I was really not a full time Education student back in college. Only had 18 units of Education which I took up only two summers. Nevertheless, I still took up the Licensure Exam for Teachers or LET last year.
I had two choices to review for the test. Either I would enroll in a review class or self-study. I chose to review on my own. It was not an easy choice. I guess I was just lucky that my good friend already enrolled in a review class so what I did was just photocopied her review manuals. I suggest you do the same.
Anyway, I started to self study just a month before the exam. If my goal was to be one of the top 10 examiners, I guess I would had taken the review seriously and started the review months before. I might also had enrolled in a review center. But that time, I just want to pass the exam and get a license. So, it took a lot of self-discipline to study by myself since I easily get distracted by my favorite past time. Only a week or two before the exam, that I seriously went through all the manuals and tried to understand every concept in Education.
Anyway, here are other pointers I want to give you if you plan to also review on your own for the Licensure Exam for Teachers.
1. Know your weak and strong subjects. Alot time on reviewing the lessons of your strong subjects. And enjoy the review so you could easily remember what you are reading. But alot more time on your weak subjects. Well, at least if you are weak in math for example, make sure you didn’t miss reviewing the concepts of what is covered in the test for General Math.
2. Understand theories and concepts. Review the different methods of teaching. Imagine how these ideas would be applied in a real teaching environment. If you are already teaching then that is great, since you can easily imagine how the theories and concepts are applied in the real world.
3. In my opionion, the exam is more of your analytical skills, so strive hard to improve it. Once you have understood theories and concept, make sure you know how to differentiate them and explain them in your own words. At least by doing these, you can easily recall them when you are taking the exam.
4. Don’t take for granted subjects under General Education. Remember that you have to pass all three sets of tests including General Education. Don’t assume this test is easy since you took this up when you were in Elementary or High School. Remember that a lot of years had passed. So brush up your memory especially the basic mathematical equations and basic science concepts.
5. Prepare everything before the exam. Make sure you have read the test guidelines many times. Check your calculator. To be sure, check the allowed calculators in the PRC’s list. If you don’t want to buy a new one though, make sure you have a non-programmable calculator. But don’t take my word on this because I wasn’t sure if other proctors had allowed calculators not in the list, although my friend said she didn’t even check the list and just grab a basic calculator with her. Proctors check each calculator before the exam starts.
6. Take enough sleep before the exam. Make sure you don’t feel drowsy while taking the exam so you have enough time to answer them all.
7. Eat well before the exam, and pee too. You are not allowed to go out while taking the exam.
8. Avoid erasures. In CEU, where I had my college years, we took our exams in Scantron. So, I was used to answering tests by shading the boxes or circles. I knew how erasures could make a bad score. So before you shade it, make sure you are shading the right answer, or at least it is your final answer. If you need to erase it, make sure it is clean. But I still don’t think it is a good idea.
9. Follow instructions. Listen to what the proctor is telling you during the exam. If it is not clear, ask the proctor.
10. Most of the time, you haven’t reviewed whatever appears on the real exam. What will help you answer the exam is your basic understanding of the Education topics, and your analysis. (Don’t overanalyze.) For other test takers, they call it common sense.
