Math Test

When i am sitting in class trying to pay attention, i get very confused with all the concepts we learn for one problem. I try to focus on one concept and learn how to do that well, so i can perform a problem on the test. In class i get very confused, almost like everything is thrown at me all at once. We move very fast, and I'm trying to absorb everything all at once. For some reason whenever i walk out of the class room i tend to forget everything we just learned.  For some reason i feel like everything we do on the board or whats in the extra credit homework is either easier or harder on the test. On the quizzes in class i can maintain 70's but for some reason i keep failing the test. I have to say the hardest concept for me this semester to learn was base 10. i understood it both ways and for some reason when i get a problem on the test i know how to set the problem up, but i cant get the right answer. Some of the take homes i find comfortable to work with and some of the take homes i get confused just reading the problem. Most of the time i need help from someone else to break it down for me first. What gets me confused on word problems is taking out the numbers that are necessary and setting up in the correction form in order to get the answer. The take homes we get are much more advanced then elementary school level. On the take homes i usually get 70's and that bothers me because i spend a lot of time on them and i get all the answers right, but i guess its the way i explain my problems is what gets me no higher than 70's. i would like to know what everyone else does to get a very high grade on the take homes ?I like  when we go over a topic that i actually remember but then the way our teacher explains it seems so different then the way i remember learning. Through out all my semesters at Dutchess this is the hardest class i have ever taken.