Mastering Test Strategies: Best Tips for Memory Retention and Focus

1. Classroom Lesson #1

3. Kaizen • Japanese • Continuous and never ending improvement • The ability to notice even very small improvements in ourselves and also in others

4. Kaizen Little by little, Bit by bit, I’m improving, Everyday

5. Use slow breathing to relax. If you begin to get too anxious, repeat slow breathing and picture your “Calm place” for a moment to break the stress cycle. Focus on your test taking strategy. Look over the entire test to determine how long it is and where the most points are. Determine a time limit for each section. If you use acronyms, or other memory aids write them down on a scratch piece of paper. (cont.) Seven Test Taking Strategies

6. 5. Answer the easy questions first. Often these questions will have clues to harder questions. 6. Go back to the harder questions. Look for clues. Eliminate any obvious wrong answers. If you are still not sure of the correct answer take your best educated guess. 7. Budget your time so that you have a few minutes left at the end to check your answers. Make sure you do not leave any blank. Seven Test Taking Strategies (cont.)

7. Use slow breathing to relax. If you begin to get too anxious, repeat slow breathing and picture your “Calm place” for a moment to break the stress cycle. Focus on your test taking strategy. Look over the entire test to determine how long it is and where the most points are. Determine a time limit for each section. If you use acronyms, or other memory aids write them down on a scratch piece of paper. (cont.) Seven Test Taking Strategies

8. 5. Answer the easy questions first. Often these questions will have clues to harder questions. 6. Go back to the harder questions. Look for clues. Eliminate any obvious wrong answers. If you are still not sure of the correct answer take your best educated guess. 7. Budget your time so that you have a few minutes left at the end to check your answers. Make sure you do not leave any blank. Seven Test Taking Strategies (cont.)

9. Tips on Improving Your Memory

10. Association Use association to remember numbers. Let's say you keep forgetting your student ID every time you need to use it again. Just break down the number into smaller chunks and create images associated with those chunks. Let's say the number is 12-7575-23. Find a way to make these numbers meaningful. Let's say "12" happens to be your house number, "75" happens to be your grandmother's age, and the number "23" is Michael Jordan's jersey number. Here's what you can visualize to remember the number: •Picture your house with two copies of your grandmother standing to the right, showing that the house comes first. Then imagine Michael Jordan standing to the right of your grandmothers. There you have it -- 12 (your house), 7575 (double-dose of Grandma) and 23, the basketball star.

11. Chunking Chunking is a way of grouping things together to help you memorize them. Random lists of things (a shopping list, for example) can be especially difficult to remember. To make it easier, try categorizing the individual things from the list. For example, list all of the fruits together, the dairy products together, and the bread products together. This will not only help you memorize the list, but it'll make your shopping experience much faster.[2] •If you can remember that, among other things, you wanted to buy four different kinds of vegetables, you’ll find it easier to remember all four. •Chunking is what we do when we list a phone number with dashes. Which looks easier to memorize, 8564359820, or 856-435-9820?

12. Rhymes Use rhymes. Using a variety of common and silly rhymes can help you recall basic information. For example, if you're trying to figure out if April has 30 or 31 days, just say the old rhyme aloud: "Thirty days has September, April, June, and November." Then you'll remember that April does indeed have 30 days. Here are some other rhymes to use as memory tools: •"In fourteen-hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." •A child can learn the alphabet by singing it to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," which makes the letters rhyme.

13. Acronyms Acronyms are another wonderful tool for remembering a variety of things, from the names of the five Great Lakes to the words used as conjunctions. You can use a popular acronym, or create one for yourself. For example, if you're going to the store and know you only need Butter, Lettuce, Bread, and Unagi, then just create a word out of the first letter of each term: "BULB" -- Butter, Unagi, Lettuce, and Bread. Here are some popular acronyms to use:[4] •HOMES. This one is used for remembering the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. •FANBOYS. This acronym can help you remember simple coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

14. Acrostics Acrostics are similar to acronyms, except instead of just remembering the acronym, you can remember a new sentence made out of the first letters of a set of words that you have to memorize in a certain order. For example, you can say, "My very eager mother just sent us noodles." to learn the order of the planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. You can also make up acrostics of your own. Here are a few more popular acrostics: •Every Good Boy Does Fine. This is used for memorizing the lines on the treble music staff: EGBDF. •King Philip Can Only Find His Green Slippers. Use this to memorize the order of the classification system: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.