The Licensure Examination for Teachers or LET is a major stepping stone for every aspiring teacher in the Philippines. It’s a huge cause for excitement, anxiety, and stress. Taking the LET is a huge turning point that determines your future and if you passed, a whole new set of doors will be opened. On the day of the examination, you need to be prepared to be in your best condition to answer the meticulously written test questions. Concentration, good memory, reading comprehension, and adequate preparation are the keys to that will help you to get that passing score for the LET.
But not everyone knows the steps to acquire their optimal condition when the time for the exam arrived. And this causes a lot of stress and worry that just worsens their concentration and focus during examination. But worry no more, in this article we’re going to look into tips and tricks that will help you focus and pass the LET.
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The Day of the Exam
You’ve already done your preparations and gotten plenty of rest and now it’s the day of the LET. It’s normal to be stressed or anxious because this exam gets to determine your future. While sitting down and taking your exam, there are a couple of tricks and techniques that can help you focus and pick the right answers for your paper.
Focus on One Question at a Time
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you first saw the myriad of questions on your test paper and feel that there’s not enough time to answer them all. But it’s important to remain relaxed enough for your brain to focus and concentrate on your exam, don’t let the anxiety make you rush through your exam. Yes, it’s recommended to answer the questions as fast as possible, but you could also misunderstand the questions if all you’re focusing on is answering them with rapid speed. Focus on one question at a time, this will help you understand the question and get to the correct answer faster than trying to read the questions fast without comprehension.
You also don’t want to be thinking about what’s the answer to the next question when you’re not done with your current one or if your answer to the previous question is wrong or correct. Focus on answering your current question first and double-check to see if you’re confident with your answer before proceeding to answer the next question. This will help you to efficiently breeze through the exam with minimal mistakes.
Snack on Brain Foods During the Exam
Did you know that you’re allowed to bring your food and eat during the LET? Along with drinking plenty of water, it’s important to be selective with foods to snack on while you’re taking the LET. Select the snacks to eat that can help boost your focus and concentration and not junk foods that are unhealthy and weighs you down during the exam. Here are the recommended foods to help boost your performance:
Read: 11 Foods to Eat to Increase Brain Capacity
1. Dark Chocolate
The darker the better. It’s an easy snack to bring to the LET. Dark chocolate is also a highly recommended snack to eat while you’re studying for the LET. This is because dark chocolate among other varieties of chocolate contains the highest amount of cocoa. Cocoa helps enhance memory and concentration in performing mental tasks. It’s also linked to improving the brain’s elasticity which helps improve the brain’s capacity to learn. Lastly, dark chocolate helps in boosting the mood by increasing the production of endorphins in the brain, a neurotransmitter linked to happiness, this can help you feel less stressed and anxious during your LET.
2. Blueberries
Like dark chocolate, blueberries are capable of enhancing the memory and learning capacity of the brain because it’s really good for increasing the elasticity of the brain. This is possible because blueberries can help in making new connections between brain cells.
3. Walnuts
Snacking on walnuts during the LET is highly recommended because it can help you concentrate harder and give you sharper memory.
4. Broccoli
Yup, broccoli. You can bring this in a Tupperware to snack on during your LET. Broccoli is the ideal superfood that’s great for the brain. It’s rich in nutrients and antioxidants that keep your brain healthy and in top shape. In addition to giving you extra energy to take your test, broccoli can also enhance your cognitive functions.
You can also eat these recommended foods when you’re preparing for your LET to help you focus on your reading materials as well as to retain and sharpen your memory.
Read: 16 Foods to Supercharge Your Brain
Get Adequate Sleep
Make sure that on the prior week and the night before the LET that you got adequate rest and sleep. Sleep is important to help rejuvenate your body and to freshen your mind. You don’t want to wake up on the day of the exam only to feel too tired to get out of bed and too sleepy to answer your exam paper, do you? Also, don’t forget to get adequate sleep on nights prior the LET because one sleepless night could take about four days for your body to recover from and would prevent you from doing your 100% on the day of the LET.
Use Breaks Efficiently
During breaks for the LET, make sure to take an adequate amount of rest and an adequate amount of activity. Your brain and body need adequate time to freshen itself after a couple of hours of sitting for the exam and answering questions. Take a seat and meditate to help relax your brain and to prevent it from overthinking. This is to help you be ready and feel refreshed after the break to take on another test of the exam. Additionally, after meditating, don’t forget to take a short walk to help your restimulate your body and to get the kinks out and stiffness out of it. This is how to efficiently use the break time you’re given for the LET and allow yourself to get downtime and to keep your blood flowing to prepare yourself for the next set of test for the LET.
Believe in Yourself
Don’t let self-doubt ruin your taking of the LET. You’ve adequately prepared for it and it’s now time to prove that you are deserving of getting that license to teach. Stay positive and stop giving yourself a hard time whenever you stumble upon a question you don’t know the answer to. Skip that question and come back to it after you’ve finished the entire test. You’ll see that you’ve gained some perspective after focusing your energy on different questions on the test. As long as you believe in yourself, you’ll always have a fighting chance of staying focused, choosing the right answer, and passing the LET to become a professional teacher.
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Read: 16 Foods to Supercharge Your Brain
Preparing for the LET
Of course, all the advice above will not be done if you didn’t put in the hard work before the exam and that studying as a preparation to take the LET. This is the most reliable way to pass the LET. Don’t rely solely on luck and stocked knowledge when you take the LET. Preparation is key to take you into battle and here are some tips and tricks for you to prepare and be in optimal condition on the day of the exam.
Create a Regular Schedule for Studying for the LET
It is highly recommended to start studying for the LET months before it’s happening. This time before the LET is the perfect opportunity to develop your study schedule that if you consistently follow, will allow you to retain more information and develop better concentration for the LET exam. Set aside 2-3 hours in your day just for purely studying your materials for the LET and do this consistently every day. This is much preferable to having one big and long study session as it prevents your brain from getting overloaded with information.
Find the Perfect Study Space
There is such a thing as the perfect study space and you should find your own and utilize it until the day of the exam. The perfect study space should not be on your bed as your brain already associates it to sleeping making your study sessions less than ideal. Find a study space where you can’t see your bed and somewhere ideally outside of your room. It should be free of clutter and have enough space to fit in the things you need for studying. It should also be bright so you don’t strain your eyes and makes concentrating easier.
Use Practice Test Questions
Lastly, use every practice test questions you have available. This is stimulating the testing environment to help practice your mind to concentrate only on your paper and the generated questions are closely similar to what’s going to appear in the LET. This practice test questions will help you develop strategies in answering trick questions to give you a taste of the real deal.
Read: 11 Foods to Eat to Increase Brain Capacity
References:
Five tips and tricks to stay focused on a test. (2015, September 24). Retrieved from https://www.toeflgoanywhere.org/five-tricks-help-stay-focused-test-day
How to pass the LET (licensure exam for teachers) in one take! (2019, February 24). Retrieved from https://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/prcgov/tips-to-pass-let-teachers-board-exam/
Jennings, K. (2017, May 09). 11 best foods to boost your brain and memory. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-brain-foods#section4
Sengupta, S. (2018, March 05). Board exams 2018: 7 healthy tip & techniques for a good score. Retrieved from https://food.ndtv.com/health/boardexams-special-7-healthy-ways-to-ace-your-exam-1666600
Vats, V. (2019, February 15). How to focus well during exams without stressing. Retrieved from https://www.onlymyhealth.com/how-to-focus-well-during-exams-without-stressing-1550214651
