Best Math Advice from Previous Students
General
Do not be afraid to ask Ms. Kondo for help; she really will explain anything to you.
Don't be afraid to ask for help from your peers or Ms. Kondo! Help yourself you helping others too.
Ask questions. Ms. Kondo is there for you and is always willing to help you with any questions you have. She wants to help you and really wants you all to succeed! Best of luck with your final math class at DVS seniors!
Always make sure you understand your homework. I know it's tempting to copy the solutions, but don't do it.
Don't be afraid of Ms. Kondo. She is the sweetest math teacher you'll ever encounter. Don't be afraid to ask stupid questions because odds are there are other students probably asking the same. Also you might want to keep all your finals and quizzes because those examples really do help for studying. Studying is crucial to pass this class. So study study study!
Don't copy hw. Actually study for every quiz and test. In this class, consistency is important. It’s really hard to pull up your grades because of how much content you'd need to catch up on.
If you're studying then use the resources in the Classroom folder. Remember that there is a big difference between learning and practicing. You need to practice each concept for at least 3 times the amount of time it took you to learn it.
Pay attention in class and take really good flipbook notes. Also, take the time to understand the homework. Start preparing for the midterms and finals early and do not be afraid to go to office hours for help. Ms. Kondo is basically there for office hours everyday.
Know when to joke around and when to get your work done
Put a lot effort and never give up, and you can do it. We believe in you guys.
Classtime
My advice for you is to always participate and interact with the class. Participating really helps increase your understanding. If you understand the content you should help your peers because hearing yourself explain it helps you understand how it all works and that is true mastery. Do come to office hours and ask questions, take advantage of working in groups.
Be proactive in class! Class is a waste if you're going to be confused the whole time. Ask questions. Help people. Take the initiative and you will do better on tests, I guarantee it.
It's really important to stay present in class. If you do that, ask questions when things are unclear, and get the flip book notes, you'll have all the tools you need for homework and preparing for tests. The homework load isn't hard, it's just a lot, but you quickly acclimate to a CPM every night. You can do it.
Keep very detailed and neat notes that include specific side notes that explain problems you face with any topic or problem. Highlight these side notes by either using pen or directly highlighting them.
Annotating and highlighting your notes is really helpful for understanding the content.
If you really need help, don't be ashamed to ask for help in class. Ms. Kondo does a really good job of being there for you and helping you. Another example, is that you should be prepared to make a lot of small mistakes, it could happen but it pays off in the end
Make sure you look at lessons you will have before the day Ms. Kondo teaches it in class. That way, you know enough about the subject you can ask questions about it and correct your mistakes.
Ask Questions! I was always the student that was too embarrassed to ever ask anything, and for that reason I would fall behind. It wasn't until I asked A LOT of questions for understanding that I actually understood and succeeded in the class. Ask right then and there because it is best to get it out of the way in class before you forget about it and it becomes something being assessed on the test.
Homework
I know hw is annoying but if you do it with 100% focus instead of just half hearted effort, I promise you the material sticks.
Give your homework and classwork the attention that it needs! Don't cut corners when it comes to these things because if you take your time, work on them throughout the year, quizzes and finals will not be so stressful. Make sure you understand every homework problem.
My BEST advice is to make sure to complete and understand the homework assigned by Ms. Kondo.
In order to be successful in class, you have to be truly understand every assignment you complete. As boring as some assignments may seem, they are deigned to help you in the long run. Yes, it may just seem like busy work, but I promise it's not. Something that got me through the year is repetition. Once you get a flow down, the problems will get easier and everything will start to make sense.
Make sure to do and completely understand your homework. The better your homework is, the more successful you'll be. Tutoring is a great tool if you don't understand something.
Do not copy off of other people's homework because at the end of the day it will save you time but it will affect your grade.
Keep working hard
Even when it seems difficult and confusing, don't give up. I promise it gets better. It may not be easier, but the more you practice, the better it gets.
No single person has ever understood math without work, help, and frustration. You can do well in this class, be willing to put in your all.
Don't get down when you get a bad grade on an assessment there is always more chances to improve :)
Always, always, stay motivated and push yourself to do better, and take advantage of Ms. Kondo, she's extremely helpful, caring, and really knows her stuff! Make sure you take advantage of office hours, after school reviews, and ask lots of questions. Your success in this class depends on you and your attitude. Stay positive!!
The biggest advice that I could possibly give to you as a new senior in math is to always try really hard, and never give up. Ms. Kondo's way of teaching is very easy to understand and you'll see the bright side of math once again. And if it wasn't your strongest subject at first, it's okay because you'll get the hang of it eventually. 1st semester is a good semester to get used to the class and the way she teaches. Another word of advice for midterms, and exams, is to STUDY, STUDY, STUDY!!!!!! What worked for me was to study a week in a half before the test and by studying I mean practicing multiple problems. If you do, trust me you'll see the results and your photo on the wall. Remember, don't forget to ask questions because that is what teachers are for. To help their students as best as they can. You can do it! End senior year strong! <3 Good luck!!
