As much as it is important for the student to learn how to take tests, it is just as much the teachers responsibility to teach the student how to take tests. Middle and High School students can feel very pressured during tests, so some coping strategies a teacher can help the students with are:

• Recognize

  • Write down how you feel physically and emotionally at the moment when you get stressed

  • This is known as your personal stress "fingerprint"

• Regroup

  • Deep breathing and relaxation techniques

  • Do an activity that reduces stress

  • This is to help you distance from negative thoughts

• Refocus

  • Repeat positive affirmations

  • Visualize the score you want on the test

  • This is to help move you to positive thoughts

This can really help students in our future classrooms as we teach them how to turn negative energy into positive energy so they don't get defeated during tests, or before they even take them.

When students take tests in class they need to be confident with their own knowledge. If they aren't it leads to bad grades on tests, they become discouraged and unmotivated, and the cycle repeats. Way to avoid this is having all students set achievable goals for themselves.

Some of Those Goals Being:

1. Celebrate Small Wins

   1. Always be proud of yourself whether you do well on a test or an assignment

2. Encourage Self-Expression

   1. Give students the ability to provide their opinion and ideas 

3. Promote Resilience

   1. Encourage students to see setbacks and mistakes as learning curves instead of failures

4. Provide Constructive Feedback

   1. The feedback given back to the student should be empowering and constructive so the students can focus on their strengths as well as the areas they need to improve

We plan on using this in our classroom to make the students aware that they need to have these goals for themselves. This is something that is very important to us going into math because we don't want our students to be upset with themselves in our classroom. 

Math anxiety which interferes with working memory and performance can hurt students in test taking environments. Fostering a supportive classroom environment by encouraging collaboration and providing practice that emphasizes understanding over speed can help students feel more confident for tests.

• "As described earlier, math anxiety is related to cognitive processing deficits in the working memory and, consequently, to poor performance and poor uptake of knowledge in task-related situations".

We would create this environment in our classroom by creating a positive space for students to come to us for help as well as showing mindfulness and stress reducing activities they can use during tests. Overall, the goal of any strategy is to help students build confidence, reduce anxiety, and improve their performance on math tests.

There are many reasons that student do not enjoy math. Math teachers need to find ways to encourage their students to participate and enjoy what they are learning.

Some of these ways Include:

1. If Students think math is boring and that numbers and formulas are not fun

   • Connect it to real life situations with their everyday tasks and things they may have interest in

2. If students think that math is a lot if memorization and struggle with this

   • Focus on problem solving and help them understand WHY we use certain formulas

3. If a student realizes that math is just about making mistakes

• Encourage them that the mistakes will pave they way for them to truly understand the problem

•  Make it known that getting to the right answer is hard and it takes practice

We will use this in our classroom to encourage students to enjoy math. We plan to be teachers who want the students to understand the material and not just listen to us lecture. Our classrooms will have a positive atmosphere and be very inviting not be a bland and dull classroom.

To better help students with test stress, they need to feel like they understand the material fully. This video shows how students can talk in the classroom to help walk each other through the problem. This will help them understand problems they are struggling with and teach them how to help others. 

The students in the math classroom can engage in collaborative problem-solving by:

• asking questions to each other

• exploring multiple strategies 

• walking through the problem step by step together

We would implement this tactic in our classroom by modeling  communication with a student and then walking around the classroom to listen to all of them. We would do this at the end of units during a review sheet so we can see what the students would need to go over before the test to make sure they feel as confident as possible going into the test.

For students to understand how to take a test it is important to help them work through what to do. Implementing a lesson into the classroom to explain what to do with tests could greatly impact the children's success rates. This lesson plan has a great format for a teacher to use for any subject.

DETER:

Directions-

• Read directions carefully

• Ask teacher for help if confused

Examine-

• Look over the entire test before you begin to see what is on it 

Time-

• Decide how much time to use on each question

• If a question is worth more points dedicate a larger amount of time to that one

Easiest-

• Answer questions you know 

• If having a difficult time skip the question and go back to it 

Review-

• Review all answers and directions

We will use this in our classrooms to help students properly break down tests and know how to approach it. What to study and how to study and not allow them to be on their own and be afraid to fail. 

There are benefits to both studying in groups and studying alone but it all depends on the individual student and what situation they work better in. What many students may prefer or end up doing though is combining both methods. This can maximize comprehension and retention depending on the student's needs and preferences.

• Benefits of Studying Alone

  • Less distractions

  • Control of study schedule and space

  • Better if you can't work in a talkative setting

  • Better if your understanding is different of the rest of the group

• Benefits of Studying in Groups

  • Discussing concepts with others

  • Motivation to study since your with others and you can help motivate others

  • Clarification of any questions you might have

  • The more you talk about information, the easier it is to understand it

In our classroom we plan to encourage group studying since students feel less stressed when they have poeple to bounce ideas off of and will thus feel better come test time.

It is important to go into taking an test calm and prepared. Many students are not aware of methods to help relax while test taking. We think that it is important for students to know different ways they can calm themselves if feeling stressed.

Some forms of relaxing:

• Deep Breathing 

  1. Sit up straight in chair and inhale through your nose

  2. Hold breath for a few seconds 

  3. Exhale through mouth 

  4. Repeat as needed

• The Palming Method

  1. Close and cover eyes with center of palms

  2. Visualize a relaxing scene or something that makes you comfortable

  3. Relax for a minute or two

  4. Come back to test and repeat if needed

• The Tensing and Differential Relaxation Method

  1. Put feet flat on floor and take hands and grab underneath the chair

  2. Push down with feet and pull up on chair at the same time for 5 seconds

  3. Relax for 5-10 seconds 

  4. Repeat 2-3 times as needed

  5. Relax full body other than muscles you are using during this method

We will use this in our classroom by letting the students know these techniques. To expand their strategies for relaxation and always tell them that it is okay to be stressed but also give them ways to help reduce their stress.