E33: Teacher Certification Podcast | FTCE | General Knowledge | Mathematics | Study Hack for Math Anxiety

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Welcome to episode 33 of FTCE seminar, a teacher certification podcast. I'm your host Mercedes Musto. In today's episode, I'll be talking about the FTCE general knowledge mathematics subtest. But really, we're going to focus on two study hacks for math anxiety. Study hacks for math anxiety?

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Is there such a thing? There is now. So let's get started. Math study hack number one, fractions or decimals. An old article in Education Week said that the root of math anxiety can be traced back to an early fear of fractions. Ooh, fractions. I used to hesitate, break out in a cold sweat and freeze up when I ran into one or more fractions on a test. Hey, raise your hand if you have fraction phobia, right? Well, fear no more. When dealing with fractions,

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many students prefer to convert fractions into decimals. Well, how do they do that? Remember, fractions have a numerator on top and a denominator on the bottom, all separated by that little line. To turn a fraction into a decimal, you will use division and divide the numerator by the denominator, like in this example.

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Take the fraction 5, 6. The 5 is the numerator and the 6 is the denominator. Enter the 5 into your calculator, press the division symbol, enter the number 6 and press Enter. Did you get the decimal 0.833? Yes. Awesome. You're correct. Now, there's a bit more to it when it comes to

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mixed numbers and converting decimals back to fractions or even percentages. But hey, just for today, I conquered my fraction phobia. And you can, too, one day at a time. Math study hack number two, categorize and convert. Math word problems are another cause of intermittent math anxiety. It's like when I see words and numbers and numbers and words, I just kind of shut down. But then I learned math study hack number two,

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and that's to categorize. See, first we have to translate the word problem by evaluating what am I solving for? What is this problem asking me to do? Let's take this example from the FTCE main website, math practice test. The question states, how many square yards of carpet

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are needed to completely cover a rectangular floor that measures 15 feet by nine feet? First, I ask myself, what am I solving for? What is the problem asking me to do? Hmm, let's hear it again. How many square yards, key words, of carpet are needed to completely cover, not as important, a rectangular floor that measures 15 feet by 9 feet.

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Okay, yeah, that's important. The key words here are how many square yards in a rectangular that measures 15 by 9 feet. What category is this? That's right. This goes under geometry and measurement. And what is it asking us to do? It's asking us to find the area. Notice the question is asking me for the answer in yards and then notice how it gave me a rectangle in feet. Okay, now your brain should be

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prompting you to that next question. How many feet are in a yard? That's right, approximately three feet and one yard. So convert 15 feet by nine feet to five yards by three yards, then proceed to apply the formula area equals length times width. You got it. There's a theme throughout the math practice test.

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Notice what measurements you're working with and what measurements the answers come in. And then you need to convert and convert first. Math study hack number two is categorize your word problems and convert your measurements appropriately. Let's review. Math study hack number one is that you can convert fractions and decimals by simply dividing the numerator

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by the denominator. And math hack study hack number two is you can categorize your word problems and then convert your measurements appropriately. If you experience fraction phobia or word problem math anxiety, remember that you can apply these two math study hacks to help you stay level-headed and bring your A-gain. It's when we learn new tools that we can apply to our problems, then, then we can overcome that really uncomfortable feeling of math anxiety. For more practice with math, visit ftceseminar.com to study for the test.

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The important thing is to start studying and start studying today so you can pass the teacher certification exam. Well, what are you waiting for? Check us out on YouTube at ftceseminar and start studying today. This podcast was recorded at the Pickens Multimedia Studio at the University of West Florida. This podcast is listener supported. Contributions can be made via the listener support link on Spotify. This is your host Mercedes Musto. Join me again on FTCE seminar, a teacher certification podcast so you can pass the FTCE.

Transcribed with Cockatoo