How I did it: I studied vocabulary words related to educational psychology for a while, just to get familiar with them, and brushed up on pedagogy and best practices in reading, math, and cooperative learning.  I also thought about some of the most successful lessons I taught and saw my teachers give and what made them work.  You end up writing a lot about what works in a classroom and how to improve on a situation given in the test.  Write quickly and efficiently -- the K-5 PLT is an all-written test with 9 essays, and only 2 hours to get it all done.  I almost didn't finish.

Lessons & tips: Keep up on your methods and pedagogy study.  Make a personal connection to what you see and what you actually want to do in your future classroom.  It is all about the successful, efficient classroom, and on the PLT your writing should prove that.  Good, clear writing skills are essential -- if your writing skills are poor, you won't communicate what you need to say in your essays.  Make sure you maintain a high level of scholarship on a professional level throughout your preparation -- read critical articles and research, and read a lot of excellent literature -- it helps expand your vocabulary and improve your writing skills.  Be a smart test-taker!

Resources: Talk to your education professors about anything they can suggest to you as you prepare for the PLT.  Good education professors will make you passing the PLT a goal of theirs as well.  You don't need an ETS prep guide -- you can't study for the PLT outside of knowing your stuff as a teacher.

Jun 22, 2010, 06:15PM PDT | 0 comments | 2 cheers