If difficulty with the material arises at any point during the course, students can always stay after school for help from me. They can also get help from National Honor Society students who tutor all subjects, in the library, weekdays from 2:00 - 2:30.
tips for parents
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COMPLETE CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK
The best way to prepare for a test or quiz is to practice the problems when they are assigned. It is easy to watch the teacher complete the problems and to follow along; it's much harder to complete the entire problem-solving process on your own without prompts or guidance.
VOCABULARY
Use flashcards (side 1: word; side 2: definition and example)
Even if there aren't specific vocabulary questions on the test, knowing the terms can be helpful when reading problems and their instructions. Vocabulary words will be useful in later sections as well, as new concepts are often built from earlier material. Once the vocabulary has been covered, it will be at least partially assumed that the terms are familiar to the students.
STUDY FORMULA(E) AND PROPERTIES
Use flashcards (side 1: name; side 2: formula)
Ex: side 1: exponential growth side 2: a (1 + r) ^ x
Use flashcards (side 1: name, side 2: example)
Ex: side 1: distributive property side 2: 2(3x + 4) => 6x + 8
PRACTICE SOME PROBLEMS
Try a few problems from each section. You should make sure to try problems whose answers are in the back of the book so that you can verify your answers.
You can also try examples that were done in class by the teacher. Since these examples will have step-by-step solutions, you can find and correct any errors that you may have made while solving the problem on your own.
STUDY PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
Algebra problems are easily grouped visually. Problems that look similar are solved in similar ways.
Use flashcards [side 1: x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0 side 2: (x + 2)(x + 3) = 0]
They can help you see -- for example -- that equations that have the terms x^2, x, and a #, will usually factor into two parentheses.
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