Thursday, June 14, 2007
Learn from Math B
As I proctored the Math B Regents today, I noticed some poor test-taking practices that I want you all to avoid next Wednesday:
1. Let's start with basic BIOLOGY/PHYSIOLOGY: during a long test, some people tend to lean back in their seats and slouch; they then end up slinking down farther in their chair. This POSTURE causes shallow breathing which lowers the oxygen supply to the brain, which lulls the person into confusion and sleepiness (I personally witnessed this today!).
During the test, sit up and lean forward over your test. Take an aggressive stance and shift your position from time to time in order to stay comfortable; this is all part of bringing your "A" game; attack the test! If things ever get hazy or confused, check your breathing and your posture. Put your head down for a minute or two, you will NOT run out of time and the breather will refresh you and your cognitive ability.
2. There WILL BE a GRAPH on your Chem Regents. DO THE GRAPH IN PENCIL. REPEAT: DO THE GRAPH IN PENCIL!! I saw some ATROCIOUS graphing with wild crossing-out; the graphs were a mess and they couldn't be fixed because they were done in ink!
ALL other work must be done in blue or black pen BUT THE GRAPH IS TO BE DONE IN PENCIL. Furthermore, USE YOUR SCRAP paper to practice writing your scales BEFORE you write out your final graph, even though it is in PENCIL.
3. Don't worry about the scantron until you have completely written out your numerical choices on the detached answer sheet from the answer booklet. After you have done all of the multiple choice questions (NEVER leave an answer blank, there is NEVER a penalty for a wrong guess on ANY Regents exam), then CAREFULLY bubble in the scantron. If you mess up with the bubbles, REQUEST a new one; that is why I provide your proctor with EXTRA scantrons, just in case!
If your scantron does NOT match your answer sheet, your answer sheet takes precedence and is used for OFFICIAL scoring purposes; nevertheless, do the scantron correctly and double-check it with your answer sheet.
4. Many of the questions on the test were susceptible to backsolving or plugging in numbers and checking the result for agreement with the equation. On the CHEM exam, many problems will involve checking data and trends on the Reference Tables. AFTER the test just begins, MAKE SURE that you thoroughly mark the Tables with any and all MEMORIZED mnemonics, labels, and examples because you WILL use these to help you throughout the test!
As discussed in extra help, you can pick out ONE example of a given category and use it to backsolve many chem questions.
Example:
Metal- good conductor-malleable- high melting point = IRON
Non-metal - low melting point -non-conductor = SULFUR
Ionic compound- salt - high melting point- nonconducting solid- conducting liquid/aq - NaCl
Molecular compound- non-electrolyte- H2O
Acid - electrolyte - HCl (aq)
Base- ionic - electrolyte - NaOH
Binary compound - NaCl
Element- N2
Most metallic - Cs
Most NON-metallic = F (exists as F2)
This list can help you to generalize about these different substances because, in chemistry, things that are classified in a particular category all behave similarly!
1. Let's start with basic BIOLOGY/PHYSIOLOGY: during a long test, some people tend to lean back in their seats and slouch; they then end up slinking down farther in their chair. This POSTURE causes shallow breathing which lowers the oxygen supply to the brain, which lulls the person into confusion and sleepiness (I personally witnessed this today!).
During the test, sit up and lean forward over your test. Take an aggressive stance and shift your position from time to time in order to stay comfortable; this is all part of bringing your "A" game; attack the test! If things ever get hazy or confused, check your breathing and your posture. Put your head down for a minute or two, you will NOT run out of time and the breather will refresh you and your cognitive ability.
2. There WILL BE a GRAPH on your Chem Regents. DO THE GRAPH IN PENCIL. REPEAT: DO THE GRAPH IN PENCIL!! I saw some ATROCIOUS graphing with wild crossing-out; the graphs were a mess and they couldn't be fixed because they were done in ink!
ALL other work must be done in blue or black pen BUT THE GRAPH IS TO BE DONE IN PENCIL. Furthermore, USE YOUR SCRAP paper to practice writing your scales BEFORE you write out your final graph, even though it is in PENCIL.
3. Don't worry about the scantron until you have completely written out your numerical choices on the detached answer sheet from the answer booklet. After you have done all of the multiple choice questions (NEVER leave an answer blank, there is NEVER a penalty for a wrong guess on ANY Regents exam), then CAREFULLY bubble in the scantron. If you mess up with the bubbles, REQUEST a new one; that is why I provide your proctor with EXTRA scantrons, just in case!
If your scantron does NOT match your answer sheet, your answer sheet takes precedence and is used for OFFICIAL scoring purposes; nevertheless, do the scantron correctly and double-check it with your answer sheet.
4. Many of the questions on the test were susceptible to backsolving or plugging in numbers and checking the result for agreement with the equation. On the CHEM exam, many problems will involve checking data and trends on the Reference Tables. AFTER the test just begins, MAKE SURE that you thoroughly mark the Tables with any and all MEMORIZED mnemonics, labels, and examples because you WILL use these to help you throughout the test!
As discussed in extra help, you can pick out ONE example of a given category and use it to backsolve many chem questions.
Example:
Metal- good conductor-malleable- high melting point = IRON
Non-metal - low melting point -non-conductor = SULFUR
Ionic compound- salt - high melting point- nonconducting solid- conducting liquid/aq - NaCl
Molecular compound- non-electrolyte- H2O
Acid - electrolyte - HCl (aq)
Base- ionic - electrolyte - NaOH
Binary compound - NaCl
Element- N2
Most metallic - Cs
Most NON-metallic = F (exists as F2)
This list can help you to generalize about these different substances because, in chemistry, things that are classified in a particular category all behave similarly!
# posted by C @ 10:29 PM 
