In order to be a teacher in this great state I need to take (and pass!) the Praxis I and the Praxis II. Last spring I took the Praxis I as a requirement for admittance into UVEI. That went well enough and I passed it easily. Not too stressful… or maybe enough time has passed that I forgot the details. :)
I was planning to take the Praxis II next spring. My understanding of the test was that it was all about teaching and learning methodologies, learner development, classroom management, etc. That’s what the Kindle study guide I have led me to believe. Last month, however, after talking to a few people in my UVEI class, I got a little panicked. They said it was just more in-depth into the subject areas (reading, writing, and arithmetic), and it’s only offered every few months, and it’s four parts and challenging, and you don’t want to be job hunting before you take the exam, and and and… I panicked. In as much as I ever panic. :) So I signed up then went on a surprisingly difficult quest to find a study guide. All said and done, I ended up with about two and a half weeks to study. The book started by suggesting an eight week study plan. Ha! I could never study for anything for eight weeks!
So I crammed. I took the practice test in my book and did awful. I was hoping that would focus my area of study, but instead it just showed I needed to study everything! My dear family was wonderful and supportive as I read about ancient empires at breakfast, studied chemistry late into the night, and sent them all skating so I could relearn my American history. A classmate at UVEI yesterday told me about an online practice test site (that for some reason never came up in my Google searches!) so I took a practice test last night and did only marginally better. The site recommended I study more. :)
The big day came today and I was feeling overwhelmingly under-prepared. The test I took is actually a combined test, including a math test, a reading/language test, a science test, and a social studies test. Each test gets scored independently and each state has their own passing test score. I found the Vermont minimum scores and hoped for the best. A few deep breaths, a little mental psyching, and I began. Sadly I was stumped on the very first question and I felt like I stayed that way for most of the test. I even ran out of time on the math test and had to guess at the last few answers, with the final countdown clock flashing in my face. Ugh!
At the end, after you’ve completed all four tests, they show your scores on the screen. I took a deep breath and clicked the “Show scores” button, hoping for a least the 165 bare minimum I needed to pass. I was floored when I saw my scores! The first was 195!! All were over the minimum, with the closest being the math test I rushed through at the end.
Passing scores in red, my scores in pencil.
I left the testing center thinking they must have changed the test and/or scores and not updated their website. There must be a problem. Maybe the computer was wrong. I don’t know. I felt like I did so awful, but the scores were so high!
Now I’m (not so) patiently waiting for the official test results to be posted. For some ridiculous reason they say it takes 12 days to post the scores online. The same scores they just showed me on the computer the minute I finished the test. Maybe there’s a good reason for the delay, I don’t know. The official scores will show the available score range, the average score range, and exactly what my scores are. Once I see that, I think I’ll believe it a little more. Boy will I cry if they changed the score ranges and my scores aren’t really that high!
The kids knew all about the test and that today was the big day. They gave me huge hugs and wished me luck when I left this morning. “Not just luck,” Lex said, “but the BEST of luck!” They took the bus home this afternoon, since I wasn’t at school, and when they got off the first thing they asked was how the test went. I told them I passed and they jumped around and yelled and celebrated with me. “That’s one step closer to being a teacher!” they said. I love when they count the steps for me. :)
Today marked the culmination of a few very hectic weeks at school and UVEI. Tomorrow I’m subbing, which is great classroom management experience without the stress of lesson planning, and Friday we have a district in-service day. That should be interesting. Certainly less stressful than today!
