The Secrets to ‘Acing’ Any Test in School
The two factors that impact on how well students do on tests and strategies to help ace those tests.
The one ultimate test question students often find hard to answer is: how do I find success on any test I take in order to make my life easier.
The answers are to:
a) create a positive mindset and
b) learn the art of communication
as these are the two factors that can impact how well students do on tests.
The Purpose of Tests
I don’t intend to go into the whole should we or shouldn’t we have tests, especially, standardized tests, in schools as that’s an article for another day, but I will acknowledge that they do serve a purpose.
Tests are meant to put pressure on how we respond to problems while under a time crunch.
Something we all face in the real world.
And how well we deal with that pressure comes down to strategies centered around a positive mindset and how well we communicate.
Mindset and Tests
Mindset towards tests can be looked at as how we view ourselves in relation to taking a test.
Some questions students may find running through their minds as they take a test may include:
Why am I angry or upset with this test?
Am I afraid I will be making a lot of mistakes on this test?
Student anxiety when it comes to test taking is very real, and the anxiety students may feel when it comes to taking a test may be because:
1. They do not understand what the test is asking them to do.
2. They do not understand how to apply the knowledge they have.
Negative mindsets around tests are real and in order to change them students must first acknowledge them.
Such mindsets among students in school may include that they feel ‘tests’ are meant to torture them because of what they don’t know.
What then is the best way students can understand what is before them on a test?
Let’s start by understanding that changing your mindset towards tests may help you find success.
Change your mindset on tests from being:
“I am afraid of what I don’t know.”
to
“I enjoy sharing with others what I do know”.
And that’s where the art of communication comes it, it makes sharing what you know more enjoyable.
When you enjoy sharing what you know with others, you could potentially enjoy taking a test.
The Art of Communication and Tests
The art of communication, to me, simply means knowing when to listen and when to speak or write. The art behind it is how well we connect, how we listen, and how well we speak or write.
How well we listen directly impacts on how well we absorb information and whether we are capable of using that information in communicating what we understood to be true in our own way.
In order for students to survive any test that comes their way, remind them it’s all in how well they will communicate what they know.
In my many years of teaching, I have found that those students who listened well often applied the strategies I taught them in answering test questions.
I constantly remind my students that listening is the foundation for all other forms of communication.
And so it for students to find success on tests, they need to listen so that they communicate what they know in their own words.
And now to the most important secret to test taking — taking what we just learned and turning them into strategies.
Strategies to Test Taking
One of the main reasons I had anxieties towards test taking in school was because I never thought about the strategies I could use to communicate my answers on the test.
It was my grade 10 math teacher who taught me to enjoy math, and in taking his tests, I began to understand and enjoy the strategies of test taking.
This teacher gave tests we were never meant to finish. Yes, that’s right.
He made us see the goal behind such tests.
The goal was not to finish the test — but to answer the questions with 100 percent accuracy.
He cared more about how we got to the answer, than the answer itself.
And we were never allowed to write in pencil, only pen!
This is so he could help us with our mistakes, because if we erased them, it was like it never happened.
And mistakes to him, were opportunities for us to learn.
So in putting together what he taught me, I share with you now some test taking strategies you can share with your students to help reduce test anxiety.
- You don’t have to start at number 1 —quickly scan through a question-and if the question doesn’t seem to have an easy answer— move on — don’t stay focused on a question you can’t solve. This brings on negative thoughts. Often times, future test questions can give clues to the answers of previous test questions!
- Use a simple three-step process — First, understand what the question is asking you to find. Second, highlight key pieces of information you will have to use. Third, choose which steps get you to the right solution in the quickest time possible.
- Use the process of elimination — when faced with multiple choice type questions, eliminating the answers that are wrong helps the right answer to shine through each time.
- When in doubt pick C (because B,A,D spells BAD) — this again is what students need to do when answering multiple choice questions on tests that don’t punish you for guessing.
The last point was a strategy I heard during my test-taking days in school, but today it can be referred to as your own “letter of the day”.
This “letter of the day” is your favorite letter to choose when all other strategies have failed you.
And we’ve all been there.
It’s not the best strategy, but one that tries to put luck on your side!
Final Thoughts…
In offering these strategies, I hope I have shed some insight into how to approach test-taking with students and offer some humor towards something that is inevitable in school.
Adopting a positive mindset will help students believe that their abilities can be developed through hard work, dedication and proper communication.
And maybe, just maybe, that test-taking doesn’t have to seem all that bad.
If you enjoyed reading this article, please read my other articles connecting student assessments and test taking.
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