<p>There are certain topics this year in my math class that my teacher just can't explain. I am not going to just blame my teacher for my problems when I have so many other resources available to me nowadays, so I have taken to the internet multiple times to find a better explanation. A couple of these times I have found a different way to do the problem than the way my teacher taught because I found this way easier. All of these ways have been methods that are 100% accepted by the math community, but some of the time my teacher will only give me half credit for the correct answer because it wasn't the way she taught it. I am not going to make a big deal out of it because my grade is fine in the class, but I was just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences with a teacher.</p>
<p>Sometimes teachers want it done a certain way for whatever reason, some of my teachers have said before that we have to do things the way the state standards say we have to…so it’s just the way it is sometimes.</p>
<p>In chemistry we lose points if we don’t copy the formula and show the algebra.
I’m not sure how I feel about this…I mean, the idea that there’s only one way to solve a problem is very narrow-minded, and I don’t like the way everything is taught according to a formula even when a formula isn’t really needed if you think logically, but I think it’s important to be very clear about what you’re doing and explain yourself well even if you can get the right answer without showing a lot of work.</p>
<p>Also, in the real world there will be weird rules you’ll have to follow even though they seem arbitrary. I guess this is sort of preparation for that.</p>
<p>Once on an Algebra 2 test I got all the answers right but didn’t get full credit because I didn’t write “x=” in front of every answer.</p>
<p>In Algebra I, I basically had to teach myself most of the material from the internet so I ran in to your problem a lot. Also on tests, I would forget how to do something the way my teacher wanted us to so I would use several different concepts to finally get to the answer. My answers were correct but my teacher didn’t like the way that I solved them. You just have to brush it off.</p>
<p>My geometry teacher disregards the methods my algebra teacher taught me.</p>
<p>Sometimes, it also depends on if the way you are solving it is a ‘trick’ as opposed to actual understanding. I had a sixth grade math teacher who refused to let us ‘cross-multiply’ if we couldn’t explain to her why it worked (same process as moving the denominators in two separate steps). At the time, I couldn’t do it and did it the long way. The same holds true for some other concepts as well that I’ve encountered in pre-calc and calculus.</p>
<p>It’s probably because the skill that she taught you will be useful later in math. For example, I cannot do long division to save my life because in elementary school I taught myself short division first. Now it kinda sucks when I have to do binomial long division.</p>