by Rebecca Mayer | Aug 26, 2015 | Math
How do you know if it is time for a challenge?
I believe that a very important aspect of learning is knowing when to challenge yourself. Struggling on things helps make you better and m
aster topics rather than taking an easy route, which might allow you to learn the basics of something, just not grasp it fully. Accepting a challenge and at least trying to accomplish it is what will lead you to success, even if you pass a few failures along the way. Not trying at all will always result in failure. Some people like to coast through their education, but I liked to be pushed further than the basic standards of a class, so that I am stimulated through that subject and not bored.
I recently created a picture graph for my pre-calculus class, and I decided to create a personal challenge out of it. Instead of doing the twenty required equations to create the image, I decided to go further and I ended up making a picture with over 300 equations. I felt way more successful and proud of myself after completing it, more than if I had done the bare minimum of what was required. Rather than spending ten minutes on it, I spent countless hours that I believe paid off long term.
Overcoming a challenge can feel extremely rewarding and make you feel so much more successful than if you did the bare minimum of something. Even though challenges might take longer or more effort to accomplish, you will feel way better about succeeding at something difficult than something easy.
by Nicole Dowling | Aug 17, 2015 | Math
Mathematics IS Truth
When I first came to college, I went through an emotional culture shock. I had no idea what kind of box we were all in throughout high school, but once I took the next step toward supporting myself in the adult world, I see now that it’s a scary thing breaking away from the habit of high school. Ordered. Structured. Dates were set for you; your whole schedule seemed all planned out. Of course, personal success depended on each and every student outside of the classroom, but you were surrounded by support: teachers, other students, the atmosphere of it all.
College has the same feel, don’t get me wrong. But you are not in school 8 hours a day, 5 days a week anymore, from someone else’s design anyway. You are setting your own schedule, creating your own support groups and may even have time in between classes to do with how ever you please. Those who are diligent will continue that “all day at school” mentality in order to keep up with your own studies. Success can look like many things, sometimes it can just be encouragement from a friend to continue pushing through the hard studies. This is supposed to be a team effort.
The acceptance of change in one’s own life can seem like being on the tallest hill and down below you oversee the obstacles that lay ahead, as dangerous as they may appear. Sometimes you are on that hill and all you see when you look down is fog. Unknowing to all that is ahead of you. But you know in your heart it’s time to keep going. For something. Chest out. Head high. One foot at a time, till you’re on your path of finding your own truth. Spoiler alert: Mathematics IS Truth.
Mathematics uses proof and logic in order to state the truths about our universe. The use of a proof is simply a description of why something is true and uses all possibilities to obtain these proofs.
But we have a slight advantage: there was a curious spark, an omnipotent insight that pops in when truth is all around. It feels good. And if you pay attention, the world seems to flow in harmony.
So, if you ever find yourself on top of that tallest hill, delve into mathematics. There’s a branch for everyone’s interests and you might find that creative brainwave needed to take your first step. Every student, thus every human, has an influence within the world in which we live. Influenced by movement. Not necessarily which choices to take next, but the act of choosing as they come. This is a fast existence. Darwin should have called his studies: Survival of the Adaptive.
by Katie Boswell | Aug 6, 2015 | Math
The Answer is Blowin’ In the Wind
Wouldn’t it be great if all of the answers were actually blowing in the wind? Unfortunately Bob Dylan wasn’t speaking of the ACT and SAT when he wrote this fabulous song over 50 years ago. What Dylan did get right was the wisdom of the roads we must travel to actually get the answers. With major changes coming to the SAT, the answers may be even harder to find, but at MaThCliX we are working around the clock to demystify these changes and help your student score their best on standardized testing.
Many have asked me about the changes and how they will impact students. The test is changing the scoring system from 2400-1600, with the writing portion now being optional, but more importantly the content is changing significantly. The approach to the reading passages will be completely different and the math will now explore higher level content areas. The reading will now include more content based reading, but with more common vocabulary. I GREATLY encourage everyone to learn more about these changes and schedule a meeting with me to discuss how this may change things for your student.
