I’m moving on, gang… to BRAINYFLIX.WORDPRESS.COM!!!

Since the BrainyFlix.com SAT Vocab Video contest is in full swing, I am just going to be posting updates at the blog we’ll be using for that website lolsats.wordpress.com BRAINYFLIX.wordpress.com. So please change your links and subscribe to getting updates from that site! :]

100 Test Prep Resources

Hey guys!  Hope you’re having a fun and/or relaxing winter break!  I found this nice post with 100 resources to help you prep for the big test.

General Studying & Test-Taking Tips

You’ve probably heard or read some of these before, but here’s what has worked for me and my students:

• Practice.  A lot. Unless you have a knack for test-taking, you’re gonna need to practice.  Sorry, homie, but it’s da troof.  Everyday, do one section in Math, Reading and Writing.  Try to do them un-timed at first and then timed.  Take a practice exam every couple weeks.  Ideally, you do 5 or 6 of these before test time.  Remember, practice like its the real thing!  So be prepared with pencils, calculator, no disturbances, and plenty of rest.
• Review what you got right and wrong and make sure you understand why.  Understand how to solve the problems you had to leave blank.  With a lot of practice, you’ll start to see what kinds of problems trip you up, and then with my videos :] you’ll be able to pick up some pointers on those problems that give you trouble.
• If you can’t get the answer, guess if and only if you can eliminate at least one bad answer choice.  You get penalized -1/4 of a point for every problem you get wrong, so unless you can eliminate at least one answer choice, guessing randomly works against you.
• Set realistic goals.  Not everyone will get a perfect score.  You just need to do the best that you can.  Try to score a little bit higher on your next practice exam than the last one.  You want to push yourself but not overwhelm yourself.  Figure out how many questions you need to get right (and attempt) in order to reach that goal.  Aim for answering that many number of questions.
• Pace yourself.  You don’t want to be spending too much time on each problem, but you definitely don’t want to be rushing through it.  In fact, SAT questions are designed to make students either spend too much time on a problem or to include important details that the student will miss if he/she rushes through it!  (Yes!  That deserved an exclamation point!)  Learn to abandon problems when you’re spending too much time on them.  Realize that answering fewer questions well is more important than answering everything half-arsed.
• Don’t cram! Get your rest. You’ll need your energy and focus on test day.

That’s it for general studying & test-taking tips.  Hope it helps!

Need. To. Read.

Sup y’all! If you thought this was Lesson 8… psssssyche! Actually, I’m about to post that in a pico-second. But first, I wanted to respond to a comment from Robert who was asking for help on the Critical Reading section. I’m guessing that what he meant was for me to offer some tips on the reading passages because that shizzz is just annoying. (Yeah, that’s right. I know you like my use of slang). Even though I’m trying to focus on Math right now, here are some pointers:

1. When you read the passage, don’t memorize! Skim to get the main idea of the passage. Write it down using a few simple words.
2. Jot down VERY short notes throughout the passage to help you remember what is going on. It can serve as a quick ‘n dirty outline.
3. When you go to the question, JUST read the question. DON’T read the answer choices. Try to answer the question in your own words. If it is about the main idea, then your (super short) notes from earlier will help you. If it is about a specific part of the passage, then go to that part of the passage, re-read it (start a few lines before and after) and still try to answer the question in your own words. THEN go to the answer choices and look for the closest match to what you came up with.
4. Reeeeead! Try Time Magazine or The New York Times for some information heavy articles. This is not like reading for leisure. Think about what the main idea of the article is, the author’s viewpoint, and their arguments that support their viewpoint. This can also help you build vocabulary… PS – please do not ask me if Us Weekly or PC Gamer count as acceptable magazines unless you want me to cry for the youth of America.  Thanks.

Hope I was helpful! :]

Magi… matician

Operations review for you guys courtesy of… Sesame Street… and Arrested Development ;]

in case ya can’t get enough of me…

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Back In Black! (Bars, That Is)

Ugh, I just notices that those annoying black bars at the top and bottom of the video screen are on Lessons 3 and 4. I will try to get this fixed for Lesson 5. Thanks for your patience…

*EDIT*: Failure. I’ve been up til the wee hours in the morning, racking my brain, trying to figure out how I got the black bars to be nice and thin like in my second lesson. But no luck. I’ll keep at it but won’t let it delay my posting the 5th lesson.

* Edit 2*: EAT IT, black bars!  I pwn you!!! 

Problemo Analysis

YO.

If you wanna practice questions of a certain subject, take a look at this sheet:

Problem Analysis Spreadsheet

 

I’ve tried to assign a different subject(s) to each question from “The Official SAT Study Guide”. If you spot an error or want to add something, please leave a comment and I will update it!!! THANKS!