I'M CONSTANTLY MAKING CARELESS MISTAKES

[turtle turtle 18]

So every time I finish a maths test, I'm happy because I did all the questions easily, I knew how to do them all.

I get back the test and I only get 70%, yet I knew all the questions. I flip through my test. CARELESS MISTAKES EVERYWHERE

 

It could be calculation errors (e.g. 5+7 = 9)

or dropping an "x" in the equation

forgetting the negative sign

 

However much I study, i'll always make these mistakes. I feel like it's out of my control. I can do everything, know everything, but I'll make mistakes. HOW DO I CONTROL THIS AND STOP LOSING 30% ON JUST CARELESS MISTAKES???!!! Please help!! THanks everyone

[Magician 162]

I had the same problem and I'm sure everyone does. Just keep on practicing! Practice makes perfect and when you can write out answers naturally without much thinking, you will make far less careless mistakes. Don't give up!

[turtle turtle 18]

But the thing is, however much I practice it seems that I just make more and more mistakes. I know that i make more mistakes than anyone else. Literally every mark lost is a careless one and there are a lot of marks lost. I just feel like I can't control it!

[Emilia1320 139]

I miscalculated 3+1 in exam, careless thing (still got the best grade !). It happens, and how to counter this is to check everything youve done after you have done all questions.

Thou teachers can get creative with assessing... I'm still waiting for my Perfect Math Test, once I lost 1/2 mark for having title of an axis wrong side of it, and once when my q (it was clear q ! ) looked like an a according to teacher. So she took 1/2 mark away from my score :'(

[King112 357]

Look, I'm gonna be blunt, so I'm sorry if I seem rude.

Silly mistakes happen because of either:

a) Lack of practice

b) lack of focus.

The other option is that they are not silly mistakes, and genuine conceptual mistakes. I used to make a bunch of silly mistakes earlier, but I've reduced that substantially now. The best thing to do is PRACTICE! The more the better. You automatically start working better. 

 

However, if its the other scenario, in which you are not able to focus, I suggest trying this. When you enter an exam hall, take a minute and calm your mind. Close your eyes and breathe. Then start writing. Keep your mind on the problem your solving. Don't think about the next problem, the previous problem, the problem at the end. Just stick to the one your working on. If you catch yourself drifting, stop for a second, drink some water. It helps. Also, don't panic. Skip a question or two if you can't solve it. I always solve my papers in 2-3 runs. Solve as many as I can in the first run, without spending too much time on any one question. Next run, same process on the ones left. Keep repeating. This has a double benefit as you can check your work, and solve the paper. Helps me anyways.

 

Finally, are you sure you understand everything? Often, i think I understand, when I really haven't. Hence, I make mistakes. Maybe ask your friends or someone to quiz you to see if you've understood? That works as well. Also, you've just started IB. It might just be an acclimatisation issue. IB takes some getting used to, so it may just be that. Give yourself some leeway as well.

 

Hope this helps (and I don't come across as rude),

King112

[turtle turtle 18]

Yeah I think the problem with me is focus. I literally understand everything to the core, maybe focus + sleep haha

[Slovakov 151]

Well... I can say it's really hard to get rid of these mistakes even if you try. I've always had problems with these and even though I've done more maths than usual for the past few years, I still make those mistakes. I kinda got used to it. Although in my case I rarely make these mistakes during the tests/exams, but rather when doing some assignments or projects as I find it harder to focus when I'm not under pressure.

 

The way I cope in these situations is I make a break to forget what I'm doing and then get back after some time to double-check my calculations with a fresh view.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Slovakov

[IbTrojan 226]

Honey, I'm still in the same boat as you. If you look through some of my past posts, you'll see me talking about the same stupid mistakes in math. Honestly, I just practiced my butt off. Like CRAZY. just do a few practice questions EVERY DAY. Stay on top of it, if you really want to improve, then you will tell yourself that you HAVE to do it. 

 

It sucks when you see your test and you're like "oh, but I knew that, and that!" "Holy poo I just screwed myself over for no reason" I've been through that all year. And last year :$ But seriously, you just have to put it behind you, practice, make notes on your tests for what you need to work on. And just read over the question, highlight the key points and review your answer (very carefully, no skimming) before you move on to the next one. Key words: VERY CAREFULLY. I used to just skim my answers and I'd still mess up because I'd think "oh, you got this right so the rest of it should be right" WRONG, it doesn't work, I promise.

 

Oh and don't dwell on the mistakes! That's the worst, because then it creates fear that you'll make MORE mistakes and that's exactly what happens. It's not fun sweetie, don't do it.

 

So just take a deep breath or two, drink some water and write your tests/exam as if you were just practicing so you stay calm

You got this girl!

Edited May 6, 2015 by IbTrojan

[Thrashmaster 264]

The other answers here are good, but I think they're a little over-complicated. I don't actually feel that practice will change the silly mistakes, if they're genuinely silly. If you mess up basic arithmetic, then you messed it up not because you didn't understand how but because you weren't thinking about how to do that single piece of arithmetic. I don't think you need to practice your multiplication tables day in and day out in order to prevent yourself from accidentally saying 1*0=1. What you do need to do is look at that and see that it's wrong and think about how you should do it. Question everything you do when checking your work to make sure it wasn't a mistake.

 

When you made your 30% of mistakes, you were probably thinking about the bigger picture of each problem while also trying to do the simple math. I'd say just slow down and do each action with as much attention as you can give it.  

[turtle turtle 18]

Thanks everyone i'll do this for my text test. I got my test back today and the marks i lost were all to careless mistakes, apparently 2*12 = 12... but i'll try all these tips next time, thanks lots everyone