Education Exam Prep

Education Exam Prep

By Ran Chen, EA, CFP®EducationHow ToCourses
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Education Exam Prep episodes

  • ParaPro Exam Prep 16, Teaching Comprehension Strategies
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - The difference between active comprehension strategies (favored on the exam) and passive ones like round-robin reading (a common trap).
    - How to apply the four steps of reciprocal teaching: predict, question, clarify, and summarize.
    - The importance of teacher modeling through think-alouds to help students make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections.
    - How to use the before, during, and after reading framework to structure comprehension activities.
    - Why graphic organizers are a critical tool for scaffolding and helping students visually organize information from a text.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    5 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 15, Reading Foundations — Phonics and Phonemic Awareness
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - The critical difference between phonemic awareness (auditory skill) and phonics (print-based skill).
    - That phonemic awareness is a prerequisite for phonics and develops first.
    - How the ParaPro exam uses classroom scenarios to test your ability to distinguish between these two skills.
    - To identify common exam traps, such as recommending phonics practice for a purely auditory problem.
    - A memorable phrase to recall the distinction: "Phonemic awareness is all ears; Phonics is eyes on print."
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 14, Literal vs Inferential vs Evaluative Comprehension
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - The definition of literal comprehension and how to locate answers that are explicitly stated in the text.
    - How to identify inferential comprehension questions that require you to “read between the lines” using textual clues.
    - The function of evaluative comprehension, which involves judging a text's credibility, bias, and purpose.
    - The most common exam trap: mismatching the question's level (e.g., inferential) with a different type of answer (e.g., a literal detail).
    - A memorable mnemonic to categorize questions: "Look" (Literal), "Think" (Inferential), and "Judge" (Evaluative) to focus your approach.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 13, Fact vs Opinion
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - How to define a fact as a statement that can be objectively proven true or false.
    - How to identify an opinion by looking for subjective language and value judgments like 'best' or 'should'.
    - To recognize common ParaPro exam traps, such as sentences that mix factual details with opinionated claims.
    - How the ParaPro Assessment tests this reading comprehension skill using passages and standalone sentences.
    - A simple mnemonic to quickly differentiate between the two: 'Facts can be found, but opinions are felt.'
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 12, Summarizing and Paraphrasing
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - The key difference between a summary (shorter, main ideas only) and a paraphrase (similar length, specific details).
    - How the ParaPro Assessment tests your ability to identify the best summary from a list of options.
    - To recognize common exam traps, such as answer choices that are too detailed, copy original wording, or focus on minor points.
    - How to apply summarizing skills in a classroom context, a key component of the ParaPro exam.
    - A memorable mnemonic, 'Somebody Wanted But Then So,' to effectively summarize narrative texts.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 11, Vocabulary in Context
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - How to define unfamiliar words using the four main types of context clues: synonyms/antonyms, definitions, examples, and the general sense of the passage.
    - How the ParaPro specifically tests vocabulary in context, focusing on application within a reading passage rather than standalone definitions.
    - How to identify and avoid the most common exam trap involving multiple-meaning words where the most familiar definition is an incorrect answer choice.
    - A simple strategy for using prefixes, suffixes, and roots as an additional tool to determine a word's meaning.
    - The memorable phrase "Context is King" to help you prioritize textual evidence over pre-existing knowledge during the exam.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 10, Text Structure
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - How to identify the six main types of text structure on the ParaPro exam.
    - The critical role of signal words like 'because,' 'however,' and 'next' in determining organization.
    - Common exam traps, such as passages that mix multiple structures, and how to identify the primary one.
    - A simple mnemonic, "Can Queen Cathy Play Drums?", to remember the key text structures.
    - How to apply your knowledge by matching text structures to appropriate graphic organizers like Venn diagrams and flowcharts.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 9, Author's Tone and Mood
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - How to define tone as the author's attitude, which is revealed through specific word choice (diction).
    - How to define mood as the emotional atmosphere or feeling that the passage creates for the reader.
    - The most common exam trap: confusing the author's tone with the reader's mood.
    - How to analyze word connotation (e.g., 'slender' vs. 'gaunt') to accurately identify the author's tone.
    - A memorable mental shortcut: 'The author sets the TONE, but the reader gets in the MOOD.'
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 8, Author's Purpose and Point of View
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - To use the PIE mnemonic (Persuade, Inform, Entertain) to quickly identify an author's primary purpose on the ParaPro exam.
    - How to distinguish between persuasive and informative writing by analyzing language for facts versus opinions and charged words.
    - To identify the narrative point of view (first, second, or third person) by spotting key pronouns like 'I,' 'you,' and 'he/she.'
    - How to avoid a common exam trap where an entertaining story is used to serve a persuasive goal.
    - That Author's Purpose and Point of View are critical skills tested in the Reading section, which makes up one-third of your ParaPro score.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min
  • ParaPro Exam Prep 7, Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions
    This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.
    In this episode you will learn:
    - An inference is an educated guess based on textual clues combined with your background knowledge.
    - A valid inference for the ParaPro exam must be directly supported by evidence in the passage; it cannot be a leap in logic.
    - Beware of common exam traps, such as answer choices that are possible but not textually supported, or those that merely restate a fact.
    - Inference questions often use keywords like "suggests," "implies," or ask what conclusion can be drawn.
    - A key classroom application is modeling "think-alouds" to teach students how to connect text clues with their own knowledge to make inferences.
    For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
    4 min

About Education Exam Prep

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Education Exam Prep is a free, daily podcast by OpenExamPrep covering the most in-demand teacher licensure and education certification exams — including Praxis Core, Praxis Subject Assessments (Math,…