I'm a homeschool student that is taking the Aleks placement test. I want to take it and skip past college algebra and precalc. I'm using Kahn academy as my study aide. Does anyone know exactly what type of math is on the placement test? And what score I would need in order to go straight to calculus?

High School math, first year students. They only take one year of math. (yeah, weird. It's only a three year program here) instead of having them do anything useful, management says do whatever, make a poster or something we don't care.

Do you have any ideas about fun or creative projects that will let practice what they learned?

I'm looking for good math books because my current books tend to omit certain things that would allow me to answer the questions in them. I really need a detailed and comprehensive book that doesn't try to be concise. I've had to ask for help on Reddit numerous times because my current books are terrible. I've tried Khan Academy but I struggled to understand their explanations. Here are my current math textbooks that have really frustrated me:

1. Mathematics: a complete introduction, Hugh Neill (2018)
2. Algebra: a complete introduction, Hugh Neill (2018)
3. Trigonometry: a complete introduction, Hugh Neill (2018)
4. GCSE Mathematics Higher Student Book, CGP (2016)

All of the above books (especially the book published by CGP) have lackluster examples and poor explanations that frustrate me and put me off studying math. I really need books that actually help me learn math. I don't want to fail my math exams for my NVQ qualification.

I wanted to share an adaptation I made to one of my apps to help my niece and nephew practice their arithmetic. I took the app ‘Pie Runner’ and turned it into a math challenge game: Pie Runner Math. Players have to correctly answer arithmetic questions to make the Pie character run the race.

Would love to get some feedback if you have time to check it out.

IOS: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/pie-runner-math/id1510138287

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.highwaynorth.pierunnermath

So I use the unit circle to introduce the sine curve, but I'm always worried a student will ask "But I thought sine was the ratio of the opposite side to the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle? What is sine of 120 degrees? What does that mean?".

And I don't know how to answer that question. I guess it's a gap in my own understanding as much as it is a teaching concern.

How do you introduce the concept of sine?

No student has ever actually asked me that, but I do think I should be able to answer it.

Factoring is always one of the things students seem to struggle with. Even when I was teaching honors, it was an area of difficulty for some. This year, I'm working with special ed students who are with me because the general ed setting is too difficult for them.

I have a group this year of students who have very weak number sense. I was trying to teach special products last week through numerous examples and most students did not recognize that (a+b)^2=a^2+2a+b^2. They have had a hard time identifying if something was linear or if something was exponential. When it came to solving equations, some of my students struggle with one digit operations like they might have x-6=8 and get x=12. Overall, they have very weak number sense and have been encouraged to use a calculator.

I want to provide some resources for these students to be successful. I just can't imagine how they are going to factor when their number sense is so weak. I was thinking of some sort of table of values that lists what certain integers add up to and multiply to but that would be too huge to be practical.

Anyone have anything that they have used that they have found successful?

What online math programs have you heard of being used with math for Elementary/ Middle? I have heard of Prodigy, Splash Learn, Dreambox, and Study Island.

I want to get into teaching math beyond high school, ideally at a 4 year university, but I really don't want to do research and publish papers. I'd rather focus on the instruction. Realistically what are the options there?

I see adjunct professors teach only but I've read about some potential big downsides regarding pay and sometimes lifestyle. Are there any 4 year universities where just a Masters degree is enough to get a full-time teaching role? If not, does a part-time teaching role combined with some other part-time math related role (maybe private tutoring) provide a good livable wage? This is for the US

So as of now I am about halfway done with my student teaching semester. I ended up becoming a part of a high school precalculus classroom.

I am teaching conics right now and later on they will learn about vectors, series and sequences, and parametric equations. So right now we finished our section unit for the ellipses, and I’m moving onto hyperbolas.

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep up with such dense material, and how to explain it better to students? I often try to break it down to defining the a, b, and c definitions to try and make the connections, and I try to not give the answers. It is proving to be hard though, and I had a student cry on me yesterday because they said they just don’t get it. (They had to write the equation of an ellipse given any points/features of the ellipse)

Does anyone have any experience, either as an educator or student, with online credit recovery programs like these? How well designed and rigorous are they?

