<p>Conceptualise!</p>
<p>Think about the definition of a derivative.</p>
<p>Though you will loathe it at first, prove those identities over and over again, using the first equation you were given: lim as h-> 0: [f(a+h)-f(a)]/h.</p>
<p>But I assume you are on the AB syllabus – it seems that last year there were only a couple MCQ questions that required you to know beyond the general 6 derivative trig functions.</p>
<p>Again, if you have to memorise formulas, it means that you aren’t sufficiently grounded in the concept. Note cards are nice, but PROVE them! Over and over again, until you remember.</p>
<p>This is not productive if you have other topics to focus on, but if your only weak spot so far are the formulas, then this isn’t too much of a waste of a time as working the whole thing out can be messy but if you step back and think for a minute at what you are doing, eventually it will be automatic.</p>
<p>Especially useful since the AP exam will cover the definition of a derivative.</p>