Testing

If you've never taken a test, then you're obviously not real. Testing is a major part of school, whether you like it or not. Seeing as I have my English  state-wide test on Monday, I thought I would share some tips about studying for an English test (I'll talk about studying for other tests when the time comes closer- late April/Early May).

First and foremost, if you're taking an English test, the best way to study is to practice. Find essay prompts on the internet and practice writing an essay with all the components you need for your test. Set the timer for an hour and start writing! Another way to practice is simply by reading a book. You could either just read for fun, or you could try to make your own practice test by stopping every chapter or so and creating a few questions over the chapter, or you could just stop and let everything sink in before you keep going. Even if you think that you're going to get a 100 on the test, it's always a good idea to go and practice.

Another way you could practice your skills is through spelling. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of people make spelling mistakes. To practice, you could take at least ten words that you think you'll use on the essay portion and spell them how you would spell it. Then, go to a dictionary and look up the actual spelling. If you got the spelling right, go onto the next word. If you got the spelling wrong, rewrite the word, spelled correctly, a few times to help lodge the correct spelling in your brain.

Everyone has heard people say to get a good night's sleep and to eat a good, healthy breakfast on the day of the test, and it's actually true. (Yes, it actually isn't just some conspiracy made up by adults!) Plan on getting at least seven hours of sleep, but no more than ten. To help get you to sleep, take a shower or bath an hour or two before you think you'll go to bed and stay away from electronics for an hour before bed. If you're not allergic to it, lavender can help relax you, so either drink a tea with it, put some lavender oil on your wrists, or drop some oils into a humidifier. Another calming tea you can drink is chamomile. Breakfast is one of those things where even if you don't usually eat breakfast, you probably should on testing days. Even if it's just a granola bar, any breakfast is better than none. One suggestion would be to try not to stuff your face, as you don't want to risk feeling sick during your test.

Hopefully you'll do great on your test!

~Maddie