OVERCOMING TEST ANXIETY

"There is a difference between not knowing and not knowing yet."—Shelia Tobias
          best-selling author on the topic of overcoming test anxiety.


Do any of these situations sound familiar to you? 

“ I sit down in math class, get my test, and I suddenly realize all the math concepts I forgot to study.  I totally start stressing out that I am not well prepared.  I'm going to fail this math test.” 

“I am confident that I used good study skills to prepare for my Algebra test.  But, on the day of the Algebra test,  when I get to class, I start to sweat, forget everything I learned, and all I can think about is, ‘I'm gong to fail... big time.’” 

“I think I study the Algebra concepts well and I’m not worried that I will fail the test; but when I take a test, my grade never reflects the time and effort I put into studying.” 

If any one of these scenarios is you, you may suffer from TEST ANXIETY.

Many students experience some level of test anxiety.  Test anxiety is when a student excessively worries about doing well on a test.  This can become a major hindrance on test performance and cause extreme nervousness and memory lapses among other symptoms.

Tests and quizzes are widely used in schools all all levels of education to demonstrate whether students have learned the information presented in the course. Colleges and universities evaluate applicants’ performance on entrance examinations such as the SAT and ACT. With so much depending on test results, it is no wonder that students often become anxious about taking tests. But don’t worry! You can reduce your level of test-anxiety and improve your performance on exams by following simple guidelines.  The following websites contain some excellent information about reducing (or hopefully eliminating entirely) your test anxiety.

http://www.testtakingtips.com/anxiety/

http://www.hagerstowncc.edu/sites/default/files/documents/11-test-anxiety-tips.pdf

http://www.testprepreview.com/test_anxiety.htm

http://www.act.org/engage/studentguide/pdf/TestAnxiety.pdf