Managing Anxiety
What is test anxiety?
A type of anxiety where the pressure of a test or assessment makes you feel anxious or worried.
What should you do when you first receive your test?
Read all the instructions carefully
True or false: Sometimes having some anxiety is healthy
True
What should you bring with you on test day?
A pen/pencil, your chromebook, your headphones, and a book.
Give an example of positive self-talk that you can use to reduce test anxiety.
Example: "I am prepared and I can do this!"
What should you do if you encounter a question you don’t understand?
Skip it and come back later.
In order to not feel stressed the morning before the test, what is one thing you can do?
Wake up on-time or early, eat a healthy breakfast, get to school on-time.
How much sleep should you be getting every night?
8-12 hours each night
What can you do if you start to feel anxious during a test?
Examples: Ask for a break, take a moment to breathe deeply and refocus on the questions, use positive self-talk.
What should you do when you finish the test? Why?
Look back and review your answers. You might find mistakes or remember details you initially forgot.
True or False: Your CAASPP scores are part of your report card grades.
FALSE; your CAASPP scores help your teachers and your school to know what is working in the classroom and what we need to do differently.
What is the WORST study method for preparing for a test?
Cramming - trying to study all the information the night before the test.
What is one calming strategy you can use to calm down before a test? Demonstrate the strategy.
Examples: Deep breaths, Positive Self-Talk, Physical grounding exercises (5-4-3-2-1, Big/Blue/Beautiful)
What is one strategy for answering multiple-choice questions?
Eliminate the answers you know are wrong to improve your chances.
What are some key words that you should look when answering questions? These words might change a question's meaning.
Words like always, never, not, and except
What is one way to prepare the night before a test?
Get a good night's sleep to ensure you're well-rested. Prepare your backpack the night before the test. Pick out your clothes the night before the test.
Demonstrate a coping skill you can use to manage anxiety.
Examples: 5 finger breathing, use a stress ball, get some water, draw a picture, etc.
True or False: you should read all the answer choices BEFORE you try to answer the question.
FALSE; you should try to answer the question and then see if your answer is one of the answer choices.
What should you do to help with your writing response on the ELA Test?
Read the question completely, read the passage completely, plan out your response on your scratch paper.
Name one effective method for studying for a test.
Making flash cards and quizzing yourself, doing practice math problems, practice writing to different prompts, reviewing your classwork and assignments, etc.