General Test Taking Tips

I wanted to put together a video just giving general test-taking tips. So many people have test anxiety, they get stressed out they are scared when they walk into a test and when that happens, they're probably not as successful as what they could be. So I listed a few things that I think are maybe some key points and key tips on taking a test First of all, remember that you have what it takes You have what it takes. You have the information in your mind. You have studied. You have comprehended the material You know what is going to be on the test because you have studied You have studied. You're ready. So walk in confident knowing that you are ready to take the test. The second thing you need to make sure you get enough sleep the night before Too many people avoid this They pull an all-nighter or they stay up watching their favorite television show You need to make sure you get a solid 7 to 9 hours of sleep before a test so that you are physically and mentally rested and prepared for the information that you know. (clears throat) The third thing is make sure you read the questions or the prompt, first. If it's a reading test (clears throat) or if it's some kind of comprehension test, make sure you read the information first. Read the questions first so that when you go back look at the information that is tested over Let's say, for instance, it's a reading comprehension test read the questions first, now you know what they're going to be asking while you read the passage that they have you read. If it's a writing test, maybe it's an expository essay maybe it's a personal narrative essay make sure you read the prompt first. Read it carefully. Make sure you know what they're asking you to write about so that you don't write about something different Read it first. If there are things that you need to look up in a dictionary then look it up then. That way, you won't have to guess. You won't have to guess on "is this what they're asking? Is this what they're asking?" "I don't know what this word means." Look it up! The next thing is, mark up the test. Mark it up! Highlight things. Underline things. Circle things. Make sure you use any kind of technique necessary in order to make sure that you comprehend the question and the passage that you're reading or the prompt that you're writing or anything like that, first. If it's a passage that you're reading underline key words in there. Underline topic sentences. Underline main ideas. Circle them, highlight them. Whatever you need to do in order to understand. If it is a writing test, If it's maybe an expository essay or a personal narrative essay make sure you use a graphic organizer, an outline on scratch paper Have all your thoughts organized so that when you go to write that essay everything is structured the right way. Here's another thing, and this is something that I do. Play the dot game. If you get to a question, and you don't know what it is don't sit there and think about it, and think about it, and think about it. Put a dot next to that number and move on. Any time you come across one, and you just don't know it put a dot next to it. Don't waste all that time and energy trying to think through a question that is very very hard for you to understand and then waste a bunch of time that might be easier later down the line in the test. Put a dot next to it and move on. Get done with the ones that you know, first and then stretch a little bit, take a little bit of a break, close your eyes yawn a little bit, wiggle your fingers to try to get that brain moving again and then reset yourself so that when you go back to those dotted questions that you'll be able to answer them better. The next thing is just stay relaxed. Stay relaxed during the test. Stay relaxed. It's easy to get stressed out. It's easy to have anxiety. It's easy to look at the test and go "this isn't easy, this is hard, I'm not going to do very well" and your mind starts creating thes thoughts that control all of your actions. You freeze up. You get scared. You get nervous. Don't do that. Stay relaxed. If you have to wiggle your fingers, if you have to yawn, if you have to stand up stretch quickly and then sit back down roll your shoulders. Do anything necessary. Anything within the instructions and within the guidelines of what you can do in that classroom, do that in order to stay relaxed so that you can perform at the peak level for this test. The last thing is, once you've finished, go back through the test. Whether it's a reading test, and you're answering quesitons or it is a writing test, and you have written an essay go back through it. Read back through those Read back through those answers. Make sure that you marked everything completely. Read back through those answer and make sure you didn't mark one that you shouldn't have marked. Maybe you know the answer now, and now reading back through it you realize, "oh, wait a second, what did I do there?" "That was a wrong answer." Or if it's a writing test, read back through your writing Don't just finish and assume, "oh I know what I did, and I know I have everything right." "I'm just done. I want to be done" so then you turn it in. Don't do that. Read back through the essay. Sometimes as you, maybe, take that break, close your eyes, kind of stretch a little bit, and then you read back through that essay you have now reset yourself and you're able to see some of the mistakes that maybe you made. It is better to read back through, and take a little bit extra time to do that then to find that maybe you have a bunch of mistakes and you didn't take the time to read back through. Be careful with it. Read back through it, but ultimately, here's what you need to know: you have everything it takes in order to pass the test. So walk in confident. knowing that you are going to be successful.