By Cynthia Morihara, August 27, 2020 — After listening to a motivational speech from the Society of Leadership and Success of which I am a member, I learned that in order to accomplish something in life one must have both belief and desire. It is my belief and desire that I can obtain Pennsylvania teaching certification and licensing within the next year. After some research on the Internet, I discovered that my certification from Hawaii is not valid here, thus to start the certification process I must pass 5 Praxis exams with scores of approximately 83% each.
The subject covered on the exam subjects are reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and art. It is my desire that I can prepare for these 5 subjects in less than a year. My college background will help. I have a master’s degree in several credits past that, most of them in mathematics and science. Preparing for the exams will take additional help. First, I will go to the Khan Academy, a free website containing Praxis exams and preparatory materials. If necessary I will then look to study.com and Quizlet. I have ordered a Praxis preparation guide that will help me with reading, writing, and mathematics. At a used book store I bought 7 beautifully illustrated art history books most of which I will read in preparation for the art exam.
I have mixed feelings about writing. In high school history classes, I always fumbled with the essay questions and much preferred the multiple-choice. Perhaps Best Day will go a long way to help me feel more comfortable with the challenge of writing. In mathematics, I have gone up to Calculus 3. In doing so I realize I could have been an Engineer, a much saner profession than teaching in the public school.
At any rate, with some review, I should have no trouble with the mathematics portion of the Praxis. I prepare for Social Studies by reading the news and every World War II book that I can find. Two good friends of mine were history majors and I’m in awe of their extensive knowledge of the subject. Talking to them inspires me to research US and World History. Art was my undergraduate major. I am reading Jansen’s History of Art. Also, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a favorite place where I go and attend all the gallery tours. Perhaps I need to study up on contemporary art and aboriginal art next.
If I read as much as my sister does I would not worry about the reading portion of the test. However, reading the classics is not a normal pastime with me. During the practice test I found myself wasting much time because I had to read passages several times to get the meaning. I also need to review parts of speech and English grammar.
With some perseverance and luck, I hope to accomplish my goal. With desire and belief, I think I can study, I think I can. Study will be a better use of my time than watching Netflix which is what I have been doing a lot of up to now.