Tips for Preparation

Being a foreigner, the exam prep took a tiresome process for me personally due to additional certificates to be obtained and with a four year gap between college and immigration and exam prep. I am glad to condense my experience which i believe will definitely help someone who is in the process of obtaining their license. Please keep in mind these tips and strategies are out of personal experience, though they will include some general information as well.

1. kindly plan your study: in terms of syllabus, time of preparation, time intended to spend each day
2. you do not have to spend excess amount of dollars on materials. all you need is DSM, Social Workers Desk reference by Albert and Gilbert, The practice of Social Work by Charles Zastrow, Social Work Processes by Beulah r compton. Study guide for ASWB by Hutchinson which is available on internet. Other references can be obtained online or in library
3. there are plenty of Facebook, Skype and online study groups which share material and discuss questions and rationale in timely manner, this may help you expand your knowledge, thinking capacity and opportunity to learn more by interaction
4. Do not be discouraged if you cannot stick with your plan, be gentle and realistic with your goal setting and try to make it as cool as possible. Anxiety ruins the entire prep process. you may want to use much of relaxation techniques for yourself before, throughout and after preparation each day. Breathing techniques are the most proven and effective ones, If you are trained in meditation well and good. It goes very simple, just sit relaxed with back straight and not erect, take few minutes to calm down and concentrate on your breathing. Breathe the right way. When you inhale your stomach should be filled with air and when you exhale it should be empty. Slow down your breath slowly and be conscious of it. This clears your mind of anxiety, relaxes, promotes blood flow and concentration. The most tensed you are the more tired your brain becomes and more futile your effort is.
5. try to stay healthy, and use pavlovs technique. use a conditioning method before you sit to study, drinking juice will definitely help much and this habit helps your brain to associate drinking juice with intake and recall of information and thus helps you recall information while you do the same in exam
6. try to keep time to recall your information or notes in a relaxed manner and be creative in this. You may use flash cards and ask questions or study with your partner by taking time and each keeping a quiz for the other. I use sticky notes for concepts and stick all over my room once am done with the topic, every night i spend few minutes just going through them.
7. read ASWB handout which gives true information on testing, do not confuse yourself with other website information.
8. try visual and auditory learning , if possible learning through writing. some learn well  by taking notes, others by watching videos, others by audio..others using black board ,find out yours and do it your way
9. Stay positive. Write your name with LSW next to it and stick it to all the parts of room you usually spend time. I did one in my bathroom mirror, several in bedroom, on computer, in desk and even in my pillow. This will help you gain more positive outlook and believe you can do this. 
10. read questions from the point of view of ethics. ethics guides the practice, hence be strong in ethics and based on ethical guideline think through each question. choose the best answer not the right answer. While you practice the questions, read them aloud as if you are trying to teach someone about the dynamics of the question content. This works best. So when you guide someone how will you confront or question them of their decision about next course of action. think through the exam questions in the same way. 

ALL THE BEST, GOD BLESS YOU !!!