Testing so far

I have taken two of the three big tests for this last week before fall break. On Monday we had the Unit 5 test. I got 19/20 on that. Yesterday was written comprehension and expression, and I think I did okay on that as well.

The cumulative test for units 1-5 is tomorrow. I am about at the end of unit 2 with my studying. I spent much of the morning going over verb conjugations again. The problem is, now that I go back to Units 1 and 2 I have a lot more insight into the things we were learning back then but it also raises a ton of questions that I didn't know enough to ask when we went through it last time. It's hard to not get distracted by the questions because on the one hand we aren't necessarily supposed to have learned these things yet, but on the other hand when we write our sentences incorrectly on tests we get often docked.
There are only two ways to avoid being wrong. One is to stick with what you know. The other is to know what you are doing. I hate sticking to what I know, especially when my memory fails me so there isn't a lot I know for sure, so I sometimes try instead to know what I am doing. As a friend pointed out, we don't get rewarded for being creative. I have played it a little safer on tests since he said that, but I still like to push the envelope. What's the point in regurgitating something verbatim? What does that prove? However, if I can manipulate phrases and ideas in a new way and still not get it wrong, I have learned something valuable that I can use again when I need it.