Math Support
I thought I would write down some helpful tips and advice for students. These articles may be helpful to you whether you are at high school, preparing for exams AP, SAT or ACT, or at college.
From my personal experiences both as a Math student and an educator.
Practice Makes Perfect
Mathematics is really a hands-on subject, where you solve actual Math problems. Yes, just as in any other subject, you need to learn from your teacher and study the textbooks. But Math requires some extra effort; it requires good practice, you need to get your hands dirty. In Mathematics, mere memorization is not a thing; you remember formulas through practice. That way you not only remember them but also understand them really well and also get the know-how of when and where you can use them and not use them.
I have often seen students score poorly in exams just because they didn't practice well or at all. Reading your textbooks and going over worked examples, you may think "Oh, I understand this" and on exam day, you see the same kind of problem, you say to yourself "Oh, I know how to do this" and jump on it, but half way through you are confused and wondering; "Should I use plus or minus in the formula?", "Oh, should I multiply or divide those two numbers?", "Should I find the derivative or the anti-derivate?", "Damn, this seems harder than I thought, should have studied harder". I am sure some of you have had this experience. It's like learning to swim or ride a bike—you cannot really do it unless you practice it by yourself.
I am sure there are plenty of related practice problems in your textbooks; you can practice solving them. Work out the exercises at the end of each topic/chapter. Start out with the simpler and more straightforward questions first; they are usually the first set of exercises. At the beginning, you may feel the need to refer to a formula or re-read a certain part of the chapter. Good, please go ahead and refer to the chapter whenever you need. But as you do so, your confidence in the material will grow. Once you master these easier questions, move on to the trickier ones. This way you advance step by step and will learn how even the seemingly difficult questions could be broken down into easier versions and quickly solve them. Some of you may need extra guidance to properly organize this process. Help from your teacher or one-on-one help from a private tutor may do the trick.
The more you practice the more you improve. So practice, practice and pratice...!!!