How to Be More Successful in Algebra 1

 

1.  Do homework every night.  Check the answers in the back of the book.  Use your notes to guide you if you don’t recall what to do on a problem.  Call a classmate to get help if necessary. Mark any problems you have questions on and be willing to ask in class.

 

2.  Do daily warm ups, pay attention and make corrections to errors when we go over the problems. Ask questions to clarify if needed. Use these warm ups to guide your studying. 

 

3.  Re-do all warm ups as often as necessary. They are labeled with the name of each skill.  Re-do your quizzes as well.  Studying for the test should NOT start the night before a test or quiz.

 

4.  If you make a mistake when re-doing your warm ups when studying, look in your notes or the text book (odd problems) to find 2 problems that are similar to the one(s) you missed and complete those.   If you make mistakes on those, find more to practice.  For Chapter tests, re-do your quizzes from the chapter being tested and also re-do warm ups.

 

5.  Make up your own test/quiz using the warm up as a guide.  Find similar problems in your notes or text.  Set a timer.  Ideally, you want to give yourself less time than you think it will take to complete this.  This will increase your anxiety to simulate a real testing situation.  If you make ANY mistake (even the slightest one), go find more problems like the one you missed to practice.  Repeat this process as often as necessary to eliminate mistakes.

 

6.  Attend the extra help sessions or create a study group of your own.  If your choices conflict with the free help that is offered, hire a personal tutor.  A list is available in the Career Center.

 

7.  If you work with a tutor, do your homework prior to meeting with them so you can ask specific questions.  Do Not sit with your tutor and do homework.  They will not be there when you are taking the test.

 

8. Use the materials that are available online from the book, the virtual Nerd gives a video for most topics. 

 

9. Check out the KHAN ACADEMY and YouTube.  Both of those sites are free and have numerous step by step videos by topic.

 

10.  If your Unit Test grade is lower than 80% take advantage of Academic Recovery to re-take the test.  It is held after school over two days and you must attend both days.