Because of this I haven't really look at this again, but a comment on a facebook group prompted me to re-look at my blog. Besides its likely I'll use this again when I go to take the LICSW, so I might as well keep up on what I know.
A bit of information that might help (least it helped me). So one of the last things that I did was I took the practice exam in the study guide the eve of my test. This was really informative. I'm of the opinion that the practice test in the study guide is actually harder then the practice test they let you buy. Sure enough, as I went through it (4 times) I really felt like I knew, or could kinda pick out maybe one answer. Though freaked, I set that aside and continued to work. I kept calm and just went over it 4 times. Broke it down, made an educated guess. And when I scored myself -each time I got 75-80%. Hmm. Maybe there is something to the-its not what you know but how you do it.
So when I went to take the test that morning, I applied the same principles. You know what-I was really freaked out when I started this. For me, at least, my actual exam was way harder then anything I had practiced. There was so much where I felt like I had no idea. But honestly, I just continued to work it out, bit by bit. Like chipping away at it. I went through it 4 times, and honestly I almost used up all of my time. At the end, I very honestly thought that I didn't pass. And I was ok with that. I knew I had done my best, and I knew that this test just happened to contain stuff I didn't study (even though I studied my BRAINS out).
Turns out not only did I pass, I passed with a really high score.
So I write this blog to help give insight. Don't get freaked out. Just let yourself go through it. Use the guidelines (break it down, double check, use your time) and it will help. I stand by the fact that the practice test and the exam guide really did help. I don't think I would have done as good without them. So I do believe they are a good investment. Honestly the hardest questions are ones that are pure recall-because you either know it or you don't. The rest of the answers you can work out, and that will give you a higher probability of getting it right then you might think. Don't over think it, be conservative, and don't get overwhelmed.
That's the best amount of insight I can give those who will take the test. And the insight I need to remember when I take my next exam.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
On the Eve of the Test
I saw that someone else had created a blog as their study guide. Since it is the eve of my test I am going to originally use this as a plan of attack for taking the test. However, if I fail this time around, then it will become a study guide for next time.
Trying to plan to fail as a way to lower my anxiety, which usually causes me to fail these kinds of things.
So part of the test is not what you know, but learning how to actually take it.
a) mostly go with your gut
b) hopefully you should be able to get rid of 2 things off the bat. Then its just deciding which one is correct.
c) the test is not about "what would you do in this situation". Its about what would the book do in this situation. This factor is actually incredibly important. Most practitioners (except those that help design the test) agree that a lot of the situations are bs. It is really what you would do. Its more "in a perfect world, if I was a perfect practitioner" this is the conservative thought of what I would likely do. Not the same thing as what you would do. Crucial. If you've been able to boil your answer down between 2 answers-choose the more conservative one. Should help. ....this info was partially stolen from another blogger who did the test circa quite a few years ago. But most people who I've talked to who have taken the test recently agree.
d) need to know how multiple tests work, and what the test is trying to measure
What are they measuring?
- They are measuring what you can recall-direct info. Like what does ego mean? What is the 2nd stage in the helping process?
- They are measuring reasoning-advanced level of thinking
- They are measuring application-which is kinda recalling for and then putting into perspective
LGSW-far less reasoning. But also far less recall too. :(
So really Application is about
- what you can recall (there's often a key word in there somewhere that was once a vocab word)
- what is the placement/situation (this can play a big role)
A lot of the time, especially with reasoning questions-there is a key word like best, first, primary etc. This is gonna tell you more about what your really looking for. Its also a way of saying all these answers are probably right, but what answer is the one that is right and should be done first. (or what is preventative, or what is primary, etc)
Focus on just the question at hand. Do not add things to the question at hand. Which I interpret as don't really apply it to your practice. Cause in practice, you will likely always have more information. Here-what you've got is all you've got to work with. So boil it down....and then likely boil it down again. Pull out the most important information-where is it, why is it, what is it. What are you key terms?
