Learning Math is Boring

[AndyC]

I don't consider myself 'gifted' at mathematics. I just understand it a whole lot faster than others.
I skipped 9th grade mathematics this year, so I'm in the year 10 classes whilst still in year 9. It took me less than half an hour to learn the whole year 9 curriculum without help or looking at it before, just from skimming the book.
Last year, with very little knowledge of mathematics, i taught myself Integral Calculus to a somewhat proficient level in about 20 minutes. You get the point, math makes sense to me.
School has made math boring for me, due to being extremely reflective I understand the processes in which I think and absorb information, and this takes the fun out of learning completely, and all material I use is too slow if not, I have to have prior knowledge which i don't feel like doing because the ease of learning has made me lazy.
The reason I am writing this is because I want to know who else can relate to my problem.
I no longer enjoy learning. I now can only enjoy solving problems, because that actually challenges me, but now I can't find problems I have the knowledge to understand, that isn't too easy.
(I am not just memorising material, I do understand it and how it works).
Does anyone else have or have had this problem?

 

[Tannhauser]

Problem-solving is of course more interesting than learning. Always has been. I don't understand the problem though. You can always find complicated problems at any level of mathematics.

 

[PmjPmj]

My worst subject is maths, but then I was taught by an incompetent PE teacher at a failing school.

Funnily enough, algebra came to me with ease. Whilst everyone else was derping their herps, I was flying.

I'd like to take maths up some day, but not any time soon. I'm now 30 and have more important shit to do. You know, stuff more important than learning the language of the universe.

*enters a perpetual facepalm*

 

[Nebulous]

I got a 40 on my last math test
I can never learn in class.
Everything the teacher says just goes in one ear and out the other, I copy the work she does on the board, but I'm never able to figure out the homework because nothing we do in class ever sticks.
I have to look up whatever were doing and try to teach myself.
It takes a while but I usually get it if I do some problems.
So I can figure out homework myself with the help of the Internet, but when it comes to a test I forget everything ;-;

Idk math is definitely not my best subject and it's near impossible for me to learn it in a way that sticks.

We don't even have a textbook though, we only have problems, nothing explaining how to do them. The teacher tries to explain the lesson and then expects us to be able to do the homework.

Ugh.

~
To answer your question, I think you should just be glad you're getting good grades easily in math.
Teach yourself more math outside of school if you want, it seems like you'd be able to do that.
Try to find out what you'll be doing next year and try to learn that.
Once you've learned some new stuff, maybe the class itself will be a bit more interesting because you'll be able to see connections between what you've taught yourself and what you're going over in the classroom.

 

[Frankie]

Growth Mindset vs Fixed mindset.

You might not have the aptitude for maths. But changing your beliefs about your ability to learn maths and putting effort to improve might go a long way.

 

[ummidk]

You might not have the aptitude for maths.

[ ] read op

 

[Frankie]

[ ] read op

Loops! I only read bits of each post.
OP clearly has an aptitude for maths.
My statement still stands tho, in general.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

It's almost as if you expect others to make life interesting for you.

Much of the structured education discourages, the key lies in maintaining curiosity and incentives on your own.

 

[PaulMaster]

I remember when I thought I was smart af. One of the best things that ever happened to me was the realization that I dont know shit.

If you're teaching yourself advanced maths so easily, apply at the best universities and dare them to challenge you. Or use your superman brain to get laid like a champion.

Or both.

 

[ZenRaiden]

How about being creative and making up problems for your self. It takes a bit more skill to do math rather than just absorbing it from textbooks. Learning from textbooks is no superpower. However applying math and doing something creative in real world maybe fun. Doing experiments. I remember when I was doing math I tried to make equations into pictures and stuff. But I am not good at math. Geometry can be super fun too. Algebra stuff is infinite amount of problems and other stuff can be found in libraries where there are various books on math and problems in math. If you are talented it would be a waste not to expand on that talent and see where you can take it. There are lots of kids that can do regular math and be good at it. If its just stuff from regular textbooks. On the other hand there are math competitions and different challenging books. Good luck.

 

[rainman312]

I don't consider myself 'gifted' at mathematics. I just understand it a whole lot faster than others.
I skipped 9th grade mathematics this year, so I'm in the year 10 classes whilst still in year 9. It took me less than half an hour to learn the whole year 9 curriculum without help or looking at it before, just from skimming the book.
Last year, with very little knowledge of mathematics, i taught myself Integral Calculus to a somewhat proficient level in about 20 minutes. You get the point, math makes sense to me.
School has made math boring for me, due to being extremely reflective I understand the processes in which I think and absorb information, and this takes the fun out of learning completely, and all material I use is too slow if not, I have to have prior knowledge which i don't feel like doing because the ease of learning has made me lazy.
The reason I am writing this is because I want to know who else can relate to my problem.
I no longer enjoy learning. I now can only enjoy solving problems, because that actually challenges me, but now I can't find problems I have the knowledge to understand, that isn't too easy.
(I am not just memorising material, I do understand it and how it works).
Does anyone else have or have had this problem?

High school sucks. Complaining about how slow the material is does nothing for you, unless it's to an authority in a constructive manner, i.e. "Hey, I already know this, can I test out of it or get some more difficult work," etc.

If you don't enjoy learning, you're fucked. Solve the problem of how to make yourself enjoy learning again. Here's something a lot of people ignore or don't realize: learning isn't entertainment. You're not supposed to enjoy learning in the same way you might enjoy playing a video game or doing a similar activity. The enjoyment comes after the fact, when you've mastered it and can then apply it in ways that are interesting to you or in ways that help others. If the material is particularly interesting or intriguing, you might get some immediate gratification from learning it, but otherwise it's all delayed.

So, there are a couple of ways to solve this. The least difficult one is to just slide by in all of your classes, get the work done very quickly, and use your free time to self-study more advanced things and use that knowledge in creative ways. You could also bother the school bureaucrats until they let you take higher classes, but this is usually a pain in the ass anyway, and the pace isn't any faster in most cases, it's just higher-level.

Another thing to consider is how well you actually know the mathematics that you're claiming you know. It sounds like a bit of the good ol' Dunning-Kruger effect to me. Even if you're the next Ramanujan, it would take considerably longer than twenty minutes to learn calculus extensively. Don't skim textbooks or webpages about math topics just to develop a weak understanding so you can say you understand it. It might advance you through high school classes, but you're not doing yourself (or, eventually, anyone else) any favors.

It's almost as if you expect others to make life interesting for you.

Much of the structured education discourages, the key lies in maintaining curiosity and incentives on your own.

This is spot-on. If you're mind-numbingly bored in math classes, use the time to study more advanced math, or anything else you want to study. Or just do what everyone else did in high school and take naps.