AECTP exam mistakes I wish someone had warned me about

I failed my first attempt. Not by much, but enough to have to reschedule. Here's what went wrong and how I fixed it for attempt #2 (which I passed).

Mistake 1: Skimming the question
The AECTP exam is full of questions with words like "EXCEPT," "FIRST," "BEST," or "MOST important." I was answering the question I thought I saw, not the one on the screen. Slowing down and reading every word carefully picked up at least 8-10 points on my retake.

Mistake 2: Studying the wrong things deeply
I spent most of my time on AECTP - Alabama Educator Certification Testing Program content because it seemed most relevant, but the exam was more balanced than I expected. The ALT - Alternative Learning Teacher Certification sections caught me off guard. Use the official content outline to weight your study time proportionally.

Mistake 3: Not timing myself during practice
I ran out of time on about 12 questions on my first attempt. During my retake prep I did every practice test strictly timed and learned to flag and move on rather than getting stuck.

Mistake 4: Overthinking the answers
For education k-12 exams specifically, when two answers seem equally right, the correct one is usually the one that's safest, most conservative, or most protective of the client/patient/public. That heuristic alone is worth remembering.

Anyone else have first-attempt war stories? I want this thread to be a resource for people going into their first try.