Neetin Agrawal is Senior Vice President, Knowledge at Toppr. He is an IIT Madras alumnus, having completed his B.Tech in Electronics in 2006. Altogether, he holds a decade-long experience in teaching young learners. He has mentored multiple top-100 rankers in JEE Advanced/ IIT-JEE. Neetin was a Professor of Physics at leading institutions in Kota including Bansal Class and Vibrant Academy for nearly 6 years. Subsequently, he founded an edtech company Dronstudy in 2015. More than 1.5 million students have benefited from DronStudy across platforms. Besides his active role as a teacher, Mr. Agrawal has authored 3 popular books on IIT-JEE Physics. He also loves to share his thoughts on education through articles and authored pieces.
The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains 2022 registrations are underway and the first session is scheduled for April. This being one of the most important examinations of their lives, it is only natural that students feel pressured and stressed out. Teachers can play a very important role at such a time, strengthening students both academically and emotionally. Here are 5 strategies that teachers can use:
Customised Timetables
One major support that a teacher can provide in terms of test preparation is to help students create a customised timetable. Every student has his/her strengths and weaknesses. You can help your students identify the topics they are strong or weak in and then help them divide the time appropriately. More time can be allotted to topics the student is weak in. Additionally, you can also divide the time based on the marks weightage of each chapter. Helping each student develop his/her own 1 month or 15-day preparation strategy will build self-confidence and improve their exam performance.
Reference Material
Another strategy is to suggest the right reference and practice material for students. Most often, students rely on random web searches to learn a concept and look for mock tests online. However, the best way to learn is to choose one credible source and a test platform. You can suggest to your students the right platform, books, and learning material to focus on. This way, they will save time and improve productivity.
Mock Tests
Mock tests are another popular learning strategy. However, they are usually not done correctly. Students may simply glance through the mock test questions or choose to work on specific questions only. They may not track the time taken for solving each question or adhere to the actual duration of the exam. Teachers can make mock tests more useful by encouraging students to take these tests at the same time of the day as the actual examination. This will train them to be mentally active during that time of day. In addition, students can be asked to track the amount of time they take to solve each question and to get faster with each attempt.
All India Test Series
Test series are a great way of knowing where the student stands compared to other test takers. You can motivate your students to attempt All India test series for competitive exams. For those who perform well, it will serve as a good motivator. However, for students who fail to do well in these, you can help build their confidence by teaching tips and tricks to score better.
Negative Marking
Negative marking is another area of focus that teachers can help students with. There are several ways in which students can avoid negative marking. For instance, they should read questions carefully and identify tricky elements. Instead of focusing on completing a certain number of questions, they should complete easy questions first. Moreover, they should avoid guessing answers to difficult questions. Rather, they can spend the time to verify the accuracy of attempted questions.
These are 5 strategies you can adopt to prepare your students for the upcoming JEE Mains examination. You can also use the SuperTeacher platform to assign timed and graded tests to students and to assess them through All India test series.