Mr. Vasquez's Tips for success in Math
- Come prepared to review day with questions. The practice test is provided before hand and it is a good idea to come to class with questions the day of review. If I don't know what your children have questions on I don't know how to address the problem and get them past the hurdle. Encourage them to do the practice test before hand so they can find out what they know and what they are struggling on.
- Encourage your children to speak up in class. It is from my experience that when a student is struggling in class they don't want to speak up in fear of slowing down the class or fear of speaking in front of their friends. Encouraging your children to ask questions will not only help them out in math but in the future when they attend college where asking questions is important.
- The test are mostly multiple choice and this is an advantage! When a test is multiple choice it can be easy to eliminate wrong answers. This is useful, especially on test like the ACT/SAT, because if the test taker, in this case your children, don't know the answer they can make an educated guess and have a higher chance of getting the answer right.
- It's important to show work. Encourage your children to show their work on all homework assignments. This will get them to get into the habit of doing so on test and is especially important for problems that aren't multiple choice. Without showing work, it is hard for teacher's to give full credit on problems. This is especially true in college and it's our duty to prepare your children for the future.
- Learn how to use a calculator correctly! Calculators make math easy but that's only true if they are used correctly. TI-30XS scientific calculators are used in class and I go over common mistakes that arise when using them. This is a good calculator to own and know how to use especially when entering college, where most math classes don't allow graphing calculators. I will be emailing a list of common mistakes to look out for when I send the first class email.
- While completing assignments is important it is important to understand that it's not only about completion but about understanding. In today's day and age, the answer to most problems can be found online so it's important that student's become critical thinkers and can analyze a problem. Good ways to help your children approach homework, especially when stuck, is to ask them a serious of questions to get them to think. Good questions to ask are:
- What do we know? Is there any important information we can pick out that can help us solve the problem.
- What are we looking for? It's always a good idea to write down what we're looking for so that we have a goal.
- Is there a series of steps to follow? Sometimes I'll give your children a series of steps to follow to solve a type of problem. These steps will be covered in class but can also be found in the notes I provide for the families as well. These steps are a good launching point to start a problem.