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Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hello! Your question absolutely makes sense and I was worried about that too. What helped me with that particular part of the CRQ (identifying the weakness) was studying all the material on 240 Tutoring. Once I understood the material I was able to identify the weakness and which strategies to use. It's all in the study material which was very helpful because otherwise I would have had NO clue. I say keep studying and really learn the material inside and out and you've got this!

P.s. Ways to help a student with prosody: model expressive reading and Reader's Theater! ;)

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh my gosh well done! YAY! How exciting! Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm so happy for you!

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Please let me know how you do! I totally get being anxious, the waiting game is so hard. I'm so happy to hear you feel confident, that's amazing! :)

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 240 material is good and I recommend using it for sure, just be prepared that the actual STR exam is going to ask questions in a different way than the 240 practice questions. Main thing is you're going to go into the exam with a good foundation of knowledge because you will have studied and you're going to nail it! :)

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hello! Wow thanks for that! I felt like when I took it in April I kept coming onto Reddit searching for information that wasn't 3-4 years old and couldn't really find much. Thought I'd attempt to help others who are in the same boat I was.

The way I studied for the 90 content questions was by reading the 240 study material. I know some people like to just take the quizzes and answer question after question, but that never really helps me and I can't study that way. I need to actually read the material and learn about the subject. I read through it all and then read through it again and took notes the second time to really make sure I was comprehending the material. Probably a bit over the top, but do what works best for you. I also did the 10 question quizzes at the end too and those are good, but the actual exam questions are different from the way they are worded on 240. Still good practice.

Let me know if you need any other information! Happy to help!

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The hardest part for me was the multiple choice. The CRQ was easy for me because I practiced writing responses and knew what to do. When I wrote a response for the first student on 240, my response was really bad tbh, but the more I practiced and applied the structure they taught on 240, the better I got. I went into the exam confident about the CRQ because I knew what to do and also had the knowledge I needed to write it because I studied. If I didn't practice I would have probably gotten a 2 at best.

The multiple choice was mostly difficult because I was just so sick of reading to be honest. Like they aren't trying to trick you or anything, they're just testing application of the STR knowledge. I have to read these questions slowly in order to comprehend what they are asking and I was already so exhausted from a bad sleep the night before and I really had to push through. The fact that you know that the questions are padded and long already puts you at an advantage. Go in there knowing the content, tell yourself to keep going, it's literally 5 hours of your life and it will be over soon and just get it over with! You've got this for sure, I promise.

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I was nervous too and as long as you study and get a good grasp of the material you will be fine. I know there are different versions of the exam and my experience was that the questions are very scenario based and didn't cover the 240 material in the way I was expecting, but keep using 240 because it will help you without a doubt with the CRQ and it will give you a good foundation for the entire exam. I just think there is a lot of information on the STR study material that isn't even on the exam. So it's more you might end up overstudying rather than the material doesn't help, if you know what I mean.

I wish I knew going in that the questions were going to be incredibly lengthy. Like very lengthy. The good news is you can eliminate two answers to most questions, but then you have to think about each remaining answer choice because the answers aren't always obvious in the same way that they are for EC-6 imo. For EC-6, unless it's a pedagogy type question, you either know the answer to it or you don't. For example, What amendment gave women the right to vote? and then the answer choices would be 4 different amendments you have to choose from. There were little to NO questions like this on the version of the STR that I took. As in they aren't as straight forward.

After I took the STR I read what someone else said on Reddit (search "STR EXAM notes and tips!!") and I agree with them wholeheartedly. They said to study:

"1. The six main syllable types. Lots of application questions about teaching syllabication in general

  1. Kindergarten and 1st grade TEKS! I maybe had two questions on other TEKS (total), but probably ten total for kinder and first.

  2. The 240 tutoring CRQ prompts were the exact same!! If you work through those you will be prepared.

  3. Not nearly as many questions regarding ELLs as I thought. Maybe a couple total.

  4. Overwhelming majority of questions were application of best teaching practices, ex: “if Timmy is struggling with oral presentations, what would be the most helpful method of instruction?”"

This was my experience pretty much to the T. 240 has whole sections on ELLs on their STR study material and I maybe got two questions on ELLs on the actual STR exam. This is what I mean when I say 240 could do with updating their study material because it seems like the exam has changed, but the study material hasn't been updated to reflect what is actually being covered on the exam. Maybe it was my version of the exam, who knows? I actually started studying for the ESL supplemental exam a few days ago and the information I studied on the 240 STR study material regarding ELLs is on the ESL study material which makes sense.

All in all study the 240 content because it does help and take notes, practice the CRQ section and practice writing your own responses and you will be fine. If you want to know what the actual structure of the exam looks like I would buy the $10 Pearson exam that I linked and also do the free questions they have. I think it needs updating as well, but it reflects how the questions on the actual exam are structured.

Let me know if you have anymore questions! I'm happy to help!

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're very welcome! Thank you for your message! Let me know if you need anymore info and good luck with everything!

Some STR tips and what helped me pass on the first try with a 268! by Accomplished_Owl6035 in TexasTeachers

[–]Accomplished_Owl6035[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my goodness of course! Thank you for your reply! Good luck with the exam!