How to Study for Math (TTP Video 1)

Summary

This video script is the first in a series aimed at teaching effective math study strategies. The speaker emphasizes that many struggle with learning math due to a lack of proper study techniques. They offer advice on note-taking, building confidence, asking questions, and practicing without notes to internalize concepts. The script also covers the importance of revisiting previous material to maintain a strong foundation and suggests using study guides for directed studying to identify and focus on weak areas. The speaker's goal is to empower viewers to succeed in math by understanding the process of learning, rather than just the content.

Takeaways

• 📚 Start with the basics: The script emphasizes the importance of understanding how to study and learn math effectively before diving into complex examples.
• 👨‍🏫 Trust in your teacher's guidance: The teacher's role is to facilitate understanding, so asking questions is encouraged to clarify any doubts.
• 📝 Take thorough notes: Note-taking is crucial for capturing information and examples during lessons, which will be referred to later.
• 💪 Believe in your ability: The speaker encourages students to have confidence in their capacity to learn and understand math.
• 🤔 Ask questions: If you're struggling, don't hesitate to ask the teacher for clarification to better understand the material.
• 📈 Practice without notes: After initially learning from notes, practice problems without them to test and reinforce your understanding.
• 🔄 Spiral review: Regularly revisit previous material to keep it fresh in your mind and reinforce learning.
• 📉 Focus on weak areas: When studying, concentrate on areas where you are less confident to improve your understanding and performance.
• 📋 Use study guides effectively: If provided, use study guides to identify and focus on areas that need more attention.
• 📅 Start studying early: Begin studying for tests well in advance to allow time for review and practice.
• 🎯 Aim for synthesis and evaluation: The ultimate goal is to reach a level of understanding where you can create and apply knowledge, not just regurgitate it.

Q & A

What is the main message the speaker wants to convey in the first video?

The speaker wants to convey that many people do not know how to study or learn math effectively, and they aim to provide guidance on how to be successful in a math class.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of taking notes during math lessons?

The speaker emphasizes taking notes because it helps in retaining information and serves as a reference when learning new concepts, as no one is expected to memorize everything perfectly on the first try.

What does the speaker suggest as a method to build confidence in learning math?

The speaker suggests that students should believe in their ability to learn math, given that they have the prerequisites, and not let any teacher's negative attitude deter them from pursuing math.

How does the speaker recommend students approach their homework?

The speaker recommends that students first review their notes and examples, then attempt their homework, focusing on understanding the concepts without relying on their notes constantly.

What is the 'spiraling' method mentioned by the speaker, and how does it help in learning?

The 'spiraling' method involves regularly revisiting and reviewing previously learned material before moving on to new sections. This helps in keeping the information fresh in the mind and aids in long-term retention.

Why is it important to practice math problems without looking at notes, according to the speaker?

Practicing without notes helps students internalize the information and reach a higher level of understanding, which is crucial for problem-solving and performing well on tests without relying on external aids.

What should students do when they encounter a difficult concept in their math studies?

Students should focus on the difficult concepts, practice them more, and not get frustrated or angry, as these emotions can hinder the learning process.

How does the speaker advise students to prepare for a test?

The speaker advises students to use a study guide provided by the teacher, if available, to practice the problems without notes. This helps identify weak areas and build confidence in their understanding of the material.

What is the role of a teacher according to the speaker's perspective?

According to the speaker, a teacher's role is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the textbook to the student's mind, and they should be open to answering questions to clarify concepts.

How does the speaker define effective studying for math?

Effective studying for math, as defined by the speaker, involves taking good notes, practicing problems without notes, spiraling through old material for repetition, and using a study guide to identify and focus on weak areas.

What is the speaker's view on the common approach to studying math?

The speaker believes that the common approach to studying math, which often involves rote memorization and not asking questions, is not effective and that students should instead focus on understanding and internalizing the material.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Effective Math Study Techniques

The speaker introduces the video series with a focus on teaching and learning strategies, particularly for math. They emphasize that many people struggle with studying math effectively and aim to address this gap. The speaker outlines the importance of understanding the prerequisites and having confidence in one's ability to learn. They suggest taking thorough notes, asking questions, and practicing examples from class to build a strong foundation. The speaker also discusses the importance of not letting frustration hinder the learning process and encourages viewers to believe in their capacity to understand and succeed in math.

