Many people find it helpful to get graph paper with heavier lines on every fifth line to make counting easier. Just check to make sure it has graph paper in it. You will use this throughout the course to build yourself a reference book. More on this later. Plusses and minuses will be assigned where appropriate.
Attendance is essential to the learning process.
Also, the best way to insure having a successful experience in any course is to come to every class meeting and keep up with the assignments. Your work will be graded on correctness, completeness, and presentation. You must show your work for full credit and your work must be neat and legible. There will be many assignments other than problems from the book. Some will be problems on handouts, some will be writing assignments, and some will be group projects.