Essential back-to-school supplies you might miss
While it’s becoming my favourite time of year, with Pumpkin Spice Lattes coming back soon and sunny fall days just around the corner, it can cause tremendous anxiety for students. Right now, most students don’t even know what day of the week it is; they’re enamored by the freedom of summer vacation, going to bed at 5:00 AM and waking up at 2:00 PM. It’s a brilliant and unique time.
As we go back to our regular routines, it’s normal to feel anxious about the upcoming school year. I’ve written some tips that helped me reduce back-to-school anxiety and ensure you’re ready for Math, Calculus, and all your subjects. Read on as we prepare for what feels like a bad word, ‘September.’
A Calculator (The right kind!)
There are many types of calculators, from ones that can surf the internet and play games, to ones that barely do addition. Each teacher will have different rules for their class. Some teachers don’t allow calculators at all, some allow simple ones, and some require highly powered ones for certain topics. Double check your course syllabus to make sure you have the right kind of calculator.
2. graph paper
Graphing is HUGE part of math that most people forget. You might not need graph paper for every chapter, but I would recommend having some if you are in grade 9 or up. Whether you’re plotting points or graphing quadratic equations in Math 11 Pre-Calculus, you’ll be thankful for the graph paper.
3. Friction Pens / Erasable Pens
This is a well kept secret! Now you won’t be allowed to use these on tests, but when we’re learning, we often put many different functions on the same graph. It can be confusing to tell them apart, but we also want to be able to erase mistakes. Friction Pens (or any erasable pen) can be fantastic for this. I love using multiple colours in my notes, and math should be no exception.
4. An inexpensive spiral notebook
So many students are digging around trying to find their notes, to have misplaced it in their binder somewhere. I used to always get the $1 Hilroy notebooks, 1 per course, and put all my notes in that book. I’d have extra paper to hand things in, but this way I always knew where all my notes were. I did this all through university and still swear by it. Definitely give this a try!
If you’re wanting to start the school year off right, we’ve written great blog posts on math study tips (part 1 and part 2), university applications, what topics to review before taking calculus, and much more, so be sure to check them out. Whether you’re a student studying math, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, english or french, we have great tutors for you! If you have any questions on our services, check out our web pages for in-person tutoring, online tutoring, or all our services. If you have any thoughts on this blog, I’d love to hear! You can reach me at info@largetutoring.com or at our contact page. Don’t forget to check out our list of tutors too!
Have fun this September!