Mods, I did check the rules before submitting. I think this follows the terms outlined.

Thanks

I have read many objections to the way of teaching that precedence rule, but one issue that it does not seem to be pointed out is that it does not really indicate the order in which the operations must be done.

For example, if we have the expression 3+4+5+6*7, it is not incorrect to do first the sum 3+4+5, leaving 12+6*7, because the calculation of 6*7 does not interfere with the result of 3+4+5.

Maybe it is not emphasized because we tend to assume that people will take that for granted, but in one of those videos of false demonstrations that 0 = 1, one step was to get from

√[(4-5)^2] = √[(6-5)^2]

to

(4-5) = (6-5)

In the comments, someone put that the error came because the order of operations was not followed, that what was inside the parentheses should have been done first. Surely that is an alternative way to get the correct result, but it is not the source of the error, and it does not explain why when solving an equation like √(x+3) = 9 we can square both sides to cancel the root: x+3=81, effectively doing an external operation before what is inside the parentheses. The "x" is just another number by the end, just masked.

So, to avoid those confusions I think the precedence rules should be seen as hierarchies in a kind of "stratification of layers". We can really choose which operations we want to do first as long as the operands belong to the same layer, the deeper ones being private for our current one until we know their final results. (And of course following other rules, like if the operators are associative or not, etc.)

In the expression 3+4+5+6*7, the multiplication indicates that the operands of 6*7 belong to a deeper layer than those of the rest of the expression, so we can operate the outer ones as long as we don't touch those of the deeper, like if we masked the 6*7 with an "x" until we changed the layer in which we are working:

3+4+5+x

Background:

I am 23 years old and joining the Air Force. I currently possess a very rudimentary understanding of mathematics. (Enough to get a 93/99 on the ASVAB. Anyone who is familiar with the test knows how easy it is.) Basically, I understand like Algebra 1. Mathematics has always been my weakest subject.

I currently plan on serving 4 years to get the GI Bill then go to school for a bachelor's in nuclear engineering. I'm passionate and interested in nuclear energy.

As far as I know, universities have entrance exams or something to get in, right? And all the engineering programs I've looked at begin with Calculus.

My intention is solely to accrue more math knowledge and be ready to face Calculus on any entrance exam and in engineering. I'm not trying to skip any future engineering classes. I just wish to improve my own math skills. Structured coursework of reptitions seems like it would be really useful to get the foundations drilled into me.

Question:

Would it be worthwhile to get an associate's in math online while I serve to be ready for engineering?

(I know. A lot of background, but I didn't want to leave out any important factors that would influence anyone's advice.)

I'm working on a program to help with automaticity and mental math skills and I was hoping some of you could comment or contribute to my mental math progressions in different skills. I've got everything so far laid out in a Google Sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17vwSJWGRL2A5TwsRnspX6qdaLeBSmVft7JT1ZNvBSrs/edit?usp=sharing) I would love to hear your feedback or ideas for how it can be improved.

If you're interested in the program send me a DM and I'll send you a link. Thank you!

Hi!

My name is Hugo, I live in Estonia and I am currently in 11th grade of a very prestigious secondary school here. I am a straight A student in almost every other class except for math.

I came here to this community for help regarding my performance in secondary school math. The topics that we have previously covered are logarithms, trigonometric functions and equations and probability.

Before every test, I study very hard and I stay fairly focused. I redo the exercises that we’ve previously done at school and try to understand how they are solved. However, the night before the test I always get very stressed out and I start to worry if I am good enough to get a good grade(I try to aim for regular A’s). To this date, I just keep on failing my tests. I know that a C is not considered to be a failed test but if all of my friends keep getting straight A’s with some B’s I get very depressed and feel like I am just completely worthless and that no matter how hard I try nothing seems to work. Secondly, during the tests I somehow can't stay focused and I accidentally make very stupid mistakes that should not really appear. For instance one of my previous mistakes was when I was given a random quadratic formula (𝑎𝑥2+𝑏𝑥+𝑐=0) the 𝑏𝑥 was multiplied by -1 and when I had to solve the quadratic equation I accidentally put x= - 𝑏+-sqrt root and etc. I know how to solve them during the classes but somehow I make these very stupid mistakes when I am given test.
I know that I have the potential for being great at math and I am very motivated to try absolutely anything. I just want to know what is wrong with me or with my studying that just doesn't let me achieve these aforementioned results.

