7 Tips to Pass a Test

Those who know me know that I hate tests. I think kids these days are given way too many tests, and that teachers spend too much time teaching to tests. It's one of the many reasons we homeschool and it's why I did a direct transfer (no SAT) to a college that doesn't do grades or tests! Passing a test doesn't necessarily mean you know the material, it simply means you have good test taking skills.

A few years ago, I became a Certified Professional Coder, meaning I am certified to extract diagnosis and procedure information from medical records and submit it for insurance purposes. It's a hard test. There are 150 exam questions and you have 5 hours and 40 minutes to complete it. You have to pass with 80% correct. I don't remember my score, but I do remember that I passed on my first try in 3 1/2 hours. It's not because I'm a great coder (I would say I'm a pretty basic coder), but because I have figured out how to take tests. Now, I give these exams a couple times a year. I feel terrible for some of the examinees. For some of them, it's their second or third or even fourth time taking the test and they still don't complete it by the buzzer. Here are some of my tips for taking tests. This is geared towards my experience with the CPC exam, but there will be some nuggets you can take away for any test,.

1. PREPARE: If it's an open book exam, highlight, write notes, draw diagrams, and tab the book. Anything you can do to make it easier to find information quickly. Study regularly, but don't bother the night before the exam. If you don't know it by now, you aren't going to learn it tonight. Instead, eat a healthy dinner, have ONE glass of wine if you need to relax, and go to bed early. The next day, get up early, eat a healthy breakfast, and get to the exam site 15 minutes early to claim your space and set up your area.

2. READ AND ELIMINATE: Read the question and then read the answers. You should be able to eliminate at least one. Cross it out and don't look at it again.

3. LOOK UP THE CODES: Don't code it out like you would in the real world. Go straight to the codes that are left and read them. Does one stand out as correct? Your first instinct is probably right. Do two codes seem correct? Compare them word for word. They ARE different and this comparison will give you the correct answer.

4. MOVE ON: Still stumped? Mark it on your test booklet and your scantron form and move on to the next question. You will come back to this question after you have answered all of the easy questions.

5. COME BACK: Once you have answered all of the easier questions, come back and spend a little time on the harder ones. But, know your limits. Anesthesia coding is hard, and we didn't spend much time on it in the class I took. I'm not an anesthesia coder and I really don't need to know that information, so I didn't waste my time trying, instead I focused on those questions that took a few minutes to tease out the answers.

6. GUESS: Have you done everything you could do? Did the proctor just announce that you have 10 or 15 minutes left in the exam? Got through everything you haven't answered and GUESS! You have  a 25% chance of getting it right if you do that versus a 0% chance if you just leave it blank.

7. TRY AGAIN: So, you failed your first test. If you used my tips, you probably didn't fail by much. Now you are familiar with the exam, the testing site, and you've studied those parts you didn't do well on (except, maybe anesthesia). You're an old pro at this, and you're going to pass the second time around.

Good luck on your exam! Please leave a comment if you have any test taking questions or have a tip that I've left out.

We Got a New Ice Cream Maker!

Having food allergies sucks. Marley is allergic to wheat and chicken eggs (and shrimp, but that doesn't effect her ice cream eating) and most good ice cream contains eggs. When I say good ice cream, I mean the stuff that has few ingredients. NOT the stuff with high fructose corn syrup and "natural" flavorings.

Of course, I jumped at the chance to test out the Ariete-DeLonghi stainless steel ice cream maker. Just like good ice cream has few ingredients, the ice cream maker has few parts. There is the jumbo freezer part, an ice cream bucket, a paddle to churn, the lid with an opening to pour, a spatula to scrape out the ice cream, and a measuring cup to pour the mixture into the bucket. I actually found it much easier to put my mixture into a large 4 cup measuring cup for easy pouring.

You can place your mixture into the ice cream maker either hot or cold. When I made gelato, I cooked the fruit down and I just could not wait for it to cool before I got started. It churned for the full hour and was nearly perfect. I scooped it out of the bucket and placed it in a container that I froze for about 20 minutes. After that, it was perfect. I also tried making ice cream from cold ingredients. It froze much faster. In fact, the paddle stopped churning after 45 minutes! I had to let it thaw a bit before I added our gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies.

I seriously have no idea how we have gone so long without an ice cream maker in our lives and I can't wait to share some of our recipes with you!

I did receive the ice cream maker at a promotional discount in exchange for testing and my honest review.

Spooky Spider Web Tutu

Dress up has always been a favorite past time in this house, and tutus should be worn as often as possible. I was given the opportunity to test out this sweet Halloween tutu. Unfortunately, it was not in my size, but when Marley saw it, she jumped at the chance to test it out for me. The tutu has three layers of tulle - the top layer is black and printed with shiny gold spiderwebs, while the second two layers are plain black.

What we really liked about this tutu is that the tulle layers are sewn onto satin covered elastic. Marley is very particular about the way her clothes feel. Tags always have to be cut out, and there is no way she could wear a tutu without leggings underneath. She often can't keep them on for an extended period of time because the elastic will slide up and irritate her skin. The satin covered elastic means that she can tolerate wearing it for the day.

This item will fit most little girls ages 3 - 10. Marley wears a US size 10 and it fits now, but it won't fit next year. I was able to order this tutu at a promotional discount in exchange for testing and my honest review. You can purchase yours here.