My life isn't always easy. Let me rephrase that. I'm not always easy. I obsess about things like my schoolwork. When algebra came up a few terms ago, I was what can only be described as an emotional train wreck. Algebra is not a very emotional subject for most people.
For me, it was the equivalent of being locked in a dungeon for 10 long weeks. I was terrified. I cried. And cried. And cried some more. I have what we now know as dyscalculia. It's a learning disability in which one has very limited number sense.
Location: United States Posts: 191 Joined: 2008-05-24
I liked this article a lot! In fact, I might use it in my research paper.
But I liked how he explained his obsessiveness over homework and grades. I'm the same way. Because I'm so bad at math, I've forced myself to be amazing at everything else. And somehow, jsut like him, I managed to get a B on one of report cards - talk about a miracle! But that was because I took my regular math class, two extra ones, and had literally hours of instruction at home. I can't repeat a year like that; it almost killed me.
But anyway, I understand that desire - the driving need you feel to be number one to "make up" for math.
Location: United States Posts: 1860 Joined: 2008-11-14
AnimalHugger wrote:
But anyway, I understand that desire - the driving need you feel to be number one to "make up" for math.
Do you get it?
I personally totally understand what you mean by that. All throughout high school I was tracked for (and took, by choice) honors math classes - Honors Algebra I, Honors Algebra II, Honors Geometry, Trigonometry (an honors weighted "advanced" course), and Analytic Geometry (also an honors weighted course). And despite my dyscalculia, I worked my tail off in class, after class, and with my tutor to get B's and C's in those classes.
I felt like because I was able to get A's easily in all of my other classes (most of them also being Honors, AP, or dual-enrollment college courses), math should be no different. Even though it WAS different (thanks to dyscalculia), I still felt like I was stupid if I didn't take the honors maths. So I did, and I hated every second of it, and now I know why.
"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." - Eric Hoffer
Location: United States Posts: 191 Joined: 2008-05-24
ChesireKat, I totally understand.
I, too, hate getting lower grades in math when all my other grades are so much better. It kills me. I can't stand it, because it feels like I should do better....But yes, that sounded like me. My single B in math class was the crowning glory of my public school career.
At first, they put me in remedial classes because of my math skills, but I was literally bored in the classes; it was too easy. So they switched what 'track' I was in mid-year, which was good for all my other classes. But they kept me in the low math class, which, in my mind, totally destroyed the fact that I was doing so well in the others.
