Help with Math

RQWCQ is a great strategy to use with math problems. Each of the letters in RQWCQ stands for a step in the strategy.

Read
Read the full question to know what exactly it is all about. Read it two or more times to have a clear idea about the question. Try to draw a picture of the problem in your mind.

Question
Trace out the question to be answered in the problem. Many times the question is directly stated. When it is not stated directly, you will have to identify the question to be answered.

Write
First write down the formula to answer the question. Try to cross out any facts presented in the problem that are not helpful to answer the question. Sometimes, all the facts given in the problem are required to answer the question.

Compute
Write the problem on paper and do the computations. Check your answer for accuracy and make any needed corrections. Once you have solved the problem, circle your answer.

Question
Once the problem is solved ask yourself: "Is this answer possible?" Sometimes you may find that your answer is not possible because it does not fit with the facts given in the problem. If this happens, go back through all the steps of RQWCQ until you arrive at an answer that is possible.

The use RQWCQ will help you to correctly solve math problems. So follow this procedure to get the right answers of your math problems.

How to study for math

Math is a interesting and challenging subject as it challenges mental capabilities of students. It involves symbols, specific procedures, formulas, and many more things. It is important for students to learn some special skills to learn math. Here, I am giving 10 tips to study math.

1. First thing you need to understand about math is that you can not learn it by just reading and listening. This means you need to do practice of math’s questions at home.
2. Questions of maths are solved by formulas and procedure, you need to learn them.
3. Math is a sequential subject. In match, what is taught on a given day is based upon what was taught before. If you fall behind, it is very difficult to catch up. It is important that you attend every class and keep up with your teacher.
4. Math is not a difficult subject. The only thing is that you need to have spent more study time on this subject than on your other subjects.
5. You cannot learn math by memorizing it. There are simply too many formulas and procedures. The only thing you need to do is to master the key concepts. This will certainly lessen the amount of information you need to remember.
6. Once you master a procedure for solving a problem, that same procedure can be used to solve many other related problems. Maths questions may be twisted a little bit, so think if you can apply your past learning to the new problem.
7. Understand the vocabulary of math thoroughly. It will help you to solve the math’s questions quickly. Write new math words and terms and their math meanings in a notebook.
8. While solving math play some music in slow voice, music helps in solving math’s problem quickly.
9. If you have doubts about some topic in math then clarify them with your faculty as early as possible. It will help you to have a clear idea about the topic. If you are having some serious problem in math, then take the help of a private tutor.
10. Math is an easy subject which requires a lot if practice and self-confidence. 

So use these tips to improve your scores in math.

Some good manners to follow in classroom

Here is an excellent video on classroom manners. Watch it  and follow these manners in classroom to be a great student.

How to Become a Flexible Reader

A flexible reader is one who knows how to select and use a reading style that is consistent with his purpose for reading. There are three important types of reading styles, you should learn to use. Each has its own benefits. Learning these three reading styles will make you a flexible reader.

Scanning: This reading style is used by flexible readers when they want to quickly locate a specific piece of information within reading material. Generally people look for  quick information in a list of names, words, numbers, short statements, and sometimes even in a paragraph. As you know the information you are looking for, move your eyes quickly over the reading material until you search the particular piece of information you are looking for.

Skimming: This reading style used by flexible readers when they want to quickly get a general idea about the text material. This style is very useful when you have to read a large amount of text material in a short time. In this style the focus is on identifying the main ideas in each paragraph and ignore the details in supportive sentences. As the focus is on only for the main idea in each paragraph you read, a lower level of comprehension is to be expected.

Study Reading: This reading style used by flexible readers when they want to read difficult material at a high level of comprehension. Under this style, you should read at a rate that is slower than your normal reading rate. Your focus should be to understand the material. This reading style often require you to read material more than once to achieve a high level of comprehension. Many times, reading the material aloud will also help you improve your comprehension.

So I will suggest you before you begin your next reading assignment, identify your purpose for reading. Is the reading is for specific information, trying to get a general idea about what you are reading, or high level of comprehension. Accordingly, use the reading style for your reading purpose.

A great video on how to read text effectively

Here is a video on how we can read a text book effective.

Enjoy the learning...

How to Read Books Effectively

One commonly used approach to reading, which works well for texts, is the Survey, Question, Read, Review and Recite (SQ3R) Method. The main steps are as follows:

Survey - Before you start reading a chapter, scan the title of the chapter, the main headings,    pictures given in the chapter and summary of the chapter. This will help you to understand the concept which is going to be discussed in the chapter.

Question - Actively ask yourself questions as you read such as what the key topics in this section/chapter are, and what the different concepts of the chapter want to convey. By framing questions, you are also increasing your understanding of the chapter as well as these questions can help you prepare well for your exams.

Read - Read for comprehension, locate concepts and facts, record and reduce information in the margins. When reading, underline the main points and examples that can be later referred quickly.

Review - Practice and rehearse the main concepts, reflect on key learning, predict exam questions. Before closing your book, just go through all the headings and main points of the chapter once again, as this will help you to remember the concept for a long time.

Recite - Transfer information to long term memory of your mind. This you can do by revising the concepts three or four times in a week. This is the best way to remember any chapter for long time.

By using this technique you can increase your understanding of the chapter as well as remember a concept for a long time.

Improving Reading Fluency

As a student you need to study many subjects and learn a lot of things from various text books. Here are 10 tips which will help you to improve your reading speed.

1. Do most of your reading assignments when you are most active. It will increase your level of understanding.
2. When reading try to avoid reading word by word, in place of it try to read blocks of words. Your eyes can read four to five words at a time.
3. When you are starting to read, just take a quick snap of whole page by looking for headings, bullet points, and things in bold. This will help you in skipping some of the text of the page.
4. Pronouncing each word from the text can make your reading speed slow. So pronounce only some important words from sentence.
5. When sitting for study make sure your mind is focussed on study and not worrying about other things.
6. Keep a pen and pencil near you to underline the main points in text. Next time you need to focus only on underlined text when studying.
7. Keep the lighting of the room good while studying. It will help you to study for  long time, without straining your eyes.  
8. When studying don’t let your eyes to stay at same place for long time. Move your eyes when you find your eyes stuck on some page.
9. Keep your place distraction free for studying long time with interruptions.
10. Last but not least practice, practice and practice.