YOU'RE HAVING DIFFICULTY IN
YOUR MATH CLASS?
TIPS ON WHAT TO DO
Mathematics is a subject that builds on previous concepts, like the foundation of a house. If the foundation is weak or a day or two of work is neglected, there will be obvious consequences. It is important to be honest about your background, efforts, and results and to use these tips to help you see positive results and be successful.
#1 - BE ORGANIZED AND PREPARED - Have writing utensils (preferably including a pencil), paper, textbook, and notebook each day. Keep a notebook (three ring binder) with sections for homework, notes, and graded papers. It makes sense to put homework in the reverse order so that your homework for that day is on the top and easy to find. (Do not use your book as a place to store papers. It breaks the binding and does not contribute to being organized).
#2 - BE FOCUSED IN CLASS - Sit up, take notes, listen carefully, respond to verbal questions, and pay attention. You may have the correct answer to the problem that your teacher is discussing, but she/he will probably say something that will benefit you when working other problems. You may want to rearrange your papers or ponder the last problem, but then you will miss whatever is being discussed. You may be tired and sleepy, but 5 minutes of listening could save 30 minutes (or more) of confusion later. Participation helps maintain your attention and focus, and helps to assure your understanding.
#3 - USE CLASS TIME WISELY - Begin class with homework, book, and writing utensil ready. The best resources are in your classroom so take advantage of classmates, time, teacher, and answers within the class period. Remain on-task, change your focus to the focus of the class, and use the minutes before class begins and after the lesson concludes (and before the bell rings) to ask questions. Use minutes usually available at the end of class to scan the homework assignment to see if there are obvious questions on what to do. Seek help in those areas as you begin the assignment. This is also a good time to get help on previous assignments if you still have questions.
#4 - LEARN YOUR NOTES - It's not enough to copy them and keep them. Use them to do assignments and memorize any info needed in a timely manner.
#5 - USE YOUR TEXTBOOK AS A LEARNING TOOL - Your book has excellent examples and numerous answers that can guide your learning. Use them in the manner that you have been instructed, and they will lead to success.
#6 - ATTEMPT ALL PROBLEMS - It is much easier to fix a problem that is incomplete than to figure out where to start from nothing.
#7 - CHECK AND CORRECT ALL PROBLEMS - It is a waste of time to do problems without checking and correcting them, for they tell you nothing except you "tried". It is best to be honest about checking problems because the acknowledgment of errors and finding those errors is what leads to doing them correctly in the future and, therefore, success in math. "Careless errors" are not fatal. The cure is to check and correct homework honestly. This step also takes care of "I thought I understood it". If you honestly do problems correctly, you KNOW you understand it.
#8 - SEEK HELP IN A TIMELY MANNER - Every student should have the phone numbers of at least two students in each class who can give you the assignment when you forget it, loan you a book, or get you started or finished on a difficult problem. If you need more help, there are friends, neighbors, relatives, lunchmates, teachers, etc. who can assist you, but you must be willing to seek that help. Seeking help should result in positive results; not seeking help has dire consequences. When seeking help it is important to understand that if you haven't done steps #1-7 - the help may not overcome your problem(s) and that there are some students who need more help than others.
#9 - REMEMBER THAT THE GOAL IS TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN MATHEMATICS - A positive attitude that displays what you have achieved and what you need help with is productive. A negative attitude and irresponsible, unorganized, lazy, and careless behaviors (especially when used as an excuse) are not tools for success.
These are nine concrete steps to achieve this goal. Using them, in the long run, takes less time and has more positive results than making excuses does. Most importantly, you must be honest about what you have and have not done to achieve success and alter whatever you may be omitting.
If you are looking for ways to assist your child in math success, here are some tips for you.
#1 - Discuss with your child the importance of doing ALL of these steps. Leaving out one step has consequences. In the long run, it takes less time and provides more success to do it right the first time than to try to fix it later.
#2 - Ask for your child's notebook. It is easy to determine, without any math knowledge, if the organization and attempting, checking, and correcting assignments are there.
#3 - If your child is experiencing difficulty make sure he/she is using notes, examples in the book, answers in the book, and any available friends or others who have math knowledge.
#4 - If your teen says he/she has no homework, ask to see what he/she has done. Math is assigned every day and, if he/she finishes the assignment, there are always practice problems or corrections to be done.
#5 - If your teen has experienced difficulty before with "I thought I understood it", pick random odd problems for him/her to do and check with answers in the back of the book.
#6 - Take a few minutes and ask your teen to teach you something learned that day or to explain a problem that has been corrected. Such an experience can re-inforce important math concepts and, also, give the two of you precious time together.
#7 - Remember that the goal is to be successful in Mathematics. Help your child learn not to make excuses and to be honest about his/her efforts.
#8 - Feel free to
contact your child's teacher about concerns.
Working together we can achieve success.