How did exams go (a week later)??

How did the first day of exams go? Were you feeling anxious?

Test Anxiety can be common for students - especially with exams since they have such a significant influence on your 3rd six week grades. The best strategy to prevent test anxiety is being prepared. It is much more likely that you will be anxious and struggle with feeling overwhelmed if you have not adequately studied and prepared for the test. Unfortunately, for some students, you can be well-prepared, but still struggle with anxiety.

There are a wide range of strategies you can use to help deal with anxiety:

- Research has indicated that spending several minutes before a test to write about your feelings will   help decrease test anxiety and improve test scores. The University of Chicago researchers “believe  worrying competes for computing power in the brain’s ‘working,’ or short-term memory.”
- Practice putting yourself in testing situations when studying. The more you get used to the experience and feelings of testing the less anxious you will feel when in the actual test.
- Just before the test, avoid talking about the test material with your friends. Chances are fixating on the test material and talking about it with your friends right before the test will only make you more anxious.
- Approach the test with a positive attitude. Don’t go into the test expecting the worst to happen. You can remind yourself that you have studied and know the material.
- Avoid distractions so that you can focus on the test and not on what other students are doing. Do not compare yourself with others and how they are doing on the test.
- Take a deep breath, relax, and do the best you can.

I should also mention that smart testing strategies like getting a good night of sleep, eating breakfast, having all of your required materials (pen, pencil, calculator, scratch paper, etc), getting regular exercise, and giving yourself plenty of time to get to your test on time will also benefit you as a whole and in testing situations.

Good luck in the next three days of exams!

PSAT Results

Your scores have arrived! Any students who took the PSAT test in October, your scores will be distributed this week. I will call you down in small groups and explain your results, go over next steps and AP Potential. If you have additional questions about your scores, feel free to come and see me and we can take a look together. The score reports include lots of helpful information, tips, and practice for improving as well as information that we have available on the counselor website - Student Services, Testing Information.

Also, there is a section that you can look at with regards to your scores that will help guide you on selecting courses for your future.  For example, the AP Potential section will give you an idea of which AP tests you can expect to be able to earn a 3 or higher (and therefore be able to earn college credit for the class).

Don't forget, these are just practice tests so they are giving you a general indication of where you might expect to score if you were taking the SAT with no additional preparation or review.