Hard time learning at school, help!

[nts]

Hello!

Well, i just found out some days ago that i was an INTP. And ive been reading like a maniac about the spesific profile, although not the whole process off identifying and the whole psychological thing that is behind.

Well, at start i was shocked, yet amazed and thrilled about how everything just clicked, like i found a purpose. And now i actually think there is hope for me and my future, if i just can fix todays problems...

Well.. I grew up in an extremely strict home with an almost abusing father, and i rarely or never got heard with my ideas to do things better, and my theories about everything on how to make a more effective cleaning schedule or to how we should set up our home network. At age 15 i finally moved to my mother, and i got heard, she actually listened to me, and it was great, for almost a year i actually felt like an honest person that didnt had to be forced to go behind my parents back to get through the day, or to satisfy my needs.

But then i started to slip, and i dont know why, i got back into old routines and started lying to get what i want and what i needed, although everything was fine, so slowly i tourned my situation into the old one i was stuck in, started to skip things i found imensly booring and hated. And thats where im at now, stuck in the basement, were the only type of comunication is most of the time shouting drivebyes when she have to get into the cleaning room (wich is next to my basement room).

Well thats the pre-story, so you know me a bit.

My bigest problem in life, is learning at school, it just doesent get to me, its booring things, and ive read a bit. And as you may know i get everything at once, the concept, the big picture. But im stubborn and hate to learn the details unless it genuinly interests me.

To give you an example.. When i first discovered the LHC experiment in Kern i sat at my desk and read for like 4-6 straight hours about dark matter, dark energy, quantom physics, in a dream like trance, just feeding and learning at once.

So my problem is that i cant learn properly math (for the most part because its repetition), but all the subjects we have i can tell the general idea and the concept behind it.

And just so you know, ive been jumping in and out of school for like 3 years now, and i havent even finished the first course. I go to "Vidregående", i dont know the name of the school-rank, but you start there when youre 16 and go there for 3-5 years.

Im kinda depressed about my situation, knowing that i will fail, but still i dont care because im not so well connected with my feelings, and people think im a jackass/ignorant person because of that, they tell me that i cant see the seriousness of my situation, altough i know it crystal clear. So i have isolated myself with my mind and my games, loosing friends, wich i off course regret, but still dont feel the motivation to fix either. Off course i care about friends, but on the emotional level i almost dont care, or dont want to care, or cant care..

So well, do you have any idea on how i can trigger that hyper-learning mode in my brain? Or generally fix my problem of geting involved and MOTIVATED in things i dont care or want to do.

Yea motivation is my bigest issue.


- Christian

(Excuse my bad english, and i hope i posted in the right category)

 

[Barachai]

Hmm. Well, with regards to math, a couple of good problems usually sets the idea in me, and then I take a test and do fine. Course, I've gotta do the homework, too, but thats just for the grade.

Have you read the other threads on motivation? I know there are more out there.

Is there any topic that you really like? That could be useful.

 

[nts]

Hmm. Well, with regards to math, a couple of good problems usually sets the idea in me, and then I take a test and do fine. Course, I've gotta do the homework, too, but thats just for the grade.

Thanks for the reply. Well i can say that i havent done homework since... well, as loong as i can remember. Although ive goten trough school well with average grades, not really caring. There has though been some tests in some subjects that ive been interested in and scored very well, almost best in class.

Have you read the other threads on motivation? I know there are more out there.

Ill check those threads out and see if there is any answers there, altough i would apriciate answers here aswell for my current situation from others aswell : - )

Is there any topic that you really like? That could be useful.

Some topics im extremely interested in is computer programing, space and time and the universe itself - how it all works kind of. And playing complex computer games with social interaction (multiplayer), Counter Strike for instance. ...yea its alot more than just shooting heads :P

 

[Ermine]

I find math really boring too. The way I survived it was by linking math to other subjects I like, like art, physics, history, computers, etc. I also happen to have very good memory, so I just daydream, go through the motions, make cool shapes on my graphing calculator, and somehow do well on the tests.