The PSAT is also changing and even sooner! The PSAT will be debuting its changes, quite similar to the changes for the SAT, in October! The scoring will now more closely align with the scoring of the 1600 scale SAT and it is expected that PSAT scores will now be a better indicator of how a student will do on the SAT. In the past the PSAT was a good introduction to the SAT, but lacked transferability to SAT scoring. I think this is a great new feature of the new PSAT. I look forward to making my own comparisons once we have real world examples to use.
“The ACT isn’t changing too, is it?” is the other question I’m getting asked quite often. No, the ACT is not changing this year, except for its typical simple updates. In all reality, the SAT is changing to be quite a bit more like the ACT. This is good news for those who like the ACT already and it is also great for those who would like to prepare to take both tests.
Come join us this Fall to prepare for all of your test prep needs. Debuting this Fall, MaThCliX will be offering an unique opportunity to learn test prep skills in a book club. Test Prep Book Clubs will run for two months and will teach reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing and test taking strategies. We will also continue to offer our great one on one tutoring packages designed to see the greatest growth in test prep achievement.
Contact me today to create your perfect plan and learn more about all the changes!
by Aaron Sandlin | Aug 4, 2015 | Math
Break out of your cage!
Forget about the lines that have been placed around the equation in your mind! They aren’t real! You may have been taught a certain formula or equation that you hold sacred in your belief in the immutable structure of math. Please, do away with these structures that hold you tight. The only things that are not fluid in math are the basic rules; the properties inherently found. These are things like the commutative property, where two plus five equals five plus two and so on. The majority of mathematical discovery has been the result of people willing to play around with a known equation.
For example, the law of cosines is able to be turned into the dot product of vectors. These two formulas are separated in instruction by different classes; trigonometry and calculus 3, respectively. However they are really separated only by a little algebraic manipulation.
“The definition of the dot product incorporates the law of cosines, so that the length of the vector from X to Y is given by
|X-Y|^2 = (X-Y)·(X-Y)
= X·X-2X·Y+Y·Y
= |X|^2+|Y|^2-2|X||Y|cos(θ),
where θ is the angle between X and Y.”
~https://mathworld.wolfram.com/LawofCosines.html
We are taught to stay on the path that has been built by centuries of achievement prior to our instruction, but all of that achievement was accomplished exactly by people who wandered off of the beaten path. If you want to learn all that there has already been discovered, then by all means stay in your predetermined path. It is much safer there. If you want to truly discover the full power of math, though, then let your mind become fluid, only allowing the basic laws of mathematical nature to be your bounds. This is the difference between a painter and an artist. Even if you do not become the next Rembrandt and your work looks more like Picasso’s, you will have done one seemingly small but immensely important thing: You allowed yourself to question, to explore, to have a brain that sees things in a scientific light.
If you never discover a formula for anything new under the sun, you might, through the mere fact of having developed an inquisitive mind, have allowed yourself to see EVERYTHING in that same fluid manner. Art, business, sports, tactics, law, medicine….the sky is the limit.
See, math isn’t just for counting; Math is for THINKING and in a manner that literally restructures one’s mind to see all of the universe in a new light. So, cast off those chains of the rigid equations! Play with your numbers! Move things to the “wrong” side of that equal sign! Remake your mind.
by MaThCliX | Aug 3, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Back-to-School Success
Tips for Students and Parents
And just like that, another summer is over and a new school year begins! Here are some tips for both parents and students to work together to ensure a successful school year.
Students
1. Set goals: Write them out clearly and display them somewhere that you see them everyday
ex: I will complete my HW before I watch TV
2. Get organized: This includes finding a way to organize papers going back and forth from subject to subject. How are you going to know what your assignments are and when they are due?
3. Plan: What HW, tests, and quizzes do you have this week? How will you prepare for them? Make sure you plan out your study time.
4. Practice: This is how you learn! Make time each day to practice.
5. Get Help: Are you not understanding what you are supposed to be learning? Ask! Get help! Go to your teacher, parent, and of course, MaThCliX! That is what we are here for.
Parents
1. Make sure that you know how to communicate with your student’s teacher. Know when conferences are and plan to have a presence and be proactive in your student’s academics.
