How your GCSE Maths teacher will enable you to become a better learner
What study skills have you arrived with?
Your teachers are keen to know what study skills you already have. They will identify this by tracking the following things in the first few weeks of the course:
Your concentration in the classroom
Your ability to recall information from lesson to lesson
The standard of work that you produce, including presentation and quantity
What maths skills have you arrived with?
You will have individual strengths and areas for development which may include:
Mental arithmetic
Handwritten methods
Calculator Skills
These last two are critical for success at GCSE. We have made support videos to help you with these, links to which will be shared with you.
Doing homework
Practice is key to success at any level in mathematics. Unlike some other subjects, just memorising stuff won’t be enough, you must practice. Attempting questions is the only really productive way to prepare for a maths exam. For most of the year you won’t receive much homework, however, in the weeks leading up to the exams you will be given practice papers to attempt. You teaching will mark what you’ve done and explain how you can improve, as long as you’ve given them a good go.
What is consolidation?
There is some memorising to do, formulae and techniques to learn. These will give you the necessary tools to solve more complicated problems. In order to minimise the strain of memorising lots in one go, we will regularly revisit key points in lesson to aid your consolidation. You can do lots of extra consolidation outside of lesson, which would be best done via practicing core skills.
Putting consolidation to the test!
At the beginning of most lessons your teacher will give you a starter designed to assess prior knowledge and learning to the test. You should use this to inform what further consolidation is needed.
Understanding the power of closing the feedback loop
When your teacher gives you feedback, be it to an individual question or to a test/exam, it is important that you respond to this feedback. You may re attempt the question or part of the test in order to improve. In order to get the most out of the feedback you receive you should speak again to your teacher to see if you have responded correctly to the advice given.
Developing resilience and keeping yourself motivated
Staying motivated and being resilient in the face of difficulties is essential to success. It is frustrating to be compelled to do a course, especially if you really dislike it. However, you have no choice about working towards the required level at GCSE maths. So keeping yourself motivated will help keep things positive and allow you to obtain success sooner!