Also, I find it easier when I hear the same information from different people. If I don't understand something, or can't bring myself to do the homework, I ask someone else to explain it for me. Sometimes I learn something better if it's said in a different way. And it helps if I know that a mediocre math concept is used for something with a bit more magnitude like theoretical mathematics or physics.

 

[adastrac]

hey, me too!! i had the most difficult time in high school... i hated being forced to learn something that i wasn't interested in.. or actually, i just hate being forced, period. my teachers probably thought that i wasn't smart (or at least i didn't care about knowledge) and that i'm lost.. but actually, quite honestly, i love knowledge more than anyone that i've ever met in my life. when i took a trip to ecuador during the summer, i witnessed an amazing display of self-discipline: i never knew i had it in me! i managed to finish eight books and actually, i spent most of my money trying to buy more books since i ran out of books to read. i am adament on learning things my own way.. the way that i know is most effective and efficient. i feel like attending high school was a major setback for me because if anything, i felt suppressed (and oppressed, for that matter) by everyone (friends, teachers, family, everyone). i also felt like the education at my high school (and actually, everywhere) is truly SHALLOW because people are spending their time learning for reasons other than for the love of knowledge... and this made me feel awfully lonely. i have taken a break from school... but that doesn't mean that i have taken a break from learning!! quite the contrary, actually! i'm reading, reading, reading, reading and daydreaming about knowledge... and i love it!!! i feel alive.. and when i do apply for college, i will enter with a fresh mind and confidence.... =)

you know yourself best. do you what you have to do... but don't stray off course!!!!! GOOD LUCK!! =)

 

[adastrac]

btw, i also have a difficult time with math! but you're going to have to FAKE IT until you MAKE IT (psychology here--it works!) i know EXACTLY what you mean!! especially the friends deal because i've been moving in and out of friendships, trying to find the person who could really understand me... but in general, i feel apathetic about my friends (whether i should continue the friendship.. is this friendship beneficial for me? do i have the energy to care about their problems when i have problems of my own?) and it scares me! >.<

 

[Jesin]

In elementary school, I also had problems with math because of the repetition. My solution: I skipped the redundant parts.

It worked well. I was done with Algebra 1 before 6th grade was done and now I'm a high school sophomore taking AP Calculus BC.

 

[Gorgrim]

i think i can relate to alot of these issues.. When you said Vidregående, I thought you were mispelling it and was a dane. Im from denmark, and Denmark is HORRIFIYINGLY similar to norway in it's school system.

I personally don't like the way school works here in denmark, I lived with my mum mostly without my dad, and I didn't make any homework till I was 16 unless it interested me. previously to making it to 16 I wasn't mature enough, and alot of thing's I wasn't interested in doing was not done.

Self-Discipline in fact was the biggest reason I did anything by the time I was 16, i was kind of stuck. I let life pretty much pass me by, playing games beeing isolated ( back when I was 14-15 ) till I finally took myself voluntarily to boarding school, because I knew I needed a change. But damn, it was terrifying...

there is no easy solution, but when you get stuck, you'll eventually get to the point(hopefully) where you can say that you have to pick yourself up again, and see how much you can get done on your own.
Keeping in mind that you are the only one able to tell yourself; screw this, I need to be doing something else than this, let's try see what I might be able to do about it, because there's nothing to lose )

Also, there is often no utopia of joyful learning that you can activate, you have to see how far you can take subjects in school that are horrid, and enjoy the good ones. See what interesting connections you can make with the many boring things you're taught. And take a moment to remind yourself, whenever you accomplish something, or gave something a chance.. to pad yourself on the back.