05:01

🤓 Developing Mastery Through Note-Taking and Practice

This paragraph delves deeper into the process of learning math by highlighting the significance of note-taking and practicing without relying on notes. The speaker advises viewers to review their notes and examples before attempting homework to reinforce understanding. They stress the importance of doing homework independently to test comprehension and to identify areas of weakness. The speaker introduces the concept of 'spiraling' information, which involves revisiting previous material to keep it fresh in the mind. They also discuss the proper way to use a study guide provided by a teacher, emphasizing the value of attempting problems without notes to build confidence and identify specific areas for focused study.

10:02

📝 Test Preparation and the Importance of Directed Studying

The speaker concludes the script with advice on how to prepare for tests effectively. They suggest using a study guide to identify strengths and weaknesses and to focus study efforts on areas that need improvement. The speaker recommends starting test preparation well in advance and practicing the test questions without notes to simulate exam conditions. They also stress the importance of revisiting and repeating material regularly to ensure it is internalized. The speaker shares personal experiences and techniques that have helped them succeed in higher-level math classes and encourages viewers to apply these strategies to make their test preparation more manageable and effective.

Keywords

💡Study Techniques

Study techniques refer to the methods and strategies used to learn and retain information effectively. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of learning proper study techniques for success in math, highlighting that many people do not know how to study effectively. The script discusses the need for taking notes, practicing without notes, and reviewing material regularly as part of effective study techniques.

💡Learning Math

Learning math is the process of understanding mathematical concepts and being able to apply them. The video focuses on the unique challenges of learning math, such as the need for practice and the importance of not just memorizing but truly understanding the material. The speaker shares insights on how to approach learning math, including the importance of not being intimidated by the subject and actively engaging with the material.

💡Classroom Setting

A classroom setting is the traditional environment where formal education takes place. The script mentions the classroom setting as the context where the speaker has observed the struggles students face in learning math. It is within this setting that the speaker suggests strategies such as asking questions and taking notes to enhance learning.

💡Notes

Notes are written records of information taken during a lecture or while studying. The video script stresses the importance of taking detailed notes as a fundamental study technique. The speaker advises viewers to write down examples and concepts, review these notes before doing homework, and eventually practice doing problems without immediate access to these notes to test understanding.

💡Confidence

Confidence refers to a belief in one's abilities. In the context of the video, the speaker encourages students to build confidence in their ability to learn math, dismissing the idea that they are inherently incapable of understanding the subject. The script suggests that confidence is crucial for overcoming the mental barriers that can prevent effective learning.

💡Practice

Practice is the act of repeatedly performing an activity to improve or master it. The video emphasizes the necessity of practicing math problems without relying on notes, which helps in internalizing the concepts rather than just memorizing them. The speaker uses the analogy of learning a song on a musical instrument to illustrate the importance of practicing without the aid of the original material.

💡Spiral Learning

Spiral learning is an educational approach where new material is built upon previously learned concepts, with periodic reviews of older material. The script introduces the concept of spiraling information, recommending that students revisit earlier sections of their studies before moving on to new ones to reinforce memory and understanding.

💡Homework

Homework is assigned work to be done outside of class, typically to reinforce learning. The video discusses the process of doing homework as a critical part of learning math, suggesting that students should attempt homework problems after reviewing their notes and without having their notes open, to truly test their understanding.

💡Test Preparation

Test preparation involves activities undertaken to ready oneself for an exam. The script provides advice on how to study for math tests effectively, including using study guides, practicing without notes, and focusing on weak areas. The speaker warns against last-minute cramming and emphasizes the importance of starting test preparation well in advance.

💡Internalization

Internalization is the process of incorporating or assimilating new knowledge or experiences into one's own understanding. The video script discusses the importance of internalizing math concepts rather than just following a recipe or set of steps. The speaker suggests that true learning occurs when students can do problems without relying on their notes, indicating they have internalized the material.

