Any tips for overcoming math anxiety and becoming a great student mathematically?

Answer 1

The only thing that will allow you to overcome math anxiety is to practice. Practicing a skill, even when the teacher doesn't give homework, will help you to build confidence and also become a better math student. Of coarse there is also positive thinking too!

Good luck!

Answer 2

First, realize that math is all based on patterns - they always connect to each other. Don't think of it as some mystery language you don't speak. Look for the patterns in the new unit you are doing, and how they connect to what you have just done.
Also, look for how it is used in the real world, you would be suprised how much math you already use throughout the day!

Answer 3

Do you hate math? It's too bad, because you need math in anything you learn. But nevermind, because many student had this kind of fear too, including me! You need something that can motivates you. When you can find how math supports your goal, you will definitely be very excited.

I had bad experience before, when I was in primary school. One of my math teacher was mean. She used to give math exercises, and when I made mistake she often scolded me, even beat me. I was sad, terrified, but angry as well. I tried to understand those weird things, I even watched education programme in TV to improve my math. It didn't help me much, but I still could manage to get decent marks because of tireless effort, because I was afraid to fail in math (she would definitely kill me if I failed!).

Few years later, I decided to be genereous and kind to myself. I didn't study so hard for maths. Well, as you can imagine, the next semester I got "amazing" mark for this subject. Luckily, I wasn't fail. Then, I decided to study maths harder, even harder than when I study any other subjects. I didn't want to be fail, I want to be among top students in my class. I took tuition also to support my study.

Then, something suddenly happened in my study life. One day, in a quiet Sunday, accidentally I thought about a math problem: How to determine the sum of all angles (in degrees) of a certain shape. Finally I found the formula, and I was so glad! Finally, I can do math, and I had never thought I could do that well. Moreover, I gained satisfaction because I can discover something (just for your info, I was interested in science and wanted to be a scientist). The next day, also accidentally, my math teacher (this is different teacher) gave the class this problem. Nobody could answer except me. Wow, I felt so great! That's just the beginning, because for the next few years, in high school, one of my hobby is examining numbers to find formula, and proving the truth of a formula. I couldn't believe when one day I got extra mark for finding a formula for series of number! Nobody in class could do that! I was changed, from a math-hater to be a math-lover. Until now, math is my favorite subject. I like calculus, arithmetics, etc. although some people may think I am a "freak bookworm" or "nutty professor".

Answer 4

I always had a hard time understanding math too until I started putting a dollar sign in front of the numbers. Everyone understands money!

Answer 5

Try to identify your strenghts and weaknesses. Hopefully you have a teacher who will take the time to assess your strengths. The key is to attempt a lot of problems where you have a high chance of success. Increasing your success rate will give you confidence to try harder problems. The experience of comprehension will help you to enjoy mathematics and see the broader applications of it.

Good luck,

emeka
Work hard. Be nice.