Mentality is a huge part of how you think of a task that is not that interesting. In order to be able to do it, you cannot be saying that it's useless and a waste of time. there is nothing like positive thinking, and even if it doesn't feel right doing it, eventually it will help too.

instead of thinking of a crappy task as that, it might just need another perspective before it's worth looking into. Perhaps it's just not that great, and you may wanna remind yourself that it's positive that finishing it will make everything better than it was beforehand after you're done with it.

 

[ConsumeYou.]

Sorry to hear you grew up with a strict abusive father.. School can be a large drag, I only have 6 hours of school a week. But thats because I grew up in a rich abuseive neighborhood and was soloed out almost all my life and suffer from depression and anxiety.

 

[Da Blob]

"My bigest problem in life, is learning at school, it just doesent get to me, its booring things, and ive read a bit. And as you may know i get everything at once, the concept, the big picture. But im stubborn and hate to learn the details unless it genuinly interests me."

Schools were not designed to serve INTPs or any one with above average intelligence. I spent 12 years daydreaming in public school. I don't believe I learned anything of value during that experience. However, I spent most of my free time in the Library self-educating my Self at my own pace and my own level...
Here in America they label any student that doesn't fit the system as a 'troublemaker' , projecting the failure of the system unto the student.
I suggest that you take on the responsibility for your own education and do not expect any school to educate you, as if it were a passive process. It is difficult to teach that which a student does not wish to learn. Successfully navigating thru this level of schooling is just one of the challenges that faces you. I suggest you might prepare for the next level, and patiently endure your current status..

 

[Barachai]

Haha thats so true. Reminds me of the "no child left behind" philosophy. They're so driven to make everyone "smart", they leave the smart kids behind. Kinda redundant.

BTW, if you like to learn lots of fun stuff fast, try wikipedia (if you haven't already).

The problem with what allot of what INTPs love is that it is either so advanced noone else understands it, or nobody else cares.

Question is, do you want to learn? Learning is fun...

 

[Thread Killer]

I had a lot of problems in school as well, especially with subjects like math. I also daydreamed too much. I guess if you approach it like you would approach a game, it might help, like that you are there acquiring skills, even with something as trite and redundant as math. I dunno, but I think a lot of us feel your pain (or have felt it).

 

[nts]

Thanks alot for the answers people, i reall reckognize myself in these answers. I think the main thing i should focus on the next year is to bend things to make it interesting, like for example turniung a math problem into something that could become interesting, replace variables with stuff, and replace the questioning, using my imagination. It would at least be worth a try.

I really like reading youre experiences, and its nice to see that im not the only one having a hard time learning trough the standard school system. Keep the stories coming people :-)

 

[nts]

I had a lot of problems in school as well, especially with subjects like math. I also daydreamed too much. I guess if you approach it like you would approach a game, it might help, like that you are there acquiring skills, even with something as trite and redundant as math. I dunno, but I think a lot of us feel your pain (or have felt it).


Question is, do you want to learn?

Question is, do you want to learn?

I was born to learn!

But though only if it interests me...

Ill take that with me. The thing about turning it into a game, id actually had that feeling before in my younger years, were the teacher would say something like: finish task 1-9 and you get to go to the school yard, i would like rush it and actually finish, but else, in a normal repetetion class (with more "mature" teachers") i would normally get bored. Now that its more expetations and less "play" in the teachings.

 

[Da Blob]

Doris Bergan has proven beyond the shadows of doubt that Play is the work of the Child. Attitude is everything. I always thought it was kinda perverted for me to enjoy the things that everyone hated like reading and writing... For me the most difficult reading was "mere" child's play....

 

[Ermine]

Me too. I was always bored in the english category until I got to high school. That's what I get for learning how to read at 3.

 

[Duty]

Haha thats so true. Reminds me of the "no child left behind" philosophy. They're so driven to make everyone "smart", they leave the smart kids behind. Kinda redundant.

This is so true. When I was in school there were program galore for kids with learning disabilities and the like...but nearly none for kids that excelled. If you excelled you could be put in AP classes...which did little else but give you more homework.

