Shown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 5, 2014, at 1:02:19
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/What_makes_Mathematics_hard_to_learn%3F
check out the second table. i can learn that. my teachers must have hated me. they gave me this one:
http://online-mathematics.com/9-times-table-trick/
lots of seemingly unrelated numbers...
apparently there is an addition table too. of course. i just made one for it modeled on the style of the second table. patterns, patterns ha!
one of my friends said i should be able to add two digits together and know the product without needing to do any work. that i should learn that... i think i can learn with the help of the addition table.
and learn times tables, too. with the help of that way of representing it... will help with division too, i guess... hrm.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 5, 2014, at 1:30:05
In reply to oh my, posted by alexandra_k on January 5, 2014, at 1:02:19
i am worrying a bit about what i've got myself into for summer school.
still, there is very little risk. aside from some ouchie to the ego. if i don't do well i still have my place for the start of the semester. if i don't do well then i also have the option of changing my next years enrollment into a different program (well, hopefully). a proper foundational math / physics / chemistry year. i'd really rather not delay things for another year, though... so i'll do what i can on this...
i'm kinda nervous... especially after the last two false starts... still... i know i have come home here. for reals. it's okay... i have everything i need. it will be fun.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 6, 2014, at 0:02:17
In reply to Re: oh my, posted by alexandra_k on January 5, 2014, at 1:30:05
holy crap.
we had the math tut before the math lecture. my pre-theoretic intuitions are wrong. way wrong. the calculations (pythagoras theorum) show them so. apparently. ah... the world is made of triangles, or something. or... it is easier if we assume it to be so? guess i need to learn pythagoras theorum. maths tutor was a nice female masters student. she seemed kind and helpful.
and how to do simple (they call them) proofs in algebra.
the lecture went woosh! for 2 hours. over... hopefully a summary of most of the semesters content? i hope that was what that was. hello cartesian co-ordinates :-/
the physics guy seemed nice. he wrote everything down and worked slowly. unlike the math guy who kept talking while we were writing and telling us we had all fallen asleep when we weren't computing while writing while drawing the model FFS!!!
i... can't think in class. not when it is the first time i've encountered. need to put myself somewhere dark and quiet and work through it individually for a couple hours (at least) first. the maths lectures seem to be a disorganised mess...
physics guy took us through units of measurement. conversion equations. ah. fractions. i remember them sort of (not really).
i think all that matters is whether we can do the equations in reasonably good time.
i need to remember the aim isn't for me to ace these classes... it is more about giving me some practice with numbers (which will hopefully help my chem) and preparing me for physics. physics guy said sit back and take it in... it will make so much more sense the next class... i'll let the maths people dazzle me with their speedy correctness :-/ i never was particularly good at logic... but at least i see brackets in their functions which makes me feel happy(ish)
Posted by SLS on January 6, 2014, at 0:25:12
In reply to Re: oh my, posted by alexandra_k on January 6, 2014, at 0:02:17
One of my nightmares is to return to school for my junior year of college and failing miserably. I never had a chance.
- Scott
Posted by baseball55 on January 6, 2014, at 20:56:58
In reply to Re: oh my » alexandra_k, posted by SLS on January 6, 2014, at 0:25:12
> One of my nightmares is to return to school for my junior year of college and failing miserably. I never had a chance.
>
>
> - ScottI once saw a cartoon. In the first frame, a woman thinks -- may all my dreams come true. In the second frame, she is sitting naked in a math class with an exam!
Since I teach, my anxiety dreams tend to be about teaching rather than learning. I have dreams that I'm scheduled to teach spanish or some other subject I don't know.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 6, 2014, at 23:35:18
In reply to Re: oh my » alexandra_k, posted by SLS on January 6, 2014, at 0:25:12
well today we did physics in the morning... a bunch of equations where he uses a different notation from the text book... and where (even though i try and be careful) i can't really decipher my own handwriting...
then i spent some time trying to get lecture notes printed off... just generally... overwhelmed.
went to the math help people and the guy was quite good. he was the stats guy but i was just asking how to read order of magnitude stuff. 10 to the nth power or whatever. how you tell when that is what the expression is saying or whether the expression is saying for you to times the number by itself. i... i really do lack the basic math skills...
then two hours of math, again. linear functions. polynomial functions. i was right to see that last time was an overview... but more detail was just a bunch of substitutions and rearrangements and... heaps of prior knowledge that i don't have, basically. it is just... those 'simple' proofs (that i can't do) with a bunch of extra machinery (well, eventually).
i feel...
i've been feeling a little wired. since i quit smoking, actually. i worry sometimes that it might be Maher's 'feeling of significance' indicating something along the lines of a psychotic break. i feel... quite often that people know stuff that they couldn't (e.g., stuff that i didn't say that they could overhear - unless people are talking about me constantly via walkie talkie to each other or something...) lots of... well... things just really seem connected in ways they can't possibly be. i'm... just not that important.
