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5 Things you Must Do in a Math Class

Understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. I really struggled in math because I knew how to solve the problems. I just minimized the order without any understanding of what I was doing.
Learn the language of math. For example when ask to find the product, quotient, sum or difference of two numbers, you have to know what each word means before you can solve the problem. Let’s use 8 and 4 as the two numbers. So, product means to multiply 8 X 4 = 32. Quotient means to divide 8/4 = 2, sum means to add 8 + 4 = 12 and difference means to subtract 8 – 4 = 4. In math class I would ignore all of the talk and wait for the teacher to solve the problem. I could solve math problems in class and at home, but the test was a different story. I had zero understanding. Once I understood the language of math, solving the problems became the easy part.
Know when to solve the problem and when to answer the question. When you are taking multiple choice tests in math your work is not relevant. Problem solving takes time, so make sure that it is not a theory question before you start solving the problem. Sometimes if you know the theory behind the question the answer will jump out at you.
Get help! If you can’t figure out how to solve a problem before the test you best believe you will not be able to solve it on the test. Most schools offer free tutoring services. I took advantage of all of the services offered to me in my first year of college. Also, let the teacher know if you are having trouble understanding the course work.
Get a secondary math book to go with the assigned math book. Barnes & Noble has lots of math books to choose from. If I did not understand the assigned math book I would go to the library or to the book store and look at other books on the same subject.

Got Test Anxiety?

I read this article about test taking fight or flight and I thought I would share it with you. Before I became a master test taker I wanted to run away from test. I had this overwhelming sense of fear. The mere mention of the word test would send me into a frenzy. I can definitely relate to this article. The flight for me was not physically leaving the room but mentally leaving it. I love the part about there being no such thing as a naturally bad test taker.

Brain Research on Test Taking Strategies: There is no such thing as a naturally bad test taker – True!

Test anxiety is a form of the fight/flight response. Students who know the test material backwards and forwards still might have difficulty recalling the information if they perceive the test as a threat, or have the fear that they are bad test takers. In both of these cases, it is the primary emotion of fear that causes the student’s fight/flight response to engage. This response reduces the student’s ability to engage their cortex to recall and effectively use the information they have learned to answer the questions on the test.

Here are two strategies for overcoming the fight or flight response that produces poor test performance:

Learn to control your fight or flight response. Just before you start a test, tell yourself to calm down and that the test is not a threat. Just telling yourself to calm down actually works because you feel empowered and less threatened. It also causes your cortex to send a signal to your limbic system to dampen the fight/flight response. Remind yourself that you know the material and tell yourself that you are actually happy to have the opportunity to demonstrate what you know; the fight or flight mechanism.
Learn to recognize the signals that you are entering the fight/flight mode. If you start to feel the jitters and a surge of adrenalin, recognize that these are the first signs that your brain is entering the fight/flight mode. Stephen Daugherty PhD, who is one of the leading experts on test taking strategies, suggests that when you find yourself entering fight/flight during a test, the best thing to do is take a short mental time out. Push your chair a few inches away from the desk. Close your eyes or at least take your attention off the test and think about something relaxing. When you feel the jitters and tension go away, remind yourself that you know this material and go back to answering questions on the test.

The Smashing Silos Research Staff

Helpful links:

http://www.livescience.com/17520-chewing-gum-test-performance.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-mallory/standardized-test-strategies_b_2658000.html

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7 Things you Need to Know if you are Planning on Going to College

Check to see if the college that you want to attend requires SAT subject test.
Take the subject test as soon as you finish the necessary course work. If you finish the course work in the 9^th grade then take the subject test in the 9th grade.
Make some type of decision as to what you want to be and where you want to go to college by the 9^th grade, so you can plan your course work accordingly.
Understand what a GPA (grade point average) is and how it can affect your future. Do this in the 9^th grade.
Go to the website of the college that you want to attend and see what their entrance requirements are. Check out the average GPA and SAT scores of the students that got accepted.
Check in with your school counselor on a regular basis to make sure that you are on the right course to graduation.
If you know for sure what college you want to attend then do early decision or early action. Check out the following link to get more information.