Summary and Synthesis

All I could say when I finished taking the test was "wow."  The test was very challenging and required a great amount of deep thinking and sense-making.  I felt like I was prepared to take the exam because I went over the study guide countless times and read the chapters/readings that were assigned to us.  But after taking the test I realized that the study guide wasn't going to help me on the test because it was all about the connections and sense-making.  This was very different from every other exam and I believe that was a reason why I thought it was more difficult.  This test, however, taught me so much from simply going over the exam in class.  When I saw my mistakes, I could go over the thought process I took to find the answer and compare it to the thought process I should have taken.  This helped me because I can use the information I gained to become a better test taker and teacher.  As a teacher, I must require my students to use deeper thinking to develop a deeper understanding of the material.  I must also be able to show my students the connections that need to be occur in order to develop the deeper understanding.