Student Skills: Test-Taking

[Note: The links in this post go to helpful pages on each topic. Follow them!]

Before the Test
It almost goes without saying, but the first key to test-preparation is GENERAL ORGANIZATION. Time management -- and the development of your REVIEW TOOLS -- over the days and weeks ahead of a test is probably the most effective boost to both your grade and your test-taking confidence. Once you've gotten into a groove with your classes and have a feel for the teacher, you can even begin to ANTICIPATE TEST CONTENT.

Testing Well
When you sit down to a test, you want to be in an optimal state to retrieve information that's been stored away in your head for the past couple weeks. Studying helps, but on test day, it's all about your brain. This means getting your body and mind into a balanced state.

It starts with studying enough to be confident in the material (none of that TESTING ANXIETY) and even arriving early to the test but also doing things to keep your body on an even level: exercising in the days before the test, eating breakfast the day of, deep breathing/relaxing if you even start to feel overwhelmed by the test. If you can do these, then strategic TEST TAKING will be like second nature for you (especially on MATH TESTS).

Having a LUCKY MASCOT when you study and take the test doesn't hurt either.

Cramming
Cramming for a test is pretty much incompatible with a healthy state of mind for test-taking, however it is almost certain that you will have to do it at some point. (That's why I figure it's better to mention it than to pretend that it will never happen.)

If you do hit a time crunch there are a few thing that you can do as EMERGENCY TEST PREP: You have to start by trusting what you already know of the material and identify 3-5 main concepts that have come up in your class. Write them, along with a brief description of each -- then compare that description with your notes and textbook. This will help you to figure which concepts you have a firm grasp of and which you need to work on.

After the test you crammed for, of course, it will be time to work on your TIME MANAGEMENT.

Mid-Terms, Final Exams
The STRATEGY FOR EXAMS is kind of a combination of all of the suggestions above. It's about Time Management (starting about two weeks before the exam), eating healthy and exercising (even though you've got a time crunch since finals are coming up!), Test Preparation, and Testing Strategy.

Don't worry. You'll do fine.

Student Skills: Classroom Participation

[Note: The links in this post go to helpful pages on each topic. Follow them!]

The classroom is the space in which a teacher gets all their impressions of you. The first thing that has to be said is PAY ATTENTION! (The only way that I can ever pay attention is if I'm in the first row of the classroom. Any further than the second row, and my mind will be all over the place.) And why pay attention? So you'll be great at TAKING NOTES, of course. There are many different strategies for note-taking, but sometimes, it's important just to jot down a few of the buzzwords your teacher throws out. Knowing what strategy to use totally depends on the class and how much you think you need to work to retain the information.

There are also the ever important CLASSROOM DISCUSSIONS where you get to demonstrate your intellectual prowess and show a teacher what you're all about. Even if "Classroom Participation" is officially only a small part of your grade, performing well can make things in the class run a little more smoothly. In fact, there are lots of little things that you can do to INFLUENCE TEACHERS that will make them believe you are the most interested student in the class (even if it's not exactly true).

Heck, a teacher's high opinion of you might even translate into things like a little boost if you're on the borderline between a B+ and an A- or that extra day you need to finish an essay.

Student Skills: Studying

[Note: The links in this post go to helpful pages on each topic. Follow them!]

Studying well doesn’t necessarily mean studying a lot; it means reading efficiently and being able to hold on to the information. Before anything happens you have to get in your zone. That means finding a space – both at a STUDY SPACE and in your head – where you can CONCENTRATE.

In that space, reading can be more like SKIMMING, instead of long and intensive. And I’ll give you a tip, there are tons of tricks to help MEMORIZE information, but the best way is to see it often. Instead of studying vocab for an hour the night before a quiz, try fifteen minutes a night for four nights; either way, it adds up to 60 minutes, but one will do you just a few points better.

And laid out in front of you, it often helps to see MULTIPLE SOURCES of information. A textbook has facts, but it can be dry…and limited. Maybe your teacher gave you a handout with a short story illustrating a point from the textbook or a class lecture that you surely still have the notes from. Heck, maybe someone made a youTube video out of that story. Getting a big picture can help hold together all the little details that you’re trying to memorize.

Student Skills: Time Management

[Note: The links in this post go to helpful pages on each topic. Follow them!]

The first thing that any student needs to do is get their PRIORITIES straight. But when you’re figuring them out, you have to be honest! You know plenty of kids who prioritize schoolwork over the rest of their lives – and that’s great, you get plenty of work done like that – but if you tend to take new MySpace pictures instead of practicing Spanish vocab, you have to start by admitting that it’s something important to you and that has to be in any schedule you make for yourself.

Schedules are really helpful to refer to both when you’ve got tons of work (and you need to figure out how you’ll fit it all in) and when your time can be more relaxed (which is when I tend to forget whatever is due). For Long Term planning, a WEEKLY SCHEDULE or MONTHLY CALENDAR to fill in are helpful – and the Weekly Schedule can help you find things like time slots to squeeze in a little extra review, during Exam Week. You probably know most of your usual DAILY SCHEDULE already, but writing it down can help you make your days more efficient.