 

[Ermine]

However, it would be laughable if they did make programs for highly intelligent people. The school system couldn't identify most of them even if they were right under their noses. They'd label them all as ADD, antisocial, autistic, troublemaker, nerd, you name it. Anything pejorative they can think of.

 

[bdubs]

I assume thats where I lucked out. I was put into a four year highschool where everyone in it was fairly bright. Its very humbling to go from being the top of your class with little effort to being about average in the class while putting in tons of effort... Makes college simpler though.

To be more on topic, I know exactly what you mean about getting the "general idea" and skipping over the details. This leads me to a story.

My junior year Algebra II class teacher would assign homework but not actually collect it. This coupled with the fact that I felt that I knew the concepts taught in class pretty well before the end of the period lead me to think that I did not need to do my assignments. The obvious outcome of this was several quizes and a test that did not look too pretty because I did not master some of the finer details. This teacher created his tests well enough that in order to get a B one would not only need to know the concept, but would have needed to do it several times in practice at home. An A would require the test taker to know the concepts, be able to derive them quickly in the mind, and know the finer details.

Tests were designed so that there were 10 questions. Each question was broken down into 3 sub-questions. An "A", a "B" and a "C" question. As you might have gussed. A questions were worth A credit, Bs were worth B credit and so on. Thus,by the end of the test one should know what grade he/she was going to recieve. Its the work of an evil genius.

Combine that with the fact that the amount of time to take the test is fairly limited, and my natural ability to self-derive the details of a math concept from the main idea is null and void!

Needless to say, that year of math was my most difficult. (My current college class is still reviewing my material learned last year.) It did teach me that I DO need to learn more then just the "main idea" by beating me half to death with the concept.

*Hides back in my lurking corner*

 

[csuguy]

I can relate to math being boring - often it is presented in an inapplicable manner, or an applicable manner which you would never deal with. However, I too love computer programming - in facting I'm in my 3rd year of being a Computer Science Major (Graphics Option). I'm starting the first calculus class this next semester (yes - I've put it off ) and then after that I have to take calculus II, 2 physics classes that build off of calculus II, abstract math structures which builds off of calculus II, and also a statistics math course. *sigh*

The key to learning this stuff is to find an application for it that is interesting for YOU. I push myself to learn math because I have always wanted to do 3D programming. And it's paid off! I wrote my first 3D game this semester for my Software Engineering class - a 3D pool game. Even outside of 3D programming however, math is useful for games and other applications that you may want to build (though typically the math is fairly simple). At any rate - that's what is motivating me - and it sound's like you have very similar interests.

Still - I HATE math homework!

 

[nts]

The key to learning this stuff is to find an application for it that is interesting for YOU. I push myself to learn math because I have always wanted to do 3D programming. And it's paid off! I wrote my first 3D game this semester for my Software Engineering class - a 3D pool game. Even outside of 3D programming however, math is useful for games and other applications that you may want to build (though typically the math is fairly simple). At any rate - that's what is motivating me - and it sound's like you have very similar interests.

I have actually done this subconcious. I remember when i first learned basic PHP programing there was things like learning how big a circle was its areal and mass and all that through PHP programing, and as you other have said, when it was explained in a languange wich i found interesting and really wanted to listen to, it was so much easier to just learn the math. I knew some of the process though about that specific caluculation, but i kinda understood WHY when it was explained in a way that interested me. And that is among many other calculations too, this was kinda a bad one :P

And when you talk about 3D-programing.. My mom got a new boyfriend(if its even called that when youre 40, i dont know) and the whole 'family' went on vacation. The funny thing there is that i might have come in contact with another INTP(at least IN), wich actually was into 3D-Programing and advanced math and all that stuff. And i remember how i could easily sit with him, hearing small stories about some mathematical problem, and give a general viewpoint on how to solve them. He teaches at a local school here.. and the school 'level' is the one right before University. (sorry for my bad english again :P)

And again, thanks for sharing youre thoughts, stories and viewpoints, its really apriciated

 

[anemian]

I never got past the "two"s table in third grade because it was so god awful boring... Now it seems that I'm the only one in a computer science program who understands what compound interest is and when to use any equation that relates to it.

