Pearlie

Although it is indeed difficult to overcome a math problem, there are many remedies that can be used to help students succeed. Before getting to any specific math instruction, however, you should work at overcoming any math anxiety the student may have. This is a real problem. The students who are poor at math have a real fear of it. Reading can cause anxiety in children, but math anxiety seems to take over their entire world, and when doing math, fear is their major emotion. It is first important to work on this fear by taking the pressure away. So what if you fail a test? The world wont end. Look, youre doing great on multiplication, etc. Praise, praise, praise when the student does something right. Patience is important as well. After working on the anxiety aspect, move on to specific skills that help the student succeed.

First, find out the students ability level, regardless of grade level. Start instruction and practice at that level. Even if the student is in the 6th grade and is performing math at a 2nd grade level, it is vitally important to start at the 2nd grade level. Math is sequential, and one building block must be in place before the next one is put down. Next, work on visual processing skills and eye/hand coordination. This helps the student place and align problems on the paper properly so that the correct answer can be attained. One of the biggest problems found in students is the inability to line up math problems. It is as though the red margin line on the left doesnt even exist to them! Keeping columns lined up neatly for proper computation is another problem, and both can be remedied easily enough. Spatial and perceptual skills training helps in this area.

You should start a math tutoring session with activity using brain integration activities with numbers. If the student is weak in visual memory (and usually these kids are), spend time on visual memory and recall activities. These activities help the brain cross over to the left hemisphere, since math is a left hemisphere activity.

Finally, when doing actual math instruction, it is recommended that you do the following activities to ensure for math success:

1. Use blank paper with no lines this eliminates distractions on the students part. Lines and other markings on paper will take the students eyes to places other than math, and this is not good.

2. Model the process step by step very slowly in color on the blank paper. Show the student what to do using a different color for every step of the process. When you change steps, you change color. This helps the student switch gears while doing the multi-step processes.

3. After showing the student what to do, have the student practice the math problem. Once again, the student will be using color to do the steps, using a different color for each step.

4. Have the student practice several times in color on the blank paper. If the student makes a mistake, simply redirect him and have him keep practicing. Praise any correct steps. You may need to show the student the correct step several times. Be sure you have the student practice immediately after the steps are modeled.

5. Have the student verbalize the steps as he writes them. Telling you the process will help him remember it.

6. Give the student immediate feedback. Dont wait for the next day to tell him what he did wrong or right.

7. Only work on one small skill at a time. You dont want to show the student how to do all fractions in one day. Start with adding and subtracting fractions with a like denominator.

Other tools to help students succeed in math are:

1. The card game Blink or the card game Speed. Both help the student process more than one thing at a time.

2. Writing and practicing math facts in some kind of a gooey substance or a substance with texture, such as sand.

3. Visual memory games. The student is shown a series of shapes, numbers, or figures for a few seconds. They are then taken away and the student copies them on paper from memory.

Math is difficult for a student who is right brain dominant. You can help these students access the left hemisphere of the brain so that math success can be met.

About the author: Lisa Harp, a teacher and educational therapist, offers a line of learning products designed to help the struggling learner in a quick, effective, affordable setting. http://www.learning-aids.com

The chronic condition associated with the way the body metabolizes glucose (sugar) is called diabetes. When the disease surfaces in adults or involves non-insulin dependency, this form of the condition is known as type 2 diabetes. Although type 2 diabetes is often preventable, an increasing amount of people is developing diabetes symptom and signs, as a result of a growing obesity problem throughout the United States.

Type 2 diabetes is resistant to the effects of insulin, which plays an important role in the regulation of sugar absorption within the body. Others produce some insulin, but not enough to sustain a desirable glucose level. When left untreated, the outcome of type 2 diabetes can threaten your life. That is why it is vital to know what a diabetes symptom is and how to effectively manage or prevent the condition. While some people are able to control their type 2 diabetes with a balanced diet and routine exercise, others require medication or insulin therapy to reach acceptable levels of blood sugar.

When Left Untreated

With type 2 diabetes, there are both short-term and long-term complications that influence the overall health of a diabetic. Some people will ignore an early diabetes symptom, especially when they feel fine for most of the time. Silently, the condition attacks major organs, such as the heart, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. Short-term complications associated with type 2 diabetes include hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), increased ketones in urine, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and dizziness. When ignored, a patient may suffer seizures or lose consciousness and enter into a coma.

