Im an 8th grader, going to high school, living in Oregon.(I know that this is a college website, for high school and stuff but I was really hoping someone could give me some tips.) My math level is AGS 2 right now and I’m really struggling, right now I have a B. My school has a grading scale up to 4 and I’ve been getting 2’s multiple times in a row during tests, and it’s really stressing me out. Right now I’m preparing using a website called ixl. com, if anyone is not familiar with it, its basically a site, that works your skills on a math level. Obviously, this study guide doesn’t seem to be working, and we are going through a unit soon on trigonometry and imaginary numbers. My math teacher also makes us fill out a textbook, that’s named Open Up/MVP Math 2 Volume 2: Student lessons + Ready, Set, Go + Glossary: Unit 3 & 4. Right now we’re on lesson 5, which is mainly on imaginary numbers… If anyone has any tips or any sites, that might help me study please reach out and send it to me
You have jumped way ahead in math. This does not always go well.
The thing about math: What you are learning now is largely based on what you should have been learning last year and the year before. What you will learn next year is going to be based on what you are learning now, as well as what you learned last year and the year before. Math builds on itself, and they builds on itself again, and again, and again. It pays to learn each step very solidly before you go on to the next step.
I did not get to calculus until I was a freshman in university. That did not stop me from getting a bachelor’s degree in math from MIT, and a master’s degree in a subfield of applied math from Stanford. What I was learning as a graduate student was way, way, way past anything that I could have handled at the point that I arrived on campus at MIT. That is just the way that math goes.
You might want to talk to your teacher at high school regarding what the best way to get back on track. You do not need to be this far ahead.
Thanks for the info, I took a placement test in 5th grade, that let me jump 1 grade level. Basically I was doing 7th and 8th grade math in 6th grade. Did AGS 1 in 7th grade(which was a breeze for me) and now in 8th grade I’m doing AGS 2, which has definitely took a big jump in math skills!
Digging around the web for AGS math in Oregon, it looks like it is basically integrated math, covering algebra 1 and 2 and geometry, plus some statistics. Presumably, any trigonometry would be at the very basic introductory level.
Since AGS 1 through 3 are considered high school level, a student in AGS 2 in 8th grade is two grades ahead, although it may seem only one grade ahead in high pressure schools where the norm is one grade ahead.
Thank you so much! In our school if you get a c or lower you have to retake the class, I got a 4.0 in AGS 1 last year,(it was really easy, the teacher wasn’t that good) So my parents think that ags2 would be just as easy Its not… once I go to high school we have the choice of retaking any math class that we want. I would love to take that opportunity but for now I’m trying to at least pass the math course I’m taking right now. Ill look into Khan Academy for the upcoming test that I have next Tuesday.
Generally, every level of math gets more difficult and/or students learn new things that might require them to put in more effort than they did before. That’s all normal/to be expected.
You’ve received good advice and using IXL and Khan to study and also talking to your teacher all make sense. There is nothing to fear in talking with your teacher, they are there to help!
If you do end up with a B in this class, or any other, that would not (generally) signify that one was really struggling in a class. In the future there will likely be classes where you have to work really hard to get a B, and will be proud of yourself for that outcome.
Lastly, and I do remember what it’s like to be stressed about grades, but I would encourage you to change your user name simply for the sake of putting positive thoughts out into the world. Maybe simply an opposite word of your current name (confident, optimistic, etc.) or any other set of words/numbers/initials that you might like. Posters want you to stay around here all thru HS, and I bet you may not always want to see ‘anguished’ when you login. We are all rooting for you!
Its not… once I go to high school we have the choice of retaking any math class that we want. I would love to take that opportunity but for now I’m trying to at least pass the math course I’m taking right now. Ill look into Khan Academy for the upcoming test that I have next Tuesday.