When I was in school the math teachers were just out of control, didn't really understand the topic, thought screaming at the students was the best way to make

When I was in school the math teachers were just out of control, didn't really understand the topic, thought screaming at the students was the best way to make up for that. We observed that they basically copied everything out of the teacher editions and couldn't really answer questions beyond that, so we started swiping all of the teacher editions and chucking them in a dumpster or throwing them on the roof of the building. They couldn't re-order them easily during the year because the textbook budget had already been spent, so they had to work from the student books instead - really improved their attitude. Outside of the school systems there are some really well written books on basic and advanced maths and that is more the direction I went. I forget the title but there was one book in particular I bought that taught an algorithmic approach to math problems with an emphasis on how to solve problems with really large numbers so you can amaze your friends. I'm not sure I'd want to hang out with anyone that wanted to sit around doing math problems with me :), but it was a very effective book and more then made up for the public school system. So I guess bottom line is that there are resources available if you want to learn something new or need a refresher. You don't need an instructor led class to do it.