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These twelve tips
will help you get through any test and as long
as you prepared adequately for it, you will
certainly get an A.
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Come to the test prepared and feeling
confident that you know the material. Make
sure that you are not very angry or very full
and that you are well-rested. Avoid eating
sugary or processed foods before the test.
Avoid items such as candy, carbonated soft
drinks, junk foods, and fried foods. Snack on
fresh fruit or veggies immediately before to
get your mind off the test and give you some
sustenance.
-
Breathe. Relax.
Imagine yourself acing the test. It is amazing
what a little positive imagery can do for you.
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Read ALL of the
directions carefully. Reread them again once
you have finished. Look through the test to
see what types of questions are asked, how
many questions, if there are any major essays,
if you have choices about questions that you
can answer, etc. Make sure you know how much
each section is worth so you can budget your
time
-
If the test
involves specific equations, conversions,
dates or anything else that you must memorize,
write it on the top or margin of the test
paper as soon as the test is handed out.
Remembering complicated equations and dates
before you have answered any questions is a
lot easier than trying to remember them after
you have answered half of the test questions
and you brain is starting to get tired.
-
Answer all easy
questions first. This will help you get into
the test taking mood and build confidence.
Circle the numbers of the questions that you
really have no idea about. You can come back
to these later. Often times questions you
answer later in the test might trigger
something and help you answer a question that
you were previously stuck on.
-
Narrow multiple
choice answers down to the two you believe
might be correct by crossing off the ones you
positively know are not correct. This will
improve your chances of guessing the right
one.
-
True-False questions are often a favorite
of some teachers and can be quite complicated
at times. Keep in mind that every part of a
true-false statement must be true in order to
answer it as true. If any part is false, mark
the entire statement false. You may want to
underline the portion of the statement that
you believe is false. If there are negatives
in the statement such as “no or not”, and you
are still not sure whether to mark it true or
false, try re-reading the question without the
“no or not”. Decide if this statement is true
or false then answer the opposite on your
test. Words indicating absoluteness (never,
always, entirely, every, only, none) often
tend to be used in false statements
-
Try to construct
concise answers that target the question and
prove to the teacher that you know the
material. Get right to the point in the first
sentence or two of your answer. The rest of
the answer should contain proof that you know
what you are talking about. Give enough
evidence to support your thoughts but don't
over-answer the question. Writing a lot of
fluff will usually leave the teacher thinking
that you are writing for the sake of filling
the space and that you really don't have a
good handle on the correct answer.
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Before you begin
writing an essay, make sure you know
exactly what the question is asking. Try to
restate the question in your own words. If you
can't do this with confidence, make a quick
visit to the teacher and have him or her
clarify it for you. Once confident in what the
question is asking, take a few moments to get
your thoughts together and write some notes in
the margin or even create an outline on scrap
paper if you have time.
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If you find that
you are running short on time and still have
some open-ended questions left to answer,
write something rather than leaving the space
blank. Create a brief outline to show the
teacher that you do know the answer, but you
didn't have enough time to write an entire
essay. You maybe able to get say more in an
outline form than you can if you were only
able to write a few opening sentences of your
essay. Partial credit is better than no credit
at all.
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Once you believe
you are finished with the test, reread
everything again to be sure that you answered
every question fully and completely. If you
have time, cover up your answers with your
hand or another sheet of paper and ask
yourself what answer you would give if you had
to answer the question again. Compare this
answer with what you have already written
down. Only change the original answer if you
find that you made a silly mistake or
originally misinterpreted the question. It is
usually best to go with your original instinct
when you are truly unsure of an answer.
-
Be neat. The
last thing a teacher wants to do while
correcting mounds of tests is to spend time
deciphering what a student has illegibly
written.
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