Before the Test
I should do this the night before a test instead of staying up late studying.
What is get a good night's sleep?
You should do this first before answering any questions.
What is read all the instructions carefully?
A smart strategy is to skip difficult questions and come back to them, instead of doing this
What is spend too much time on one question?
Taking slow, deep breaths is a strategy to manage this during a test.
What is test anxiety or nervousness?
When answering multiple-choice questions, you should do this before picking an answer.
What is read all the answer choices?
These three things should be in your test-taking toolkit.
What is pencil, eraser, and calculator (or similar)?
When you encounter a word you don't know, you should do this instead of getting stuck.
What is skip it and come back later or use context clues?
You should spend this much time on easier questions compared to harder ones.
What is less time or move quickly?
Doing these before the test starts can help calm your mind and body.
What is stretch, breathe deeply, or positive self-talk?
When you're unsure of an answer, you should trust this unless you have a good reason not to.
What is your first instinct or your gut feeling?
Instead of cramming, successful test-takers do this type of studying over several days.
What is space out studying or study a little bit each day?
The first thing you should do when you receive a test is this.
What is look over the entire test or read all the instructions?
A good strategy is to allocate your time based on this.
What is the number of points each section is worth or question difficulty?
If you feel panicked during a test, this strategy involves focusing on your breathing.
What is the 4-7-8 breathing technique or box breathing?
When taking multiple-choice, you should eliminate these first to narrow down your choices.
What is obviously wrong answers?
These are better study tools than rewriting notes over and over.
What is flashcards, practice tests, or study groups?
You should mark up the test by underlining key words and circling important information. This is called...
What is annotating or active reading?
You should spend approximately this percentage of your test time on planning and reviewing.
What is 10%?
This mindset shift helps students see tests as opportunities rather than threats.
What is a growth mindset or positive thinking?
This strategy involves covering the answer choices and trying to answer the question in your own words first.
What is cover-up strategy or predict before you peek?
Research shows that students who do this before a test perform better than those who don't.
If you finish early, you should do this instead of turning in your test immediately.
What is review and check your answers?
A good rule of thumb is to spend this much time on each question if you have 50 questions in 50 minutes.
What is 1 minute per question?
After a tough test, you should do this instead of dwelling on what you might have gotten wrong.
What is move on and focus on the next task or practice self-compassion?
When two answers seem correct, you should look for the one that is this.
What is most complete, most specific, or most accurate?