I'm coming in late to this thread... and not able to read all of the posts... (my problem) But I have two comments. 1) I'm sorry you were drawn into her drama by her waiting till the last minute to ask for help... the night before? grrrr and 2) I'm a pretty smart person... alegebra was the only course I ever flunked, and it was because the math teacher refused to believe I couldn't do it. (then)... the next year a computer error put me into the next level and I aced it...and went on from there right through post grad stuff. Just thought I'd share.