Qualities for Math

1) They know when they are wrong. Strong math students can look over their work and identify mistakes and fix them before they show me their work. This is the most important characteristic to have. If you don’t know you are making a mistake, you will keep doing it even on tests and not have desirable grades. As a simple example, if you are diving 8 by 2 and you say you get 5, you need to be able to multiply 2 and 5 to get 10 and realize 5 is not the right number.

2) They think before they write. This is very important. Math cannot be done in autopilot mode. You must think before you write a solution. The writing comes after careful thinking. In fact, this is one easy way I can identify the strengths and weaknesses in math. If a student starts writing immediately, chances are they are not thinking to the level required for that question.

3) They can discipline themselves to study when needed. When it comes to studying they don’t procrastinate. Movies, social media, and other distractions don’t affect them when it’s study time.

4) They write neatly. Strong math students can show logical sequential steps that can be followed by a marker. So when writing solutions, just imagine someone else reading over your work. Would they understand what you are trying to say? Remember the work has to be read by someone else who will mark it and it needs to make sense to them and not just you.