As I have already experienced taking the teacher’s board (Licensure Examination for Teachers), I would like to share this facts you should know about this board examination. It is advised that you should read first my Point of View article. These things are the following:

1. You may not wear a White Shirt w/ Collar. Even it is stipulated in your notice of admission that you should follow the dress code, examinees who are not in proper dress code are not noticed by the proctors. Hmmm, maybe it depends on the proctor.

2. You may not bring a Pack Lunch. Before the exam will begin, there were persons who will visit the rooms and ask you  to have a pack lunch at P50.00.

3. You should bring foods for your Merienda. Yes, you should. If not, you will experienced more headache. :-). Because of foods and water intake while taking the exam, you can think and analyze better than you haven’t.

4. You should bring a Non-Programmable Calculator. I brought a standard calculator where I have only the 4-fundamental operations of Mathematics. Haha! It’s funny when I realize that we are allowed to use Scientific Calculator. Hmm… But you should know the list of calculators which are allowed by PRC. If your calculator is not in the list, you will not be allowed to use it. Thus, you will have hard time answering the Mathematics portion of the General Education of the exam.

5. You should never forget to bring NOA, OR, and Window Envelope. These are the main requirements you must have for you to be allowed to take the exam: Notice of Admission (Admission Tab), Official Receipt of Payment, and Window Envelop with metered stamp.

6. You should maximize your Time. Prior to this exam, you should take more practice drills with time pressure. You should answer each item at most 40-45 seconds. Avoid staying too long in an item. It is better to skip the item unanswered, and go back to it.

I went to the place of examination 2-hour before the said time, wearing a white polo shirt,  and having me my transparent long envelope with brown envelop containing the application stub, receipt of payment, 2 pcs mongol#2 pencil, and a black ballpen.  It is still dark and we are just 6 who came very early. We are standing in front of the gate of Bagay Elementary School, Tuguegarao City, and waiting for the places of the school be seen by our eyes.

As 2 young fat men just arrived carrying their “Jollibee’s Baon”, I noticed that they didn’t follow what is in the guidelines. Few minutes before 6AM, tricycles are buzzing and many of the examiners are coming. I stayed in the school’s stage where chairs are available and light reaches the place. There were few examiners who are wearing the required dress.

At 6:30AM as scheduled, almost all of the rooms were opened. I go inside my room where I was assigned. There were still a quarter of us who are not yet present. Some are bowing their heads and having personal prayers. Some are having casual communication to get know each others. Most are just too quiet, and maybe because they are “first timers” like me.

It’s about 10 minutes before 8AM where all of us were already present.  Later than 6:30AM arrival is not true or maybe because we have a proctor who is very considerate. Examinees who are not in proper dress code (white shirt w/ collar) is also not true.

Now, our requirements (admission tab, payment official receipt, window envelop with stamp) were checked including our calculators. I observed that the proctors have a master list of calculator’s name (brand/model) which are allowed to use in the examination especially in the mathematics part. Two of our room mates’ calculator were confiscated because their calculators are not found in the list. With this, I wonder if my standard calculator (I bought in the “baratilyo”) in their list. Well, I am sure it’s not listed but it is obviously not a programmable calculator.

At exactly 8AM, the bell rang, and it is the signal that the exam started. We actually started at 8:10AM in our room because we are the last who receives the examination questionnaires even we are in Room #1. We filled out forms for which we are asked to write some personal details (date of graduation should be noted prior to examination) and we took our pledge by copying the paragraphs which is about the security of the contents of the examination questionnaires.

We have received the 1st part of the exam and the last page of our answer sheets which is for the General Education. We are strictly instructed that we should avoid skipping items without answer and having erasures especially with left mark. After 2 hrs, most of us finish the General Education and some are having trouble with the Mathematics portion which I’m sure of.

We return the answer sheets to the proctor, and we are given another answer sheet which is for Professional Education. At 1PM, all of us were given a breaktime and we are advised to return at 2PM for the part 2 of the exam. Luckily, I finished it at 12 noon and I have still time to get out of the venue and to have a necessity.

My overall point of view of the exam is below average difficulty but I am not too confident to win it because of limited time of preparation for this kind of exam. If you are planning to take the LET exam, you should read Things You should Know during LET Exam.