General Exam Prep A.K.A. The "You are going to be ok" page
Important Reminders:
1. The Exam is Monday June 27th from 1-4pm. Get to school at least 20 min early.
2. Remember to get a good night's sleep the night before and to eat a good breakfast and a good lunch! (Seriously!)
3. You may bring water and food into the exam (but don't bring really noisy stuff or it will disturb your classmates)
4. Bring a pen/pencil/highlighter to the exam so you can make notes on the photocopied texts. (Yes, it is an e-exam but you will be given a photocopied hardcopy of the poem, short story etc.)
5. Consider purchasing earplugs for the exam. Make sure you try them before the actual exam though, as they take a bit of getting used to.
6. Ask to use the washroom at least once during the exam (even if you don't need to). This will allow you to move around and will help you remain focused and think clearly for the rest of the test. Movement helps you think better (honest).
7. Pace yourself carefully. Divide the exam into 3 sections of one hour each (Synthesis & Multiple choice, Response to Texts, Original Comp). Important: ignore the "Suggested times" at the top of the page for each section of the exam. Those numbers are based on a 2 hour exam and you should expect to take the full 3 hours.)
8. Before (and during) the exam, remind yourself of the motivation statement you wrote down the last week of class. The English 12 provincial exam is an endurance test more than anything and those who do well are the ones who can mentally motivate themselves to give a full effort for the entire three hours. How are you going to self-motivate yourself when you are two hours into the exam and your body and brain start telling you that you want to quit?
9. Trust yourself. No matter how difficult a question might seem, remember that everyone else is dealing with the same exam and is most likely feeling the same way that you are. The chances are that your thoughts and analysis are correct, so trust yourself and just go for it.