the feeling scares me a little. sometimes i guess it does have a tinge of grandiosity... sometimes a tinge of paranoia... i just need to remember that people are genuinely intentioned and kind and mean well. that when they aren't -- that is coming from their own insecurities. that sometimes people... test. or express their insecurities. but that they are really looking for a way to reframe because they can't quite see... or that sometimes they are... disturbing me... or something... that it can help me learn / see things differently... even though it is scary for me sometimes and sort of hurts a bit. need to remember people are well intentioned and kind, really, and i say or do things a bit off the cuff sometimes and, well, i could see how they could just as readily interpret that as me poking fun or being a bit mean to them, when i really don't intend it like that.
i see a bunch of people working really hard. and... who do i think i am that i can come in and do work that... well, i've realised... it is really hard to get to study in engineering or bio-med or whatever... there are people working genuinely very hard to bring up their gpa... and / or to do pre-reqs... and they try and limit people to doing only 1 or 2 'difficult' papers at a time and... well... it is very different from how things were for my philosophy / psychology degree. i have the people competing for a place in clinical psychology thing to hang this off... but this is different...
i'm not entirely sure why they let me in to biomed... but i am grateful that they gave me the opportunity to learn...
i will stick with physics because it is less than a semester's worth of class. math... i need to start that right from the very beginning (the earliest foundations level paper they have).
today was... cool. it was cool to watch him do his thing and see the smart (and well prepared) ones in the class following along and anticipating and... having fun. yeah. that's how class is supposed to be... if you put in the work. i don't want to just scrape through, i want it to be like that. a lot of people walked out. i knew before half time i was going to drop but... went back to the second half... just to be sure. i'm sure now. there is no way.
i'll have to have a think about bio-med... all this is... just for physics. i mean... i want to learn to love numbers... i feel like i'm... blind or something and would like to be able to see them... basic numeracy... but then all this was supposed to be for med... and i need to not get distracted by things... prioritise... one can't be good at everything there aren't enough hours in the day...
switching to a health science degree would be an alternative pathway to med. it would eliminate the physics requirement... but it would leave me with chemistry, still, and i don't think i'm prepared for that.
more than that... the mind games of the first years. because they are new and insecure (mostly). i... need to have enough confidence in my own ability... and i need good friends. and the only way you get good friends (who are capable and who will help you through) is by bring able to bring something to the party yourself. now in math... i'm not able to bring anything to the table. so...
persist with physics... and try and learn the simple math as best i can... fast addition... multiplication tables... etc. orders of magnitude... stuffs...
______
there was an accident outside my window last night. i had... the perfect view of it which was... weird. this almighty smacking sound. horn. a guy talking loudly... talking to a passanger or something... sounded like hanging in there... that desperate pleading reassuring kind of sound... eerie... ambulance... two fire trucks... horn still going... police cars... undercover police cars... there were a bunch of people outside and i was just sitting in my room... hoping... that the person was going to be okay.. feeling.. panicked to start. realised... i didn't know what to do. i wouldn't know what to do in that sort of a situation. could i really come to the party in that sort of a situation?
i haven't heard... i hope the person was okay. the ambulance didn't speed off... which worried me. i don't know what that means.
only one hour of new content tomorrow... then hopefully this weekend i can get properly caught up.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 7, 2014, at 0:25:58
In reply to Re: oh my, posted by alexandra_k on January 6, 2014, at 23:35:18
take a moment... take a breath.
i wonder why... i just got words... but i never got numbers... People need to teach me numbers. And teach me how to think of the notation... Teach me what it means.
when i feel anxious... i need to stop and take a breath. not... randomly click around on unfamiliar computers... stop. and look. and think, for a minute. not get so anxious that i can only hear my heart going thumpity thump thump where my brain fairly much turns off. i think that is part of why i found math hard... the physical closeness of the person trying to give me individual help got me feeling anxious... the sense that they were waiting for me... that i was too slow...
i still feel ambivalent. like i would profit most from working through the math by myself... need to learn the balance between stuff that it is better to do on my own and stuff that it is better to get help with (if possible). collaborate... cooperate... that stuff...
i... still feel happy that i've come home. that i'm learning. that the people around me are... good people. nice people. and amazingly smart. feeling a little... intimidated / overawed at the moment... but then i remember that i do have ability in philosophy that i can hold close to my heart for a bit... which helps things feel a bit better. and to think that i jolly well should be capable of being nicer and kinder and more helpful to others because i've got that. some of them... are still finding their strengths... it will be okay. this is good for me. i'm learning to be calmer.
uninterrupted sleep tonight will help... but then... i also tend to function best when i'm a little wired... when i feel overtired... food... physics... i'm going to be okay.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 7, 2014, at 1:07:29
In reply to Re: oh my, posted by alexandra_k on January 7, 2014, at 0:25:58
:)
perfect.