💡Directed Studying

Directed studying is a focused approach to learning where one identifies specific areas of weakness and concentrates study efforts on those areas. The video script describes how to use a study guide for directed studying by attempting to answer questions without notes to identify strengths and weaknesses, and then focusing study efforts on the areas that need improvement.

Highlights

Introduction to a series of videos on learning math.

People don't know how to study or learn math effectively.

The importance of understanding what it takes to be successful in math class.

Taking notes is crucial for learning math.

Encouragement to believe in one's ability to learn math.

Advice against letting teachers discourage students from learning.

Asking questions is essential for understanding math concepts.

Study tools are provided to help with math learning.

Reviewing notes and examples before starting homework is beneficial.

Doing homework without notes helps in internalizing the information.

Frustration is a natural part of the learning process.

Avoiding anger while learning is important for effective learning.

Practicing math problems without notes is key to true understanding.

Reviewing previous material before moving to a new section helps in retaining information.

Studying for tests should involve directed studying without notes.

Focusing on weak areas during test preparation is more efficient.

Starting test preparation early is crucial for success.

The importance of practicing test-taking skills by rehearsing with a study guide.

Transcripts

okay so this is the the first in a long

line of videos

that if you watch the the first video i

put up here just a little while ago um

you're you're gonna know that there's a

lot coming a lot coming down the pipe

but one of the big things that i want to

get across so this is going to be video

number one

the big things i want to get across is

how how to use these videos and more

importantly what i've

learned about teaching and learning over

the past more than a decade of doing

this in a classroom setting

is people really don't know how to study

they don't know how to learn math so

before we even get to the first example

before we even get to any math at all i

want to give you the courtesy of

explaining this because honestly i don't

think anybody actually explains to

people

what it takes to be successful in the

math class what it takes to to to learn

how to study for math math is different

than a lot of other topics it requires a

lot and if you're watching these videos

you probably know that

because sometimes teachers just they

just don't teach you how to learn um so

i'm going to try to do that at least

give you some pointers so if you're

watching the video you want to learn

math no one's going to go on youtube and

watch math videos for well i would i'd

probably watch it for fun but not a lot

of people just watch them for fun so if

that's you that's awesome if you're

trying to learn it if you're trying to

really get the grasp and understand

what's going on with this stuff

here's some ways to do that

if you are in a classroom and and your

your teachers giving you a lot a lot of

examples if you're watching these videos

and i'm going to give you some examples

take notes

write this stuff down goodness sakes

no one's expected to learn this the

first time through get in their head

memorize it perfectly almost nobody can

do that

so

take lots of notes

as you're taking the notes get this in

your head

you can do this this is not beyond you

all right if you have the prerequisites

if you've gone through uh some math

classes even if you haven't i'm starting

beginning algebra here i have

pre-algebra for that so if if you're not

up to par of that level you can go back

and learn it on these videos

if you're in a math class and you have

the prerequisites you can do it don't

let any teacher i don't know who your

teacher is but don't let any teacher

stand in front of you and make you

believe that you're not

able to do this um you're worth it to

put the time in you are worth the the

experience of learning you're worth the

the money that you're spending uh to do

this you're worth your time it's it is

worth it and you are worth it so you can

do it don't let anybody tell you that

you can't learn this stuff it's possible

you certainly can okay so get a little

bit of confidence in that it's possible

to do this um some teachers i don't know

why it is but

uh we act like we're up here and you're

down here and we're just gonna

condescend to you intelligence it's not

gonna happen okay um if you have a

teacher that's like that i know they're

out there i'm gonna apologize for that

for that i've done that from time to

time too i'm not i'm not above it but

there's no room for that so

don't be afraid to sit there and ask

questions so so number one thing

take some good notes

uh number two

you you can do it number three if you're

thinking that you're not doing it if

your teacher's not doing a great job ask

questions ask questions of the person

standing for you teaching this stuff

to you because that's their job their

job is to get from a textbook to your

mind if they're not doing that ask them

questions so those are three big ones

right there beyond the taking good notes

i want to give you some some study tools

