Secrets of a successful maths student – part 1
Dr Ben Carson was born in Detroit and brought up by his single mother. When he was young, he was in the bottom of the class. and he struggled in primary school (Grade 1-6), but started to excel in middle school and throughout high school. He graduated with honors from his high school and eventually qualified as a pediatric neurosurgeon (a specialist doctor who operates on the brains of young children). How did this remarkable change happen? It was really the result of many factors and you should read his book, called Gifted Hands! I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone, but especially if you are not doing very well at school. You can’t blame your parents, your circumstances, or your own brain. Dr Carson had a mother who pushed him a lot to study (he had to read two books a week and write a summary of them for his mum) and he was only allowed to watch a couple of TV programs a week. But what fascinated me is that Ben realised that to do well in Mathematics he needed to take an active interest in numbers (which are, after all, the basis of things mathematical). Therefore, he forced himselfto learn his multiplication tables up to 12 and get more interested in doing his homework, paying attention in class, etc. Click on Dr Carson above to see his brief youtube video.
The reason this was of real interest to me is that one year I taught two Year 8 classes – in one class all the students knew their times tables and in the other about half knew their tables. Guess what? The class who knew their tables got much better grades! Simple? Yes, I think this is a big part of being a successful mathematics student – LEARN YOUR TABLES!!! I will give you step two shortly, so keep checking this blog for some real insights.