See you in the morning

Dear MJPT families,

I'm writing this after a long day chaperoning the 8th grade field trip to Busch Gardens in Tampa. It was actually a welcome break — I've been heads-down for weeks finishing the new vocabulary book, the math companion to The Gauntlet, and getting passthegauntlet.com ready to launch. A day at the park beat another day at the keyboard. (I rode 7 roller coasters...not bad, eh?)

I think you'll like the vocabulary book. It's a compilation of all my Official SAT Vocab Quizzes, and the compliment to the new, interactive Gauntlet Vocabulary flashcards. Really excited to see it come together. I send another email about Gauntlet soon.

I'll be testing alongside you in the morning. Honestly, I'm not expecting much from my own performance — I'm beat. But that's not your problem. You've put in the work, and you're ready.

Here's what I want from you tonight and tomorrow:

Get good rest. Review a little, but it's late, and you should be headed that way if you're on the East Coast. No cramming flashcards in bed. Sleep is the work tonight.

Wake up early enough to move your body. Walk, stretch, jog around the block — whatever you've got. Light exercise before a test is a cheat code. I say it all the time.

Eat something real before you go. Protein, not sugar. Pack your bag tonight: admission ticket, photo ID, approved calculator, snacks, water. Put it by the door before you sleep so morning-you doesn't have to think. Make sure the computer is charged!

Expect distractions. It's part of it. Do what I teach my students to do: refocus and "clear the mechanism."

When the test starts, remember our techniques. Run ISEE on every reading question. Do your answer scans first in Grammar Land. Stick to the process you've drilled with PROVE-IT, and don't start improvising under pressure. Pressure is exactly when the process matters most.

One more thing, and this is the one I really want you to hear: do not let a single tough question in the second module steal your time from the easier ones. Mark it and move. One hard question is not worth four easier ones you never got to. I have watched smart, prepared students leave points on the table because they refused to walk away from one problem. Don't be that student tomorrow.

In grammar land, watch out for non-finite verb traps. Participles and infinitives love to sit in a sentence pretending to be the main verb. If something feels off, check whether the "verb" is actually doing a verb's job.

You'll do great. I genuinely can't wait to hear how it goes — text me, email me. I want to know.

See you in the morning.

— John