Grades Grow Tutors

For some reason, math often gets a bad rap among students. Perhaps it’s because it can be very challenging, or because students don’t see how some math classes, like algebra, can apply to “real life”. Well, I’m here to tell you, math is not only worthwhile, but vital! Here are a few reasons to prove it, as I reveal the top 5 reasons why math is cool!

5. It trains your brain to think correctly!
Math is important because it makes your brain go through a specific process to figure out problems. This translates very easily to other classes, especially science and business classes. Math also helps you learn to think logically, since every step has a reasoning behind it. The bottom line is that math skills teach you to do more than just math problems!

4. Math is designed to make sense!
You may disagree with this point at first, but hear me out! One thing that many teachers, tutors, and students love about math is that there is an exact right or wrong for every problem. Few things in the world are designed to make sense, and in many classes (or careers), most of your time is spent in the “grey area” where everything can be a judgment call. With math, there is a right or wrong answer for every problem, and if you go through the process correctly, you will get the problem right! It’s as simple as that! That kind of thing can be reassuring in today’s world.

3. It is fun, once you figure it out!
Math can be very tough, especially upper-level math like algebra and calculus. However, it’s also very gratifying when you finally get that problem you’ve been working on. There’s nothing more satisfying than working hard and being rewarded by a hard-earned A on a calculus test! Math is at times frustrating, but it’s all worth it when the light bulb in your head goes off and you realize you understand the concepts!

2. Many top paying jobs require it!
Many of the top-paying jobs in America require high-level match courses in college. This can include engineering, finance, accounting, science-related jobs, or careers in medicine. This means that it’s much better for you to simply work to understand math than dismiss it as unimportant. After all, you may not be planning to be a math tutor, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to learn math to have the career you do want to have!

1. You will use it in the real world!
As I mentioned in the previous point, you’ll have to take some fairly difficult math classes to get certain degrees in college. Not only that, but you’ll actually use your math skills directly in many high paying careers! There are plenty of other times where you may need fundamental math skills in your every day life, as well. Take my word for it, math classes are anything but unnecessary!

So, there you have it…five great reasons why math class is cool! Be sure to tackle your math classes with a positive attitude, and you may do better than you expected!

No matter what group of students you ask, it seems that math is one of the most common answers when you ask what the most difficult school subject is. For whatever reason, many students continue to be befuddled, frustrated, and challenged by math more than most other subjects. Luckily, help is out there! Whether you decide to find a math tutor or get homework help from a friend or teacher, there are always people willing to help you understand the fun and sometimes maddening subject of mathematics. Today, I’m going to present some strategies that any math student can use to improve their performance in the classroom.

Find Your Weaknesses
Whether you’re working by yourself or with an online tutor, you’ll want to begin by knowing what your weaknesses are. Is there a certain aspect of what you’re trying to learn that continues to give you problems? Are their certain concepts that just continue to escape you, no matter how hard you try? It’s important to know exactly what you are struggling the most with, so that you can improve on those areas until they are at the level of your strengths. After all, it doesn’t make much sense to keep working with a tutor on concepts you already understand, right?

Calculators Are Your Friends!
While calculators sometimes get a bad reputation for allowing people to avoid basic math techniques, they definitely have their use. One way to use a calculator is to do the work at first on paper and using your own mind, then checking the answer with a calculator to ensure everything matches up. This is a good way to take advantage of the processing power and accuracy of a calculator, while giving your mind a good work-out at the same time! Checking answers with a calculator may help you avoid those tiny math errors that are so easy to make, as well.

Flash Cards Are, Too!
Don’t laugh! Flash cards aren’t just for kids. They’re a great way to learn formulas that you’ll need in higher-level math classes to solve problems. When you get to higher-level math classes, you simply cannot do your work if you can’t recall the formulas you need! Flash cards are one of many good ways to work on remembering them.

Fundamentals, Fundamentals, Fundamentals
There’s nothing worse than working a problem for ten minutes, only to come up with an incorrect answer because you forgot to carry a 2 over, or you made a simple subtraction or addition error. Sure, some teachers will give you partial credit if they can look at your work and tell you were on the right track, but that doesn’t make you feel much better, now does it?

In the same way that basic fundamentals have to be built on and done correctly when playing a sport, they must also be done correctly to succeed in mathematics. Working too quickly or carelessly is definitely something that will come back to haunt you when you’re completing a complicated problem. Doing simple things like writing legibly, lining up columns correctly or crossing out numbers after “borrowing” can save you a world of frustration!

Like all of us, I’m a lifelong learner and longtime classroom student as well. It would be hard to find someone to disagree with the statement that one of the few constants in life is learning. Most of us develop our strategies that we will use to learn for the rest of our lives in a classroom setting. I’d like to share my own personal story and illustrate how tutoring has changed my life for the better.

Early in my school career, I took to things really easily. I breezed through phonics and early reading, as well as math basics and other curriculum. Even going after junior high, the concept of using a tutor was very foreign and strange to me. I had always been able to learn anything I needed to learn from simply doing my homework, studying and asking the teacher whatever questions I may have.

However, everything changed once I hit high school. More specifically, everything changed when I took algebra. Like so many students, I had trouble immediately grasping all of the techniques, formulas and other aspects of higher-level math. I found that if I worked at it hard enough, I could make sense of it, but it was harder to pick up than anything I’d done before.

Once I got to calculus, I started thinking of trying something new. Many of my friends had used tutors, but I had never given it a second thought. With calculus staring me straight in the face, I quickly decided that maybe it was time for me to give a math tutor a try. After all, my teacher only had so much time to help me individually, and there were many other students that needed help as well. I had to swallow my pride a little and admit that I could use a little help…so I got a math tutor.

To say that I’m glad I did would be a huge understatement. Suddenly, calculus stopped looking so much like an impenetrable concrete wall, and started looking more like a door that I just had to open and let myself in. Also, once I was able to have someone help me understand the concepts of calculus, I spent less time being frustrated and gained confidence, and I actually started to enjoy doing my work!

I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s true. When you realize that you can do something, and you have someone to help guide you along the way, school work stops being so much “work” and can even start being pretty fun! If you’re like me, you perform better when you’re enjoying yourself, and much worse when you’re constantly aggravated or frustrated.

The lessons I learned from the tutoring service didn’t stop in the classroom itself. Being able to admit to myself that I could use some help was a big step for me. This is a lesson that has helped me throughout my life, as being able to ask for help is absolutely vital in so many aspects of life. In school or even in your career you’ll have so much to learn, and there’s no reason to think you have to do it all on your own!