You cannot give up on math and be an entirely complete human. So get you’re math education elsewhere. Go to the library and scour the math section, or even better, the “recreational math” section (yes there is one). Talk to a librarian. Even a school librarian. Or talk to a teacher in your school who is known for being good with teaching math (if there is one). Id you are a girl (which your name seems to imply) check out Danica McKellar’s cool book, “Math Doesn’t Suck.”

But whatever you do, don’t give up. That would only mean that the bad people won, and you didn’t put up a fight. There’s nothing noble about that.

Seriously, students with bad grades in any class are generally (there’s that word) lazy and irresponsible.

I needed to be shown, see what you were doing, you couldn’t tell me 2-4 x 6. I would need to see it as I do right now or I couldn’t do it. Sometimes I’m very slow at it. But there’s people who are horrible at writing or hate reading, I was slow at that but I got better at it. I was never taught to like math and I still struggle with it and get very anxious when faced with math. I missed math the most my last year because I hated the teacher and literally got sick a lot during class.

There was one teacher I never had the privilege of having who was a good teacher. He taught my friends in the higher classes or more difficult classes. I thanked him for being a good teacher even though I never had him for math. He was very encouraging, he really cared and was “do it at your own pace” and not “do it with everyone else or there is something wrong with you.” Rarely you have teachers who really teach, they just tell you what to do, they don’t show you, let it stick and help you improve. I think some of them are too lazy or don’t care enough to really try and go the extra mile. This teacher was superfluous with his teaching, but it was great and appreciated by everyone in the school as the best teacher.

I couldn’t agree more. Yes, it’s not “politically correct,” but it’s right. Although I wouldn’t always knock community college grads. A lot of hard-working people have had to put themselves through school while keeping a job, and it could be a stepping-stone to greater heights. OK, yeah, it’s often just a waste of time, too.

Maybe the schools won’t even exist much longer, seeing how they and the economy are going. Maybe that’s not a bad thing. More people will have to take their own initiative. It could be a blessing in disguise.

At any rate, it seems like you are on the right path if you have been googling around to improve your math skills. Thanks for your comments, and power to you!

This never has happened because through grade school all my math teachers always complained about the school administration, bad wages, enforcing the pointless DRESS CODE, and would often say “but you don’t need to know that, so we will just skip it…” For so long I have felt guilt, blaming my parents’ genes even, for my lack of skills in math..

If I could go back in time, I would…and I would choose a school district that did NOT have superintendents without Ph.Ds, weren’t the gold-digging wives of doctors, board members weren’t bankers/random business owners, and the principals weren’t community college material.. Excuse my language, but grade school really did screw me over, and many of my peers. Had I been exposed to a good education that made me apt in math, i dont think i would be studying foreign affairs, i would likely be studying aerospace engineering… REFORM THE EDUCATION SYSTEM! IT’S SCREWING OVER OUR GENERATION…

Good question. But I’d need some specifics. What level are you at? Where did you first have problems with math? Addition, fractions, etc? Are you good with some things and not others? (I was good at geometry, and basically felt like I sucked at all other math.) Is there ANYTHING about math that turns you on? Math and art? Math and poetry? Music?

Also, the fact that your dad is awesome at math can be helpful and intimidating at the same time. Remember that you don’t have to compete with anyone but yourself. Even if your dad is super-nice about helping you, it would be hard to not be at least a little intimidated by a “crazy smart mathematician.”

The problem could be emotional a lot more than intellectual. Most people’s math problems are.

Also, what resources are you using for your virtual education?

Write back and fill me in with some details. You can do it in an e-mail (click the contact link on this page) if you don’t want it published in a comment.

All the best,

Brian