Tips for Improving Study Habits and Test-taking Skills

 

 

 

• Come prepared to class daily with your notebook, calculator, pencil/erasers, highlighters, straighedge, and any other supplies listed on the first-day-of-school packet.

 

• Use a student agenda/planner to write down homework assignments, upcoming quizzes/tests, or any other reminders by the end of class each day. All work and assignments are posted on Google Classroom daily. If you are absent, reference Google Classroom first. You can get the missed handouts when you return.

 

• Take detailed notes in class so you have an accurate reference for studying. Pay close attention to notation, format, and process. Don’t move ahead in the examples because you may miss critical information. Don’t eliminate any work in the examples. The way I demonstrate the examples is the same way you should be doing problems on your own. In addition to writing down what I write, you could also write helpful notes for yourself to refer back to.

 

• Make an attempt at all homework problems and be sure to follow the directions to earn full credit on HW checks. If we use a specific method or process in class, you should use the same method on the HW. I check HW for effort and completion. Rushing through your homework will not set you up for success on quizzes and tests.

 

• Once we have gone over HW in class, refer to the solutions posted online to check both your work and solutions carefully. This is the first step in assessing your own progress on each concept. Identify specific problems that you need further help with and follow up with asking questions or getting help before an assessment.

 

• Complete all reviews for quizzes/tests and check with the online solutions (even if the review is not officially assigned as HW). This will give you a good sense of what to expect on the assessment. Use your notes, warm ups, past HW, or contact classmates to help if you don’t recall how to do something.

 

• Identify areas of weakness with algebra skills or any prior math skill. Seek out explanations or extra practice to remediate these skills. Remediation of these skills could be some combination of using the Internet/YouTube (see www.khanacademy.org for video tutorials), extra help, asking a classmate/friend, or asking the teacher during free time in class. All math courses build on prior learning. It’s only a matter of time before something from a past math class comes up again in the current class.

 

TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES

 

• If you are well-prepared for a quiz or test, you will be able to complete all problems with time to spare. While testing, the majority of the time should be spent writing your solutions, not on thinking about what to do. Very few problems will be completely new to you. Your assessments often include exact or very similar problems to those you have had while learning the unit. If you get to a problem and don’t know how to do it, skip it and come back later so you can maximize your time.

 

• A smart strategy is to do longer/more complex problems first because those are typically worth more points. Use your time to get the most points possible. Try not to leave any problems completely blank. A blank problem can earn no credit.

 

• READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY. Make sure you are answering exactly what the question is asking—not more, not less. You are ALWAYS expected to show your work using the same format that is demonstrated in class. You should also be in the habit boxing your final answer(s) before you move on to the next problem. If you do a thorough job of showing your work during class and on homework, it will become a fully integrated part of your solving process.

 

• DO NOT COME TO CLASS ON A QUIZ OR TEST DAY UNPREPARED. You know you will need a pencil, eraser, and a calculator on every assessment. If you forget any of these at home, find a friend that could lend you something for the class period.