Very Sad and Frustrated with Adding and Subtracting Rational Expressions

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spaceshowfeature1

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I have been having extreme rage over adding and subtracting Rational Expressions. EVERY SINGLE TIME I DO ONE LITTLE THING WRONG. It's just getting annoying. I've been working on these problems for over a week now, and I make ZERO progress, or at least it feels like that. I'm not going to post any problems, because I would just like advice for what to do when I hit this mental roadblock. I try to make goals for myself, like: "get four problems right in a row," but I fail so so so many times. I know I'm not stupid, but I feel really stupid. This is supposed to be easy, but I spend 1 1/2 weeks on the same types of problems and it makes me feel awful. I feel like I'm never working at my potental. How can I learn these types of things faster? How can I set reasonable goals to get me to master these problems? Thanks. If you really need example problems, I can show you them.
UPDATE: JUST FORGOT ABOUT DIFFERENCE OF SQUARES AND MESSED UP THE PROBLEM. I DON'T WANT TO STOP DOING MATH. I CAN'T STOP.
UPDATE 2: NOW KHAN ACADAMY IS GIVING ME VERY EASY PROBLEMS I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO. THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT.
update 3: sorry, I think I'm just extremely stressed. Please ignore the first two updates.
 
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Post an example of the case that gives you the most "swearing impetus" :rolleyes:
 
spaceshowfeature1 said:
I have been having extreme rage over adding and subtracting Rational Expressions. EVERY SINGLE TIME I DO ONE LITTLE THING WRONG. It's just getting annoying. I've been working on these problems for over a week now, and I make ZERO progress, or at least it feels like that. I'm not going to post any problems, because I would just like advice for what to do when I hit this mental roadblock. I try to make goals for myself, like: "get four problems right in a row," but I fail so so so many times. I know I'm not stupid, but I feel really stupid. This is supposed to be easy, but I spend 1 1/2 weeks on the same types of problems and it makes me feel awful. I feel like I'm never working at my potental. How can I learn these types of things faster? How can I set reasonable goals to get me to master these problems? Thanks. If you really need example problems, I can show you them.
UPDATE: JUST FORGOT ABOUT DIFFERENCE OF SQUARES AND MESSED UP THE PROBLEM. I DON'T WANT TO STOP DOING MATH. I CAN'T STOP.
UPDATE 2: NOW KHAN ACADAMY IS GIVING ME VERY EASY PROBLEMS I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO. THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT.
update 3: sorry, I think I'm just extremely stressed. Please ignore the first two updates.
Click to expand...

Here's my first thought: if the trouble is that you keep doing a problem, looking at the answer and finding that you are wrong, then maybe you need to learn how to check your answer for yourself, so that you can fix it and have it right by the time you look it up. That counts as being right, so you can succeed at your goal. It may take more time than you want, but speed comes later.

Making mistakes is part of the process; checking your work is another part. Don't expect not to make mistakes; expect to find and fix them, so that the answer you submit is correct.

Now, it may be that your complaint is not about checkable mistakes, but about getting stuck so that you don't even know what to do, or doing only part of a problem because you don't realize you haven't finished, or things like that. That's a different issue. One way to deal with this kind of error is to make a checklist to keep visible while you work, to remind you of possibilities to consider; you would add to this each time you discover a new error or learn a new technique. Eventually, you'd realize you had internalized the older ones, and could reduce your list.

What we probably need most in order to help is samples of the kinds of errors you make. You could show us three or four problems that you got wrong, and the work you did on them; we could then identify the kinds of mistakes you are making, and ways to avoid and/or catch them.
 
Dr.Peterson said:
Here's my first thought: if the trouble is that you keep doing a problem, looking at the answer and finding that you are wrong, then maybe you need to learn how to check your answer for yourself, so that you can fix it and have it right by the time you look it up. That counts as being right, so you can succeed at your goal. It may take more time than you want, but speed comes later.

Making mistakes is part of the process; checking your work is another part. Don't expect not to make mistakes; expect to find and fix them, so that the answer you submit is correct.

Now, it may be that your complaint is not about checkable mistakes, but about getting stuck so that you don't even know what to do, or doing only part of a problem because you don't realize you haven't finished, or things like that. That's a different issue. One way to deal with this kind of error is to make a checklist to keep visible while you work, to remind you of possibilities to consider; you would add to this each time you discover a new error or learn a new technique. Eventually, you'd realize you had internalized the older ones, and could reduce your list.

What we probably need most in order to help is samples of the kinds of errors you make. You could show us three or four problems that you got wrong, and the work you did on them; we could then identify the kinds of mistakes you are making, and ways to avoid and/or catch them.
Click to expand...
thanks. How long should it take me to learn? I will send problems tommarow, as it is getting late.
 
I tend to check each step, as I go.

For example, if I factor a quadratic polynomial, then I verify my factorization before continuing.

If I use the distributive property to multiply out some factored expression, then I double-check my result before continuing.

Also, I try to resist the urge to skip writing out each step completely. It's tempting, when doing repetitive exercises, to skip writing a step or simplification, but these "mental steps" increase the likelihood of making a mistake. (When we don't write steps completely, it makes it hard later when going back to see what we did.)

I use a LOT of scratch paper, (I start with a blank sheet of scratch paper, for each exercise.), and I try to be organized. I don't cram stuff together; I write clearly. All of this helps, if I need to retrace my train of thought later.

In general, take your time; it will save time.

Make sure your study environment is free of distractions, too.

Take lots of breaks. (Studies show that 20 minutes of continuous, heavy mental effort, followed by 6 to 8 minutes relaxing somewhere else, is best. Then repeat.)

Learning math is not easy; it takes a lot of work. Your brain needs a chance to encode patterns. Don't be too concerned with how long things "should take" for you. Everybody is different!

What's most important is practice. Mistakes are not bad; they're opportunities to grow your brain. Once you've made enough mistakes, your brain will encode the contradiction, making it less likely to occur again.

Things will get better! :cool:
 
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mmm4444bot said:
I tend to check each step, as I go.

For example, if I factor a quadratic polynomial, then I verify my factorization before continuing.

If I use the distributive property to multiply out some factored expression, then I double-check my result before continuing.

Also, I try to resist the urge to skip writing out each step completely. It's tempting, when doing repetitive exercises, to skip writing a step or simplification, but these "mental steps" increase the likelihood of making a mistake. (When we don't write steps completely, it makes it hard later when going back to see what we did.)

I use a LOT of scratch paper, (I start with a blank sheet of scratch paper, for each exercise.), and I try to be organized. I don't cram stuff together; I write clearly. All of this helps, if I need to retrace my train of thought later.

In general, take your time; it will save time.



Take lots of breaks. (Studies show that 20 minutes of continuous, heavy mental effort, followed by 6 to 8 minutes relaxing somewhere else, is best. Then repeat.)

Learning math is not easy; it takes a lot of work. Your brain needs a chance to encode patterns. Don't be too concerned with how long things "should take" for you. Everybody is different!

What's most important is practice. Mistakes are not bad; they're opportunities to grow your brain. Once you've made enough mistakes, your brain will encode the contradiction, making it less likely to occur again.

Things will get better! :cool:
Click to expand...

Thank you to you and everyone. I have figured out what I need to do. I need to do my problems slowly, and learn from my mistakes. Thanks again!
 
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