okay so you've taken the notes uh you go

home you open up you go

i remember this stuff uh what the heck

do i do now well firstly you do have

some videos on this secondly if you've

taken good notes

and you can go back through those

examples and you've asked questions on

like how did you get the step where did

this come from the first thing you do

before you even start your homework

go through your notes the examples that

your teachers given you do those

examples again

do follow the notes if you have to do

step by step do it until you actually

get it okay do it until you can do it

once you've done that

try your homework go through your

homework do as much as you can the stuff

that you can't don't worry about it yet

all right don't beat yourself up if

you're spending time on a problem and

you don't get it yet okay you're

learning you're not expected to get it

right away it does take frustration to

get it frustration is your mind's first

attempt to cope with new information so

yeah it's going to be frustrating that's

to be expected anger no no don't get

angry with it that puts up a filter like

an effective filter you literally can't

learn it's like when you're in a

conversation with somebody and you have

a discussion and then you start yelling

and they start yelling no one's actually

listening anymore kind of the same thing

in your mind when you get angry in a

math problem you're you're literally

defeating the purpose you're not gonna

learn that stuff so take a break calm

down come back start your homework again

go back to it if you need your notes

pull your notes out use your notes now

here's the important part

so once you've taken good notes you've

understood that you can do this you ask

some good questions to clarify the notes

that's a big deal folks you've got to

get that

you've gone home you started your

homework

you're through all the stuff that you

can do you've used your notes if you had

to go through that here's the big one

put your notes away

and see if you can still do it if you

can if you can do those problems without

your notes right next to you you've

learned something if it's the point

where like ah what's step one step one

okay that one what's step two

and you go all the way through the list

like that not all the way through the

steps so you use your notes every time

that's a crutch and what happens to a

lot of people in my experience is that

they get to a test and they go i knew it

but my mind went blank if that's you

what's happening is you're not

internalizing this information

you've seen it you can perform it by

following the recipe okay but you're not

able to create it and that's what we

want to get to is that synthesis and

evaluation synthesis and evaluation

level of understanding where you can

actually do this stuff not just

regurgitation but actually understanding

what that what it takes to get there is

going through your your homework this

practice and actually putting in the

work

um

but not only just following someone

else's work you can't just expect your

teacher to to do it and you get it once

you get it they know what they're doing

most of them um

and and be able to get that in your head

right away you've got to practice this

stuff

practice though

well there's a way to practice the ways

not practice

don't practice all the time by following

someone else's work that's a poor way of

learning it's possible but it's not the

best um if you want to think about it

this way if you don't play music with

instrument i play guitar and i sing

if i ever want to memorize a song i

never do it by actually just reading the

music over and over again because when

when i'm reading it i'm not memorizing

i'm not i'm not internalizing it uh to

get it i actually have to practice

without looking at the music to really

get it down

that's kind of the same thing with math

you need to be practicing without your

notes all the time

so we've taken good notes we know that

we can do it we ask some good questions

we practice our homework

if we need our notes great but we've put

our notes away and we've done it on our

own that i cannot stress you how big

that is so you've done that now you get

to the next section

and you go okay all right i'm going to

start my my new section well keep this

in mind when you're in a classroom

setting like a math class setting um

what's what's happening there is is that

you're moving on right math is kind of

like legos you get the foundation you do

the next level so on and so forth you

get to the top

but

we tend to forget about the first step

so if you're in a math class and you've

spent four weeks between tests usually

it's like four to six weeks between a

test

if you don't go back and refresh your

memory on that first step that you've

learned

four weeks later do you really think

that you're gonna get it i mean it's

that's not even reasonable you can't be

taught something one time practice at

one time wait for six weeks and have

perfect recollection that's not gonna

happen it's not peaceful so

when you're going on to your next

section the one after that

create something like a spiral so what i

mean by that is if you're going to be on

let's say section 5.5 or chapter 5 or

whatever you're going to be on section

5.5

go back spend 15 minutes just look at

5.1 just read through it and read

