Monday, March 1, 2010

I fail at Maths.

Maths homework...
I tried to do my Methods homework during the week, but the two nights I was able to do so, my younger brother had homework. He took 4 hours to do it. It's his first year of high school, so he's not used to homework, being assigned books, having a diary/planner, etc. So I had to do nearly all of it on Saturday. I did most of it, but ran into trouble with a few questions. I misread one question to do with polynomials, and expanded it, instead of giving the number of terms in the equation or something. So that's a fail. Then, I spent HOURS doing another binomial expansion question (it actually needed expanding) only to find I had the wrong answer. So I showed my tutor yesterday, she looked at the answer for a minute, & went: "They wrote it the opposite way! See, we'll go through it, I bet you got it right!" I did. I just fail for not checking how my textbook decides to write solutions.

Maths tutoring...
So yesterday we covered 1.2 (Systems of linear equations) & began 1.3 (Algebra of exponential & logarithmic functions) in my textbook. Systems of linear equations in two unknowns, parallel & coincident lines, simultaneous linear equtions in more than two unknowns, matrix representation of systems of linear equations, inconsistent systems & laws of logarithms & changing the base of logarithms. (The last two were from 1.3) I found it harder than last week, but my tutor thinks I'm still doing well, it's just that I always assume I'm wrong with my working out or answers, so I waste more time, & get anxious, too. I'm a perfectionist, which isn't good when Maths isn't your strong suit. I think my brain took most of it in. I really hope it did; I just know that I was wiped out & so was my tutor after 2.5 hours of Methods! I have quite a lot of homework again, plus some extra in case I "get bored." I'm not sure that I'll become bored enough to do that homework! =P I plan to copy out the notes & examples into my new exercise book on Tuesday, as per last week. Hopefully I can make a start on the homework, then, too.

New clothes...
So I'm planning to go & get a new pair of jeans & some t-shirts tomorrow. It hinges on whether I sleep well, & my pain levels when I get up at 11am... ish. I realised that a lot of my t-shirts were black/worn, & I've had nearly all of them for 2+ years! (Except for the 3 I bought at the Bonds outlet.) My jeans are two years old, & they are wearing thin, so it's best to get another pair before my jeans actually wear out! Plus I like buying things, it doesn't matter how small. It could be some nice pens, or a hat, anything, really, because it gets me out of the house & takes my mind off my disability.

Finally...
I guess that's about it. Not much happens in my life, apart from study. I tried to watch the new episode of Skins, but can't get it to play past 43mins, the episode is 46mins long. I'm hoping I haven't missed much. I figure I can catch up next week! I'm getting consistently worse, so my mum will try to make an "emergency" appointment with my specialist. We have a lot to discuss. I'm worried about my brain, & how it will function if I improve or ever recover. How does it recover from years & years of sleep deprivation? I know my memory is getting worse; I can have my house keys in my hand, but not remember what they're called, or what they do when I'm having a really bad day. Or else my eyes ache, I feel like I've got the flu, & my spine has excruciating pain radiating outwards, & upwards unless I lie down in bed or sleep. No painkiller will dull the pain enough for me to function. I just have to get myself together, get referrals, & sort some of this crap out. Anyway, that's about it from me, I'm going to try & sleep now!

4 comments:

  1. I couldn't do Methods at the best of times, so respect to you!

    I want new jeans too..

    x http://www.lemon-butter.blogspot.com

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  2. Oh Alex,
    I completely understand what you mean by the keys in your hand comment. I have that sometimes where I just can't understand what seems so simple. It's a scary situation when things are messed up in your brain. I hope the specialist has some ideas for you! And if you get any good ones, share them with me :P

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  3. Eeek that maths sounds hard!
    I'm trying to get back into the hang of year 9 maths (basically expanding binomials at the moment) and my spelling has gone haywire.
    And I can also identify with the forgetfulness- argh it's terrible!!!

    Look after yourself x
    Hannah

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  4. @Natalie: I ended up getting 2 pairs of jeans! Just Jeans had a 2 for $100 special, so I got 1 black pair, & 1 blue pair. I also got a Roxy t-shirt & a Volcom t-shirt, plus a Rusty singlet-vest thing to layer with. =) I don't really like shopping, unless I magically find a store that has clothes that will always fit me. At my height, & with size 3 feet, I doubt it! =P

    @Annie: It's the same specialist who diagnosed me in 2004, & refuses to try anything new. All the same, she's good for dealing with Year 12/uni paperwork... There's no one else, really. =\

    @Hannah: The maths is hard, but if you have an okay memory, or just study a lot, you can do well. Spelling is hard for me, too, at times, although usually I write a word correctly, & think it's wrong. With Methods, I might put the wrong number, or the wrong sign, & then get the whole problem wrong because of that one mistake. I wish I could buy a functioning brain!! How's school going? ^.^

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