Serena Williams is the best female tennis player in the world for a good reason. She’s played since she was three years old and has dedicated most of her life to the sport. Being number one doesn’t come easy; she spends long hours practicing, training, and challenging herself, desiring to perfect her craft.
Likewise, being a super star at math or science doesn’t come easy. As a Math and Science tutor, over the years, I’ve seen students attempt to become master science and math students; some have succeeded, while others have failed. Some may say the students who excelled were just lucky with good teachers who taught well or only gave them easy tests. On the other hand, there are those that might suggest that the students who failed had terrible instructors who didn’t teach at all or gave them extremely difficult tests.
I won’t deny that a teacher heavily shapes a student’s understanding and outlook of a subject. However, I also want to encourage you to take your education into your own hands (especially when you get into college where the professors don’t care if you complete your homework and your parents aren’t there to nag you). In the long run, your success in math and science depends only on you. Take ownership and be proud of your accomplishments!
Here are some useful tools to help you master math and science:
Tool 1: Plan ahead. Use a planner or Google Calendar. Write down all of the dates of your Math and Science quizzes and tests and set a reminder to start studying for each quiz/test at least two weeks in advance. Make sure to study a little bit every day (at least 30 minutes). Preview the lesson or chapter before you learn it in class.
Tool 2: Practice and repeat. Do extra practice problems every day. Don’t rely only on your homework assignments to do problems. Do a few extra challenging problems and check your answers to make sure you remember what you learned. Completing a variety of Math and Science problems will also expose you to different ways a concept can be tested. This can be really helpful because your teacher may not always give you problems on the test that are worded exactly like how they were on the homework; so you will have seen how the same concept can be tested or applied from different angles. Keep a notebook of all of the problems you’ve done so you can study them later on.
Tool 3: Ask for help. If you get stuck on a problem or concept, don’t sweep it under the rug and wish it away. This way of dealing with your problems will catch up with you the test. Ask for help! Mark what you get stuck on and ask your teacher the next day during class or office hours. If you feel your teacher isn’t effective, ask a classmate or friend who gets it. If neither of those avenues work, ask your parents to get you a Math or Science tutor. I heard Oxford Tutoring has fabulous tutors! 😉
Tool 4: Apply what you learn. Do you want to be a doctor? An engineer? A lawyer? A poet? You can apply mathematics and sciences to all careers. Tie in these concepts to the world around you. Why do grapes taste so sweet? Because the plants go through photosynthesis to produce sugars! Applying what you during your education helps you remember it better and longer.
Stay classy Oxford student!
Meet the author: Yuriko is a Math and Science instructor who has been tutoring at Oxford Tutoring for over eight years. Fully invested in her students, Yuriko sees her students through the demanding Math and Science courses, motivating her students through encouragement, accountability, and by challenging them to take their education into their own hands. She incorporates visual and auditory tools into her tutoring method in order to best reach her student’s learning styles and educational needs.
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