I am hoping for any recommendations or even study routines/techniques from people who have been in the same rut as me and eventually excelled at math or from people who know what do I need to do for me to fix my situation.

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If you have any questions about how I go about studying math then please ask me! I want this problem to be resolved so I can feel happy about myself.

I am a fourteen-year-old high school student, and I have a website where I post math games that I have created: https://thegamebox.ca/. Please check out my games, and if you have any ideas, please let me know. Thank you!

I'm a math education student who is beginning to make curriculums for highschool math courses. I have been racking my brain on how to create and assign homework that isn't just busy work or following steps. I want the students to do actual problem solving rather than just following specific instructions. Any suggestions?

Hi,

I'm a high school junior taking honors precalculus and I'm having hard time when it comes to taking tests. Even if I'm able to do the practice problems at home and understand the concepts on my time, I'm still not able to execute that in my test. My teacher is also giving me a tough time because she makes me feel like I'm inferior to everyone and is also unapproachable so I don't feel comfortable asking her for help either. I recently got a tutor and my dad whose an engineer also spends time with me to review my coursework yet I'm still struggling. Can you please give me so tips, advice, and resources to help me fix this? Please let me know as I'm a junior and I'm scared for my future.

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Thank you for the advice. This year precalculus has given me test anxiety mainly because of my teacher and I would like some help and if can share any resources especially videos I can use to get better, that would be great. Also, my school has recently updated the honors precalculus curriculum to make it more challenging in order to help kids become better prepared to take AP Calc AB and BC. The topics we are covering are supposed to be challenging as they delve deeper into Conics, Polar Coordinates, and Limits. I hope to get better and feel more confident for the future topics.

Thank you!

this article has google slides on a template for fractions if you're they type of teacher that likes to go crazy with customizing slides. click here for article for fractions

really hoping I'm following the rules here, because I did not create it, just sharing free information.

Does anyone know of any free practice problems that actually replicate the Praxis Math 5165 exam? The ETS site gives a free one, but it isn't nearly high enough level for me to pass the actual exam. Any help or direction is much appreciated.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs? I'm generally interested in algebra & geometry/topology (mostly on the algebraic side).

I've heard UCB is super cutthroat and doesn't care much about its grad students. I'm also worried it will be hard to get attention from advisors in such a big program. On the other hand, I've heard UChi is kinda depressing and has too much teaching responsibility (and it's cold lol).

Any advice on how to go about choosing? Both are good research fits for me and have a number of faculty members I'd love to work with. What would you pick and why?

Hey everyone! I'm trying to get some advice about math grad school. I'm currently doing a MA program in California for edtech, and going for SS credential in math after that. After a bit of teaching and completing some of the requirements through open university, I want to apply for an MS degree. A school (in California) that I'm looking to apply to has both an Applied Mathematics Option, M.S. and a Mathematics Education for Secondary School Teachers Option, M.S. I eventually plan to go for a PhD or an EdD in math education.

After listing the pros, I think I'm learning towards the applied math, but I want to hear from you guys and what you think. What do you think are some pros/cons? What is better professionally? What's your personal experience?

I teach an upper level math class (seniors, IB math) but a good % of my kids struggle with basic algebra so in some of my sections I often feel like I'm more running around telling them what to do rather than having them think critically and figure the problems out. It's exhausting but I feel like there's no choice; the alternative is having them struggle for a minute and most likely check out except for a few who persist and ask questions. How do you support classes that are clearly not where they need to be for something like IB exam prep, and how do you deal with the boredom/frustration resulting from seeing this day after day? I'm trying to spiral in old topics and do more algebra fluency drills but it's sort of a wash bc it's like we're seeing everything for the first time.