on HOMEWORK
When you are doing your homework, you should be sitting up in a chair at a clean table in a bright room! If you are trying to do your homework in bed, or sitting on the couch in front of a television, or at the filthy kitchen table, you will probably not get the most out of practicing the skills you learned in class that day. Remember to do your HW each night as it is assigned. Math is a subject that requires you to learn each day new concepts based on those concepts learned the previous day. If you get behind, it is very difficult to catch up! Make sure you practice each day...think about it...did Kobe Bryant become an amazing basketball player because he practiced shooting hoops the day before a game or did he practice each day to ensure he got a little more talented a little at a time?
My suggestion...Sit at a desk that is clean of any distractions (including a computer, phone, and other siblings!) in a room that is brightly lit. Use the computer only for internet resources (found on this webpage under "cool internet resources") when you need additional help on solving math problems.
on STUDYING
When you are getting ready for a math test, you should pull out any/all quizzes from that chapter and open your spiral to the beginning of notes for that chapter. You should redo any problems you missed from your quiz, and maybe a few you got right too! Do the chapter review assignment (usually given the night or two before the chapter test) and make sure to check your work as you go. Use the back to check all the "odds"...and go back to the section in the book that covers the problems that you are missing on the review. Lastly, you should review the "study guide" you created for the chapter. Read it over and over...this works best if you do not wait until the night before the test to create it!
DO NOT WAIT to come in the morning on the day of a test to tell your math teacher, that you do not understand half of the chapter! Come in as needed...it is much easier to get a little help often, than it is to try to get help on a whole lot in a little time.
on setting a GOAL
Set a goal for yourself! If you already have, ask yourself, "Are you working towards your goal"? If you aren't, what can you do differently so that your daily regime includes the practice and habits necessary for success.
TEST TAKING STRATEGIES
For multiple choice tests (like STAR testing)
“TIME AND STRESS MANAGEMENT”.
Go through the test at least two times. Answer all the “easy” questions first, while you circle the more difficult problems to come back to later. Go through the test again, now giving more attention to the “difficult” questions. Then, go back and check all answers if you have time remaining.
“ELIMINATE UNREASONABLE OPTIONS”.
After reading the question, look over the answer choices and see which CANNOT be correct and cross them out. Sometimes you will be able to cross out 2 or 3 out of the 4 possibilities! If you are still left with two possibilities, then guessing will give you a 50% chance of getting it right!
“TRIAL AND ERROR”.
For problems that require you to solve equations, try the answers given below the question. If the answer does not work, you know that isn’t the correct answer. Also, after you plug an answer in and it was wrong, you might be able to figure out if you needed to use a bigger or smaller number to plug in. That will help you decide which answer to try next.
“ALWAYS CHOOSE THE SAME LETTER”.
If you have to make a complete guess, use the same letter every time! If your letter of choice is “B” for example, use it every time you have to make a complete guess. (That is if you haven’t already eliminated it as a possible answer). If you have eliminated “B” as a possible answer for a question, this is the only time you should choose a different letter to guess with.