1. I set up my Learning Express Account and was very pleased to find so many useful resources. I feel this resource would be especially useful for our guidance counselor as well. I like how they have each section divided up according to the audience looking for a practice test. I did not realize there was a central location for practice tests such as this.
2. I took part of the reading comprehension test because I have a 'project student' that I'm trying help regarding her ability to comprehend what she reads. The test is very much what I remember of a standardized test. I believe this would be very helpful in providing students with some practice tests leading up to our spring tests. I also looked at the spelling/vocabulary tests as well. I was expecting them to be more introductory and to help struggling students. However, I found them to be at a quite advanced level.
3. I teach life skills concepts such as building resumes and interviews. I looked through some of the downloadable books and found them to be very informative. I can really see these being very helpful for indepedent study students and as a regular classroom resource. These are great!
4. The first term I typed in was 'Food Safety' in hopes that sample Serve Safe tests would be available. However, it didn't appear that there were any unless I just missed them. I was glad to see that there are sample realtor tests, postal worker tests, electrician tests, etc. I think these would be great tools when kids have an interest in these occupations. They can take a look at the test to see what type of knowledge and ability would be required to pass a test of that caliber. Sometimes, students have lofty ideas of their career dreams without considering their natural talents, abilities and willingness to acquire the required training.
Overall, this is a great resource. Our administration continually asks us how we will help prepare our students for the state tests. I will be setting aside some time to utilize these tests. Even though they're not super closely related to my content area, if kids improve their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills- they will do better in all content areas. Thanks for sharing this resource- I really look forward to utilizing it! I'll also be passing this along to our guidance counselor and administration.
Thanks for your comments, kr! The ways you have described using Learning Express sound very solid to me. As you learned, Learning Express does not cover every occupation, but it does have quite a few. Please note that in addition to the ebooks with resume info, there is a course under "Job Search & Workplace Skills." I'll also mention the "Test Taking Skills Improvement" test under College Prep & Jobs & Careers Centers. Thanks for spreading the word about this free resource.
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