Eliminating Test Anxiety

8/14/2019 Eliminating Test Anxiety

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INTRODUCTION : ELIMINATING TEST ANXIETYUnfortunately, learning to write great term papers isn't the only hurdle you'll need to

leap in the race to achieve good grades. Even the best researchers & writers havebeen known to earn high marks on essays & reports while performing poorly on at leastone exam for the same class. Too many students have experienced the dreadedfeelings of uncertain panic the night before a "big test" and those same students oftenwind up coping with the devastating negativity that surrounds the receipt of an "F."Reading this guide suggests that you've probably had some firsthand experiencecowering at the stresses brought on by mid-term and final exams. If you've ever celebrated the end of "exam week" with profound relief (and grave concern over whether or not you "passed")... OR if you've ever hoped an upcoming test would bemultiple choice...when it wasn't... OR if you've ever tried to cram an entire semester of lessons into one or two nights of quick learning "just for a test..".. OR if you've ever

walked out of a classroom chewing your nails and asking those around you..... "Whatanswer did YOU put down for the question about....?" -- then you are indeed a studentwho needs to completely refine your preparation methods & approach to studying inorder to lead a more comfortable, stress-free academic life! Use THIS guide to helpshine a light on the path to greater academic comfort.. with techniques that should helpyou decrease your anxieties while increasing your grades -- without having to sacrificetoo much extra free time!

CRAM, YES BUT NOT ALL AT ONCE.. FORCE YOURSELF TO CRAMFIFTEEN MINUTES AT A TIME -- ONCE EACH WEEK

Sure, it's much easier said than done: We've all heard the warning "don't wait 'till thenight before" --and you'll feel as though that same caution is implied in this very guide.But far too many students only have a loose understanding of their subject material andstill go on to attempt to learn it all on their own one week or even one night before anexam. Some students promise they'll turn over a "new leaf" and "do it right this time" atthe onset of a semester but somehow wind up in the same predicament time and timeagain... often failing or just "getting by" at best. Those with poor study habits..and eventhose students with admirable study habits...need to look more deeply into themeanings BEHIND the age-old wisdom that urges us not to wait for the last minute: For one thing, any questions you have can't really be answered the night before....anyconfusion cannot be clarified... confusion creates more panic...panic reduces your ability to focus..to retain... further damaging your last-minute study abilities. And doesn't

every house need a strong foundation? If you've only laid the groundwork for your "learning" a night or two before, how much time has it had to sink in ? How could theconcrete have dried already? The foundation can't possibly be stable. Think of all thatpain, anxiety, and stress you go through procrastinating until the night before. Do youWANT to eliminate that feeling? Then start at the BEGINNING!: If you begin studyingonce PER WEEK [let's say, every Wednesday night...]..just for a few minutes...pretending ...and even convincing yourself that there is going to be a quiz the next day,you'll build in steps. You wont have to give up partying or going out... It's just a FEW



MINUTES each week...*but you're laying a foundation*.... If you learn lesson #1 duringweek 1...and review/study it THAT week... and then you do the same thing the followingweek with lesson # 2...and then with lesson # 3 and so on and so on...by the time examweek rolls around.. you only need to review what you already know and those fewpoints that may have gotten a little blurred over the semester. But along the way, you

had the time to figure things out, to ask questions, etc; Your ANXIETY is reduced...thetension...the stress are diminished...You know what to expect..you know what's beentaught...and you understand what should have been learned. You'll be able to rest [andmaybe even GO OUT!] the night before exams...confident that you know what to do andthat you will most likely perform well. But once again, merely promising yourself thatyou will do this and actually DOING it are, indeed, two entirely different things! You'vegot to make up your mind [even if you honestly don't care much for school] that youDESPISE the feeling of test anxiety...of dreading exams..and of being semi-cluelessthe night before. Consider how much time and energy you'd save spending 15 minutesper week review-studying as though you were going to have a quiz the next day.FORCING YOURSELF TO "CRAM" early...and routinely...rather than all in one shot.

Over a 12 week semester, we're talking about a total of 3 hours time [15 minutes X 12weeks]...Over a 16 week semester, that's still only 4 total hours of time invested by justspending approximately 15 minutes each week at it. More importantly, you'll havelearned the steps of the ladder on the way up--instead of trying to jump to the top --all inone huge leap--the night before. Just think of what happens when you try to shove anentire hamburger in your mouth at once...and chew as fast as you can withoutswallowing. Why go through all of that when you can enjoy a far more comfortable"scholastic meal"---taking one bite at a time...one cram session each week...until youreach the end of the hamburger..or, in this case,...the end of the semester! If you canfully admit that you don't want to feel like you're stuffing your brain at the last minuteever again....and if you can completely understand how cramming for 4-5 hours the

night before isn't as EASY as cramming for 15 minutes each week over 12-16weeks...then you're on your way to creating new study habits. And, of course, youCOULD always go for higher grades and spend MORE than 15 minutes eachweek..making sure you understand EVERYTHING !!!