Lets see when I was in third grade I was shoved into remedial reading for some reason. When I was given a real book I was told there was no way you read that that fast, no other questioning and I was given the "Big Red Hen" again.

In highschool they wouldn't let me take traditional math and instead shoved me into "core" which is a lame excuse for a math program. That said my programming teacher asked me why I was in core because I'm the only one that could apply real math to the problems(we were taught programming through games in highschool).

In high school I also pissed off my math teachers because I would program my TI-83 to solve the problems we be stuck working for weeks upon weeks upon weeks. Which means that tests that would normally take the whole 45 mins of class took me 10.

 

[Da Blob]

I assume thats where I lucked out. I was put into a four year highschool where everyone in it was fairly bright. Its very humbling to go from being the top of your class with little effort to being about average in the class while putting in tons of effort... Makes college simpler though.

To be more on topic, I know exactly what you mean about getting the "general idea" and skipping over the details. This leads me to a story.

My junior year Algebra II class teacher would assign homework but not actually collect it. This coupled with the fact that I felt that I knew the concepts taught in class pretty well before the end of the period lead me to think that I did not need to do my assignments. The obvious outcome of this was several quizes and a test that did not look too pretty because I did not master some of the finer details. This teacher created his tests well enough that in order to get a B one would not only need to know the concept, but would have needed to do it several times in practice at home. An A would require the test taker to know the concepts, be able to derive them quickly in the mind, and know the finer details.

Tests were designed so that there were 10 questions. Each question was broken down into 3 sub-questions. An "A", a "B" and a "C" question. As you might have gussed. A questions were worth A credit, Bs were worth B credit and so on. Thus,by the end of the test one should know what grade he/she was going to recieve. Its the work of an evil genius.

Combine that with the fact that the amount of time to take the test is fairly limited, and my natural ability to self-derive the details of a math concept from the main idea is null and void!

Needless to say, that year of math was my most difficult. (My current college class is still reviewing my material learned last year.) It did teach me that I DO need to learn more then just the "main idea" by beating me half to death with the concept.

*Hides back in my lurking corner*

It sounds like you might be making an attribution error(?) Perhaps, it was not so much a lack of effort as a lack of ability to focus on the finer details, which may be one of the consequences of our INTPness. There seem to be be certain personalities that are very good at focusing on the minute details (reductionist), but can not see the bigger (Gestalt)picture.
This is an analogous to some people being near-sighted and others being far-sighted. With the coming challenges, you might think about 'teaming up" with someone who can focus on the little things...

 

[bdubs]

I do not think its impossible for me too look at the smaller details though. (Like it may be impossible for a faresighted person to see something very close.) In my case at least, I can force myself to look at the details of a math problem. It simply requires much more mental energy to do so. I can grasp the big picture within the time provided durring an in-class lecutre, but need to spend time out of class to drill the details in.

Edit: I suppose what I am saying is that while I have the ability to look at the fine details it is not my natural way of doing things and thus requires special attention when studying. I do agree with your opinion that working together with someone else who is better at seeing the details would help us both, and I have done that, but its not like I'd have that person over my shoulder to take the test would I? It is nice to have someone like that check my homework I'll agree.

 

[lucid]

I had the same problem, it seemed like there was no need to go and there wasn't any fascinating lessons they taught but I just stuck it out and it was torture. I would frequently skip classes and manipulate my parents into letting me stay home haha. However, that really isn't something you should do.

