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HS teachers say a lot of stupid things. The "English" teachers say it's not their job to teach grammar. Go figure.
For you, it's useful because you're a teacher of math. So you need to teach the baby steps. Susie homemaker, Janet lawyer, and Joe mechanic have no need for algebra.
FYI, the OP wants to be an oceanographer. Math, and advanced math at that, is used every single day in oceanography.
And as for the other, many mechanics need to be able to calculate resistance, volumes, conversions for tires and units, etc. Janet lawyer, had better be able to determine proportions, settlement distributions, etc.
Again, my initial two posts were vents. I CAN do it. Keep telling me I'm not going to be an Oceanographer. That's fuel to my fire. Admiting my challenge only allows me to see what I have to overcome. Even if I do have a learning disability in math, I've overcome enormous odds in the past for things I wanted. I may decide I want to do something different than Oceanography, but it WON'T be because of Algebra or any other subject. In life, my passions are music, the ocean (surf, currents, coastal environments, marine life), languages, and cultures. I am exploring all my possible educational paths, but have settled on the ES&P degree (with a plan for Masters in Oceanography). That may change.
Yes, I was kidding about attractiveness being my strength. I am told that I'm attractive; and Im a surfer (lol), so maybe Oceanography is the right path for me after all.
Last edited by Lior Arel; 06-03-2013 at 08:34 PM..
Reason: Typos
My bachelors is oceanography and my grad work is environmental and evolutionary bio (I specialize in invasive marine species and their interactions). Please, please, be aware, to get an oceanography job usually requires a graduate degree. A good grad program is going to want at least Calc 3 and both elementary and advanced statistics.
Additionally, you WILL use that math everyday.
I assuming you are trying to be funny by mentioning that your plan is to be "physically attractive" but if you aren't you should know everyone (ish) in marine science is good looking (it tends to attract blonde, tan, surfer types), its not going to count for jack squat if you can't do the work. And in oceanography the "work" is going to be mathematical in nature. You are going to need to be able to calculate wind stress, measure ekman spirals, do instantaneous rates, areas under the curve, etc. Phys oce (a class all good programs require) is almost entirely applied algebra and calculus.
If you are struggling with Algebra, you may not want to pursue an oceanography degree.
I kind of addressed your post in my general response above.
Thank you for your concern. The bachelor degree I'm currently aiming for is not Oceanography, but Environmental Science and Policy. The same school also has a graduate program in Oceanography. I am aware of the math requirements. The ES&P degree requires two semesters of Calculus. If I want it bad enough, I can do it.
I was kidding about the looks thing, more of a reference that if I can't be smart, at least I'm attractive (I think my joke fell flat). However, I am a tan, fit surfer type (been told Im attractive, too). I feel like you kind of pegged me being drawn to the field That gave me a chuckle!
This is more of a vent post, as I know there is no solution to my problem.
After 20 years, I finally started college. There were a handful of reasons I didn't go back when I graduated high school, bit I'm happy to be going back. However, I can't even pass Pre-Algebra. I failed it three times in High School and only graduated when the Summer School teacher coached me though every question, even on the final.
Time has passed, nothing has changed. My hopes are dashed. You can't get a degree without at least College Algebra. I BARELY passed the Remdial Math 1 class I tested into, and now half way through Pre-algebra and I realize its going to be a no go. I'm so disappointed. Everyone always says I'm so smart, but obviously Im not.
I think I'll just work in being as attractive and well liked as possible, since that seems to be my only strength in life.
oh wow. i know exactly how you feel. literally. i am a 40 year old woman who hasn't attended college in a decade. and none of those credits are transferable so i am pretty much starting from scratch.
i had a college reading level in second grade, but it took me until fifth grade to be able to look at a clock and tell time. algebra? don't even get me started.
i am now planning on being an engineer (yeah, there ain't much math in that huh) but i am FINALLY LEARNING it.
it is taking me literally a million brain cells and every free hour of my day, but this semester i got an a in my mathematics for electronics class. which is nearly ALL algebra.
