how to be good at math if you don't naturally have the talent?

Question

pls give tips and great websites too. please explain thoroughly your answer, like if you're going to say practice, state what to practice. thank you guys

Answer 1

Difficult to answer but I'll try.

1) First of all after teaching remedial algebra for 7 years I have only found1 student out of the thousands whom I could not teach algebra to successfully. This includes a class I was once given in a huge High School where they "stuck" all the "dummies." Dismayed at first I soon found out THESE students were GREAT people. IQ has MUCH more to do with how fast a student can learn than what they can finally come to understand! At least at this level of learning. These students were so amazing I asked for this class the next year. Of 26 students I had, only one failed the city wide Algebra I test even though this class was designed to only teach the "basics." So remember you CAN learn math!

2) Almost all people by the time they are in their late teens HAVE ALREADY mastered the understandings necessary to learn algebra. For example just to add a cash drawer and put the answer into decimal form is ALGEBRA.

3) Always try to UNDERSTAND WHY something is true. ALWAYS. For example do not be content to say - (-3) = 3 because a negative changes a negative to a positive. This is FUZZY thinking. Find out WHY this is true.

4) NEVER take "shortcuts" when first learning. For example NEVER "cancel". If a teacher says that something "cancels" out something else, ask what Algebraic operation he (she) is using. There are only 8 (that's right) only 8 things you are allowed to do in algebra: They are called operations. And NONE of them is 'cancel,"

5) Also it helps when first learning algebra to make a list of what NEVER to do. What you are not allowed to do. (and why). There are about 3 or 4 things beginning students try to do that causes about 80 % of their mistakes.

6) Try to find a teacher -- good luck -- who always tries to explain WHY something is correct than just explains "rules"

7) Sometimes a bright student in your class is better able to "teach" you that the teacher!

8) Find a math teacher who isn't very bright. OK -- this is almost meant as a joke. However, some of the brightest people in math CAN'T teach it because they can't see how you might not understand something.

9) Memorize as little as possible. This might sound backwards. But what I mean for example in Geometry. There are postulates and theorems which can be proved from the postulates. . Now the postulates are "accepted as true" without proof." Try to always UNDERSTAND what something is saying. Get in your mind the IDEA. THEN put this idea intoYOUR words. Don't just memorize the "rule" or postulate.

10) And I would now like to complain about how our schools have "improved" out math curriculums. A sixth grade text I saw recently had a section on exponents and bases. At that mental development I would expect about 20% or less of the average class to understand adequately the concept involved inlearning thislesson. So what do the rest of then learn? That math is to be memorized and not understood. And that they are not good enough in math to really understand it. Yet present this identical concept two years later and most will have no trouble. What I am trying to say that IF you had trouble with concepts at a young age -- join the crowd. But with merely some mental development, things get much easier to learn. And MOST people do not reach their full mental development until 19 or 20.

Good luck

Answer 2

I fell in love with maths for two reasons, a good one and a bad one. The bad one was laziness, that mathematics understood doesn't need to be remembered, its like music in that respect. The good one is that I got such a thrill from understanding that it kept me going. Its like a flash of light and once you get hocked, the drills don't bother you much more.

Back to your point, be very deliberate to enjoy it when you understand something, take a pause, do a winning dance, or what ever, not only is it fun but also your brain remembers better fun things. That is a general principle. A physicist once told to me: my work would too hard for me to do if I had no fun doing it.

Try small examples that you can work by hand. Look for cases where theorems and formulas don't work, these are called counter examples, and they are just as important as theorems because they test your understanding.

There is a very good book that you might enjoy reading: How Mathematician Think, written by William Byers.

Answer 3

Make sure you understand the basics and don't move on until you do. Ask question after question if you need. Once you have your solid foundation, the rest gets a little easier. Never move on to the next , even if you got it right but are not really sure how. Always clearly understanding the process enables you to get the next problem correct.
So my tip to you is: stop trying to figure it out without knowing exactly what it is you should be doing. Know and fully understand the problem and the formula to solve it and don't move on until you do. With patience and concentration, you will get it.

Answer 4

Use the methods used for generations to teach arithmetic - drill on the basic facts (+, -, x, /). That's the first job, get to know your facts. Learn the techniques for solving algebraic equations, and practice them. Memorize geometric formulas, like for areas and volumes, or at least have them written down someplace, and practice applying them. Learn how to rearrange formulas so you can solve for any of the variables. If you are working on problems with units, learn how you can use the units to figure out which operation to use to solve the problem. A good tutor can help you learn these techniques.

Answer 5

It's like any other class...like it or not....your study habits have a lot to do with your ability to absorb and retain information...The more you like the subject the chances of getting a better grade...I was not a big algebra fan...but did what I had to in Junior college to pass the class...after some point it did make sense which made was cool because I was learning what we use in life as far as discounts and figuring out the price by looking at the signs ...

Answer 6

Practice your material over and over again until you get the hang of it. Practice things that you don't think you're very good at and do extra work in the textbook.

Answer 7

Work lots of problems.

It's useful to solve the same problem more than once using a different method.

It's even useful to solve the problem several times using the SAME method, because each time you do it , you will do it a little faster.

Answer 8

Last time I checked you don't really need natural talent or mathematical aptitude to do well in math. You need patience and persistence.

Answer 9

Easy memorize all the formulas thats what I do and I am in advance math classes.

Answer 10

Find something that you do have talent in and relate it together. for instance, if you are into music. make a song applying math into it. if your a poet, make a poem that will remind you of how to slove the problem. etc...