Test Anxiety-Click to advance

State testing season has arrived and it may be surprising that some of your typically high-performing students don’t do well on tests. Test anxiety impacts thousands of students across the nation and can vary in intensity.

“Test anxiety shows its face in a variety of ways, from headaches and shortness of breath to crying or lack of concentration. It can affect students physically, emotionally, behaviorally and mentally and doesn’t discriminate. Through the years, I’ve seen students of all ages, genders and ethnicities experience testing anxiety. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America names failure as the leading cause of test anxiety: fear of failing the test, failing to prepare for the test and feelings of failure from failing previous tests.”

-Naomi Howard, Ed.D.

a feeling of a lack of control

being placed into course above ability

timed tests and the fear of not finishing the test, even if one can do all the problems

lack of confidence

fear of alienation from parents, family, and friends due to poor grades

Recognize the enemy

Strategically design group counseling sessions and school counseling core curriculum lessons to teach test-taking strategies to reduce testing anxiety, and keep an open door for individual counseling.

Prepare the battle plan

Preparation for testing builds confidence in students. Create an environment of intentional and frequent conversation regarding good test-taking strategies. A strategy for anxiety I recently learned about is the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique. When students are feeling anxious, have them focus on five things they can see, four things they can touch, three things they can hear, two things they can smell and one thing they can taste. Students can easily use this coping strategy in a classroom during an exam to reduce symptoms of testing anxiety.

Controlled breathing

Have students inhale for a four count, hold for five, exhale for another four count, and if needed do it again and exhale with puckered lips (do it as many times needed until breathing is regulated). Other breathing techniques are blowing bubbles or using musical instruments (e.g., deep breaths when playing a clarinet).

Feeling thermometers

Create feeling thermometers in the classrooms, giving students the chance to indicate how anxious they are feeling at that time, and then teachers can lead a discussion about handling it in a healthy way

Action Plans

Teach students how to develop an action plan when feeling test anxiety.

Also, be aware of attendance issues, which may be a symptom of avoidance or “planned forgetfulness” when confronting a test.

Apps

Another tool is literally at our fingertips. Here are a few apps to consider:

• Breathe2Relax: Contains videos demonstrating relaxation breathing to reduce stress
  
• Calm: Contains tools to reduce anxiety and induce quality sleep
• Happify: Contains games and activities to reduce stress, strategies to build resiliency and ways to encourage positive self-talk

Positive Self-Talk

• Crush the can’ts: Students write down a negative thought on a slip of paper and tape it to an empty soda can and stomp on it to literally “crush” their can’ts.
  
• Positive world wall: You can use positive quotes, list test-taking strategies and include can-do attitude posters or sticky notes to let students add their own positivity to the wall.
  
• Personal positive story: Ask students what makes them anxious about the test, what do they think will happen, what can they tell themselves to face the anxiety, what can they do to overcome the anxiety, what’s the conclusion?
  
• Test anxiety argument: Why is it OK/not OK? Is it silly? What can you do instead?
  
• Daily positive quotes: Suggest students write positive quotes in their agenda or on their phone.
  
• Positive self-talk cards: There are ideas galore on Pinterest.
  
• Journaling: Have students express the anxiety in writing and evaluate their feelings.
  

Gather the Troops

Parental/family support plays an integral part in reducing testing anxiety. We all know the home environment affects the school environment. Encourage parents/families to cultivate meaningful conversations with their students to reduce testing anxiety.

-Naomi Howard, Ed.D. ASCA Magazine