Hi students,
Are you ready for your Mathematics Board Examination?
Let me first discuss the things that students normally do. Right from the reopening date till date, we are of the opinion that we have a lot of time to prepare for our board exam. We have our own justifications, some of which are as follows:
I will forget if I start preparing too early.
Only last few months of study will help. No, a small correction - Only last few weeks of study will help.
Sorry, final correction - Only last few days of study will help.
I will practice Math after I complete all other subjects.
I will dedicate one full month for Mathematics.
I will work 12 - 15 hours a day for Math alone during my study holidays.
I will get ready just by doing the sums given in the previous 10 - 15 years board paper.
To begin with, I imagine myself to be a student who often says some of the above
justifications. If this is the case, then let us see how the starting week is going to be?
First Week Experiences with My Style of Preparation for Mathematics
FIRST DAY: Thinking and thinking where to start. Going through the index of my textbook to first of all get familiar with the names of the chapters. Yes I got it - what?
END OF THE DAY: Oh ! I have these many chapters?
SECOND DAY: Which chapter should I start first? I was trying to recall some of the concepts (if at all I knew) to get started with a chapter that I thought I knew.
END OF THE DAY: It took my time ( the whole day) you know for what? To create a timetable - which one to start with and when. I took the great decision of starting with the chapter that I knew very well.
THIRD DAY: I started by strictly following the timetable that I created the previous day. The chapter which I thought I was familiar with looked like an alien. If this chapter itself looked like an alien, then what about the status of other chapters? Before allowing this thought to scare me, I tried to make myself calm by saying the slogan I CAN DO IT, I CAN DO IT again and again.
END OF THE DAY: Can I do it? was the slogan.
FOURTH DAY: I started with the chapter that I had mentioned first in my timetable. I remembered none of the methods or formulae given in the chapter and it took me a lot to time to learn and understand what was in the chapter.
END OF THE DAY: Even though I was able to understand some part of it, the chapter I started to prepare had very less weightage. That brought down my confidence level as not much time was left.
FIFTH DAY: I decided to change my timetable according to weightage. For this, I went through the board exam syllabus, the weightage allotted to the chapters, the number of days I had before Math exam and so on. Half of the day went like this and I finally made a fresh timetable.
END OF THE DAY: The day ended with the preparation of timetable.
Math preparation took a casual leave.
SIXTH DAY: The chapter with more weightage was more in concepts as well. Heavy concepts, lengthy method, big list of formulae, above all the requirement of knowing the basics of some other chapters even before starting this chapter.
END OF THE DAY: The days were running and I was able to realize that the situation was getting serious. I made up my mind not to waste any more time and literally jumped into the conclusion that I must directly start preparing right from the next day.
SEVENTH DAY: I started to do some of the sums from the chapter that had more weightage as I thought it would help me cover the major part of the syllabus.
END OF THE DAY: Just ME and MATH. ABSOLUTELY No diversions. No deviations. BUT ULTIMATELY No derivations also. Even the derivatives took a deviation.
Till now, we have seen the problems. Now let us think and talk about the solutions. Look at your Mathematics textbook not as a book of problems but as a book of solutions to all the problems.
HOW TO PRACTICE MATH
Hi students, are you in one of the situations discussed above? Do not worry. Have hopes. There is still time. Try to follow some of the tips that you find suitable. I am a Math tutor and I have trained many students all these years. Especially, I have many years of experience in conducting a rapid math course for students who join one or two months before their final exams. They have gained some knowledge in proportion to their practice and secured the score that made them eligible for their higher studies.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Do not spend too much time going through your textbooks trying to select concepts or sums that you find easy, creating different sets of timetable, or cursing yourself for postponing things to the maximum. Instead, move forward think what is to be done next. Out of my experience after seeing students with different thought process and different methods of preparation as regards to Math, most of them struggle due to wrong method of practice or wrong selection of sums (Like I have seen many of them doing sums that are simple or that they already know again and again not knowing its importance in the subject or exam)
TIPS TO FOLLOW:
Go through the summary of each chapter.
Note down each the name of each method and the formula related to it.
Concept based learning is the best because you come to know how you got the formula or the method whatever be it. But since there is no time left now, with hardly a month or so for your final exams to begin, do not go deep into it.
Try to understand the method and as regards to the formula, learn the terms right so that you need not memorize it.
If you get familiar with the terms used, then it will be easy for you to remember the formula. Just like that do not memorize - It is not advisable to try this in Math.
Practice 3 or 4 sums based on the above.
Complete one chapter fully and then go to the next. This will give you some kind of confidence that you will be able to approach any kind of sum from that chapter.
Follow this for every chapter.
(Note: It is important to do a chapter fully. This is because students generally practice some of the sums here and there from a chapter. They do not follow any particular order. When it is done this way, they end up facing an exam with the questions being asked mainly based on the concepts or methods which they decided to forego. The best way to avoid this is to have a systematic approach based on concepts or methods so that students will be in a position to do at least some of the steps relevant to the question and gain step marks (which play a major role in Math).
Where and when to avoid:
During the last minute preparation, if suppose you find a concept too difficult to understand or a lengthy method too confusing, then in this case, you can totally avoid this particular concept/method. Because ignoring a particular concept/method due to the above reason is not going to bother you much. Since, if at all you get a question on this, you will lose only 3 or 4 marks even if you skip it.
PARTICULAR TOPIC OF IMPORTANCE
To practice CALCULUS, go step by step. First of all, be thorough with some of the trigonometric and algebraic identities (refer my YouTube channel RULEMATH) for study tips and concept based Math videos. Learn the types one by one and practice 3 or 4 sums in each type. I have categorized all these in my channel and you can go through the playlist to know more about this. After having handled 1000 + students all these years, I am happy and contented to see my students who after following my guidance and support have excelled in their Math exam as well as in their higher studies involving Math. The main objective of the launch of a Math blog is to extend my guidance and support to benefit more and more students in the days to come.
Right from the moment you finish reading this blog of mine, prepare a chart for yourself and get ready for your math exam. If you want to know some of the concepts as regards to your board syllabus, kindly visit my website RULEMATH.COM where in I have uploaded many Math videos, Math tricks, Math shortcuts, Practice sheets. Sample paper, repeatedly asked board questions and so on. My best wishes to all the students to perform well in your exams.
Please note that in the above timetable, the number of hours has not been mentioned. The number of hours required to complete this depends entirely on the individual's basic knowledge in the present grade, level of understanding and above all involvement. If you are good in all these, then definitely the chances are really high that your performance as well as your score in your Math Examination will be outstanding. So, the final decision will be yours to follow it fully or even a part of it which ever is convenient to you.
If students decide to follow this
timetable fully or even partially,
they are recommended to do
the same well before the
commencement of their final
exams so that they will be able
to allocate enough time for
other subjects as well
If suppose you do not find
this timetable suitable and
decide to follow your own
style of preparation, then,
even in that case, make sure
you allocate enough time for
other subjects also.
Feel free to contact me if you have any queries or clarifications as regards to any of the MATH topics discussed above.
Thanks to one and all for having spent your valuable time today to read this blog of mine.
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