through your notes read through some

examples you don't even have to do

anything with it just read it keep it

fresh in your mind

spent before you start any new section

spend 15 minutes looking at old stuff

i promise you it will help you just

getting that recollection back in your

head that repetition that i'm not

talking about rote memorization here

please don't confuse that what i'm

talking about is getting yourself

exposed to material one more time

thinking through it one more time oh

yeah i remember how to do that oh

factoring right that's what we do there

because when we do that we're hitting

our hitting that in our head one more

time we're internalizing that that

information that's a big point so don't

forget to do that

so

you you've gone ahead you've taken good

notes you've asked questions you you

tried your homework you've done it on

your own your spiraling information and

then you get to your test here's how to

study for your test

what you don't do

you don't just arbitrarily go back

through your homework and do it all

that's ridiculous

if your teacher is a really nice guy or

girl and giving you a study guide

they're they're they're helping you okay

they want you to be successful if they

give me a study guide here's how to use

it put away everything that you have

and try to do the questions on the study

guide blank with no notes in front of

you if your teacher allows you like a

little note card use your note card

that's fine okay that's okay but try it

without your notes and examples see if

you can do it this is called directed

studying so if you can make it all the

way through that study guide and you

haven't looked at your notes man that

what a confidence builder is that that's

awesome okay great job if not

well now you have some specific areas

that you need to study that's a time

saver so let's say you know how to do

problems one three four and seven we'll

focus on two focus on five and six focus

on those concepts yes of course look

through one two five and seven or

whatever i just said uh look through

that too but spend the majority of the

time on the stuff you're missing not the

stuff you have so we're not spending

equal time

on these concepts that we know already

that's crazy okay focus on the stuff

that you're weak on um so that those are

some some really good ways that you can

study the the biggest takeaways from

this are take good notes

start those examples from your notes

before your homework you're going to do

better at your homework

do your homework without your notes next

to you if you can that's a big deal try

that see if you can do that

if you can awesome if you can't

practice that concept more some concepts

are harder than others

after that as we're practicing our

homework you're spiraling so you're

looking back at your first sections

you're getting that always always

repeating that always getting that back

in your head just 15 minutes before you

start 15 minutes a day i know that's a

lot but just try that it will you man

you'll succeed at it for real when you

get to the test

you go and you do your study guide or

you do whatever

hopefully your teachers give you study

guide if not well

then you're gonna go back through your

notes your homework like you you're

gonna have to

but if you have yourself a study guide a

lot of teachers are doing that go

through it without any notes next to you

if you can do it awesome if not direct

to study go back to your read points and

keep doing that until you can actually

go through the whole thing no notes it's

going to take some time but then again

man you shouldn't be doing a study guide

the day before your test

come on um start about a week ahead so

if you have a study guide that's given

to you start as soon as it is given to

you okay as soon as you got that get on

it because that will give you time to

kind of rehearse taking a test to

practice taking a test those are test

taking skills right there

that's the best i got okay that that's

that's how i was able to to make it

through like my master's level math

classes was with those techniques kept

it fresh i did pretty well at it and i'm

trying to pass it on to you because what

i found is that no one's giving you this

stuff people are telling you that it's

really hard and just study but no one

knows how to study that right there is

how you study

that's it so

keep that in mind as we're going through

so the the

the test that you're about to take in in

my class or whatever class you're in

they're not impossible you can totally

do it but you're just gonna have to put

in the time and now you know where to

place that time not just randomly in

notes not just in a textbook flying

through it

try try what i've given you if you've

taken good notes

and and you've practiced the homework

without those notes and you've done your

study guide

and you you've worked on your weak parts

i'm not saying you're going to get 100

every test i don't know hopefully you

will but

they will seem a little bit more

manageable for you i hope that's helped

if you have any questions or anything

i'm going to watch the comments on this

video pretty religiously so

let me know and i'll try to respond on

that so hope you guys are having a great

day and i will see you for the start of

our real math lessons in just a little

bit