How to Get Much Better in Maths by Changing Your Mindset

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Hi, my name is John and today I will be going through how you can get much better in maths by changing your mindset.

 For most people, math seems like the most difficult subjects out there. It’s abstract, it’s complex and takes a lot of time. And for those reasons, many people have the belief that they’re just not a math person. But this is untrue as maths is a skill that can be learned just like any other skill and with enough time and effort, you can be really good at it. This has been a growing concern as some students are now deciding to not study maths at all in year 11 and 12 and are losing their math foundations.  As it is estimated that 94 % of all workers currently use some sort of math in their role, this can be a huge problem if it is not addressed.  

Therefore, today I will be sharing some strategies you can use particularly around mindset and the approach you should actually use to get a lot better in maths.  Let’s get into it.

If you believe maths is hard, you are not alone. The research supports this wherein their reports of the National Research Council’s and Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood, states that mathematics is a complex domain. The reports show that a multifaceted approach is needed to meet the broad range of students in the classroom. Essentially this means that different people need to work together otherwise students will not be able to adequately improve in subjects like maths. I agree with this because it is not just the student who should be in all the work. Their teacher needs to support them, the parents should go through some of the concepts and help encourage them and if they have a tutor, they need to break down concepts with them.

I see it time and time again where students who are 10 or even 15 years old are not given the resources or guidance for them to succeed. So if you are in this position, please realise that it is foolish to not ask for help. Go to your parents and teachers and I will be shocked if they say something like ‘ oh you need help. Well too bad. If you are a parent and your child hasn’t asked for help but you can tell from their marks that they are struggling, maybe they are a little shy or even embarrassed to ask. This is not out of the ordinary considering they are so young so if you find yourself in that case, you should be the one asking if they need help. 

The second strategy is to Be ready. But what do I mean by that? What I mean is that you have to do the groundwork and the foundations before the test or assignment come around, not after. It’s like if someone asks you if you are ready to go on a journey? Don’t be the person who is going to pack their bags or is thinking about it, you should already have your bags ready to go. If you know there is a test coming up, you have to prepare for it. Whether that be going through the textbooks, asking for help, doing past papers etc. If you are not ready by exam time, it means you have not prepared enough and you need to study harder.   

And you want to take this step sooner rather than later. If you didn’t study properly for a topic exam, do it for your half yearlies. Don’t keep pushing it back and tell yourself that you can study hard for the next one. The reason why is because there is going to be even more difficult tests later on that will challenge you in and out of the classroom so you should just have the mindset to work hard as soon as possible.

The last strategy is to have a long term mindset. If you are already behind or not very good with maths, just know that it is going to take time and effort. Just like every skill, if you do not go through the motions or constantly push your limits with harder questions, you are not going to get better. What I found to work for me and the students that I have taught is that you should work on maths every day otherwise you are going to forget. Maths is one of those subjects which really requires you to build on the prerequisite knowledge in previous years in order for you to do harder concepts. An example is like, If you forgot your time’s tables because you have not done them in a period of time, there is no way you can find an area of a shape because it requires you to do multiplication.

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