Test Taking Strategies to Help You Prepare for the FTCE Exams

The Florida Teacher Certification Exams are the professional tests required to become a licensed teacher in Florida. The exams ensure that all certified teachers possess the knowledge necessary to educate students throughout the state.

Like with any other exam, it's important to prepare for the FTCE tests adequately. While traditional study methods can certainly help you get ready, there are some specific recommendations that aspiring teachers in Florida should consider. Whether you're hoping to launch a career as a high school history teacher, a middle school gym teacher or a kindergarten teacher, an FTCE practice test is a great place to begin your studies.

How Practice Exams Help

By familiarizing yourself with the content and setup of the exam, you ensure there are no surprises in store for test day. While you've no doubt taken plenty of multiple-choice exams in your lifetime, the pressure associated with a certifying exam like the FTCE can be overwhelming. In addition to helping you better understand the format of the test, a practice exam can also help you identify gaps in your knowledge. We often don't know what we don't know. By encountering questions that highlight those knowledge gaps, we can better understand the topics we should focus our studying on.

Conversely, practice tests also help you identify which areas you have already mastered. While you might feel particularly nervous about a given topic, correctly answering questions about the subject can give you the confidence you need to do well on the real test. It'll also help you save time when deciding which topics you most need to study before taking the FTCE.

Taking a practice test helps gauge your understanding and knowledge of a given subject, and it also helps determine how likely it is that you'll be able to retrieve the information time and time again. In fact, studies have shown that taking practice quizzes and tests can help slow the rate at which a fact is forgotten. There's truly no better way to spend your studying hours than taking FTCE practice tests to reach your teaching goals.

Harnessing the Process of Elimination

When it comes time to take a real FTCE exam, the process of elimination is a classic test taking strategy. We've all used it at one point or another. After all, even when we don't know an answer, it's often easiest to determine the options that we know are incorrect. To ensure you're using this strategy as efficiently as possible, eliminate answer options that you know are incorrect right off the bat. Even if you think you know the correct answer, analyze each option to determine if they could possibly be right. Eliminate the ones that are obviously wrong.

Next, focus on the remaining answer choices. The correct one is likely remaining. Often, many answers seem like they could, in fact, be correct. Consider which selection is the best answer for the question at hand, rather than focusing on which is incorrect. This not only saves time but can help you up the odds that you're answering a question correctly.

Reading is Fundamental

It sounds like common sense; taking the time to thoroughly read each test question and answer is crucial to doing well on the FTCE exams. Some experts even recommend reading through an entire test section before deciding on an answer. Answers to early questions are often found in the later details laid out on the exam, so it pays to look ahead.

While you're reading through the questions, identify questions that you're feeling confident about. Also highlight the questions you're feeling more nervous towards. Consider your initial run through as a preview of what is to come. This can help focus your attention to clues within the test and give you the confidence you need to finish strong.

Answer in Your Mind

While going through and reading test items, carefully weigh each option and give the question your best shot. Your gut instinct is strong, so making note of what your initial reaction to a question is can be a good idea. Of course, your gut can be wrong, so don't rely solely on your best guess. If you've got no clue on what an answer should be, though, this instinct can come in handy. Always answer in your mind before committing to a final selection.

The Exam Edge Difference

While there are a million different test-taking strategies out there, the truth is that familiarizing yourself with the material really is the best plan of action. Exam Edge has been helping students and professionals alike ace their certification tests for years. If you're feeling nervous about the big exam and want some practice, try an FTCE practice exams for free!