You are obviously intelligent. you are eloquent. you are also lopsided, just like me, and that does NOT MEAN YOU ARE NOT INTELLIGENT. are you a woman? so am i. unfortunately math is a bit more of a challenge for most women. LET THAT INSPIRE YOU. PROVE EM WRONG.
its like someone saying, "im too stupid to learn spanish". well, have you sat down and learned it? what you are suffering from is ignorance. that's all. you just don't know. doesn't mean you CAN'T know, you just don't know it YET.
now, it COULD be a disorder. i guess that could be possible. but i wouldn't give up if i were you. i really plan on someday teaching a class for people just like us, math for the rest of us. and i will teach it so that people like us understand.
the thing is, most math classes are taught by people who had a natural affinity for it. they really don't know how to get through to people like us who just can't grasp it. they use the language of math very freely without thinking, "gee, maybe this person doesn't know what i mean when i use words like 'quotient' or 'coefficient'". they just roll on using these terms while you sit there getting more and more confused.
this is what i highly recommend to you. because you are obviously smart and you CAN DO THIS.
go get a bunch of books from your library or wherever, on math. "math the easy way" is a great one. go to what i call "the point of total assurance". that is the point in math where you KNOW that you know it. you may only REALLY know up to the level of multiplication and division. maybe fractions are a little beyond you, but you know for SURE that you are totally adept up to a certain point. stop at that point, and pick your way, slowly, very slowly, forward. say its decimals that are the very first step after your point of total assurance. well, check out books on math and look at what ALL of them say about decimals. do practice problems from several books. do them over and over and over again until you are absolutely SURE that you know that level. then move on to the next step.
that is what i have had to do over these last two semesters. i have had to reteach myself every night everything i learned during the day. but i got it. and once you have it, keep using it. think of it as learning a new language. if you learn french, you want to keep up on it by watching movies in french, for instance. do the same with math. USE it.
something that i find helpful to remember is that there are alot of math whizzes in the world, and i bet there is a time when they look at people like us who are at ease with language and they get totally stumped the way WE do with math. think of something you do really well, and i can bet there is some one in the world who is saying, "i could never do that". and YOU know they could, probably. whether it be cooking or auto mechanics, there is probably something you do very well and others can't. school is great for teaching you how to learn, but sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns and reteach yourself on your own.
you may have to get more gen-ed classes out of the way before you can tackle the math. don't give up on your education. its the only thing that no one can take from you. you might get a great job and get fired, you may have a car that you love and someone steals it- but nobody can take those credits from you. no one. remember that.
Thanks for the tips and encouragement. We sound similar, except I'm a dude. It's nice to hear someone else in a STEM degree plan who struggles with the math.
We'll do it. Then we'll mentally tell those who didn't believe in us to suck it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nighthouse66
oh wow. i know exactly how you feel. literally. i am a 40 year old woman who hasn't attended college in a decade. and none of those credits are transferable so i am pretty much starting from scratch.
i had a college reading level in second grade, but it took me until fifth grade to be able to look at a clock and tell time. algebra? don't even get me started.
i am now planning on being an engineer (yeah, there ain't much math in that huh) but i am FINALLY LEARNING it.
it is taking me literally a million brain cells and every free hour of my day, but this semester i got an a in my mathematics for electronics class. which is nearly ALL algebra.
You are obviously intelligent. you are eloquent. you are also lopsided, just like me, and that does NOT MEAN YOU ARE NOT INTELLIGENT. are you a woman? so am i. unfortunately math is a bit more of a challenge for most women. LET THAT INSPIRE YOU. PROVE EM WRONG.
its like someone saying, "im too stupid to learn spanish". well, have you sat down and learned it? what you are suffering from is ignorance. that's all. you just don't know. doesn't mean you CAN'T know, you just don't know it YET.
now, it COULD be a disorder. i guess that could be possible. but i wouldn't give up if i were you. i really plan on someday teaching a class for people just like us, math for the rest of us. and i will teach it so that people like us understand.
