Be Prepared for Class DiscussionsHave your homework completed on the day it is due. This is vital to being a successful math student. The teacher assumes that each student has completed the assignment before coming to class. When you've done the assignment, you are aware of what you know and even what you don't know. If you find your attention tends to wander even during one of my captivating lectures, then you might consider printing out notebook organizers for the sections. These notebook organizers are designed to help students organize their notes, and provide section-by-section summaries of key topics and other helpful study tools.
Know ThyselfThe purpose of assignments is to help students master the course objectives. Mastery of those objectives will be indicated by your performance on the quizzes and exams. Thus, the homework is meant to prepare you for those exams. That said, keep track of your challenges. If your answer didn't match the answer in the back of the book, if you asked a friend or the teacher for help, or if you use some of the resources below in order to understand a problem, After an hour has passed, go back to those troublesome problems and see if you really do remember how to answer the questions.
Check your answers as you goWhen you are working on your homework, keep a bookmark or your finger in the back of the text so that you can check if your answer is correct each time you answer an odd-numbered question. Some students are inclined to wait until after they have completed an entire section of homework before they check for correctness. The problem with this method is of course the lack of motivation you will have to go back and determine how you went wrong with perhaps a significant number of problems.
Some Worked-Out Solutions are OnlineThe publisher of your book has put together a web site that provides you with a glimpse of the worked-out solutions to the odd-numbered problems. Note the title of your book is Precalculus with Limits a Graphing Approach 5th Edition. Also, you will need Macromedia Shockwave installed in your browser. Click here to go to the online solution site. I think you will find this site quite helpful. The solutions are given without any annotation or explanation. I expect there will be times you will need help interpreting a work-out solution. What's a student to do? Read on...
Homework Help Sites on the InternetA web site is available such as www.mathonline.org. the purpose of MathOnline is to help students to understand their homework. The site has been in operation since 1997 and has an archive of responses to about 20,000 questions posed by secondary math students through the years. Sites like this differ from the aforementioned textbook site by providing annotated explanations often with images of the tougher steps. In the unlikely event that you cannot find a similar question in the archive, then post a question. You can post questions any time of the day or night but the teachers who write the responses to these questions only work Monday-Thursday night from 6-9pm Central. Best of all, it costs nothing to use the site.
There are other homework help sites that are available too. For example, www.calcchat.com offers an 18-month subscription service for $25. I cannot write a first-hand account of the site nor state my thoughts on the value of the subscription, I merely mention it as another option.
Make Certain You Know the MaterialTest your understanding by answering the questions at this site: Practice Multiple choice Questions.
Make an Appointment with your TeacherI'll stay after school until 4pm to help you to understand the stuff that is confusing you. Please let me know when you plan on staying after school for help.
Online Tutorials from Houghton MifflinClasszone.com
Online Videos from the University of IdahoTake your pick:
The Real Numbers Linear EquationsLinear Inequalities and Absolute Value Linear Equations and Inequalities in Two Variables; FunctionsSystems of Linear Equations Exponents, Polynomials, and Polynomial FunctionsFactoring Rational ExpressionsRoots and Radicals Quadratic Equations and InequalitiesEquations And Inequalities GraphsFunctions And Their Graphs Linear And Quadratic FunctionsPolynomial And Rational Functions Exponential And Logarithmic FunctionsAnalytic Geometry The Cartesian Coordinate SystemFunctions Translations of FunctionsAngles and Radian measure Special Right TrianglesThe Unit Circle The 6 Trigonometric ratiosApplications The graphs of 3 trigonometric functionsAmplitude of the sine and cosine functions PeriodVertical and Horizontal Translations of the Sine and Cosine functions Sketching variations of the sine and cosine functions using period, amplitude and horizontal and vertical translationsThe fundamental Identities Inverse Trigonometric functions
Linear Equations
Linear Equations and Inequalities in Two Variables; Functions
Exponents, Polynomials, and Polynomial Functions
Rational Expressions
Quadratic Equations and Inequalities
Graphs
Linear And Quadratic Functions
Exponential And Logarithmic Functions
The Cartesian Coordinate System
Translations of Functions
Special Right Triangles
The 6 Trigonometric ratios
The graphs of 3 trigonometric functions
Period
Sketching variations of the sine and cosine functions using period, amplitude and horizontal and vertical translations
Inverse Trigonometric functions