I suppose you could challenge yourself by researching past what is required of you or just asking for a more difficult/different set of work to do, or maybe you could just try to pinpoint an area in whatever concept that you're practicing/learning and go with that while doing the other boring stuff as well. But the most important thing you need to do is to stay in school and get good marks, life after school can be amazing and horrible but if you get a good education you'll be able to make something out of yourself, so just keep trying new things to get yourself through the years.

 

[csuguy]

You don't even necessarily have to get good marks - just don't let it slip below a C. Any class that is truly miserable for me (like US History) - I aim for a C. Otherwise I try to get at least a B.

At any rate - grades before college don't matter too much, providing you don't flunk out. When I applied for college, they didn't even look at my grades or gpa - they simply saw my high SAT scores and admitted me right then and there. They only really matter for getting scholarships and grants and what not - which can be important, especially with how hard it is to get loans now. But you can get by with just loans, and if you go into computer programming then it won't take you that long to pay 'em off.

 

[nts]

What is SAT? We dont have that kind of school system here in norway i think, everthing is focused around grades and how much you actually been at the school learning, and off course any remarks regarding youre behaviour.

 

[Da Blob]

What is SAT? We dont have that kind of school system here in norway i think, everthing is focused around grades and how much you actually been at the school learning, and off course any remarks regarding youre behaviour.

Here in the US, grades are no the only criteria for admission into college. SAT stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test. You might consider 'prepping' for the SAT if you are considering continuing your education in the US...

Despite mediocre grades (I was Bored!), I was able to choose which of the top colleges in the nation to attend, based upon my 'high' SAT scores and a rather long list of 'extracurricular' accomplishments...

 

[nts]

Keep sharing stories guys : - )

 

[Anticitizen]

Math was the thorn in my side in high school. I had an extreme form of math anxiety - I would literally get headaches and sweats when faced with the material. On top of that, I couldn't even begin to care about the subject. The material was never presented in such a way to make it apply to interesting, real-life situations, so I found it comparable to that godawful pointless Sudoku 'game' that's gotten so popular lately.

I remember protesting to the teacher that the concept of an imaginary number was illogical - that it's impossible to derive the square root of a negative number, as every number squared, whether negative or positive, results in a positive answer. When I asked WHY we had to learn about something impossible, she stated simply 'because it's on the SAT test'. Yes, I know the word 'test' at the end is redundant, that's actually what she called it.

In order to graduate - I was making As or Bs in every other class but god-damned math - I sought the help of a tutor - a jovial fellow who made his millions as an engineer for a Kuwaiti oil company and simply enjoyed to teach, free of charge. He would assign work to me and I would work through it at my own pace, and he'd give me a quiz every time I completed a chapter. Thus, one could zip through all the boring elementary stuff at the beginning of a textbook and devote time to the real stuff. When I came to the section on imaginary numbers, I defiantly challenged him on the nature of an imaginary number. His response? 'You're right, you can't take the square root of a negative number - but look what happens when you plug one into an equation on a graphic calculator!' Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, I suddenly realized how this could be useful, the math anxiety I felt wafted away, and I coulda kissed the guy right there (I restrained myself).

I hope the first teacher I described died in a horrific, painful, suffering way.

 

[bdubs]

Thats the result of a top-down teaching system. Someone high up gives the schools a list of skills necessary to do well on the SAT and ACT. The school then tells the teachers to cover that material before a certain point in time. Ideally, all the material on that list has a practical use or will be expound upon in a higher level of math in order to give it a reasonable use. The problem is that the highschool teachers often do not stress the importance of the topics because the purpose of the class is simply to push the student along to the next level of math. What happens if the school chooses not to teach this way? If the students do not test well in the areas highlighted by the state, they risk losing funding. No child left behind act For The Win!

 

[Da Blob]

We were asked for suggestions as to how
to write a paper on a topic,
that was not of personal interest
(unless you count the teacher as a person)

You may have seen this already...?



