The Chinese New Year is just over. Certainly hope you have received lots of gifts, plenty of blessings, many ang paos…

Well, I am certain amdist all these festive moods, many of you or perhaps just some are in fact using this holiday period to mug for your upcoming common tests, aren’t you?

Today, I am going to share with you guys some tips on preparing for your Maths Common Test, Exams or Quizzes.

#1 : Review your previous assignments, tests, quizzes

Look at the things which you did not do correctly the previous time. Find out the reason for not doing it right. Could it be you have a mis-conception of that topic, you are not careful in your calculation, you mis-read the question? Whichever is your reason, find YOUR way to counter it.

For example,

CAUSE: I did not get the marks I deserve as I was not careful when I did mental calculations. MY COUNTER: I am going to write down my steps on paper instead of holding them in my mind. This will reduce my careless mistakes.

Reviewing previous assignments, tests, quizzes is something students do not usually do as they find no purpose in doing. However, if you were to think again, the intention of having tests is to find out on the amount things that you know and the things which you are not sure yet. To order to achieve a better result from each test, don’t you think it is important for us to reflect on our previous assignments to find out the things we already know and the things we did not get it right yet. Those which we did not get it right, it is our responsiblity that we ensure that history does not repeat itself.

#2 : Add YOUR own notes to the learning materials

When doing revision for Math, it is important and definitely useful to go through (not just read through) the notes. However, if you were to add in your own little notes alongside, these will help you to learn and understand better as you are penning down your thoughts crucial for the topic. It is absolutely highly recommended that you create your PowerNotes or some prefer to refer them to CheatSheets. All these have one thing in common : they are summaries of important keyconcepts or formulaes for the topic. I usually keep my PowerNotes to one A4 sheet of paper for each topic.

#3: Apply to questions.

Maths is a subject that I always tell my student that they hardly have to study the textbook unlike other content based subjects. It is about understanding the fundamentals of each concepts and applying the knowledge to solving of questions. You may use questions from

• Ten Year Series (Compilation of the past year examination questions from GCE O Level),
• other schools papers (easily buy them outside; but one word of warning: some school papers are “lethal”, handled with care else instead of boosting your confidence, they might lower your self-esteem with all those challenging level of questions)
• textbook questions; good and fair

If you were to follow and apply the 3 tips, I am certain you will be able to conquer this monster whereas many students fall prey to it.

All the best! I’ll hear from you on how you fare for your common test!

Now this visualization is so powerful that anyone can apply it to any areas of your life, be it school, work, relationships, success … It’s simply seeing and experiencing how you want your future to be like…

Recently I was interested in the advertisements I saw, even one of the banks is using the visualization technique : “Dreaming of the future;Preparing For it Today” and there is the iconic symbol of a red arc which looks like a umbrella. *Guess the name of the bank?

To do well in any areas, it is exactly the same. First you must be clear of what you want at the end and you got to see YOURSELF achieving it, how did you feel, who was with you, what were you saying, what were you doing?

By seeing yourself achieving what you want, your brain will unconsciously be moving towards that direction to make that experience come true. Well, actions must be taken certainly.

I have been using this visualization tool and it has proven to be effective for me! I certainly hope this will be helpful to you.

You may want to check out the video below to have a understanding of the Visualization Tool.

:)

25th Oct 2007
The Secret team has created a visualization tool, “The Secret to You”, which you can download for free and play every day.

“The Secret to You” has been especially created to harness all the power of The Secret to transform your life into happiness, prosperity, health, love and joy.

To experience maximum power from the visualization tool, read the words and feel them with all your heart.

From all at The Secret, we celebrate you, we give thanks for you and we wish you a life beyond your wildest dreams.

To experience “The Secret to You” visualization tool
The Secret to You

Personally, I think with so many choices available, it is certainly not easy for students and parents to find one which will match their expectations.

I met up with a parent recently whom in fact shared with me on the centre she has enrolled her girl with. I was shocked to find out that the class has a total of 7 students of DIFFERENT levels (eg, there is a mixture of Sec 1 to Sec 4s) all taken part by a tutor. Moreover, the fees charged by this tutor is more than the average price of a group class. Well, this parent mentions that she is testing it out and sees how her girl progresses.

In my personal opinion, the following factors are important for the selection of the right tutor/coach for your learning needs:

#1:Effectiveness of tutor/coach

Having said this, I think to save the time of parents and students, I personally like the fact that there should be trial lesson provided especially for Individual Tuition Coaching sessions.
This is especially important for O Level students as time is crucial and precious.Moreover, youths of this age would definitely like to have more say in choosing their tutors. Afterall, they are the ones who are interacting with the tutors most of the time. Trial lesson gives the student and parents sufficient time for the interaction with the tutor. Able to connect and communicate effectively with the student and parents are extrememly important!

#2:Track Record of previous students.

Please note the results of the students before joining the tutor/coach. Many a times, I saw the great end results produced by the students but didn’t see what were the improvements made.
For example, if a student is able to breakthrough from F9 to a B within a few months. I would consider the tutor teaching methodology be to effective & beneficial.
I was told that some learning centres only take in students of certain grades (usually good grades) and reject those who did not meet their grade expectations.
I always wonder if this is the case, what is the true purposing for tuition/coaching? I need extra help only if I face a certain level of challenge otherwise if I can cope, I won’t be seeking tuition/coaching.

#3: Academic Qualifications of tutor/coach

With my several years of interaction with parents, it seems like parents like school teachers. This is rather ironic, as if your child is not able to learn well from school perhaps due to a long list of reasons, would another school teacher be different? Well, I am not saying that school teachers aren’t good. Some of them are in fact very experienced and knowledgeable in syllabus and teaching methodology. But once again, I strongly emphasize on the connection and rapport established between the teacher and student.

I certainly hope I have provided some useful tips for both students and parents with the selection of a right tutor/coach for your learning needs.

“Good Teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more” – Bob Talbert