If you are taking summer school, you are most likely approaching your final exams. If you are not taking a summer class, tests probably loom in your more distant future, making them a little less threatening. However, if you are a student, you know that tests are not something to be looked forward to because of all of the pressure to do well. Ugh, talk about a summer buzz-kill.

If you are like me, preparing for a test is a very stressful occasion. You have to spend hours reviewing the materials, reteaching yourself everything you’ve forgotten, and then there comes the time when you walk into the classroom and actually take the test. By the end of those class periods, all I want to do is go home and bury myself beneath my blankets.

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You’ve spent all night cramming for your test, and just as you leave for class in the morning, your stomach grumbles, reminding you that it’s time for breakfast. So what do you choose? Perhaps it’s a pack of crackers from a vending machine, or maybe a quick bite of your roommate’s leftovers will do the trick. Don’t just settle for convenience food before a big exam. There are several brain foods out there that will increase your chance of getting that much-needed “A.”

Here’s a list of foods that will keep both your stomach and brain satisfied:

Blueberries: Whether in your oatmeal or yogurt, blueberries are one of the best brain foods. Studies have shown blueberries to improve motor skills in lab rats while also possibly reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s.

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How many of you are resolving to do better in school this year? I’m also inclined to believe that your New Year’s Resolution has something to do with diet or fitness. Why not go for a two-for-one New Year’s Resolution deal? Seriously though, new research suggests that girls who walk (or bike) to school not only reap the physical rewards of exercise, but they also perform better on tests.

The results of the study prove that commuting to school through physical activity (as opposed to a car or bus ride) gives girls a more competitive edge in the classroom. The more time spent walking or biking to school also equaled greater improvement. Those who walked more than 15 minutes scored higher on tests than the girls who walked less than a 15 minute commute. The findings held their credibility even after compensating for overall fitness and age.

Improved test scores could be due to the fact that walking and biking to school provides increased blood flow to the brain, not to mention additional time to reflect on the test to come. It’s widely accepted that exercise increases mental faculties. Memory, clarity and concentration are among the many brain functions that are said to be improved by exercising. It seems only logical that this would translate to higher test scores when taken advantage of first thing in the morning.

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This offer is expired. See current offers from The Princeton Review here.

The Princeton Review recently declared March 20th National Testing Day and offered free ACT, SAT, and PSAT practice tests to anyone who signed up. It was a great opportunity for students to become more familiar with the nerve racking tests and to find out which areas they struggled with the most.

Students who study with the Princeton Review are guaranteed to see results after studying with expert instructors and comprehensive study materials. The Princeton Review has small class sizes to guarantee personalized attention and customized courses to make sure you can attend a course at a time that is convenient for you.

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Taking the SAT, ACT, or PSAT is a nerve racking experience. I froze up my first time taking the ACT and didn’t finish the math section. I knew how to do it; it was just new and scary. It would have been awesome if I had been able to take a practice test beforehand. That way I would have known what to expect, how to pace myself, and known where to spend most of my time, based on my strengths and weaknesses.

Evidently the people at the Princeton Review have heard several people share my same concern. They have declared March 20, 2010 as National Testing Day they are offering a free full-length, SAT, ACT, or PSAT practice test to anyone who signs up.

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I got online to check my email and a few other things when a headline caught my eye and a picture of someone I know. A fellow Junior International Baccaulaureate classmate, Geoff Stanford, had recently caught an error in this year’s Writing Kansas State Assessment. But is this really something to make such a big deal over?

As I glanced over comments that had been left by others, I could see that many readers agreed with me. Good for Geoff for catching this error, but a typo is not worth this much fuss. Typos occur on a daily basis and many times go unreported, because due to context clues, the typo can be ignored, or in this case, the correct word can easily be determined. I realize, playing the devil’s advocate with myself, that the word originally being “emission” got changed to “omission,” which can completely change the meaning of the sentence. But context, as I said, is key. Geoff and the reporters, I believe, mentioned that the writing prompt dealt with the Greenhouse Effect and Carbon dioxide and I’m sure most students were fully capable of realizing this was a mistake.

As all the teachers were notified across Kansas, was it really necessary to make an article over this simple mistake? As the spokeswoman for the State Department of Education, Karla Denny, said “We’re human.” and this is true. This mistake could have happened to anyone anywhere and to make such a big deal out of it is simply ridiculous in my opinion. Congratulate the boy and don’t worry about making it a big deal.

Geoffrey Stanford’s teachers always tell him to read tests carefully.

Every sentence. Every word. Slow down. Make sure you understand what’s being asked, and then proceed.

So while taking his state writing test last week, the East High junior saw something that didn’t make sense: The word “emission” — as in “the emission of greenhouse gases” — was spelled “omission.”

“I thought, ‘Surely they’re not talking about leaving out carbon dioxide altogether.’ It just didn’t make sense,” said Stanford, 17. “It had to be a mistake.”

It was.

Read more at Kansas.com about how this student caught something test developers and teachers had missed. Soon, our very own Becca Driskill, an international baccaulaureate classmate of Stanford’s, will have her reaction.