Re: Need help A.SAP on paper

My apologies, I was making a hyperbolic statement, when I suggested "Cheating'. What I meant to say (which was not heard) is that for 'busy work' projects which I could not feel enthusiastic about I developed a "quick and dirty' operating system to deal with onerous tasks...
I was not suggesting plagiarism, which would be unethical. My method was simply to organize Others' interesting thoughts on a topic into a "Thread", an outline - then I would just run down the thread responding with my own thoughts...

After all, if one had to write a paper on Shakespeare, after 400 years what remains unsaid? Sometimes, originality is a very difficult goal to attain...

 

[sagewolf]

Huh. Math is actually the only subject I enjoy in school anymore. My Art teacher pisses me off, English is vaguely interesting but still boring, Engineering moves at a snail's pace, Tech. Drawing is beginning to take all my time, Irish is enjoyable but extremely stressful, and French is mostly boring. I think I must just have really good Math teachers-- both of the ones I had were fun and moved through the material really quickly. (Honors Math is actually one of the hardest subjects in the Leaving Cert, so that might be why it moves so fast-- no idiots do it.)

I get As and Bs in school subjects really easily, so at this point, six months before the big exams, I just couldn't give a damn. I'm planning to go to art college, so the marks mean almost nothing to me, and all the homework we get detracts from the time I can spend on my portfolio. If you want motivation, this wolf's not the place to look. I'm "suffering" from a serious shortage of give-a-damn at the moment.

 

[anemian]

Well once piece of motivation you could have is that someone somewhere stupider than you is getting better marks... Granted that's a really negative way to go about it.

 

[Jesin]

Sagewolf, what math class are you taking?

 

[saffyangelis]

My old maths teacher was good, but my new one's awful. I'm still getting really good marks in it, but I generally help one of my friends who's not so good at maths, or, since there's three of us on our table, we race each other.

 

[nts]

Well once piece of motivation you could have is that someone somewhere stupider than you is getting better marks... Granted that's a really negative way to go about it.

hehe that could actually motivate me :P

 

[Wisp]

All one has to do is think that someone might actually think a *shudder* frat boy *shudder* is in some way more intelligent than you and *bam* instant motivation...

 

[bdubs]

All one has to do is think that someone might actually think a *shudder* frat boy *shudder* is in some way more intelligent than you and *bam* instant motivation...

Some frat boys are intellegent . They just made a poor life choice in my opinion.

 

[AndOhh]

Hello! ...

Well, I have to say I had a lot of issues with school. I always found it incredibly frustrating that I was graded more on what "bookwork" I handed in than on tests. I was notoriously bad at not doing homework.

I recall going to take a biology final in high school -- my teacher told me flat out, "if you get an 'A' you still will fail". I asked how can it be that your test is going to measure my knowledge of the material you think I should know and if I get an "A", meaning I have all of the knowledge you want me to have, you are still going to fail me!?

It seems much more accurate to me to grade the tests not the bookwork. It seems the system is designed for people either lacking or incapable of learning so they grade on the bookwork instead of the actual assessment of what was learned. (I know tests can be shitty for some). College is much better -- I was primarily graded on tests which is what I like and I did much better then.

I also understand your issues with Math -- I have always been quick to pick it up; however, in an organized class setting I found the instructor would always destroy my consciousness with slow explanations and hanging on one topic for too long. I just couldn't stay focused and then I would get behind. What worked for me was just saying fuck you to the instructor and learning on my own with the book. Then ask specific questions if I couldn't figure it out with the book.

Best advise I can give for school is to become a good self-study if and when you can. That's how I got through High School and College for the most part.

 

[sagewolf]

Sagewolf, what math class are you taking?

Higher Level Leaving Certificate Mathematics. It consists of Algebra, Matrices, Complex Numbers, Induction-logs-indices-binomial expansion-surds (all one question), Differential and Integral Calculus, Coordinate Geometry of the Line and Circle, Vectors, Trigonometry, Probability, Statistics/Discrete Mathematics, and Geometry. I basically just read off the questions that are on the exam paper. Same exact order every year. ^^ I routinely get 90%+ in this subject. In my christmas exam I got 99%. (The bolded ones are the topics we've done so far.)

