So, what do you do about it? You can do one of two things. Start complaining and give up or take action on your own. You cannot control the school environment, but you CAN control your reaction to it.
One thing to do is form a study group. Much like a college seminar, you can learn from each other.
Alternatively, you may wish to tutor some kids at a lower level. There wasn’t a year I didn’t learn “something new” from teaching remedial math or algebra I. There is generally no better way to learn something than to try to teach it. You might even pick up a few bucks. If you’re “good” and word “gets out”, you’ll have plenty of students.
Another is to stick to it until you understand. In most courses, if you “skip over” a part you do not understand, it makes little difference. However, in mathematics, if you miss a key concept, it will haunt you in ways you cannot imagine. Unfortunately, you will never realize it--all you will know is that you cannot do the PRESENT work. Make sure you understand before you “move on”.
You see mathematics is quite simple--if you understand it. Same as brain surgery--easy, if you know how to do it. At the high school level, it is the same thing over and over. I once told a 10th grade student that he had not learned anything since the 5th grade. He took offense. I explained to him that by the 5th grade, he had learned everything, and it was just a matter of showing him that. Here’s what I mean:
Take fraction problem: 1/3 + 1/5
Well, you need a common denominator, so you multiply the first by 5/5 and the second by 3/3 to get: 5/15 + 3/15 = 8/15.
Is that REALLY any different from:
1/a + 1/b??
If you cannot do the first, you’re gonna have a hard time doing the second. If you UNDERSTAND the first, the second should be no problem at all, and going to:
1/(2x + 1) + 1/(x -1)
Should be easy. Of course, the presumption is that you UNDERSTAND 1/3 + 1/5, not merely be about to do it by memorization or example.