Tips to Prepare for Exams, Tests, and Quizzes

In a previous post, Mr. Mazon and Mrs. Hardin shared study skills and test-taking tips to help students prepare for assessments like quizzes, tests, or exams. 

We also asked other students and teachers for their best advice in a survey, and here’s what they said.
Tips from Teachers:

• Use all of the resources given to you. If a study guide was given, be sure to study any documents specified on that sheet.
• Don’t just rely on the study guide that a friend made, which is very risky for several reasons. Whether you type or handwrite, some studies suggest that writing out notes yourself (and not just reading them) helps your memorization.
• If you know any of the test questions in advance, practice writing out short answer responses and show your writing to a teacher for feedback before the test. That is a great way to check if you are on the right track.

Tips from Students:

• Get your organization done early so you only have to look over and practice questions.
• Start studying at least a week before a test and save the last night for review.
• I personally find that the most productive and most effective way to study is making Quizlet sets. You can put whatever information you want on there, and then you can let others study it as well. It's a win-win for pretty much everybody.
• Quizlets are okay to make, but they don't fully prepare you. If we have a book or a few pages we used for information on the subject, I will reread all of it and take notes, then go over the notes. My mom then will quiz me on the information.
• You can't study by just looking at your notes; you have to cover up the answers and quiz yourself or get a parent to quiz you.
• I like to gather all the papers I need to study and paper clip them together. Then I put them in my homework folder.
• Ask any questions that need to be answered, redo old tests, and look over notes.
• Don't use friends’ online study guides as your main tool; use worksheets, quizzes, and friends’ study guides. Use those three mixed together, and look at the subjects that are the most challenging for you personally.
• Don't stay up late; being rested is key for test taking
• Make a practice quiz on Google Drive so you can be as ready as possible when the test comes.
• Don't just study the night before. And ask questions in class.
• Your brain can only study VERY well for 30-45 minutes at a time, so take 5 minute breaks in between! And also if you make studying fun (for example, teach your stuffed animal or even just using a dry erase marker and writing down words/definitions on your mirror so you can quiz yourself while getting ready), you'll want to study more!
• Actually study and don't be lazy. I know studying is work and work stinks, but if you study well, when you take the test it feels great to know all the answers instead of having the sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize you know about two of the questions on a fifty question test.
• Studying for tests is a very individual activity. It really just depends on the person.

Thank you for reading!

The Middle School Team