Congratulations! You are on your first step towards successfully making your way through your math class. We’ve all been there, and it takes courage to not give up. You may feel like you don’t know what’s going on even though everyone else “gets it.” You may have been doing well before, but now that a new unit has started, you don’t know what’s going on. Now what?
1. Sort the Basics
Especially considering remote learning, it may very well be that you don’t know what’s going on in class because you don’t properly grasp the foundations. You can’t go solve a complex polynomial if you don’t know how to factor a quadratic. You can’t work with matrices if you don’t know how to solve a system of equations. Do your research to figure out what basics you are lacking and get tutored in that first before trying to conquer your current unit.
2. Go to your Teacher’s (or tutor’s) Office Hours
Sigh. This seems like so much extra effort at first, but once you try it, you will wonder why you hadn’t before. Educators want to help you and would love to take more time to teach students who reach out to them for help. I’ve done this for every year of math in high school and it’s undeniably been the largest contributor to my academic success. And, as a bonus, it shows the teacher you care about their class.
3. Study with your Friends
This is a great motivator. Granted, this is a double edged sword as you may also distract each other. However, if you play your cards wisely, you can reap its sweet benefits. Studying with friends served as my lifeline throughout quarantine Algebra II, which was the absolute bane of my existence. (Shoutout to my studying bestie Daphne Q who is also a tutor on this platform!).
4. Use the Resources Available to you
This might seem like a no-brainer, but resources like Khan Academy (I completed the entire Algebra I module to ace the regents in 8th grade) and Schoolhouse are there to guide you. They push you to do more than just copy down answers, and really improve your understanding of the topic.
3. Get a Tutor
Not to shamelessly promote Schoolhouse, but here, there is a really large community that wants to help you! Granted, this definitely works best if you know specifically what you are having trouble with. However, if you just generally confused on a topic as a whole, you can drop by live help, where they can help you with any sort of mathematics.
Hopefully, this advice helps you catch up in class. However, in order to be proactive, I suggest utilizing these tips throughout the whole year and make sure you understand the content you learn in class instead of just memorizing a few theorems. Remember that those who seek support will receive it, and hard work always pulls through at the end. Good luck!