Posted by HomelyCygnet on January 7, 2014, at 1:30:48
In reply to Re: oh my, posted by alexandra_k on January 7, 2014, at 0:25:58
Posted by alexandra_k on January 8, 2014, at 0:29:05
In reply to Sorry you're feeling bilious (nm) » alexandra_k, posted by HomelyCygnet on January 7, 2014, at 1:30:48
thanks. i had to look up 'bilious' :)
i'm hanging in there... enjoying physics, actually. the lecturer gives us nice, clear notes (so far at least) and i can work through them okay (with the help of the internet to plug gaps in my knowledge). the pacing of summer school might be a bit fast for me (condensed high school curriculum, apparently), but i will always have the notes! and i'll just progress through them as best i can in the time i have.
i'll go see the maths department tomorrow about figuring how to best fix up my maths... i am not entirely sure i know what maths is... (e.g., the physics guy says 'we aren't doing maths - just substitutions')... so i don't know. i suppose it is just the difference between learning the language (e.g., learning polish notation for logic) and actually doing logic... but it seems to me that mechanics (anyway) just is a bunch of transformations from L,M,T. or... maybe i misunderstood...
i suspect it is just a matter of my being properly humble and putting in the time to learn whatever it is i need to learn. whether it is doing 5 minutes per day on my times tables (5s to 9s) etc... or whatever...
Posted by Partlycloudy on January 8, 2014, at 17:25:41
In reply to Re: Sorry you're feeling bilious » HomelyCygnet, posted by alexandra_k on January 8, 2014, at 0:29:05
I was told late in high school that I lacked basic mathematical skills. It gave me a very poor opinion of what I was able to do. Then, years later, along came Accounting 101 for an Office Information System certificate. I was having palpitations at the thought.
But they really DID go back to the basic (we had to keep ledgers in pencil before being allowed near a computer), so it helped me a lot to have a course that presumed we had forgotten whatever we'd been taught.
Hope for us all, it seems :-)
Posted by alexandra_k on January 9, 2014, at 15:51:57
In reply to Re: Sorry you're feeling bilious, posted by Partlycloudy on January 8, 2014, at 17:25:41
yeah. i think that was why i did alright in logic. they taught us the language right from the very beginning. i'm actually enjoying physics a lot - it is kind of like logic with looking at the relationship between concepts (force, mass etc). i mess up the unit conversions (the actual numbers) but i'm starting to get a sense about which numbers go where in the equations, at least. just need to start with the simple concepts and build up gradually.
i graduated kindergarten!
well... they don't quite put it like that... but i managed to master the kindergarten (preschool) curriculum set in a couple hours.
i see three!!!!!
there was lots of counting... i'm part way through year one now, too, (5 year olds), and it gets tedious counting stuff to 20. so... you just do start counting in twos... as in... seeing two and counting in twos (rather than counting in ones with an emphasis on every second beat). i am starting to see three, oh yes i am! soon... i bet i will be able to see four!!
they are putting lines around the 10's sometimes... so you get used to counting in 10's and 1's. moving more into dots now... so they can put them in outlines... sort of like container... so you start to get a sense of area. and conservation of quantity with different shaped and sized containers containing the different numbers of dots in different patterns...
it really is quite fun. i mean... it isn't much less fun than pottering away at sim city or bejewelled or minesweep or whatever... an actual productive use of my time. i wonder how long it will take me to get to year 12 (can get entry to first year uni on the basis of strong year 12 / there is a lot more overlap between year 13 and first year university).
i remember i did get tasks like this at school that i enjoyed. only trouble was if people gave them to me i'd squirrel myself away till the whole book was done and my teachers didn't like that. so they purposely gave me books to read instead... putting me on rations, like, because they only had so many problems (and they wouldn't give me higher levels because... they were mean bastards). and then at some point... i got so far behind... i never caught back up.
what a f*ck*ng brilliant website! give a kid the gift of a subscription to that on their i-pad and not much else to do and... math will take care of itself. perhaps.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 11, 2014, at 18:22:38
In reply to Re: Sorry you're feeling bilious, posted by alexandra_k on January 9, 2014, at 15:51:57
and then lots and lots of sums.
far out. still, that is how it gets to be automatic, i guess.
seasons were tricky. then i figured to think of summer as being at 12:00 (since we just did clocks before that) then fall / autumn at 3.00... then you can navigate your way around 'what comes 9 months before fall?'.
then of course there are 12 months too ahaha. never thought to represent them as being on a clock before (i was born in september which is at 9:00 because it is the 9th month).
3's are tricky little buggers... don't repeat until 30... that is part of what makes them hard, i think :(
not like 2's where you have 0,2,4,6,8, repeating.
rotation vs flip is tricky, too (Q J G - because they are not symetric, i suppose). just need practice. to imagine the letter swinging around by a nail / point of rotation.
i am improving :)
i finished year 2!!
Posted by alexandra_k on January 11, 2014, at 18:26:21
In reply to Re: lots and lots of counting, posted by alexandra_k on January 11, 2014, at 18:22:38
shapes are a bit tricky, too. faces, vertices, edges.
but i guess stuff like that is still a fairly minor part of the curriculum... we are just doing crap loads of counting at the moment...
i wonder if the only difference in the countries curriculums (on this website at least) is the money? i guess i'll take a look into that at some point...
there are differences in high school curriculums too, yes. some people do... cambridge curriculum. which is... different from nzqa qualifications (nz ones) or A levels (uk?)
?
i remember when... lmfao
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