Don’t stress out over biology end of course exam preparation! It’s November now and for MANY of us, that means that the end of the semester is coming. In my school district, we are on a block schedule with semesters so I will get a new batch of students in January. The end of the semester means that the Biology kids will be taking their end-of-course state exam. Not only that, the holidays are rapidly approaching. The same occurs in May when we take our EOC for the Spring semester and many other school districts on a traditional year-long schedule take theirs as well.
No matter what time of year you are reading this, my goal is to give you some quick takeaways to easily prepare your students for the biology end of course test.
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TIP ONE | Biology End of Course Review Packet
Every semester I hand out an EOC review packet that covers the major parts of each domain on the Biology end of course test. I give them this packet ONE MONTH before the EOC. Now, it may seem too early, but we have to review so much content in preparation for one test, that I err on the side of over-preparation. I assign one section at a time with a due date that I check for completion. This reduces the overwhelm for students because it is quite a lengthy review guide. Once I’ve checked it, then we go over the answers and discuss the section. I may reiterate certain points that tend to come up on the test just to make sure they really get it.
TIP TWO | Task Cards, Stations, or Virtual Practice
The next thing I do is a few days up to a week before the EOC, I have them do a variety of different tasks and practices. In the past, I have done stations where there are several per domains of unit we learned or even task cards in small groups at their desks. Our county also pays for Progress Learning which is a platform with tons of questions and simulated tests to mimic the real eoc as best as they can. This year, we have a full week of prep that we built into our schedule to best prepare our students. Each day, I will spend the whole block on one of the five domains on the EOC. This way we can fully immerse in that unit and clear up any misconceptions students still have and solidify tier understanding. I can assign progress learning tasks for them to complete that will self-check and allow them to go back and redo them if they make below 80% (I set that grade).
TIP THREE | Biology End of Course Exam Practice
The day before the EOC I also give them a practice eoc test. This test typically has 50-60 questions, but the difference is that all of the units are mixed up (just like the real EOC). The students also see lots of graphs, diagrams, and reading passages that they must analyze that simulate what they will encounter on the eoc. Our Biology end of course test is online, so this year I am probably going to have them do their practice test on the computer.
So there you have it…three ways to make biology end of course exam preparation a breeze!
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