I was so excited to go to school on Saturday. I only had to be there for 5-1/2 hours to meet the required 750 hours I needed to graduate. I also didn’t have to wear my scrubs, and I was taken off the rotation … but I wasn’t quite done yet. I still had my five school boards to take, so I decided I was going to study for awhile and then try taking the first one.
I think I was just getting anxious to take the tests, so I studied for about 45 minutes and then took the first one. The test was 100 questions made up of true/false, multiple choice and matching. It was just like our midterm tests only it was on all the chapters in our book.
I didn’t get a good feeling as I was taking the test. There were a lot of questions I did know, but I felt there were so many I didn’t. I needed an 80 to pass, which meant I could only get a maximum of 20 wrong. I finished the test and turned it in, and then waited for one of the teachers to grade it. I got a 73. I didn’t pass. I would have to take it over, but on another day.
The teacher asked if I wanted to take the second test. I should’ve said no and gone to study more, but I said yes. As I was taking this test I felt a little better. I really had a good feeling about this one. I sat in the office while it was being graded and I was very nervous. Once again, I got a 73 and didn’t pass.
One of the student teachers graded this test, and she had just taken these school boards herself only a couple of months ago. She advised me to not take any more, and to go back and study. She said to really study the chapters I felt I didn’t know. The bad thing about these school boards is that they don’t tell us which questions we got wrong. The good thing is that they are supposed to help prepare us for taking the state exam. Not just the possible questions that might be on it, but that if we do not pass, we won’t know which ones we got wrong and which ones we got right either.
I agreed with her that I needed to study more. I really felt dumb and was very upset with myself for not passing. I kept saying that I “failed.” Colleen was so nice about it and tried cheering me up by telling me I did not fail. That a 73 in any other school would be a C and would be a passing grade.
I really was so close and I do know which chapters I need to go over more. I got my binder back on Saturday, and I’ve been going through all my chapter notes and reviews. That binder is a great idea, and I’m so glad we had to do it. I started going through my notes and saw some of the questions on the school board and saw which ones I got wrong and which ones I got right. I’ve been going through my Exam Review Workbook and looking up the questions I don’t know in my textbook.
I’m going back on Tuesday to take tests 1 and 2 over and, depending on how I do, I’ll take the rest of them. I didn’t have a good feeling going into these tests on Saturday because I hadn’t studied too much. I had so many others things to finish up for school. Well, I’ve been doing a lot of studying lately, and I’m so determined to pass these tests!
It was really hard writing this entry and admitting I didn’t pass. I don’t want to have to do that again! How was it when you took your school boards? Did you pass the first time? Did you pass the state exam the first time you took it?