Suggestions are:
a) try to predict what the answer is w/o looking at your options
b) break it down by two and decide from there (always taking the more conservative option or
c) guess.
It's been my experience in practice exams that I often feel totally overwhelmed from the beginning. None of it seems familiar and I instantly feel like I'm going to fail.
Having taken a practice exam again-I chose to be more deliberate. I really tried to break a part the question (or partialized it if you will) instead of looking at the whole thing and tried to determine what in that question looked familiar, even if all of it didn't.
And this kinda takes us to my friend's idea-which I tried...and seems to work. So here's my plan.
Not only am I going to go through the test 4 times, but each time I go through, I'm going to remember that I'm going to go though it 4 times. Almost everyone I know says you don't need the whole time to take it-so let's use that time wisely shall we.
Time 1: look over and mark 1 of 4 ways -
I know it (answer and leave it alone)
I think I know it (answer and mark it to look at again)
I can break it down to 2 options (leave blank, mark it, and write on white board your options)
I have no idea (leave blank, mark it and write ? on white board)
Time 1-is your first go through. Familiarize yourself with the questions. Try to only answer the questions you know. If there is a question you kinda know (or like don't know but feel you can answer because of process of elimination) answer that but also mark that question. The second time you go through the test, you going to (SLOWLY) re-look at this. Is my gut right? Is there something I missed-key term! For instance I guessed on one but chose to mark it and go back. Originally it seemed like a right answer. However the second time I went through, I noticed it said hospital (which I noticed before, but this time I was taking my time so it stood out) and I remembered that more often then not hospital=refer out. The third option is that I have boiled it down to two answers-but I have no idea which one is more accurate. In this one, also mark it, But you also get a board that's dry erase. On these mark down the question and your a/c or b/d answer. Then when you go back and look through it again, see if one is more clear then the other. Or go back to the old rule of which one feels more like the book answer. In my practice test #2 this helped. Not all the time, but it very much did on one answer. The other question-I still at a loss for why that's the answer. Oh well. So this is time around 3-you have looked at it originally, you've probably looked at it when you went through go around 2, and you are now really breaking it down. Option 4-which can also be marked at go around 1 and can change from the subsequent go arounds, is the blank ones. The ones where I have no idea. My last time is to guess. But hopefully this is really small list by now. And even when I guess, I'm gonna do whatever I can (in the 4 freakin go arounds) to make an educated guess.
Another additive of this is it shows you what you know and what you have left. Honestly I'm not a over confident person. I'm totally a second guesser (for this reason I hate multiple choice). So I have few questions I can straight up answer. But I have noticed that I do have a lot of questions I can best guess answer. And some I can break down to at least 2 options. My complete guesses-hopefully they aren't that many. And that thought alone should be reaffirming.
If I do have too many "I have no idea questions" I'm gonna go back to the old rules. Look for key terms. Break it down. For Christ's sake simply it. Your probably over thinking it. Or you grad school program was kinda crappy and never taught you it. Piaget and Crisis theory-really guys!
Wish me luck.
Trying to plan to fail as a way to lower my anxiety, which usually causes me to fail these kinds of things.
So part of the test is not what you know, but learning how to actually take it.
a) mostly go with your gut
b) hopefully you should be able to get rid of 2 things off the bat. Then its just deciding which one is correct.
c) the test is not about "what would you do in this situation". Its about what would the book do in this situation. This factor is actually incredibly important. Most practitioners (except those that help design the test) agree that a lot of the situations are bs. It is really what you would do. Its more "in a perfect world, if I was a perfect practitioner" this is the conservative thought of what I would likely do. Not the same thing as what you would do. Crucial. If you've been able to boil your answer down between 2 answers-choose the more conservative one. Should help. ....this info was partially stolen from another blogger who did the test circa quite a few years ago. But most people who I've talked to who have taken the test recently agree.
d) need to know how multiple tests work, and what the test is trying to measure
What are they measuring?
