As the end of the school year draws closer, so do finals; and when it comes to tests, our teachers have a little advice for preparing for the end of year.

“When studying for tests, it helps you know what the core of the unit is about,” Frederick Young said. “It is always better to study for a test as far out as possible for students to fully understand.”

A lot of students study the night before for a subject’s exam, but teachers find that this is an unsuccessful way to absorb information that students need.

“Begin studying for a test after you receive the 1st day of material,” Cathy Metcalf said. “If a student begins going over the material at the beginning then they won’t be overwhelmed the day before the test.”

This also allows students to take less time studying. Teachers say a few minutes is all you need to memorize everything you need for the test.

“Just review what was taught that day and the previous days for 10 minutes,” Metcalf said. “It really doesn’t take a lot of time for students with after-school activities.”

However, when it comes to math you can’t study like all the other subjects. Math can require many other study tools and for AP calculus teacher Sonja Venable, she lets her students record her lessons and teaches them a tagging method.

“Tagging has always helped me study for math subjects,” Venable said. “You pretty much tag the important information you need to solve a problem and you can easily find it later in your notes.”

For other math teachers, practice is all you need to learn the different functions.

“Go back and rework problems from the homework and quizzes,” Young said. “You have to look at what most answers look like when you finish working them out, and how they can ask the same questions differently.”

Also, most teachers understand the struggles of tutorials, and have some tips for coming prepared.

“ To get the most out of tutorials, always go in with a decent idea of what you do know how to do and what you do not know how to do,” Young said. “ So be sure to study before attending. This makes the learning easier for you and the teaching easier for the teacher.”

But with final exams coming up, all teachers want is you to try hard and do your best.

“I know asking teachers can be intimidating,” Metcalf said. “So try to have a study group. Being able to ask other students to explain a difficult concept can help students succeed for any upcoming test.”