How to conquer Maths Anxiety?

Math anxiety is a concern for many students. Some students experience occasional problems in understanding the facts of mathematics while others have deep performance related issues in this subject. Many students all over the world tend to freeze during Maths tests, even if they known the procedure to solve the problems, understand all the formulae, equations and arrive at correct answers. So far it has been observed that fear of maths is the biggest obstacle in the path of learning Maths. 

Learning Maths is just like learning any other subject where true mastery can be achieved through practice. Students can outweigh the fear for the subject if they are honest and brave to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes.

Origin of Maths Anxiety
Maths anxiety generally occurs from a limited understanding of the subject. It also arises as a result of poor teaching that leads to unpleasant experiences. Most of the students who don’t understand the concepts, procedures and rules of the problem but try to memorize it, face the problem of anxiety.

Fear factor for Maths would no longer exist if the students follow few simple tips mentioned below:

Ask for early help:
If students face difficulty in a particular chapter, they can ask for tutorial help. Extra help can provide right boost to overcome Maths anxiety and add to their confidence to perform well in tests.


Cramming should be avoided:
Cramming for exams can often enhance Maths anxiety. So, students are advised to avoid cramming. They are suggested to break their study sessions into small portions. It is also advised to deal with problem areas as quickly as possible. All these would help minimize Math anxiety upto a large extent.


Emphasis on regular practice:
The best way to overcome Maths anxiety is to show a student that he/she can solve it correctly and can derive right answers. For the same, students should regularly practice problems related to their weaker sections. Rigorous practice and meticulous efforts would help the students get rid of their fear of Maths and side-by-side would also promote their conceptual understanding.  More and more practice ahead of an exam would help students identify their problem areas, rectify it and consequently boost self-esteem.

Learn Maths in an innovative way
Students who are tired of practicing problems from boring and mundane books can surely add a punch to their study schedule by practicing Maths from online puzzles, quizzes, graphics and animations. Students can go through various animated videos where problems are explained in a simple language for a complete understanding of concepts. These online study material and videos are available 24*7. Students have complete freedom to access this content at their own convenience.

Ask questions if confused:
Students should start learning Maths with a positive attitude and determination. They shouldn’t settle for anything less during the instruction sessions by tutors or teachers. In case of any confusion, they should ask for clear illustrations, demonstrations and simulations.

Teachers and parents of the students can play an important role to make certain that students understand problems in Maths presented to them without any confusion or ambiguity. They can also encourage them to work hard and get more practice. Once the students realize that they can learn Maths like any of the other subjects, the whole notion that Maths is a ‘tough’ subject and the resultant Maths anxiety can become a thing of the past.

Revision techniques for ICSE Papers

Revising using the right techniques can help students fetch their dream score in the final ICSE papers. In spite of working very hard, students are not able to achieve their dream score. One of the major reasons behind the same is poor revision technique adopted by students. While preparing for ICSE papers, it is very important for students to allocate ample time for revision sessions. Students often undermine the importance of quality revision sessions and consider it a futile exercise. However, it is imperative for students to undertake a few quality revision sessions following the right revision technique to reinforce learning and concretize conceptual understanding for ICSE papers.     

To help all you students out there with the right techniques on how to go about revising for ICSE papers, here are a few points elaborating on the same.

• While starting to revise for ICSE papers the first and foremost step is to set revision goals. Setting realistic and achievable goals will help students arrive at the right course to proceed in. An activity like this will also help students make the most of their revision sessions. While setting revision goals students should make sure that the goals are not so high that it becomes difficult to achieve them.  The goals should also not be so easy that achieving them constitutes no real challenge for them. Goals should be such that they help students push themselves that extra bit while revising for ICSE papers. While setting goals, students are required to set both long-term as well as short-term targets.
• While revising for ICSE papers, students should be sure of the environment they are studying in. It is very important for students to have their own comfortable study corner while revising for ICSE papers. The study corner should be well-lit and free of any disturbance.  This will help students concentrate better during their revision sessions.
• The third and the most essential point while revising for ICSE papers is to incorporate small breaks in your revision sessions. Revising at a stretch often makes the studying exercise monotonous and results in reduced concentration levels. Studying with low concentration can result in reduced retention and poor recall. Therefore, students revising for ICSE papers or for that matter any exam are advised to incorporate small and timely breaks in their revision sessions that help them to get suitably re-charged.

Apart from the right revision technique, it is also important for students to use the right revision tools while preparing for ICSE papers. Student should carefully choose their revision tools keeping in mind their preferred learning styles.  There are a lot of websites that provide revision material in various formats. Students who prefer the visual mode of learning/ revising can refer to videos and crisp revision notes available on these websites, whereas tactile learners can practice their way through a variety of tests and curriculum-aligned puzzles. However, it is imperative for students to refer only those websites that provide quality learning content.

With tips on revision technique and revision tools in place, students can start revising and be confident of a great performance and an excellent score in the final ICSE papers.

All the best!

Tips for CBSE Papers

Each time CBSE Papers (board exams) approach, students witness higher anxiety levels manifesting in sweaty palms, shaky legs and twitching fingers. The fear of exams gives most students sleepless nights. Students often tend to find it difficult to get down to studying and try to seek answers from their friends as to where to begin. The problem does not end here. Panic attacks before entering examination hall, issues like how to answer CBSE Papers and what to do once you are done with your exams crops up.

Here are a few tips for all you students out there who are to face CBSE Papers or any other board exams (conducted by other boards). It is important for students to learn to deal with the situation by breaking it down into stages. The entire examination period can be thus, divided into three stages i.e. Pre Exam, During Exam and Post Exam.

1. Pre Exam:- The most important key to fare well in any exam is to prepare well. Before starting it is important to go through the entire CBSE syllabus for your grade. Start off with the difficult subjects first, as fresh mind allows for fast and effective understanding and memorization of concepts. Prepare a time table for yourself in detail that lists down when and how you plan to deal with all the subjects.  For attempting CBSE Papers well, going through all the related NCERT text books thoroughly is a primary requirement. Generally NCERT text books deal with all the relevant topics in detail, however if you feel the need seek help from the reference books suggested for CBSE Papers, feel free to do so. While studying subjects like Social Sciences, it may be a good idea to practice CBSE papers for each of the individual subjects like History, Geography and Civics separately. Be careful not to delve excessively into a subject that you like; concentrating on ’least preferred’ subjects first will help you make the most of your revision time.
   Once done with memorizing key points, try to revise at least once before attempting the final CBSE Paper. If you are left with enough time before the final exams, try your hand on mock tests prescribed for CBSE Papers.
   
2. During Exam:- Once you enter the examination hall, do not stress yourself or panic. First read all the instructions and the marking scheme carefully. Accordingly, allocate your time for each question. An answer within the prescribed word limit that covers all the important points will fetch you more marks in CBSE Papers than writing lengthy and incomplete answers. If possible, support your answers with diagrammatic representations. Your writing should be legible enough for the examiner to read. Once done with answering the CBSE Paper, do revise your answer sheet and highlight the major points. It will make your answer sheet look more organized.
   
3. Post Exam:- There’s not much that you can do once you are done with a particular CBSE Paper. Unwind and quickly start preparing yourself for the next one. If it was the last CBSE paper set goals   for the future and support them with a concrete and actionable plan. It is equally important to have backup plans or alternative courses of action after your CBSE papers.