I study and study and study and I have not managed to get a single A in the class my entire junior year in HS. The highest I’ve gotten is an 89, but my average is a C+. It’s so frustrating seeing all my friends get 90s like it’s not big deal, but I can’t even get one. It’s so embarrassing and frustrating. I’ve been sitting at a 79% for a good part of the semester, and only recently have I gotten it to an 82%, and that was after rotating through 3 different tutors. I just feel so stupid in that class, and I hate it. What more can I do? I feel like I’ve done everything I can, but that stupid class is stressing me out, and bringing down my GPA as well.
What you are doing now is not effective so you need to chang ewhat you are doing and how you are studying:
Here are suggestions:
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Try reading the chapter before and after your teacher teaches the topic.
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Go to Teacher’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
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If you have problems with the homework, go to Teacher’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
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Form a study group with other kids in your class.
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Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or chemistry whatever. Watch online videos on line about the topic you are studying.
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If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
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Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
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For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skills that the guidance office can help you with.
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How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? Do you have music/friends/tv on while you do homework?
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If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the guidance counselor and talk to them.
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At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The teacher may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
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Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the prof wants).
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If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
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If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the teacher’s office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
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Take advantage of the "re-do"if your teacher has it…your teacher wants you to learn the material. Future material depends on it so you need to have the foundation. By explaining what went wrong you really understand it. Take advantage of this.
AP Calculus is very hard.
Most people who would struggle with it are either at a lower level or have given up on math altogether.
Hang in there.
Just taking Calculus in high school makes you an elite student.
Your value as a person is so much more than your grade (as long as it is your best effort) in math.
Well, I’m a more math inclined person but I still think I can have valid input here. Calculus as a subject is very intuitive. You won’t be required to really prove any of the tools you use so there are a few ways you can get better at the subject.
- Relearn everything and try to restate the main idea in your own words in a sentences. If you can do this and the explanation is adequate, then you understand what you've learned to some extent.
- Drill questions. The most important thing to do in mathematics is to do math. You won't get anywhere if you ask other people to help you all the time. Sometimes you have to do a lot of problems until you get it. Everyone has had to do this at least once.
- Teach yourself more than the class offers. While I haven't formally taken a calculus class, all of my math classes are VERY superficial. You will see how superficial it is once you do a lot of problems. A "tough" problem will simply require greater computational skills rather than greater problem solving skills. You can really dig deeper into the subject if you ask questions while you do problems. You want to ask things like, "Why does this work? Is there a faster way to do this? Is this the only way to do this?" If you can ask those questions and answer them, you'll have a stronger understanding of the subjects.
- Learn to problem solve. High school mathematics follows the same general formula. You are introduced to a subject and then a teacher tells you to write down definitions you need to know, and will probably give you example problems. If you learn how to problem solve, you'll see that a lot of the problems rely on the same principal ideas. Calculus 1(AB) only covers limits, differentiation and integration I believe (a look at the big ideas of the course showed me this.) That means you have to understand that you're studying changes. There are a million ways that I can describe limits, differentiation or integration, but the only way you can understand it yourself is if you know how to approach new problems rather than shutting down and asking for help.
You’re not a dumb person. If you don’t get it at first, it’s fine, but once you start thinking about why something works rather than plug and chugging, then you’ll really see how intuitive a lot of these “hard” results are.
AP Calculus is hard. And I took AB.
It is a lot of work, and it can get confusing.
You can still get a B in Calculus and consider yourself a strong student.
My teacher told me that Khan Academy is very helpful. I agree, because it covers many things effectively. Unfortunately, I didn’t use it myself.
Best of luck, though. I did better in AP Calculus AB 2 (98%, made A+ by 0.05%) than in 1 (95%, A). 