way ("First you do this step. Then you do this step. Then ..."). I was never going to win any prizes, but I could face tests and exams without panicking.

As for the reading... I read for pleasure except in rare cases where information can be presented to me in an entertaining fashion, such as with Erik Larson's histories. I can also be persuaded to read books about subjects such as urban planning that enthrall me. Mostly though, I just read what I like, whether it be Ian Rankin crime novels, Jim Butcher fantasy novels, Kathy Reichs, Frank Tallis, Jo Nesbo, or Tanya Huff. I detest 19th Century literature because to modern eyes it is ludicrously unrealistic (Tess Derbeyfield did not sleep through a rape, thank you very much), with stilted dialogue, and I have absolutely no patience for the comedy/tragedy of manners that most writers of the 19th Century upper-class twit genre concerned themselves with. I want action, intriguing action, and lots of it. I want people who talk like real people and who act like real people. I do not want to read about genteel dolts soaking their handkerchiefs over unread letters, overheard conversations, stupid coincidences, and the unbearable strain of ennui. And, above all, I do not want to read anything even approaching the pointlessness of Twain's "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Although, regarding that Twain story, I'm rather proud of myself in that I was able to shovel in some bullshit about the frog's significance being linked to the self-destructive frogs in one of Aesop's fables.

I guess I was just expressing my simmering frustrations because, as I've learned, if I waste my own time that's one thing, but to have my time wasted for me infuriates me. I feel in most of this that my time is being wasted for me, in some ways.

I agree with you; however, Sapphire Silk's explanation of why we have to analyze literature is exactly right. As the year goes on, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised at some of the insights that turn up.

I'd also like to know what your teacher thought about your analysis of the frog ... ?

[Antisocial_Worker]

Just try to read the story for what it is, and think about the time in which it was written, who its original audience was. Victorian literature was often a commentary on a very repressive society, and deep inner human needs. Don't try to find hidden meaning. Read it for what it is, and tell the professor what you think the story is about, not what you think she wants to hear. Learning to evaluate literature is a process; you'll learn over time.

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to not look for hidden meanings. The instructor has made it expressly clear that we may not answer the prompts with anything "obvious." Therefore, when attempting to explain what Edith Wharton has to say about human relationships, I can't point out the obvious answer, which is that everyone back then had been driven half-insane with boredom and having been gagged and bound hand and foot by social convention, with the natural result being relationships that forged new frontiers in dysfunctionalism. I have to shovel in the shit, and I find that very frustrating.

I know this is a learning process, but it worries me that at the pace we're going, I'm not going to be able to learn it fast enough. As I said, I've been out of school for 12 years and in the world I've lived in for the past decade and change, nobody needs you to do any abstract thinking. They need you to squint at plastic parts, pay your bills, sit down, and shut up.

This is new territory for me, and I'm feeling much more lost in it than I ever expected to be.

[Pixilated]

Another question: does your school have a mature students' group? Brock University, back in Niagara, had one. Students got together for lunch once or twice weekly and talk about how each of us (or wasn't) adjusting to student life. I was also lucky enough at Brock to find friends who were also older students -- we often said none of us would've made it through the program without the support of the rest of the group.

I know what you mean about feeling lost. Hang in there -- you can do it!

[ArcticChicken]

For the math, can you try writing out the homework on a piece of paper and solving it by hand, then entering the answers online? I find that a lot easier than solving equations on a computer screen.

I really enjoyed algebra, if you wanna email or message me with problems your having, I can take a crack at explaining them in different words than your teacher. I make no guarantees about my effectiveness, I've never done it before, but I'm certainly willing to give it a try.

ETA: I did some googling, this site seems to have a decent explanation.

[Pixilated]

Here's another possible site: No, not Ricardo Montalban

[Seshat]

I hate math, have always been math-stupid, and will always be math-stupid.

Unless you are actually dyscalcic* or have some other neural malfunction, I don't believe that. I think it much, much more likely that you've always had teachers who presented math in a way which didn't work for you.

* like dyslexic, only for math.

Anna - my best friend - used to think of herself as math stupid. She's a visual learner, so I drew a number line for her, and went all the way back to basic arithmetic. One and one is two. One and two is three. One by three is three. Not even with ME showing her why - all I showed her was how to use a number line to depict these things in a visual way.

She's taking herself through math right from the start, again, only THIS time she UNDERSTANDS it. Because THIS time, she has the fundamentals. She actually UNDERSTANDS what addition is, what multiplication is, why dividing by zero makes no sense, and so forth. Because she can draw it out on the number line.

Unless you are dyscalcic or similar, there is some 'wow, now I get it' moment waiting for you; you just need to find someone who loves teaching, or some book or video or something that presents fundamental math in a way that makes sense to you.
(Note: this is why sesame street and other specialist early learning shows present the same thing in as many different ways as they can think up. They want to catch as close to 100% of the population as they can with the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy.)
(Note II: you probably have the fundamentals at the Sesame Street level just fine because of this. Start your search at the next level up.)



