387: 7 Tips for Taking Your First Test This Semester

20 Sep

The first tests of the school year are happening now for many students!

Check out these 7 tips for how to get prepped to take your first assessments, including:

  1. Understand the study cycle. For more info about this, see www.gretchenwegner.com/actionguide
  2. Find small ways to test your retrieval on a regular basis (homework? honing notes?)
  3. Make sure you have the right supplies to help yourself encode in a new way
  4. Make your study plan at least 3 days out (but preferably more, if you can
  5. Plans are meant to be made, not necessarily to be followed exactly. Stay on track; don’t throw out the whole plan just because you didn’t follow the first few parts of it exactly. 6
  6. Parents & students — study a bit more than you think you need — things get harder each year
  7. Take a look at the test to understand where studying fell short

For more information about all these tips, download the free Study Cycle Action Guide at www.gretchenwegner.com/actionguide.

To ask Gretchen questions live about studying for your next test (if you’re student), or supporting students in studying (if you’re a parent, teacher, or academic coach), come to the next live Q&A. Sign up at www.gretchenwegner.com/live.

Note: This episode is from the archives. It originally aired on September 11, 2017.