Summer, when the brain takes a vacation

It is the first day back to school, you are back in the classroom after a whole summer of fun. The teacher jumps right into teaching, like you never even had a summer vacation. Your eyes widen as the teacher says, "This topic is not too difficult, as long as you remember what you learned in your class last year." She then goes onto explaining, all you keep thinking is, "please, please do not call on me to answer a question," so you keep your head low and start to slowly slump in your chair. As you are zoned out, imagining how horribly wrong this could go, you hear the dreaded sound of your name being called. "no.....NO...anything but this," you say, in your head of course. To your dismay, it is the teacher calling on you to answer the question, "What method should be used to factor this polynomial?" You stare at her blankly, " You should know this, you learned this last year! Didn't you practice over the summer?? Didn't you take notes??" she snaps losing her patience. Sounds like a nightmare, doesn't it? Yet, this exact situation happens in classrooms all around the world after summer break. So, the question is how can we prevent this from happening to YOU? Here is my advice, be prepared! Once that bell rings and you are out for summer break do not throw away what you have learned. Throughout the school year be sure to be taking organized notes, that way you can review them over the summer. Trust me your future self will thank you, note taking is a lifelong skill that will benefit you. It is especially important for math classes because of math's cumulative nature; everything build onto itself. Choose a notebook that you really like and use that same notebook for the entire math course you are taking. A notebook keeps things organized, rather than writing down notes on random pieces of paper. I did this for all my college math classes and it helped tremendously. Once you have your notebook, review it over the summer, even if it is just 15 mins a day, that is better than nothing. Practice a few problems a day to keep your skills sharp, also start looking into what class you will be taking when you return from summer break. Your success in math will skyrocket by being proactive, never stop learning! If you ever need help reviewing or previewing your next class, remember I am always here to help! You got this!

Love,

Naomee