Long-term type 2 diabetes complications sometimes causes disability and in the worst cases death. A few common examples include heart and blood vessel disease, neuropathy (nerve damage), nephropathy (kidney damage), eye damage (blindness), foot damage, poor blood flow, skin and mouth concerns (bacterial infections), osteoporosis (low bone density), and Alzheimer's disease.

What is a Common Diabetes Symptom?

While the first sign of a type 2 diabetes symptom seems undisruptive at first, these signs may plague your health and body for many years without the clear indication that you are suffering a serious medical condition. Some of the common type 2 diabetes symptoms include:

• Increase in Thirst: As excessive amounts of sugar accumulate in the bloodstream, fluid is pulled from the tissues, often leaving a patient thirsty.

• Frequent Urination: As a type 2 diabetic becomes increasingly thirsty, they may drink more than usual, which causes them to urinate more frequently.

• Increased Appetite: When type 2 diabetes causes a deficit in insulin (which is responsible for moving sugar into the cell), the organs and muscles in the body lose energy. This process causes an intense hunger to surface, which may continue even after a meal is eaten.

• Weight Loss: Type 2 diabetics are known to lose weight, even if they have increased the amount of food they eat on a regular basis. This diabetes symptom is caused when energy sugar supplies are so low that muscle tissues and fat storage shrinks.

• Fatigue: When the cells lack a reasonable amount of sugar, an individual may become tired and cranky.

• Vision Problems: Type 2 diabetes may cause a blurring of the vision when blood sugar levels are too high and the fluid pulled from tissues affects the lenses of the eyes. Some victims are also unable to effectively focus as a result.

• Infections and Slow-Healing Wounds: The ability to heal and combat infections is affected with type 2 diabetes. In women, they may suffer an increase in the number of bladder and vaginal infections.

Keep in mind that just because you may exhibit one or more of these diabetes symptoms does not automatically mean you have diabetes. But if the symptoms persist, it may be worth the effort to check with your doctor.

For more insights and additional information about Diabetes Symptoms please visit our web site at http://www.diabetes-data.com

I would guess you are familiar with the video recorder and I am sure youve had to enlist the help of a small child to help you program it so you can record your favorite soap opera. Do you remember all the numbers and dates you had to enter in order to make the program work?

The computer you are reading this on has a program behind it this webpage has code behind it that tells the computer how to display the words in a meaningful format.

Do you know, that just as you can program a VCR or a webpage, so you can program yourself?

Did you know that you are doing this all the time every single day and you are probably not aware of it!

And did you know that probably 80-90% of this programming is negative?

When you talk to yourself you are programming your sub-conscious mind. So if you look in the mirror and say, Wow I look fat your sub-conscious mind says, Im fat must make sure it happens. Your sub-conscious mind is incredibly powerful yet so few people ever really bother to access its abilities. In fact most people are happy to let it run riot and cause chaos!

Heres another of my favorites for you. You will, I bet, frequently say to people Im trying to lose weight but do you actually know what it means?

Lets start by looking at the word try as in trying in the above sentence. You know the dictionary definition of try, but what does it really mean?

Try means that you will give it a go, put a bit of effort in to it, but you wont give it your all because you dont really want to achieve it. And the nice thing for you is that you can tell everyone you tried afterwards and enjoy their sympathy when it didnt work.

Try basically means you are HAPPY TO FAIL!

Now lets look at the last two words in that sentence lose weight.

What would you do if you lost your car keys? Think about it what would you do?

You would find them again, wouldnt you?

Whenever you say lose, it is implicit in the word that you are going to find it again. So when you say lose weight you are telling your sub-conscious I want to shed a bit of weight and then find it again sometime in the future please. And guess what? Your sub-conscious obliges!

So how do we improve that sentence?

If you had an old sofa you no longer wanted, you wouldnt try to lose it would you?

What would you do?

You would GET RID OF it, wouldnt you? You dont want to find your old sofa turning back up on your doorstep in six months time and asking if you missed it? Or worse still, turning up with a matching chair and pouf too?

So now lets rephrase our original sentence (I am trying to lose weight) into something that will program your sub-conscious for success.

I am getting rid of weight

Say it to yourself now how does it feel?

This simple change in language may sound childish and ridiculous, but do it and notice the difference just this tiny change can make a massive difference in your weight loss program.

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