Ugh....Geometry - 1512

Geometry is another area that has been daunting to me all of my life. I don't like angles, I don't like the Pythagorean Theorem, I don't like calculating area and all of that other stuff that goes along with geometry. Coming upon geometry in this class really bummed me out, although I knew it was going to come eventually. . Here are some tips and tricks I have come up with that have helped me through geometry (and really ALL math problems):

Slow down - if you try to rush through it just to get it out of the way, you'll end up stressing yourself out even more.

Read the problem and reread it again - sometimes I find that I don't know what the problem is asking me or what to do because I didn't read the problem correctly to begin with!

Consult a resource - this could be a friend, the Internet, a teacher or a spouse, anyone who may know more about the subject or topic at hand than you do.

Try, try again - don't give up if you can't come up with the right answer. Keep trying because eventually you will get it and when you do, it will make you confident for the next problems.

The Internet offers so much information and videos and tutorials for anything geometry related. One thing that really gets me sometimes is the Pythagorean Theorem. Here is a YouTube video that helped me "get" this concept a little bit better:

Expanded Notation - 1510

Expanded notation keeps bugging me! As many times as I've worked through doing this, I still struggle with it, especially if it comes up on a test. I can't keep it in my mind. I think that I get confused because the power of 10 doesn't correspond with the number of places there are in the number, and that's because the final power of 10 is ZERO, not one.

So, I think that it might help me (and you) to remember how to write a number in expanded notation if you start from the ones place and write it out backwards. For example, to write 358 in expanded notation, I would start with 8 and multiply by 10 to the 0 power, then move on to 5, then 3. The trick to this is to remember to write it out right to left, not left to right or you will have the wrong number!

This video also give a good explanation if my way is too confusing:

Even though this concept has given me trouble as of recently, I think these tips and tricks will help me remember how to do it when it comes to something like a test where I don't have a book or resources to reference and have to rely on my own mind!