2. Check grades! Even if your student is old enough to check their own grades, it never hurts to have a parent checking, too. Know when progress reports and report cards are due. If you see grades dropping, intervene quickly!
3. Make sure your student is doing the success tips for students. Ask them how they are doing each one.
4. Find out about what student’s are learning each week so that you can help or get help, as needed. Find out about tutorials, teacher websites, and recommended resources.
5. Bring your student to MaThCliX!
by Rebecca Mayer | Jun 29, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Learning Your Learner-
For students who need a lot of help comprehending a certain topic, one-on-one tutoring is a good way to go. For these types of students, I have learned that it is best to work at their pace and to reiterate things as many times and in as many different ways as they need. Repeating things and asking them to repeat something you’ve said helps you make sure they understand something, and helps them realize they understand something themselves and will be able to remember it.
It takes a while to learn exactly what the student needs and how they learn, and it is important not to force a learning style on them and to use what they know. It takes some time to figure out what a student’s certain learning style is, and when they get that aha moment, it’s easy to tell you’ve found the right style.
During my time as a tutor, I’ve found that the most common type of learning style is asking questions. This helps the student figure things out for themselves and allows them to find answers without you telling them. It can also make them feel very accomplished when they reach their own aha moment by themselves, then you know they’re truly comprehending the topic.
With patience and understanding, I have been able to learn the learning style of many of the students I tutor. You have to try out different methods to see how well they respond and how engaged into the topic they feel. It may take a while, but with time, finding out how a student learns best will definitely pay off and allow them to get the most out of tutoring.
by Chuck Summers | Jun 29, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
The ideas expressed in this blog are certainly not new or original to me. I would like to give credit to Chris Brady, CEO of Life Leadership for these ideas.
I am an electrical engineer by training and practice. I know a lot about circuit design, digital signal processing and software design. One thing I was never taught in school, or as an engineer, however, is what Chris Brady calls the “checkpoint race”.
A checkpoint race requires participants to pass certain checkpoints in order to proceed in the race. There are no short cuts: every checkpoint has to be passed.
At MaThCliX®, we must meet certain checkpoints if we are to be successful tutors. Those three checkpoints are 1) Make a friend, 2) Find a need, 3) Meet that need.
To be effective as a tutor, I have to convey to the student that I truly care for them as a person. This cannot be faked. If you do not have a sincere concern for the well-being and success of your students, you either need to find a way to develop it or quit tutoring, because you will not have much success as a teacher and may, in fact, do more harm than good. There is saying that applies here: “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
One way of approaching this is to view a problem a student may have as a common problem, one in which you are working together to solve. At MaThCliX®, we first demonstrate how to solve the problem, then solve the problem with student, then let them solve one by independently. We are not there to show the student how much we know, but rather listen with humility to discern what problems they are having.
Listening is somewhat of a lost art. You will be amazed at how much more effectively you will become at helping students when you master this skill. When you listen carefully you can pick up on seemingly unrelated things that will greatly impact a students comprehension.
An extension of the quote above goes like this, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, but then you had better know something! ” At this point the student is ready to hear.
Finding the need is important because we don’t won’t to help the student with a problem they don’t have. This is an area I struggle with because there are areas of math that I get really excited about. It is real easy and enjoyable for me to spend time talking about those things, but I have to work hard to find their problems or concerns and not my own.
Once the needs are identified, we use multiple techniques geared to a student’s learning style to help the student understand solutions that they can embrace. Of course, you know their learning style because you have been actively listening and picking up on their visual and auditory cues (part of making a friend).
These three steps or checkpoints are applicable to a host of other endeavors and are the basis for successful sales and leadership. You may not realize it, but anytime you are trying to get your point across, you are selling and influencing. So, every time you interact with a student you should make a friend, find a need, and help them solve a problem.
by Nicole Dowling | Jun 25, 2015 | Math
Sacred Geometry, Mandalas, and Mathematics…
How many different shapes do you see in this image? There are circles and triangles and hexagons; oh my! A little closer look might reveal more intricate shapes…
I encourage everyone to draw this image. It may be messy at first, but you’ll start to see how these shapes are all pieced together. And you might discover more shapes during your artistic voyage!
