Five Steps to Success on The PRAXIS TEST

1. Awareness - Become familiar with the test format, test directions, test material, and scoring by visiting the PPST Website at www.ets./praxis.

2. Basic Skills - Review the basic abilities required for success on the test in reading, mathematics, and writing in Part II, "Analysis of Exam areas." Know what to expect on the exam. This will help you to determine your strengths and weaknesses so that you can develop a study plan unique to your individual needs.

3. Question Types - Become familiar with the question types of each area on the test outlined in Part II, "Analysis of Exam Areas," so that you can practice difference versions of the same question type.

4. Strategies and Techniques - Practice using the strategies outlined in the next section of this book and decide what works best for you. Remember that if it takes you longer to recall a strategy that to solve the problem, its probably not a good strategy for you to adopt. The goal in offering strategies is for you to be able to work easily, quickly, and efficiently. Remember not to get stuck on any one question. Taking time to answer the most difficult question on the test correctly, but losing valuable test time, won't get you the score you deserve. And most importantly, remember to answer every question, even if you answer with an educated guess. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so it is to your advantage to answer all questions.

5. Practice - In addition to the sample practice problems in Part II, "Analysis of Exam Areas," this book offers you four complete practice test. Practice, practice, practice is the key to your success on the PPST.



- Joshua McFadden

National Board Certification

Nationally Board Certified Teachers can teach anywhere, can teach anything, and can teach anywhere. Those were the sentiments shared by Dr. Will Parker, who gave us clarity and direction on what National Board Certification looks like.  

He layed out the five core propositions of an accomplished teacher. He detailed how having a student centered teaching style, and keeping the learner at the center of instruction is evidence of a highly successful teacher.

In addition, he delved into the psychology of humans and what our triggers are.Triggers are what we innately react to, without thinking.  He explained that you should never take your innate "triggers" into your classroom, because you cannot let your own personal judgements hold you back from teaching your students.

All in all, Dr. Parker motivated the Fellows, to reach for best in the art of educating, and to not let anything hold you back from the teaching of your students.

http://www.nbpts.org/become_a_candidate/what_is_national_board_c

Pre-Professional Skills Test

The PPST is composed of three multiple-choice test and one essay:

The Reading Test. This Multiple-choice test requires your ability to read, comprehend, and evaluate passages or statements and answer questions based upon the content of these passages. The reading passages are taken from a wide range of subject areas, but no prior knowledge of the topic is necessary to answer the questions. All questions are based upon the content of the passage provided.

The Mathematics Test. This multiple-choice test requires a cumulative understanding of math basics from problem solving to quantitative reasoning. Knowledgeable should include basic math from elementary school to at least one years of high school and possibly one year of college.

The Writing Test. This test is divided into two sections. Part A is a multiple-choice section and contains question related to English usage sentence correction. This section requires your ability to detect and correct in standard written English. Part B requires your ability to plan and write a well-organized essay on an assigned topic.

Praxis

Assessment and Lesson Design: Prior knowledge or Diagnostics?

You’re in your classroom. Tomorrow is the first day of school. On your desk you have your lesson plan and your pacing guide. Your procedures and activities are prepared and then you come to the big “A”…ASSESSMENT. If this is you, let’s take a moment and demystify assessment in the instructional process.

This week in the institute, we have been discussing Common Core Standards and lesson plan design. Throughout the discussions, there continues to be a cloud surrounding assessment and its place in the instructional process. For any teacher, Pre-service or In-service, this can be a tricky and easily confusing topic. Much of what I know about assessment I learned from Rick Stiggins and Grant Wiggins, gentlemen who have revolutionized how we assess student knowledge, comprehension, and progression during instruction. So, let’s hear from these gentlemen as they explain the process of assessment in lesson design.

-Darrynn

Now Playing: Waiting for Superman



Check out the official film website

Finding Out Your Learning Style

After Mr. Yates beautiful presentation on Learning Styles.  HERE is the page on finding your learning styles and taking this back to your students.

Creating A Classroom Vision Statement

What does this mean? In 1968 Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson gave all the children in an elementary class a test. They then told the teacher that certain of these children were extremely intelligent (the children were actually quite average). At the end of the school year Rosenthal and Jacobson came back. The children they had identified as potentially high performers had made significantly more progress than the rest of the class, based on test scores.

Read more here