It's been awhile since my last entry, right?
That's because I've gone back to schooool!
It's been... interesting...
because I'm quite the grown-up compared to most of my classmates.
Sometimes, when those youngsters are talking,
I'll catch myself staring at their smooth skin and bright hair.
But then I'll remind myself:
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Anyhoo, before I could start my classroom journey, though,
I had to take a test.
Or rather, three tests.
Three BIG tests.
The CSETs are for prospective teachers,
and are on everything, and I mean
EVERYTHING.
I had to study English,
social studies and history from the ancient world to modern times,
science from the atoms to the stars,
algebra and geometry,
PE, dance, and art,
the visual and performing arts,
music,
and
child development.
Phew!!
Well, since I did a Google search of "passing the CSETs"
and got some good info, I thought I'd return the favor.
You're welcome, internet.
First off, don't wait till the last minute to study.
Look at that list above again.
I started about two weeks before,
and it would have been a lot less stressful if I had given myself a month.
I bought this book...
... and even though it was the most boring book
in the history of the wooooorld, the practice tests were helpful.
I made notes in a notebook of the areas I was weaker in.
I would go back through the notebook
instead of that brick of a book to review.
Since they were written with preteens in mind,
the writing was clear and pretty engaging.
It REALLY helped me with history to go through these books.
For math, I used the online Khan Academy:
I cannot praise this website enough.
If you've got a kid struggling with math,
I really recommend you check it out.
One other resource I used?
The Animaniacs!
I defy anyone to forget Magellan's fate
after watching Yakko, Wakko, and Dot's
tuneful rendition of The Ballad of Magellan.
The day of the tests, I felt... ready-ish.
But I got myself psyched up, and then it was
The test wasn't super-hard, but I gotta say:
taking all three at the same time is grueling.
It was five hours straight, no breaks,
staring at a computer screen.
I would have a hard time doing something I liked
for that long!
(Thank you for that joke, Rita Rudner.)
So, how did I do?
I PASSED!!!
So now I can just focus on studying for my classes.
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