Taking finals at home is a different experience to say the least. The comfortable confines of your couch or bed can suddenly play host to a moment of extreme pressure and stress.
Follow these simple tips to ace your at home finals and go into summer break feeling good!
1. Give your housemates including pets a heads up
Make sure to let those you live with know that you will need quiet and privacy during your final. When taking the test close any doors to the room you’re in and leave a note reminding everyone to stay out!
Also be sure to keep pets under control. Yes, it’s nice to stroke your doggo’s head when stressed, but barking and sudden paw swipes at your keyboard are not what you need come test time.
2. Don’t get stuck shouting “WHY Wifi!?!”
Your home internet connection is what it is, but there are some steps you can take to ensure it is working its best when you take your test. Be sure to shut off all devices on your network except the one you will be taking the test on. This includes asking your housemates nicely not to binge-watch Tiger King for the eighth time during your exam.
In an emergency, don’t forget you might be able to use your cell phone as a mobile hotspot, allowing you to grant internet access to your computer via Bluetooth. This comes in handy should there be a power outage or spotty wifi.
3. Use music to focus
This is one of the huge perks of an at-home final. Pick out a playlist of music that will calm and focus you during your test and drown out any unwanted noises that might come up.
You can also utilize music to help you remember what you have studied. Assign a unique song to each of the different categories you’ll need to know on the test. While studying, listen to the song assigned to each topic as you review them. On the exam, replaying these songs for the different sections can actually jog your memory and help put you into the right mindset for the material.
4. Don’t cheat. Ok, hear us out here…
Yes, at-home test-taking is an open invitation for cheaters and the cheater curios amongst us to attempt to gain an edge. Despite technology and teachers’ best efforts, at-home tests can be gamed. But you shouldn’t! Ask yourself, is the only reason that you don’t cheat on tests because you are worried about being caught? Morals should apply whether in class or not when it comes to test-taking and all other things in life.
It also goes without saying that you are cheating yourself. The day will come where the material on your take-home test is necessary knowledge for future in-class tests. Learn the lessons now and you’ll know them for the future, when you might not have as much free time to prep.
5. If open-book, be prepared!
Many open book tests are designed to prevent cheating by requiring you to show your work. If this is the case for your exam, don’t wait until the test starts to pull up the resources you plan to use. Make sure to have your notes out and Numerade open in a tab before the test begins.
Numerade is full of short lesson clips that can help you quickly learn how to approach problems in your open-book tests — even as you take them. Prior to your exam you can even create a playlist of relevant lessons on Numerade to have at your fingertips during the test.
6. Last but not least, study, study study
Stuck at home, many of us have seen our time spent on extracurricular activities and socializing greatly reduced. With all of this freedom in our schedules it might be tempting to play video games, take up new hobbies, and finally learn to play the oboe. The thing is, there is time for all of that and to study more than ever.
Blocking out a part of your day to study will help you keep a schedule and stay motivated during social distancing. Numerade is here to help you with 250,000 video lessons around the subjects your studying in school. If you feel like you’re not understanding a certain topic, or need help with HW, we are here to help.
