@futurebird I didn't. Keep going.

@futurebird I was an English major who needed to take another language class for my MA. Enrolled in a French literature class where everybody else was a French major, so I was the definite dummy of the group. New experience for me! Everything was done entirely in French: all reading, class discussion, assignments, essays, feedback. I wanted so badly, and probably even tried, communicating in English, during discussion but the teacher (even outside of class) resolutely stuck to French.

My grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, everything was terrible. She even made me hold my nose so I could get the nasal sounds right. It would’ve been easy to relent, especially when I held up the entire class and was clearly frustrated (everybody else was patient with me, I just hated knowing I was the obstacle to moving on). That refusal to make it easy for me (and everybody else) helped me.

@futurebird I struggled Lots with math in school, until a teacher tried me on word problems and a calculator. Turns out I have a learning disability where I can't hold #s in my head, but I can grasp real-world applications well. I went up through Calc III in Uni, even though it wasn't required, because I loved it so much. For me, it was having someone recognize my disability and accommodate, of course, but also how they encouraged me to find my own way into the subject, that did it.

@futurebird i think the end goal always required me to complete the courses, so I just plugged away and it didn’t bother me to be scraping by. I just needed to make it. But in that sense I also wasn’t trying very hard. I had a lot of personal things happening as a teen, and, I didn’t talk about it at school. I skipped many classes. But an understanding teacher who didn’t make me feel stupid or bad was always appreciated. At least I felt comfortable around them and came to class.

@futurebird Most of the time - needing it for something practical I cared about. E.g. nothing will motivate you to learn linear algebra like wanting to write shaders.

@futurebird I wasn’t diagnosed with dyscalculia until my final semester of uni when I was on my fourth attempt at passing the basic college algebra pre-requisite for graduation with my BFA and BA degrees.

When a student isn’t quite keeping up *despite clear effort* it would be worth a serious look if that diagnosis comes into question. Because it’s a sneaky one that can really fly under the radar. Getting a diagnosis earlier and figuring out my accommodations would have been a life changer.

@futurebird honestly, I’ve just had to accept that certain types of maths (typically ones that require memorizing a lot of formulae and symbols) are going to take me much longer than everyone else. I take pleasure out of understanding the “why” of these areas and it’s the “why” that clicks my understanding. However, that’s what takes all the extra time.

@futurebird math is a good metaphor for effort. We're all neurodivergent in the house. My 16yo is like me, exceptional in reading comprehension, writing, art, science. But working with numbers is extremely difficult. We can do it, but we're slow and have to put in more effort than most. And that's a good thing! I tell her that no one is "bad" at something because it isn't easy for them. And just because something is easy or comes naturally, that doesn't make you "good" at it. All good things need the proper attention and practice. The application of mathematics is how we get to art and science, so having something that takes care and effort is so, so important. And so, when we're going over math problems, I always point out examples of real world application.

@futurebird I don’t know if my experience would be relevant because I have a very high effort score. I do not give up easily. But through trial and error I have found that working with other students helps me when books and lectures aren’t helping me get better.

@futurebird Oof, the maths-learning issue. Schooling was always effortless for me: top marks, class placement years ahead of peers, high output, and often my work ended up as the rubric example. Until calculus.
Calc 1 reversed everything. I'd work practice problems every night for hours trying, hopelessly, to crack derivatives. Through miracle or mercy, I managed to pull a 20% up to a C-. Calc 2 put me on academic probation (part-time university for a second bachelor's) and I quit.
I think my problem was instruction and evaluation. The profs worked problems on the board up to the "ta-da" moment. Like a magic trick, no explanation of process, no theory to contextualize the algorithm or its outcome, no material basis, just "answer".
Exams were 20-30 questions, a full sheet each for "show your work" and 90 minutes to work. The work never got marked up, just a top-line score on each, summed to a failure overall. Office hours were during my work day. Independent study got me up to a D+

@futurebird
If textbook samples do not work, find a well verves teacher or student and ask for their way of understanding the issue. It may not be the one that clicks with your though processes, but by asking more people you are more like to find one that lends to your learning skills and style. This is why diversity of minds and backgrounds is so important in education.

@futurebird once you get lost learning math you'll find yourself swirling the drain unless and until you backtrack, repair the damage then get back on the path. figure out when that happened and you'll be able to reboot the kid. worked for me.

@futurebird

Nothing, I stopped doing #Maths altogether ! 😐 cos I could not study or take Maths as a course any further after the shitty grades I got in college (highschool 🇺🇸 ) that's how it mostly works in my part of the world #Pakistan and I learnt it better from the internet, books and khanacademy later on just to satisfy my own curiosity (and to test myself)

@futurebird well, mathematics isnt my subject but the same happens for students who just don't think critically and leave logic behind. In that case I go back to the basics of Logic from deduction and induction when they get the understanding, their perspective changes