With less than six weeks left before the first term exams start, students who have gone into new classes this year will be a bit apprehensive about the question paper pattern and how to avoid making mistakes in Math. This is more so when the topics they have learnt are new or have gone from the primary section to middle school.
This is because when students are in the primary section, things are different especially when it comes to the exam pattern. This can stress out even the best of students and lead to nervousness during the exam. Sadly, this is when the students make the maximum gaffes, says Rinki Verma, a Math teacher at Apeejay School, Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
“It has been noticed that children make silly calculation blunders in their Math papers despite knowing everything. This is because they get nervous. When they get nervous, they lose sight of the fact that they have to complete the paper in a given time frame. In their hurry to finish the test, they end up making mistakes. For instance, while multiplying 2×2, they may end up writing 6 instead of 4 without even realising the blooper they made,” Verma explained.
How to avoid these slip-ups?
Verma says that the adage: Practice makes you perfect, is very apt when it comes to Math and shared strategies that students need to follow.
1. Math is all about practice. Students must do as many sums as possible daily. The more questions they ask, the more familiar they will become with the subject and less errors they will end up making.
2. The more a student will practice, the faster he/she will become and this holds for calculations as well. Practice will bring in speed and accuracy.
3. Time management is of the essence when it comes to this subject. Students need to practice completing questions within a set time frame. For instance, they can begin with doing 10 questions in one hour and gradually bring it down to 10 questions in 30 minutes. This drill will ensure that the student has time to revise the paper once everything is done. This is where the students can catch their mistakes.
4. When it comes to Board exams of classes X and XII, the students must go through the question papers of the previous years. Since the question paper format has changed, it is important to be familiar with the exam pattern. It will ensure that there are no blind spots for the students and they don’t panic.
5. The same holds for other classes as well. Teachers always share question papers of last year’s to familairise the students with the pattern. More so if the students have come from primary and gone into middle school.
“The most important thing for students is to have their concepts absolutely clear. Just knowing formulae is not enough. This is because children will forget the formulas as they go into higher classes. But if their concepts are clear, they will never forget the topic even if they pick it up a decade later,” Verma opined.
And what is the best way to have concepts clear? Verma said that the students should not get into the habit of rote learning. Understand the topic. Once the student has understood the chapter, there is no need to even learn the formulae. For instance, at present, I am teaching the chapter on Profit and Loss to my class. I have told my students not to memorise the 10 formulas but to know the concept. This has made it easy for them to learn the method and formula to use while solving a question on this topic,” Verma said and added the students must follow NCERT books to get their concepts bang on.
“The NCERT is the best book to consult for concepts. The book is perfect for this. Once they have mastered the concepts, they can refer to other books to practice the sums,” Verma said in conclusion.