IMPORTANCE OF THE MID-TERM [AND OTHER MID-SEMESTEREXAMS]

Most underachievers and crammers study their class syllabus more than any other document handed out in class throughout the semester. They want to know whatpercentage of their grade will be determined by each exam, quiz, and paper. Almostimmediately, these students begin calculating and recalculating the lowest grade they

need in each area to achieve their goals and to "get by." Throughout the semester,students tend to recalculate "what they'll need on the final" based on their prior performances...in order to make sure they can just get by. Surely no one isCOMFORTABLE with these feelings though? Here again: Wouldn't it be great to psycheyourself to ELIMINATE those tensions that endure throughout the semester and onlyget worse and worse as finals draw nearer?!? As above, we are not going to even try todramatically reshape your habits in one guide...BUT..what if you could keep the samerough tactics...analyzing and reanalyzing your potential final grades...planning how to



"get by"--but you could make ONE CHANGE and get through the semester with lessstress? The answer is ridiculously simple!: Even if it's "worth" a smaller percentage of your grade, PLAN FOR THE MID-TERM AS THOUGH IT WERE THE FINAL. Psycheyourself to believe the MID-TERM [or each mid-semester quiz/exam] is THE MOSTIMPORTANT factor in determining your final grade. Put all of your emphasis there.

Once again, you'll be building a stronger FOUNDATION. The effect will be twofold: 1) toat least some degree, you'll improve your grade early on in the semester leaving less tochance and 2) you'll most likely even perform better on the final because you will havelearned the mid-semester material better AND because you will take that last exam withless stress & anxiety-- knowing you've already earned a respectable position in thegrading curve to date! In a way it's sort of like a bowling psychology: Some bowlers aremore likely to roll strikes and spares in the latter frames of the game when they'vealready done well in the first few frames. Early achievement boosts their confidenceand motivates better play. A bowler who turns negative and "feels the game is lost"simply because they didn't do "that well" in the first few frames...probably will not domuch better in the last few frames. Get yourself OFF to a good start with your heels

dug well into the new semester...and you should have a far better chance of withstanding anything that comes your way around final exam time...and, of holdingyour ground!

"OK, OK, I GOT IT -- BUT WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WHILE

STUDYING ANYWAY?!? I NEVER *REALLY* DO IT !"It's true that there are many students who "get by" without ever doing any real

studying but it's probably not true that there are students who truly have NO clue HOWto study....Students who disagree usually just have no clue how to motivateTHEMSELVES to do it. Unfortunately, schools simply do not spend enough timeteaching students HOW to study effectively...leaving much of it up to personal

technique and even individual chance. For the purpose of this discussion there are twogeneral kinds of exams: Multiple-choice/fill-in exams which require you to recall names,dates, concepts, and other facts of trivia with the multiple choice variety, of course,being far easier since you can more readily identify right answers when they're alreadypresented to you as one of several options. The other kind of exam is an ESSAY exam,requiring students to write several paragraphs in response to a question (or commentingon a theory, etc;) to evidence their knowledge of the concept and/or their ability to thinkfreely & logically about it. In most cases, students can "get by" just memorizing a fewdozen notions, names, dates, etc; Often, this works even on essay exams. But HOW doyou retain the information? HOW do you make studying meaningful and...even...darewe say...a bit amusing or even desirable? Particularly if you're going to do it at least

once a week for 15 minutes as we've reasoned, you'll need to discipline yourself to stickto using some unique..interesting...study tool...that you don't regularly use now.. Readon:

One of the greatest techniques for studying involves the creation of silly songs aboutthe topic at-hand. Many have HEARD of this technique but few have used it more thanonce. The trick is to motivate yourself to a) do it, b) to do it WELL, and c) to keep ondoing it for EVERY exam. Whenever you're studying, you WISH you could be doingsomething else, right? You're easily distracted? Sometimes you probably even read



entire pages and then realize you have no clue what you've just read. CHANGE ALL OFTHAT: Focus on creating rhymes...slogans...songs, etc; Doing so will a) more fullydemand your attention, b) make it easier to memorize the material, c) make the choreof studying a BIT more enjoyable... If nothing else, this technique DEFINITELY worksbetter than any that currently only lead to falling asleep with a partially-read book over

your face! Simply take some basic concepts from your textbook and transform them intobasic songs, and raps--make them RHYME... Sing the song over and over in your headand even out loud... You'll probably begin to find that you know the words/lyrics to your creation in almost no time at all--and you'll be humming it back to yourself the next dayat the exam like crib notes--but in your HEAD/MIND--so they're "legit!" Remember: itdoesn't matter how corny or ridiculous your "song" is-- nobody else needs to hear it--

just keep humming the rhyming tune in your head--and, of course, be sure to fill it to thebrim w/ facts and dates about the topic at-hand! In fact,---as soon as you receive theexam at your desk, you might even want to jot the lyrics down quickly--so you canreference them as you answer questions!

OK, BUT WHAT ABOUT REALLY COMPLICATED EXAMS--- WHENTHAT'S NOT ENOUGH ?

