Your girl passed her ‘Praxis: Art Content’ test yesterday!

Yes, you read that right, I don’t have to worry about that horrid test anymore and I am one more step closer to getting my certification! So with that being said I figured I’d share a little bit about my experience.

Before the test:

I was panicking. I didn’t know what to expect and I knew that they could ask me anything from what solvents are used and when or how certain materials are stored, to who painted something from the Renaissance Period that I’ve never seen. I was freaking myself out for weeks, reading through the study book that I bought and making notecards. I used Quizlets and played matching games with art movements and paintings that came from them. I had to prepare myself for it all, no matter how many people told me not to stress about it. I didn’t want to have to take the test more than once!

During the test:

I got to the testing center a few minutes before my 2 o’clock check in time- here’s a weird fact about the testing centers, you sign up for a 2:30 time slot but are required to be there no later that 2 PM. So why didn’t I just sign up for a 2 o’clock start time?? Beats me. So I got there early locked my phone and keys in a locker, put my eyeglasses on the desk for inspection and was searched with a metal detector. They take it super seriously and it was making me more nervous than I already was, I just wanted to sit down and take my test at this point. I was shaking when I finally sat down, as I still didn’t know what to expect to pop up on the screen in front of me. I hated the testing center- I’ve never taken a computerized test before and I didn’t like that I could hear everyone clicking away on their computers or that the door to the room kept opening and closing. It was distracting, even with the uncomfortable noise canceling headphones on.

I went through each question on the test and if I wasn’t sure of an answer I gave it my best guess by eliminating the answers that made absolutely no sense and “marked” it to go back to later. When I finished I went back through and slowly read each question carefully, being sure to read the full question especially on the ones I marked. Things can be missed or misread, if you’re taking the test make sure that you are looking for negation, where they sneak a all lowercase “not” in a question or slight differences in words with prefixes that you may miss if you are just skimming. Questions may have multiple answers that could work but the question is asking for the BEST fit, and you have to determine which works better than the others- so those slight differences may carry through into the multiple choice answers. That’s why I went through the questions a second time, after the initial rush of having to answer 120 questions that I’ve never seen before.

After thoughts:

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the number pop up saying that I passed the test.  I sat there in shock, blinking to make sure that it was real because it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be. Take a deep breath, cause it’ll be okay. They’re not trying to trick you. I was so relieved when the test was over. But I don’t know why I was freaking out so much. If you’re taking the Praxis test, or any other test for that matter, just take it one question at a time. And make sure that you breathe!

Now on to the Fundamentals test for me! Until next time!