My Math140 class (Calculus) is about to kill me! i am struggling! I bombed my first test... a 64... then I took one yesterday, which I have a feeling I didn't do too much better :'( Why or why!

Pray for me.... :)

Originally posted by JoJoJoJoJoJoJoJoJo
My Math140 class (Calculus) is about to kill me! i am struggling! I bombed my first test... a 64... then I took one yesterday, which I have a feeling I didn't do too much better :'( Why or why!

Pray for me.... :)
If you really want to understand it, buy another couple of intro books on the subject, and then when some explanation is unclear in your hs book, look at the same explanation in one of the others. It's a hard subject the first time you see it, particularly if they present it with a lot of proofs, but once you get the hang of it, which usually takes a year or two, it's pretty cool. Good luck.

Originally posted by JoJoJoJoJoJoJoJoJo
My Math140 class (Calculus) is about to kill me! i am struggling! I bombed my first test... a 64... then I took one yesterday, which I have a feeling I didn't do too much better :'( Why or why!

Pray for me.... :)


I know what you're going through. Calculus is pretty hard and I had to use the help of a tutor all year long.

Just the thought of trying to do problems containing derivatives, antiderivatives, integrals, and all that other stuff makes me very nervous.

The best way to keep good grades in Calculus is:

1. Ask for help (and lots of it). Teachers seem to like when students ask for their assistance on tough problems and subjects as long as they don't assume that their actually completing the work for you.

2. Get a tutor. It helps a lot when you can rely on other students who know a lot about a subject you're having a tough time on.

3. Read all examples and lessons carefully. Read them over and over again until you at least know the basics. You can always ask for help on advanced information.

4. Do some practice problems. Try maybe two or three easy problems to see where you stand and then try maybe one or two hard ones to see if you can do them or not. Don't worry if you can't solve them because again, you can always ask for help.

5. Learn from past mistakes. If you've made a bad grade on something, don't get too upset. Most of the time, your teacher will write down the correct answers on the paper and steps he/she used to get to those right answers. Study them and use them to your advantage because more often than not, you'll most likely see something similar again.

6. Take good notes. You can always refer to them when doing homework problems and sometimes your teacher may allow you to use them on quizzes and tests.

7. Relax. If you're trying to do a problem and it seems like your computation keeps coming up wrong and you know you're performing the right steps, stop what you're doing and do something else. Spending too much time on one particular problem causes stress and anxiety. You'll be surprised that when you move to something else for a while, you'll figure something out that you haven't even thought of before. This is called your "ah-ha moment." Once, you've got your "ah-ha moment," you can then go back and finish solving the problem.

I hope these tips work. :)

Well, my Calculus teacher CANNOT teach. She does not know how to explain things and she gets mad when people don't understand. Today almost the whole class got in a fight with her. I hope she doesn't last too long.

der... k? i know kids that took AP [advanced placement or whatever...] calculus in 10th and 11th grade! so mrah! but uh... yeah, im not one of them! so i shouldn't talk. but im taking chemistry this year and math II and im doing horribly in both of them! ARG!!! i dont get ANYTHING!!!

Originally posted by IownTheDivision69
der... k? i know kids that took AP [advanced placement or whatever...] calculus in 10th and 11th grade! so mrah! but uh... yeah, im not one of them! so i shouldn't talk. but im taking chemistry this year and math II and im doing horribly in both of them! ARG!!! i dont get ANYTHING!!!

For some odd reason, I really liked Chemistry. I think I was the only one in the class who liked and understood balancing chemical equations. :)

i learned a branch of calculus last year but actually i didnt cause i didnt pay attention. i aint gonna take calculus in the future either cause i aint going to college.

Fortunately, my 5 on the Calc AP test gives me credit for the 251 and 252 calc classes. Now it's on to 253. :\

Hoo Boy! And I'm in 8th Grade and I think Algebra is hard.....

Originally posted by HuntingtonM15
For some odd reason, I really liked Chemistry. I think I was the only one in the class who liked and understood balancing chemical equations. :) Oh my godddd....I HATE HATE HATE HATE Chemistry.

But I LOVE geometry. :D