Techniques such as the ones described above will almost always work: The problemisn't their use--- It's YOUR motivation TO use them..and to use them completely andconsistently. If you aren't motivated to invest only 15 minutes or so per week... If youaren't motivated to make little songs & rhyming jingles about the topic-matter-- thenyou're really not motivated to cram either! In fact, taking tests may very well remainimpossible! If you can't climb the small hill of 15 minutes per week... how do you EVERexpect to leap the huge mountain of cramming-all-in-one-night? Face facts: If you wereso comfortable with last minute cramming -- you probably wouldn’t be reading this

guide! It's been said that one can lead a horse to water, but they can't make them drink.This guide IS your water..YOU are the horse in this analogy---and it's up to YOU to takethe sip-- To take 2 steps back..to move 3 steps forward...to start doing what maySOUND a little more difficult--but will LOGICALLY--be far easier in the long run. For anyexam... large or small... multiple choice.. or essay.. spend at least 15 minutes eachweek reviewing the lessons... and make rhymes..make jingles..learn them..and recitethem to yourself.Remember: One of the many reasons some of us despise studying is that it seems to

confine us to silence and solitude while our minds are wandering elsewhere. But if you've read this much of our guide, you can certainly read this much of a textbook..Again, it's all up to YOUR psychology... up to how YOU view it..up to how YOU psyche

YOURself. Use this guide as a map...and write out/summarize the directions for yourself--to see your way NOT through one night of cramming but rather through aSEMESTER of studying. Add steps along the way: After each study session, trycreating an interactive quiz --get a friend or anyone to ask you questions--and see if youcan answer them while silently reciting that week's made-up jingle rhyme in your head.Psychologically, these techniques combined [and individually] should make the "job" of studying...and of LEARNING...far less stressful --and therefore, much ... much easier!



So why are you still playing around on the Internet? Print this out..study it...and startmaking a plan!

SPEND MORE TIME PAYING ATTENTION IN* CLASS AND YOU'LL

SPEND LESS TIME STUDYING AT HOMEStill reading this? If you're a last minute test-crammer, you probably recognize that you

also don't pay nearly enough attention WHILE YOU'RE IN CLASS! As difficult as itmay be to listen to what you regard as another "boring" lecture, just think of how muchLESS ANXIETY you would feel around test time, if you could actually RECALL thingsthat were told to you in class. Try to pick teachers that are as reputedly interesting aspossible, come to class w/ a positive attitude, and find a way to psyche yourself to giveit your fullest attention from beginning to end. Take notes.. try to write rhymes aboutwhat the instructor is teaching as the information is given out! Whatever works--butremember: YOU DON'T KNOW UNTIL YOU GENUINELY TRY!

In sum, you can't erase mistakes that began the first week of classes. If you build your

house upon a weak foundation, it's probably going to come apart at some point near final exams. Even if you've become a "cram master" and are capable of repairing partsof it as it falls... it's still only enough to just "get by" with a mediocre grade and that'sprobably not what you TRULY want--otherwise you wouldn't have read this much of our guide! As many "tricks" as you think you've learned in the past.. poor planning hasprobably almost NEVER earned you an "A"-- a 4.0 ... or anything near a high score!PREPARE for your exams.. .in steps...throughout the entire semester.

What usually goes wrong is poor planning. Overly-creative, highly intelligent studentsbegin each semester with genuine hope and personal promise but typically end thesemester with a sense of underachievement and dissolution that had begun to set ineven before mid-terms. Understand that when a professor hands out a syllabus, it is

essentially serving as a contract between teacher and student-- as a mandate for whatis to be expected and as a set of guidelines dictating how the student's work will beevaluated. But on paper it all looks so simple: This quiz will earn us this many points...that exam will add on that many points...Syllabi tend to give students an illusionarysense of ease because they enable us to visualize the entire semester on two or threesheets of photocopied paper. Syllabi do not, however, have the ability to show us thein-between days... the work that must be done at home... the long hours of laboringnecessary to achieve a perfect score on each exam. And so we subconsciously note thedate that first test will take place and wrongly allow ourselves to slip into a state of academic ease until just a day or two before test time...when we realize we don't knowthe material well enough to even get a "B."

How can a student avoid this? Don't look at the whole semester right when you firstget your syllabus. Break each semester down into little, sub-goals first. At the start of the term, review your syllabus carefully and understand the FIRST lesson to be taught.Worry about how to excel at THAT lesson and ONLY at that lesson. Truly take it oneweek at a time... Concentrate only on what is to be expected of you in the very nextclass and focus all of your time and energy on achieving a mastery over that onesubtopic. Create a jingle..recite it..review everything for at least 15 minutes...Do thiseach week and when test time finally does roll around-- you'll hardly need to study...



you'll only need to "review." But remember: behind all of this-- the underlying secretremains in the psychology...in how well YOU psyche YOURSELF to follow a newprogram... DO IT!.. MAKE IT HAPPEN! Create a new you for this semester and shockyourself with higher grades and less anxiety...

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Eliminating Test Anxiety