 

[fullerene]

probability can be a lot of fun. The last example we did using probability in my math class last semester was "given a sphere whose surface area is covered by 90% water (knowing nothing of the distribution), there exists a cube that can be inscribed in the sphere such that all 8 corners are submerged."

haha, I thought that was sick.

 

[sagewolf]

Sounds fun! (Uh...let me think?) To be fair, I kind of did probability; I read through the chapter and did some of the problems in the textbook to make sure I had the idea. It just looked like so much fun! (I didn't do much, though: I don't want to be bored in class for two weeks while the rest of the class do it.) The class hasn't touched it yet because it's an option. We do those after February. And because they don't care, probably. (No equation required for that one.)

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

On Tuesday Jan. 6th the Wall Street journal had an article about math being the best occupation in the US. (Reasons for this: average salary of 94k, never have to do heavy lifting, don't have to work outside, work conditions are free of fumes & noise.)

So... maybe that can help motivate you.

 

[saffyangelis]

I race the INTJ who sits next to me. I beat her today, and then I sat there, correcting her answers.

 

[sagewolf]

I used to do that in third year: one of the boys in the class and I raced to see who could get math problems done first during class.

Now I wind up going over everything a million times because one of the boys in the class asks me to teach him how to do things he doesn't understand. (But I know how to differentiate from first principles REALLY WELL NOW.)

 

[GarmGarf]

I do the same maths course sagewolf does.

99% - Wow! I got 50%. >_> I got kicked out of the exam though and lost about 15mins (because the 2nd year beside me asked why I had 2 calculators and I responded and a teacher heard). Timing is what kills me in exams: "I'm a power thinker; not an efficient one"; plus I tend to write a line for every change instead of skipping lines where it is acceptable and it adds up.

It's funny because I am considered a maths nerd in my school. I'm going for an A1 like, but I'm in a bit of an academic mess at the moment, and the course I want was 500 points in the last two years. Arg. >_>

 

[sagewolf]

I flew through my maths test and had enough time afterward to write half a story. ^^; I write a line for every change too, though. Oh well. Timing is what the mocks are for. I go down completely wrong routes and then scribble out half a page, though, which costs me time sometimes. How far through the course are you?

What course is that? The course I want is 634 points, but I have to do a portfolio as well, and that's worth 600 points max. So if I do well on that I can practically flunk the LC and get in. xD

(And why DO you have two calculators?)

 

[GarmGarf]

I flew through my maths test and had enough time afterward to write half a story. ^^; I write a line for every change too, though. Oh well. Timing is what the mocks are for. I go down completely wrong routes and then scribble out half a page, though, which costs me time sometimes. How far through the course are you?

What course is that? The course I want is 634 points, but I have to do a portfolio as well, and that's worth 600 points max. So if I do well on that I can practically flunk the LC and get in. xD

(And why DO you have two calculators?)

Are we doing the same leaving cert? The one I'm doing has a cap of 600 points.

I'm in a kinda retarded class lol. I'm not in slow honours or anything; there is no slow or fast honours in my school for maths: just honours and pass. However, I am in a class which is mostly composed of people from the same class-form thing; and in general the class seems bad at maths (with exceptions of course; one guy is a 600 point student!).

("In case one fails" - the words which cost me; big time. >_>)

 

[sagewolf]

We have one hons class and two pass classes. I think we have a foundation class somewhere as well, but I don't know: it may just be a class for those who find maths hard, but at pass level.

Yes, but for my course, the portfolio points are added to the LC points. So in theory, I could get 1200 points for that one course.

Oh... I just put in a new battery before I do any important exams. I hardly ever use the bloody thing anyway.