On top of the never-presented-right issue, your high school math was probably mostly arithmetic; with enough geometry thrown in that you could calculate how much paint you need to paint a wall; and enough algebra that you have a fair chance at calculating compound interest.

If they're asking you to do calculus, trigonometry, matrices and vectors ... no wonder you're having trouble.

It's as if the last time you went swimming was twenty years ago, and someone's asking you to scuba dive. In turbulent water.

[wolfie]

I second the "different approach" issue. In University, my lowest mark was in one particular math course. When I had to repeat it the following semester, that particular course wasn't available, but an equivalent under another department's course number was. That equivalent turned out to be my highest mark (74/75). I suspect I was the limit on how far they could "scale" things due to overall low marks (I had made boneheaded - as in not seeing one of the questions - mistakes on the midterms, so they couldn't give me 75/75).

[Antisocial_Worker]

I'm curious to know what your instructor thought.

I'd also like to know what your teacher thought about your analysis of the frog ... ?

The remark I got back was "brilliant." Now let's see what the instructor thinks about my analysis of the author I affectionately refer to as "Swingin' Edie Wharton." And the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. We have a literary analysis due every other day. Next up is excerpts from Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, due Monday, and two Kate Chopin short stories due Wednesday. Let me tell you now, there is just nothing I love more than reading authors I can't stand, and I'm beginning to understand what my boyfriend means when said he had to read so much in college that it sickened him and he hates reading to this day because of it.

For the math, can you try writing out the homework on a piece of paper and solving it by hand, then entering the answers online? I find that a lot easier than solving equations on a computer screen.

ETA: I did some googling, this site seems to have a decent explanation.

I always work it out on paper... It just seems that the formulas don't work for me. I follow the steps the teacher shows in class, but I never get the answer. It's infuriating. I've filled up probably twenty pages in my notebook with problem after problem after problem (after problem), trying to work it all out step by step. At the moment, negative numbers seem to give me the most trouble. For some reason, I simply cannot make sense of subtracting a negative number from a negative number or dividing by a negative number.

[ArcticChicken]

For some reason, I simply cannot make sense of subtracting a negative number from a negative number or dividing by a negative number.

For the purposes of addition and subtraction, I find negative numbers easier to think about as debt. Say you owe someone $100, and you pay them $50 back, now you owe them $50. That could be represented two ways either

-100 + 50 = -50

or

-100 - (-50) = -50

in the second version you have a debt (-100) you are also paying money (-50) but since you are applying it to the debt, the total debt you have is less than the debt you started with.

You can also think about a negative number as an equation. It's zero MINUS the number, so -100 is (0-100).


For multiplying and dividing negative numbers, treat them just like they were positive numbers, then when you're done, count the total number of negative signs in the problem. If it's an even number (or 0), the result is positive, if it's an odd number, the result is negative.

So:

-30 / -15 = 2 -- both numbers are negative, so the result is positive

-45 / 5 = -9 -- only one of the numbers is negative, so the result is negative


Another thought: How comfortable are you with the order of operations? It's something that isn't taught well with remarkable frequency, and if you don't quite get that it will interfere with solving linear equations.

[Andara Bledin]

Regarding subtracting negatives:

Since it's - -x, just reverse both of those symbols so that it becomes + +x.

If you have + -x you just reverse both symbols and it becomes - +x.

It really is just that easy, and if none of your teachers pointed that out, then shame on them.

^-.-^

[Seshat]

I always work it out on paper... It just seems that the formulas don't work for me. I follow the steps the teacher shows in class, but I never get the answer. It's infuriating. I've filled up probably twenty pages in my notebook with problem after problem after problem (after problem), trying to work it all out step by step. At the moment, negative numbers seem to give me the most trouble. For some reason, I simply cannot make sense of subtracting a negative number from a negative number or dividing by a negative number.

For A, working out negative number problems on a number line helped her. Just simple ones (because otherwise you need a REALLY long number line), but by actually counting out the simple ones, she could make sense of the whole concept. (for visual learners)

Or you could try having a blue bowl for positive numbers, a red bowl for negatives, and a bunch of marbles. Say you have 5-10 and you want to figure it out, you start with five marbles in the positive bowl. Remove those five, and .. well, you need to keep removing, so you put five in the 'debt' aka 'negative' bowl. (for tactile learners)

.... keep trying to think of methods to do the small-number versions of the greater problems.

And try to work out WHY a formula is the way it is. Or ask a tutor, or .. heck, ask one of us.

I can explain a lot of math stuff, though I do prefer to do so while sitting next to a person so I can try out number lines, venn diagrams, tactile methods (like the marbles and bowls), until I find one which clicks. But I'm willing to try over the net.