Drawing Mandalas have been a big part of the Hindu and Buddhist history. The word “Mandala” is a Sanskrit term for “circle” and can be thought of as a schematic visual representation o
f the Universe. These images have been used in meditation: symbolizing the journey around (or in) the space one wanted to discover in greater detail. That space can be the around the Earth, in the Universe, on even in one’s own Mind. By visualizing a path to traverse around the Mandala, one is thought to have a clearer mind on how to move through the Universe as a whole.
Mathematics is about communicating the patterns that one observes about the Universe with great precision; thus the more practice one has in creating these detailed diagrams, the more likely one notices the details within our beautiful, yet complex, Universe. Mental discipline is a useful tool when it comes to mathematical thinking… Some people draw these mandalas with immense accuracy in the sand; then, once done, smooth out the sand as if no image was there in the first place. The emphasis here is in the process. The act of drawing is what’s important, thus when the image is done it’s immediately erased. The lesson is to show us how to let go of things we work so hard on; to be okay with washing away the hard work we have done. To practice being adaptable! So draw on young explorers and produce your perspective with critical specificity!
Thank you to those who took my class: FractalRock!
by Katie Boswell | Jun 17, 2015 | Math
Practice Makes Perfect
Students question the need to be in the Math Lab during the summer, yet they don’t question the need for summer football training. Just like we need to keep our bodies in shape, we need to keep our brains in shape.
If you’ve seen a lot of progress through the year, why would you let that dwindle away by not practicing those skills over the summer? Start out the new year strong with a fresh mind that has practiced and kept in shape.
Think about when you first learned to read. You started with letters, which turned into words, then into sentences and finally BOOKS. If you did not study and look at letters daily, you would not have been able to turn those letters into words and you would have to continually relearn. Take what you have learned this year, grow it, expand it and understand things at a whole new level.
Some things to work on over the summer include: basic math skills, logic skills, writing skills and my personal favorite, test taking skills!
Summer is not only a great time to keep up skills you’ve already learned, but also a good time to get started on preparing for the SAT and ACT while not plagued with hours of homework and practice until 8pm. And how about a little incentive to get started today? Sign up for a Test Prep package that includes 10 hours or more of tutoring by July 1st and receive $25 off of a Fall Test Prep lab package.
by Jeff Skinner | Jun 6, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Life is exhausting. It’s as simple as that. We are constantly finding ourselves venturing off into new activities and making new commitments, while we already have a chaotic life waiting for us at home! Adults have work and taking care of their children, while students have 8 hours in a building learning and then going home to do even more work! It gets pretty crazy, and some days can have a major toll on our bodies and disable us from doing all that we need to do. When I was in high school, it seemed like every day all I wanted to do after school was nap. My usual basketball game after-school with my neighbors turned into me putting on pajamas and falling asleep to some poorly rated movie on Netflix. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t I find energy to do my homework and necessary studying?
It took a whole lot of ignorance and zeros on my assignments to realize that I needed to knock off my new after-school rituals and come up with an active plan to keep myself awake and motivated. I started making goals for myself and rewarding myself when each of those goals was done. For instance, if I had to write a five page paper I would write 2 pages, and then reward myself by playing a video game for half an hour or going outside and playing with my friends. I found that this was a really good way to plow through my homework, because it actually made it enjoyable and I had something to look forward to. This can easily be applied at a learning center like MaThCliX also. We like to stay really focused on work for about 45 minutes and then spend just a few minutes socializing and talking about things other than school with the students. This really keeps them engaged and lively and has been really effective. I know how hard it is for some of these younger student also who just want to eat a thousand pixie sticks and run a marathon, but using this method really seems to work with them. Academic endurance is important because it keeps students engaged in their work, and we all know how hard it is to put yourself in a hole with assignments and try and climb out!
It’s as simple as making a few goals with your homework and figuring out the best way to tackle all your work before starting. This can make all the difference and can cut down study time tremendously. With a little self-motivation and encouragement from others, we can all pick up the pace with our work and get it all done!
