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Too many students struggle with multiple choice tests.

Often, this difficulty is not that they don’t know the material but rather because they haven’t learned how to take those tests well.

Listen in as Megan provides her top five tips so you stop losing points on tests. Specifically, she discusses habits for how to:

• pay attention to the design of the test
• make sure you’re reading the details in both questions and answers
• change your focus from finding the right answer to eliminating the wrong answer
• troubleshoot when you can’t actually write on the exam
• compare choices once you’ve narrowed them down,
• “work backward” to choose the correct answer, and
• discern what test-taking advice is ineffective and should be ignored

This episode originally aired as episode 158 on May 1, 2017.

The post 363: 5 Secrets to Taking Multiple Choice Tests Well appeared first on The College Prep Podcast.

Today’s podcast is a special interview with school leader, consultant and author Taryn Fletcher. She and Gretchen will be discussion Dr. Fletcher’s new book In All Lanes: Action Steps for New Leaders to Empower Black and Brown Students, Rethink School, and Transform Behavior.

Although this book is technically written for school leaders, we’ll be discussing Dr. Fletcher’s best practices through the lens of academic coaching as well. Including questions like:

• What does culturally relevant academic/EF/ADHD coaching look like?
• What skillsets do coaches need — both white AND black and brown coaches — to help ensure that we are all supporting students in resisting white supremacy culture in schools, rather than upholding it?

Listen in as Gretchen and Dr. Fletcher discuss all this, and a lot more!

The post 362: Best Practices for Empowering Black & Brown Students with Guest Taryn Fletcher appeared first on The College Prep Podcast.

Parents and educators often ask, “What order should we teach our students what academic skills?”

In this episode, Gretchen rethinks whether the Study Cycle, her model for teaching students how the brain learns, really should be the center of her academic toolkit.

In this fun and wide-ranging conversation, she and Megan discuss:

• how one Independent Study school is choosing to structure the lessons in the Anti-Boring Toolkit for their students
• the role that understanding brain theory plays in teaching students study skills
• how to start with the student’s need first,
• the difference between a curriculum and a toolkit,
• and more

The post 361: Does It Matter What Academic Skills We Teach Students First? appeared first on The College Prep Podcast.

If you want to prepare your student to get in the perfect college for them, there really is a clear front runner that you absolutely should be paying attention to.

In this episode, Megan breaks down the importance of making sure your core academics are as strong as possible. We cover:

• the two criteria for “success”: (1) getting INTO college and (2) graduating FROM college
• why a strong performance in core academic courses is so crucial
• the subjects you should focus on
• the academic skills you should focus on
• the role electives and activities do (and don’t!) play in college admissions,
• and more.

The post 360: The Absolute BEST Way to Prep for College Success appeared first on The College Prep Podcast.