I took the TExES Generalist Exam this past Friday and am so glad to have it behind me! Well, I will technically find out if I passed next week, but I certainly have high hopes! It was so stressful! It took me 3 hours and 58 minutes. I constantly wondered whether the test was measuring my knowledge or my endurance. For those of you taking this test in the future make sure to bring a granola bar and some water; they saved me 2 hours in.
The TExES is such an interesting exam because all subject areas (Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Art, and Music) are covered extensively. Literally, any fact from these subjects since the beginning of time is fair game. This makes it so challenging and quite obnoxious because it is the only test, other than the PPR, standing in the way of becoming certified to teach. Being as how we absolutely need to get Super Star teachers in the classroom to turn our failing education system around, it is critical we choose the best and smartest way to study for this exam and get it over with. Therefore, I'm really interested in talking to anyone who has taken the exam so please feel free to share studying tips here on my blog.
I studied quite a bit for this test. However, it seems there is really no way to be fully prepared for a test that has an infinite amount of potential content. Most of us don't have the luxury of dedicating months to sitting down and studying for this exam. Most of us have jobs, are going to school, and are always on the go. How then can we study more effectively?
I think I have found the ultimate solution to this, but first let me share with you how I studied. I bought a few different books which all came in the same format: hundreds of pages filled with information in the front and a practice test in the back. The first go around, I read all of the information in the front and then took the test afterwards. This is exactly how these books are intended to be used. I thought it was helpful, but it was extremely time consuming and I became way too dependent on referencing the text each time I was stumped by a question. Again, with such limited time to sit down and study from a heavy book, this didn't seem to make the most sense. I decided when diving into the second book I'd jump right into the practice questions and only use the front of the book to review content specific to questions I got wrong. I liked this much better because it was a much more effective use of my time and I quickly knew the areas I needed to brush up on. It was also great because I was able to test myself on content from all subject areas in a brief amount of time. It became perfectly clear to me that the more practice tests I took, the better prepared I would be.
I then took it upon myself to begin writing my own test questions typical of those seen on the exam. I actually had some friends join me in this process to create a study bank we could all utilize. You'd be surprised at how fun it actually was to do this. What’s exciting about this test is that we have all learned the material at some point in our early education, now it’s just a matter of recalling all of those specific facts we have long forgotten. Who can still remember the names of all the Native American tribes, where they were from, and what they were known for? I know I couldn't until I began writing these questions! Well, I'll let everyone know if my studying philosophy worked out next week and I will deliver a further update on my solution to how we can study more effectively.
Til' then, Buggin' out!
