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advice from calculus students past 
At the end of last year, I had students write a letter to themselves, describing what they wish theyhad known before they started the year. Here are some excerpts from their responses. Differentstudents learn differently, and it was clear from reading these that each student had a differentexperience in the same class, so see if there’s any advice that might work for you.
First off, make sure to always do you[r] homework... It will also help you when it comes time to study for an “assessment” because you will have something to go back and review. Now sometimes thehomework is extremely difficult and is about something that we haven’t learned yet... but do itanyway! Mr. Shah is more than understanding but only if he sees that you have given the work someeffort (which means more than just writing the problem down). [...]I would also advise you to realize early on that you and Mr. Shah might have a different definition of partial credit... but at the end of the day, his definition is right. The biggest thing that I would like totell you... is not to stress out about Calculus. It seems like a very abstract math form with complicatedequations and crazy symbols, and while it may seem that way at the end of the class, nothing isimpossible to understand. There is always a simpler way to look at things and as long as you comeinto class with an open mind, you will have no problems. Ok, just two more things that I would feelguilty if I didn’t tell you: one of which is to meet with Mr. Shah whenever something isn’t clicking. Heis great with breaking things down for you and the earlier you meet with him the better. My last pieceof advice: DON’T BE LATE TO CLAS!!!! As usual, I started out strong and with motivation, but as the year when on, I lost this drive to do well. When I start off every year, with only the memories of summer vacation behind me, the possibilitiesare endless. But time goes on and school gets to me, going to bed at 1 and waking up at 6:30 for a whole year... So, the only advice I can give you... is to have worked as hard as you possible could have without sacrificing your life, to plan well and time manage and somehow find the right motivation.Mr. Shah was one of the best math teachers you’ve ever had, he made class fun and interesting and would have done everything in his power to have helped you do well. Maybe you should have usedhim more. But you did learn more this year about math than you ever have, more about using math inthe real world, and that was incredibly interesting. Maybe Mr. Shah was a little bit of a difficultteacher, but he taught you well.For one, homework is key! If you fall behind with homework, not only will it affect your grade but you will be ridiculously lost in class. Also, make sure not to cram for your tests. Calculus can be tricky, andMr. Shah’s tests aren’t something you can be fully prepared for with just one night of studying. Try  your best to stay focused in class; I know you are a doodler but this will not to help you one bit... All inall you should be fine for the class, the topics aren’t extremely difficult and you can catch on quickly, but make sure to remember your unit circle and the rules for Sine, Cosine, and Tangent, they willdefinitely come in handy.
 
It was definitely a blast. The class is lively and interesting, and it’s really hard to lose focus. If you did,it was probably because of Block Dude on your calculator (if it wasn’t dead. Hah.)I know that it was somewhat hard to learn and appreciate the Shah method of learning the hard andlong way to do things before learning the shortcut. Still, hasn’t it helped in the long-run? Now youknow WHY things happen the way they do, not just how to blindly fill in equations. That would belame. Shah students, however, are not lame. We are all-knowing. Always, always, always have graph paper! You are going to need it for your notes and mostimportantly for your homework.... Also, regarding homework, always have a pencil. Do not do yourhomework in pen.... Another very important bit of information is to always have your calculator inRADIAN mode. This is EXTREMELY important!... Can you imagine taking a quiz and not having yourcalculator in radian mode? Every single answer you [write] could turn out to be wrong... Oh, andplease always pay attention in class. The smart board presentations will always help you figure out what is going on. If you do not pay attention in class you are going to be lost for the rest of the unit. Who wants to be completely lost during calculus? I am certain it is not you... Do not stress yourself out, you will do just fine.In retrospect, calculus makes perfect sense. Looking at everything I have learned this yearcumulatively, I can use all of it in one problem, and take makes it seem not so bad... I feel like Iactually remember everything I learned this year, and for the first time I feel like I could confidently take a final exam. I really enjoyed this class and I am glad that I transferred to it. I don’t generally have any confidence at all with my math knowledge but I feel like I actually completely grasp thematerial.Here is all my advice that I have for you on making through a year is Mr. Shah’s class:#1 – Always talk while Mr. Shah is talking. He will immediately turn over power to you and respect you for taking control of his class.#2 – Paper airplanes are a great tool in the beginning, middle, or end of the period. Mr. Shah will seethem, laugh and always take you seriously.#3 – If you want to doodle during class, make sure Mr. Shah can see you doing it because he will seethat you are brilliant artist and that will make up for the fact that you are not paying attention.#4 – Take your shoes of. Mr. Shah will see and smell your feet and immediately love and respect youfor your commendable charisma.So you might be wondering what 12
th
grade calculus is like. Well that is a difficult quandary to address because calculus with Mr. Shah can be so many things. On the one hand, it is terribly frustratingknowing that even though one knows the formulas and mechanism to finish the problem correctly, somany small mistakes can be made over the course of the problem that can offset your answer. On theother hand, when one does get a question correct, there is a feeling of accomplishment and pride thatcomes with that answer. I’d have to say that the first hand happens a lot more often than the latter.
 
I should warn you about this coming year in Calculus.The first warning is that you must always laugh at Mr. Shah’s jokes, no matter how ridiculous they may be, because if you do not, he will fail you on every single test and make you find the areas of  weird shapes for the rest of your life.The second is that homework is essential to survival in the classroom. Sometimes the other students will go berserk and proceed to flip over their chairs and attack one another due to bad grades. With aquick smack to the face, a well completed stack of homework can easily knock out these enragedstudents and restore order to the classroom. An extra bag of clothing of both summer and winter attire is a must for this math class. You will neverknow the temperature of the room before entering and thus must be prepared to equip yourself readily if there is a sudden drop in temperature...The fourth warning is that your calculator is your best friend. Not only is it useful to cover your ears to block out the barrage of insults from Mr. Shah when you answer a question for someone else, but it will also help you visualize the images that are crudely drawn by Mr. Shah. It is also a nice way tocommunicate to your fellow classmates since talking will get dried out markers thrown at youproceeded by intense stare down’s from Mr. Shah. When the class begins, the door is shut closed and locked. You better be prepared to stay in there forthe full class because every time you leave to go to the bathroom, Mr. Shah takes off ten points from your test grade. Don’t even think about arriving to class late because if you do, Mr. Shah will draw “Late!” all over your face with a red marker and everyone will laugh at you.Calculus with Mr. Shah has had its ups and downs, but just remember that in the end you willunderstand all the units, because Mr. Shah
wants
you to understand all the units. Always remember that Mr. Shah’s rules are very important to him. When he says he doesn’t want youto eat in class, he’s serious, and when he tells you to email him about meeting with him, you need tomake sure you send that email, don’t ask in person. Speaking of meeting with Mr. Shah—
do that 
.Meeting with him one-on-one is one of the most helpful things I’ve done all year... a meeting with just you and him will be really beneficial to your understanding of the material. Even if it’s just to clear upone thing, Mr. Shah will make sure you know it 100%.Be sure to not leave your studying until the last minute, because you will find that there may beparticular types of problems that you don’t understand, and you might want to bring that up in class. Always be prepared—for class and for assessments. Make sure you’ve done your homework, or Mr.Shah will be able to tell that you haven’t done it. Doing homework really helped your grade over the year.Know that, in the end, Mr. Shah wants you to get the material.
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