the thing is, most math classes are taught by people who had a natural affinity for it. they really don't know how to get through to people like us who just can't grasp it. they use the language of math very freely without thinking, "gee, maybe this person doesn't know what i mean when i use words like 'quotient' or 'coefficient'". they just roll on using these terms while you sit there getting more and more confused.
this is what i highly recommend to you. because you are obviously smart and you CAN DO THIS.
go get a bunch of books from your library or wherever, on math. "math the easy way" is a great one. go to what i call "the point of total assurance". that is the point in math where you KNOW that you know it. you may only REALLY know up to the level of multiplication and division. maybe fractions are a little beyond you, but you know for SURE that you are totally adept up to a certain point. stop at that point, and pick your way, slowly, very slowly, forward. say its decimals that are the very first step after your point of total assurance. well, check out books on math and look at what ALL of them say about decimals. do practice problems from several books. do them over and over and over again until you are absolutely SURE that you know that level. then move on to the next step.
that is what i have had to do over these last two semesters. i have had to reteach myself every night everything i learned during the day. but i got it. and once you have it, keep using it. think of it as learning a new language. if you learn french, you want to keep up on it by watching movies in french, for instance. do the same with math. USE it.
something that i find helpful to remember is that there are alot of math whizzes in the world, and i bet there is a time when they look at people like us who are at ease with language and they get totally stumped the way WE do with math. think of something you do really well, and i can bet there is some one in the world who is saying, "i could never do that". and YOU know they could, probably. whether it be cooking or auto mechanics, there is probably something you do very well and others can't. school is great for teaching you how to learn, but sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns and reteach yourself on your own.
you may have to get more gen-ed classes out of the way before you can tackle the math. don't give up on your education. its the only thing that no one can take from you. you might get a great job and get fired, you may have a car that you love and someone steals it- but nobody can take those credits from you. no one. remember that.
Thanks for the tips and encouragement. We sound similar, except I'm a dude. It's nice to hear someone else in a STEM degree plan who struggles with the math.
We'll do it. Then we'll mentally tell those who didn't believe in us to suck it!
So many people think very complicated math when they think of Algebra when it is really very simple. Any calculation where you have an unknown is Algebra. Period.
You will always use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in doing Algebra.
Figuring miles per gallon is basic Algebra. MPG is your formula with M and G standing in for the numbers you fill in just like any X or Y in a class problem and the P is the function you use-division.
I actually enjoy simple Algebra. It's the more complex, multi-step problems that I can't get. One is taught that for a particular problem, one adds the opposite of an integer to the other side of the equation. Sometimes the operator is used to designate whether the number is positive or negative and other times, the operator is disregarded. That is just one of many examples where Algebra trips me up. I am starting to think that the problem for me is how the subject is taught. Every study aide, tutor, teacher, and text treats solving the problem as a set of "tricks" instead of just laying it out for the student/reader. Does that make sense?
PS- I WILL do this and I WILL succeed.
Equations are like a balance scale. If you want to keep the scale in balance, whatever is done to one side of the scale (or equation) must be done to the other side. That's not a trick.
Note that positive and negative numbers are actually along the number line. If you can calculate football yardage or temperatures, you can understand negative and positive numbers. The operator (addition or subtraction) is not being disregarded, but the numbers are being given direction.
I was kidding about the looks thing, more of a reference that if I can't be smart, at least I'm attractive (I think my joke fell flat). However, I am a tan, fit surfer type (been told Im attractive, too). I feel like you kind of pegged me being drawn to the field That gave me a chuckle!
I got your joke. The later thread about looks made me chuckle too. My niece at one point planned for a similar degree and career path (Marine biology) and she surfs, is a competitive fisherwoman ( is that a word?) and is tan, fit, blonde, and gorgeous.
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That gave me a chuckle!
I'm so disappointed. Everyone always says I'm so smart, but obviously Im not. 
) but i am FINALLY LEARNING it. 
My eyes just glazed over. You lost me. 
