School's starting, and that means tests are starting too. Here are some ways to score higher on classroom and standardized tests alike.

When you're studying for a test, the best thing to do is to write a summary of your material. It has been proven that writing things, then reading them helps them stick. There has also been a study that shows if you can do something six times, then you know how to do it. So if you can answer questions about your material and get the right answer to the same question six times, supposedly you know it. Also when you study, chewing gum is supposed to help you concentrate so pop in a piece while you're doing hard math problems.

Here are some actual test taking skills. If it is a standardized test, many schools let their children chew gum because it has been proven to help you concentrate and relax, so find out if you can chew gum. Read all of your answers before you choose one and if you don't know the answer try to use the process of elimination. The process of elmination would be like if I was asked, "How would you classify a cat?"

a) feline
b)canine
c)amphibian
d)reptile

I knew that a cat wasn't an amphibian or a reptile so I can make the best educated guess on which one I think it could be. Also eight times out of ten, your first instinct is the best answer, so unless you know for sure an answer is wrong, and another one is right, don't change it.

When you're doing fill in the blank questions and you don't know most of the answers you must be doomed because there are no choices right? Nope that is not true. Usually teachers and standardized tests ask the same question in a more confusing way. So look at the questions around the questions you can't answer, and the answer to one question may be in another question or answer. Oh, and if you have no idea or are running out of time, don't pick C. It has been proven that it is not the most used answer.

Last but not least, when you're answering a long essay question, you should have five paragraphs in this format:

introduction
paragraph
paragraph
paragraph
conclusion

Even if the answer is wrong they usually will not count all the points off because you wrote an organized response.

This is rebelborn here about to go read a book.
*click*