Preparing:

• Pay attention

Don’t fall asleep during class and stay focused. The information in your notes or study guide may not get you the answer for every question on the test. Your teacher could add in something you discussed as a group. You will  learn a lot more by paying attention.

• Make flashcards or study with a partner

Flashcards are very helpful if you are studying alone or do not have access to websites on your phone like Quizlet. If you are learning a lot of vocabulary pre-cut notecards will also save you space. Studying with a partner is also great. If you can’t quite think of the answer you can ask them for clues to help you remember it.

• Study the content in smaller sections over a longer period of time

If you try to study all of the material in one night you will not remember it by the next day. Instead, break it up into several days. Study one thing one day and something else the next day. This way you won’t be stressed out.

• Use your resources

Use old assignments, tests and your textbook to study. The library and the Internet are also available. The library is someplace you can go right after school since it is so close to Greenwood.

•     Don’t memorize your notes

On the test the questions and answers won’t be word-for-word what you have in your notes. There are also the different types of questions too. Such as multiple choice, written or open responses, where you only have a prompt. So, don’t memorize your notes or the answers on your study guide. Very rarely is the test the same as the study guide.

• Focus on what’s important

Only  study what you really need to. Don’t spend all of your time trying to remember something that is not going to help you on the test. The day before your test your teacher may tell you what sections or worksheets will help you the most. 

During:

• Skip questions you don’t know

Never spend more than a few minutes on one problem. If you don’t know it, skip it and come back to it later. Giving yourself more time to think about it could save you from missing it.

• Eliminate multiple choice answers

      Eliminating will keep your thoughts organized and gets the answers that are irrelevant out of the way. This way you won’t accidentally mark the wrong one. Eliminating answers can also help you finish your test faster and make you feel better about your grade. 

• Think logically about the question

Think through everything you know before choosing an answer. If you really don’t know, eliminate some of them and give your best guess.

• Other questions on the test may help you answer something you don’t know

Sometimes the definition to a word or a date you need is in another question. So, be thinking of the question you skipped earlier in the test and you may find helpful information.

• Make sure you will have enough time to finish

Before you begin, quickly skim the test and count the number of questions. Then, remember how long you have to finish. If you are sure you won’t finish in time, pick a letter(a,b,c,d)and fill in that answer for every blank space. You have a better chance of getting the correct answer rather than not putting anything at all.