LET Tips: Review/Study Strategies (REPOST)

...Hello there..long time no post aye?...I still am doing my thesis which will be the most groundbreaking and most controversial thesis in the history of education....hahaa...It has been two years since I started conceptualizing and doing this thesis of mine and thankfully I am about at 75% of it. Some of you may wonder why it has taken me almost two years to do my thesis and I already have explained it on my previous post. Anyway, sloth has visited me again so I wanted to have a hiatus for a night from doing my usual tasks. So aside form watching TV and Facebook-ing, I decided to update this blog since LET again is just around the corner.
     According to my blog stats, my post on LET Tips has received a lot of comments and page views. I then thought that why not make another post about this but this time, on my own personal experiences on reviewing and studying my LET notes. Again, you may or may not apply my tips. If you find these useful to you, apply it. If not, then create your own strategy that best fits your personality and thinking style..

1. Have the TOS (Table of Specifications) for LET. Take note that EED and SED and their corresponding majors have different TOS. You may ask your dean or the PRC for a copy or you may check online for available e-versions. Why is the TOS important? Of course, TOS will give you the parameters on the things you need to study and review. This would also give you the information on which topics you need to be focusing on. You don't want to waste your time and energy on topics that would even not be in the exam.

2. Prepare your long-term time frame/schedule. This still depends on you. On my personal experience, I prepared which topics I would be studying each week and how many days would I dedicate studying these topics. Again, refer to the TOS. Don't focus a whole week on just Gen Ed only or Prof Ed or Major. In a week for example, you have to have an allocated topics for both the Gen Ed and Prof Ed including the Major Subjects.

3. Prepare your daily schedule. I know some of those who take the LET review full-time while others review in-betweens because they are employed. I myself managed my schedule during my preparation for LET since I was a full time tutor from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM. This however is not an excuse for you not to study and review. Again, allocate which three parts of LET will you be studying in a certain time. For instance, if you dedicate 6 hours of your day studying (e.g. 6:00 PM to 12:00 MN), then always  make sure that you reach the quota of 6 hours a day. You may have 2 hours for Gen.Ed, 2 hours for Prof Ed and 2 hours for the Major. Now, if you think you're too tired not to review in a certain time, make sure to make up the hours that you failed to study. If you're too sleepy at 11:00-12:00 MN, make up that 1 hour lost by allocating extra hour the day after perhaps early in the morning or extending your study time from 6 to 7 hours.

Preparation of Instructional Materials: C-V-C Bottles

    Let me just share to you some of the instructional materials that my students and I prepare during our class. This is C-V-C bottle made form recycled bleach (Zonrox) bottle. This is intended to teach basic words for young students and to develop their phonics.
   Please watch out because I would also start  posting some pictures of our projects. I hope teachers and students would get ideas from our projects and will apply them in their own classrooms.
   So here it is, hope you can apply this also in your classroom teaching...

Teaching in College and Elementary Students

     It has been a semester since I started college teaching in my alma mater. And I actually find it funny that my teaching jobs are all in the schools where I graduated from. This moonlighting stint of mine started when I posted a labor day rant about my “insufficient income” and how I desired to have another job (because 75 percent of my income is all eaten up by a loan, hay…family problems). 

     Apparently and perhaps I would say fortunately, the dean, who was my former teacher, saw my post and suggested me that I would apply as a part-time instructor in the university. I was happy then because it was answered prayer in my part. Of course, I have gone through all the SOPs of applying and I was glad that I was given two courses to teach.

    I was quite inspired teaching college students because I thought that I could share a lot to them. In fact, I wrote this blog for college students and soon-to-be teachers in the hopes of inspiring them and at the same time help them top the LET. And also perhaps the main reason why I was hired is to “inspire” education students in my college who I once was. This time however, I would be sharing my thoughts not only online but to real students face-to-face. 

    On the first weeks of my teaching, all things went well perhaps because this was just a getting-to-know stage. I think that my students are all smart and enthusiastic. As time goes by, I gradually find teaching college students challenging. And I couldn’t help comparing students in elementary (where I primarily teach) and in college.