Don't ever give up on yourself. I used to never be able to understand math but this class is a very different story.
Preparing for exams & quizzes
Study everyday 2 weeks before a midterm/final. Office hours are good to show up to, but attendance to office hours does not yield a specific grade. Keep all your flipbooks somewhere you can find them easily. Those are the most important to keep. If you have questions, ask your friends because they are there to help you.
Study for tests (even quizzes!!) starting a week before the test! Even if you think you know the content it's best to keep redoing problems. That way it becomes natural for you to do the problems and you will avoid making small mistakes.
Find a study buddy (or study group) and get together and WORK. Studying for finals and exams are so much easier when you have other people to bounce ideas and thought processes with.
Someone from last year said, "You get out of it what you put in". Make sure you actually do the study question assignments. I usually just copied old ones without thinking about them, and that did not help very much. Also, make sure to actually read the study guide.
Practice as much as you can. Always ask questions. Go to office hours as much as you can and make sure to study with friends if you don't understand how to do it on your own. You can also go online for math tutorials. They are very helpful. And just have fun :)
PRACTICE! Practicing before a quiz or test may seem pointless especially if you feel like you know the content but practicing ensures that you will not do that concept incorrectly during the anxiety of an exam.
Don't START studying the night before. That should be for review. Spend at least one day going over each EKS before a test.
Use the checklist for each midterm, you'll go through a lot of self loathing if you miss something that you forgot to study for.
Study. Study. Study. There is no better way of accomplishing mastery on the content taught in class without going over the content at various times. Actually taking what you know and using it to solve a problem will put your skills to the test and will show you if you truly know the content. If you want to get better you have to make your own study guide. Create a study guide that has a diverse amount of problems that test different skills of an EKS. This will help you tremendously. Also, take the time to organize study sessions with your friends. This will help you all really understand the content.
Make some amazing, organized, and detailed study guides for every midterm and final.
Make sure to annotate your work with definitions or questions you have. Also bring multiple problems to go over during review sessions.
The review sessions are a super good way to be further prepared for the midterms and so on. Make sure you are going to those! It's only one hour so make sure you ask the questions you need!
Do as much practice problems. It really helped me improve on how well I did on my quizzes and tests. Practice questions are a really good way of studying. I felt like actually doing the problems is more helpful than just solely going over notes.
Practice, practice, practice! Even if you feel like you know the content, reviewing and doing practice problems can help you ace quizzes and exams.
When practicing for midterms it is very helpful doing the previous ones. If Ms. Kondo tells you to do a number of practice of problems for homework do more than what she asked for.
Frequently ask questions in class (both to your peers and Ms. Kondo; she loves answering questions!), go into office hours (as frequently as you can), take advantage of the review sessions for midterms (they help A LOT!), and start study for your midterms AS SOON AS SHE GIVES YOU THE OUTLINE. You will do great I know it! :)
Study Groups
If you don't understand something, odds are one of your friends do. Put study groups together (or even just group chats) to make sure everyone knows about assignments, gets help before tests, and go to with questions. Especially before midterms and finals, it's super helpful to find a group and make study guides and flipbooks together to review. And the big projects can be confusing and require a lot of extra feedback/advice. Your friends are your best resource!
Work with peers to go over questions and then teach each other. It's probably the easiest way to learn and retain that knowledge.
Create study groups. You may understand what someone doesn't and vise versa.
When deciding how to study for finals or midterms, I suggest studying by yourself first to give yourself time to figure out what you are struggling with, and later study with friends because they can answer your questions.
Create study groups! It honestly is a blessing to have a group of individuals who you can go over problems with, and check each other if you see someone is doing something wrong.
Office hours is awesome
Office hours are an amazing tool to help you prepare for exams.
You should come to office hours as much as possible especially when there's a quiz or midterm coming up. Ask as many questions as you can. You shouldn’t feel like you have to do everything by yourself, your table can help you out a lot.
Make sure to go into office hours as much as possible and to go to the review sessions.
I would advise you to attend office hours frequently and do lots of practice problems with group members. Even if you don't understand the topic, you will get a lot of benefit from it because you will be able to explain it to others. When doing this, you will be able to perform confidently and better on the any exam, midterm and or final.
Take advantage of Ms. Kondo. She is a great resource and I feel like people don't use her as much as they should. Go to office hours and ask questions. Ask questions in class. She knows a lot about her subject and she wants you to know a lot about it too.
Ms. Kondo is so approachable, so please please use her as a resource whenever you have any questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions in class.
Good resources
The best advice I can give you is to save all of your flipbooks, tests, and quizzes. They are the best guides to studying and they are great just to save go the future in case you encounter a similar math problem in the future. I encourage you to ask questions and get out of your comfort zone. Ms. Kondo is the kindest and most helpful person you will ever meet so don't be afraid to ask for help!
Make sure to do error analysis CORRECTLY because they help a lot in preparing for the finals.