Do you get nervous or anxious before or during tests?If so, read then try some of the following tips and suggestions! If not, do you ever get nervous or stressed out?
If so, read the following!
If not, how do you avoid it? Please share your own tips in the comments section below!


In general: 

• Get enough sleep, exercise, eat healthily, and drink enough water! 
• See your teachers for extra help, and spread out your active studying over a few days.
• Practicing the stress-relieving strategies listed below in lower-stress situations can help you to figure out which work best for you, and can make you better able to use them effectively when you are in higher-stress situations.

Before a test:

•       Ask your teacher about the test beforehand; how many questions, same format as usual, or different? If you know what to expect, you can visualize yourself doing well and practice for it!
•       Make a practice test for yourself (which is basically what an Active Practice is), then take it in a test-taking-like scenario; if you’re feeling anxious or nervous while taking that practice test, it’s a perfect time to use some of the other strategies listed below.
• ·     Think positive thoughts; “fake it ‘til you make it!”
  •      Use positive self-talk: 
    • “I’m working hard, and learning that best I can.” 
    • “I’ve done well before, I can do it again.” 
    • “I’ve been doing my homework, paying attention in class, and going for extra help, so I’m doing everything I can to help myself learn this!” 
    • “I’m going to pass, but if I don’t do as well as I want, I still have plenty of opportunities to increase my grade and learn this material better.” 
    • “My teacher isn’t trying to trick me; he/she wants me to do well!” 

• Replace perfectionist thoughts with more realistic ones. 
  • Instead of “I have to answer every question correctly,” think “I will do my best on every question, and know I’ll get many right even if some I’m not totally sure of.”
• Avoid talking about the test with other people who are feeling nervous.
• Visualize yourself taking the test, feeling confident, and knowing how to solve the problems!

During a test: If you feel yourself starting to experience anxiety in your body, acknowledge those physical sensations. Tell yourself, “This is just my body feeling anxious, but I know how to calm down.” Then, practice some of the following:

• Close your eyes and shift your focus to your breath. Take 5-7 long, deep inhales and slow, long exhales, really paying attention to the physical sensations in your body and breath.
• Focus your attention on a group of muscles in your body (shoulders, face, or hands are often pretty easy because we can identify when they’re tense). Acknowledge that they might be tense, and feel that tension for a few moments, before intentionally and gradually relaxing each muscle. Notice the difference between the feeling of tension and that of relaxation. Notice if your breathing or other physical sensations change while doing this.
• Take smiling breaths; set your mouth in a soft smile or grin, then slowly breathe in and out through your nose 5-7 times.
•  Use a beaded “breathing cord” and focus on the physical sensation of moving the bead slowly while you inhale slowly, and then a second bead when you exhale slowly. 
•  Take a break: slowly and mindfully walk to get a drink of water or to the bathroom to splash water on your hands or face. Just don’t take too long of a break!
• Stretch!​

    If you have other ideas or strategies that work for you, please share below!

2 ways an adult at home can help a student who is preparing for final exams:

1. Help your student keep these tests in perspective.

• Emphasize the process versus the product. This means emphasizing the habits that your student is working to develop, and the process of figuring out the sorts of study techniques that work best for him as an individual, rather than solely emphasizing the grade he earns on the test.
• Focus on HOW your student is studying, rather than HOW MUCH she is studying.
• Ensure that your student is maintaining healthy habits- eating well-balanced meals, getting plenty of sleep, engaging in leisure activities- and not getting too stressed. 
• Assure your student that how he performs on this one test won't "make or break" his whole school year. 

2. Help your student with time management

• Help your student find blocks of 20-45 minutes in his schedule, and then help him plan what to focus on during those blocks of time.
  • Map out the specific “what” AND “how.”
  • Build in a short break (2-5 minutes) for every 30-45 minutes of studying.
    • Students should use a timer for breaks.
  • A visual schedule can be a great cue or prompt, and mapping out a study plan in advance can save her time later on.
• Students should prepare by first collecting content from which to study; then, creating study materials; then, actively engaging with and utilizing those study materials.

​Exam prep tips for students will be posted soon, so check back!

Many students only skim through, or skip over altogether, the directions for an assignment. This can obviously cause you some problems: you may do the work incorrectly and need to re-do it or lose points; you may do too much work and be wasting your time; or, you may not do all of the work that is required. 

​There are a few strategies, however, that you can use to make sure you're paying close attention to all parts of directions, and following them correctly. Those strategies include:

1. Read the directions twice before starting. Then, read the directions a third time when you think you're done, to make sure you followed them correctly.

2. Ask yourself, "How would I explain these directions to someone else, using my own words?" If you're not able to do that, it may mean you don't truly understand the directions. So, ask for help or try another strategy to figure out what you're being asked to do.

3. Highlight or underline key words in the directions.

• Pay close attention to words like: 
  • (English/ History/ Science) Read, underline, circle, summarize, explain, provide details, write in complete sentences, brainstorm, analyze, compare, contrast, prove, describe, annotate, mark up, support...
  • (Foreign Language) Translate, summarize, explain, write in complete sentences, describe...
  • (Math) Find the product/ sum/ quotient/ remainder, simplify, show your work, diagram, demonstrate...

Sometimes, teachers will make bold, underline, or italicize the most important words in directions, so pay close attention to those signals too!

4. Highlight, underlining, or circling signs and symbols (x, -, +, =,  ÷) in math problems. If you treat something like an addition problem when it's really a multiplication problem, you're obviously not going to get the correct answer. Color-coding signs for addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division, can be another visual cue to pay close attention to the signs.

5. If there is more than one step to the directions, separate out each step. For example, in the following directions, you're being asked to do three things:
Identify three inventions of the industrial revolution, explain how each invention changed the way people lived, and summarize what life would be like today if these inventions did not exist. 
By highlighting or numbering each step, you're going to be more likely to follow each of the three sub-directions and produce a more complete answer.
1. Identify three inventions of the industrial revolution, 
2. explain how each invention changed the way people lived, and
3. summarize what life would be like today if these inventions did not exist. 

Try out one or more of these strategies if you often hear from teachers that you need to pay closer attention to the directions, or if you see that your errors are not really reflective of what you actually understand. 
If you have other ideas or strategies for following directions, please leave a comment to share!