High school maths will get much more challenging than primary school maths and students should be ready for it. Classes will become more intense, homework too, maths teachers become more serious. Everything, naturally, takes another step to the next level to prepare you for life beyond education.
Some of the feared maths terms, like theorems, probabilities, maths analysis, and trigonometry, haunt us throughout our lives. To improve your chances to succeed in your school mathematics course, it can be a good idea to renew your equipment before the start of the year.
If you aren't sure what particular tools you'll need for your class activities you may wait for the beginning of the year and ask your maths tutor for advice. But here is a description of what every maths student is likely to need during the school year.
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Get ready for the beginning of the school year
A lot of students just go to a stationary store and buy everything that jumps out at them. However, this approach may have certain setbacks.
Discover our tips to select the best calculator for you.
For example, you may buy something you will certainly not need for learning maths, like a beautiful pencil case that may attract your attention. At the same time, you may also forget something useful for getting good grades. So, let's see how to plan your shopping.
4 Important points
- Plan everything.
- Lessons plans and curriculums don't change a lot year after year so before going shopping you may ask the school to send over a description of what you'll be learning, so you'll hold all the cards.
- Don't hesitate to ask
- After years of teaching, school teachers end up knowing the school curriculum by heart and can tell you what you may need, for example, at the end of the preceding year. Just make sure to take notes and then just check each box at the shop
- Don't buy too many things
- Although it's better to have all you think you will need for school before the year starts, the shops do not close at the beginning of school. Buy the mathematics equipment you are sure you'll need. If you lack something when your classes start, you can do some supplementary purchases at that point. This approach has two advantages:
- You'll have a set of the most important things for learning
- You will not waste any money
- When we start the school year it is completely normal for teachers to recommend additional equipment for class activities and teaching games. So, if some unexpected items are needed, like dice or playing cards for learning probability theory, you will have to return to the shops anyway.
- Although it's better to have all you think you will need for school before the year starts, the shops do not close at the beginning of school. Buy the mathematics equipment you are sure you'll need. If you lack something when your classes start, you can do some supplementary purchases at that point. This approach has two advantages:
- Use the resources offered by your school
- The school may offer students helpful educational resources and your teachers will certainly tell you about them.
- While it's convenient to have your own equipment, the school is full of resources that you can use for free. In fact, it makes teachers happy to see students use the resources they are offered. So use them.
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What's the most important piece of equipment to get good maths grades?
The math curriculum covers a number of special topics for which you will need particular equipment.
In a maths class, you may need a scientific calculator, paper clips, a binder, pocket folders, markers, rulers, a sharpener, highlighters, post-it notes, an eraser, as well as tools for geometry activities. In addition to that teachers may suggest you digital teaching resources to use, so a computer will definitely come in handy.
There are a lot of tools to help kids learn maths.
Being a student is a lot of fun but you are likely to run into a number of difficult issues, too. If you don’t make enough effort it won’t matter which equipment you have. What's even more important than equipment and resources is that the student should be responsible.
So, the most important element of your toolkit is motivation. If students want to work, they will succeed in the most difficult activities with a box of pens and a sheet of paper. After you've finished shopping, try to think of all the benefits of mathematics to get ready morally.
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Maths can be as enjoyable as video games if you go about it the right way. And if you ever get in trouble, there are plenty of maths tutors in Australia who can help you.
What calculators to choose for school students
Probably the most popular brand of school calculators is Casio. They are sold for a reasonable price and have all of the settings to get exceptional grades in mathematics.
Some other good calculator brands used by students are Texas and HP. Choose the right calculator and you'll be able to solve the most difficult problems in class.
It is better for a student to master the basic calculator first and then switch to a scientific calculator, as it has full of buttons that you probably won't understand.
Are calculators useful for learning maths?
In today's world where everything is so fast, calculators are literally irreplaceable because they speed up calculations so we solve problems quicker. The best way for students to maintain their interest in mathematics is to provide them with feedback showing that they aren't working in vain.
To make the most of our math course, we need to buy the right tools.
With a calculator, students can get interested in maths even more. Students stop being afraid of the subject and enjoy learning it to achieve the objectives that are set before them.
Mathematics is not about just calculating but understanding what you're doing. Calculators help students focus on what's important.
Is using a calculator cheating?
Like any tool, using the calculator requires a number of skills. However powerful the machine, if you don’t know what number to enter and what formula to use, you won't get through the problem. Calculators are just tools and won't automatically bring you good grades in the same way as having a good camera won't make you a professional photographer.
What operations can be done with a calculator:
- Basic maths: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division;
- Specific buttons on some calculators include parentheses, trigonometric functions, square root, exponents and inverses of trigonometric functions.
Equipment for young students
Young maths students don't need the same set of tools as high school pupils as they study a different curriculum. Here are two examples of equipment for students learning basic maths in a classroom.
- The abacus is used by many teachers to help beginning math students learn how to work with numbers and master the basic operations: adding, dividing, multiplying and subtracting. Children move the beads and identify the number necessary for the calculation. It can be used alone by a student or with a teacher in a classroom.
- Multicubes offer children the opportunity to build geometric and natural shapes. This is one of the best activities to work on their motor skills and imagination. Young students can reproduce familiar shapes, like a dog, a set of dice 0r a swan, or create something new out of their heads.
Good maths teachers combine calculation games and construction games. This awakens students' imagination and introduces them gradually to mathematics. If the lesson is fun, they will be willing to spend time learning and progress faster. Getting maths lessons from a tutor can also help with keeping it fun. The tutor will be committed to keeping your child learning.
Basic equipment for a math student
Calculator
- Simple calculators only serve to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. With scientific calculators, you can carry out exponential calculations, square roots, equations and work with a set of functions.
Geometric Measuring Tools
- Rulers can be of different shapes and colours. It can be useful to buy a ruler set.
- A compass is used to draw circles. You place the point at one side of it into the paper which fixes it at one point. The other edge with the pencil is free to rotate and draw perfect circles. The shape of the circle is up to the student unless it's too big.
- Protractor measures angles.
Paper
- Scratch paper is a low-quality paper that is suited for calculations.
- Graph paper is lined with squares and used in maths for solving equations and drawing graphs with more ease.
Basic stationery items
- Pens
- Highlighters
- Pencils
- Coloured pencils
- Notebook
- Planner
Now that you know approximately what you need to buy and go in with good cards. The next step is to think of your study plan. A motivated learner, the right equipment and the desire to learn are the keys to achievement. Here are some helpful resources and activities to do outside the classroom.
- Visit math websites to find classes and exercises for practice. Of course, the website should fit your level and cover the right topics. Look for exercises that relate to what you are doing at school and your grades will go up.
- A number of websites allow you to do free tests based on the exams from the previous years or developed for assessment purposes. This can help you spot your weak points.
- If you are tired of reading, why not spend time watching YouTube video tutorials shot by mathematics teachers. YouTube is full of dedicated math courses and other kinds of learning videos so you'll surely find what you need.
The surest way to stay motivated is to make learning part of your day. When you go shopping, you can do some mental calculations instead of using a calculator. There are plenty of ways to practice math in the real world. Make maths part of your life and progress smoothly to get high grades.
In our other article, we focus on the equipment needed at high school.
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