The Dynamic Dozen: 12 Tips for Helping Students with Test Taking

Test anxiety is a common occurrence among students. It is natural for young learners to feel anxious and stressed about exams as they are developing academic skills and learning how to cope with pressure. However, test anxiety can be detrimental to their performance, leading to poor grades and negative self-esteem. Therefore, it is crucial to help students ease test anxiety and build their confidence in academic settings.

Here are some strategies that can help:

The Dynamic Dozen:

1. Tell your students they CAN do well. TEST stands for “Think Each Situation Through.” They get to show how much they have learned when they take a test…lucky them! And you get to see how much you have taught them… lucky you!!!

2. Make sure your students don’t cram…It’s hard on their brain! Instead, explain to them to spread out their studying time over a few days or weeks. They can practice doing sample problems, and look over their class material every day until they take the test.

3. When students study, have them draw a picture of what they are learning inside their head.

4. Have them exercise every day. It will make them feel great, and it’s good for their brains.

5. Remind them to get a good night’s sleep the night before the test so their brain and body aren’t tired and worn out.

6. Tell your students to stay relaxed. If they start to stress out right before a test, have them close their eyes, take a few deep breaths and go on a mini-mental vacation. They should think about their happiest place, and let their mind go there for a few minutes…just have them make sure they don’t forget to come back!

7. Instruct your students to read the directions slowly and carefully, and if they don’t understand what the directions say, tell them to ask their teacher to explain them to them.

8. Tell your students to skim through the test so they know how long it is so they won’t spend too much time on any one question.

9. Have them write down the important stuff they need to memorize (formulas, facts, definitions, etc.) at the top or on the side of their test paper so they don’t clog up their brains and they don’t forget to use them.

10. Tell them to do the easy questions first to build up their confidence and have more time to work on the harder ones.

11. On multiple choice tests, instruct your students to cross out answers that don’t make sense so they can narrow down their choices.

12. Check a random five: Have them pick any five questions and recheck their answers. Then if there is more time, recheck five more.