- They are measuring what you can recall-direct info. Like what does ego mean? What is the 2nd stage in the helping process?
- They are measuring reasoning-advanced level of thinking
- They are measuring application-which is kinda recalling for and then putting into perspective
LGSW-far less reasoning. But also far less recall too. :(
So really Application is about
- what you can recall (there's often a key word in there somewhere that was once a vocab word)
- what is the placement/situation (this can play a big role)
A lot of the time, especially with reasoning questions-there is a key word like best, first, primary etc. This is gonna tell you more about what your really looking for. Its also a way of saying all these answers are probably right, but what answer is the one that is right and should be done first. (or what is preventative, or what is primary, etc)
Focus on just the question at hand. Do not add things to the question at hand. Which I interpret as don't really apply it to your practice. Cause in practice, you will likely always have more information. Here-what you've got is all you've got to work with. So boil it down....and then likely boil it down again. Pull out the most important information-where is it, why is it, what is it. What are you key terms?
Suggestions are:
a) try to predict what the answer is w/o looking at your options
b) break it down by two and decide from there (always taking the more conservative option or
c) guess.
It's been my experience in practice exams that I often feel totally overwhelmed from the beginning. None of it seems familiar and I instantly feel like I'm going to fail.
Having taken a practice exam again-I chose to be more deliberate. I really tried to break a part the question (or partialized it if you will) instead of looking at the whole thing and tried to determine what in that question looked familiar, even if all of it didn't.
And this kinda takes us to my friend's idea-which I tried...and seems to work. So here's my plan.
Not only am I going to go through the test 4 times, but each time I go through, I'm going to remember that I'm going to go though it 4 times. Almost everyone I know says you don't need the whole time to take it-so let's use that time wisely shall we.
Time 1: look over and mark 1 of 4 ways -
I know it (answer and leave it alone)
I think I know it (answer and mark it to look at again)
I can break it down to 2 options (leave blank, mark it, and write on white board your options)
I have no idea (leave blank, mark it and write ? on white board)
Time 1-is your first go through. Familiarize yourself with the questions. Try to only answer the questions you know. If there is a question you kinda know (or like don't know but feel you can answer because of process of elimination) answer that but also mark that question. The second time you go through the test, you going to (SLOWLY) re-look at this. Is my gut right? Is there something I missed-key term! For instance I guessed on one but chose to mark it and go back. Originally it seemed like a right answer. However the second time I went through, I noticed it said hospital (which I noticed before, but this time I was taking my time so it stood out) and I remembered that more often then not hospital=refer out. The third option is that I have boiled it down to two answers-but I have no idea which one is more accurate. In this one, also mark it, But you also get a board that's dry erase. On these mark down the question and your a/c or b/d answer. Then when you go back and look through it again, see if one is more clear then the other. Or go back to the old rule of which one feels more like the book answer. In my practice test #2 this helped. Not all the time, but it very much did on one answer. The other question-I still at a loss for why that's the answer. Oh well. So this is time around 3-you have looked at it originally, you've probably looked at it when you went through go around 2, and you are now really breaking it down. Option 4-which can also be marked at go around 1 and can change from the subsequent go arounds, is the blank ones. The ones where I have no idea. My last time is to guess. But hopefully this is really small list by now. And even when I guess, I'm gonna do whatever I can (in the 4 freakin go arounds) to make an educated guess.
Another additive of this is it shows you what you know and what you have left. Honestly I'm not a over confident person. I'm totally a second guesser (for this reason I hate multiple choice). So I have few questions I can straight up answer. But I have noticed that I do have a lot of questions I can best guess answer. And some I can break down to at least 2 options. My complete guesses-hopefully they aren't that many. And that thought alone should be reaffirming.
If I do have too many "I have no idea questions" I'm gonna go back to the old rules. Look for key terms. Break it down. For Christ's sake simply it. Your probably over thinking it. Or you grad school program was kinda crappy and never taught you it. Piaget and Crisis theory-really guys!
Wish me luck.
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