TEST ANXIETY AND HOW TO HANDLE IT
By Ernest Mastria, Psy.D.
For more information visit:
http://www.attentiontraininginstitute.com.html
I define intelligence as your contact with your surroundings. Attention or focus on our surroundings is how we maintain our intelligence. Attention is a quantity from zero to one hundred percent. The more focused we are, the more intelligent we are. An important characteristic of intelligence is the ability to see differences between situations.
When you sit down to take a test, negative thoughts that you will not know the answers to questions and fail the test and your entire life will be a disappointment creep in and distract your attention. When attention is paid to these thoughts, less is available to focus on the things in front of you, your test. Remember, attention in the present is how we maintain intelligence (contact with our surroundings). As a result of attention paid to the negative thoughts, intelligence decreases so that you can't read properly, find accurate information, and respond correctly. As a result of decreased intelligence, it’s important characteristic, the ability to see differences decreases. You become nervous since you see the negative thought as real and true. In this frame of mind, you have failed the test and your life will be miserable.
You question your initial response to a question with a second thought and go with it rather than your initial reaction. As a result, you get the answer wrong.
You failed the test even though you had studied and had the material down. Now you begin worrying about the next test, anticipating negatively that you will fail just as you did the first one.
How can you possibly do your best on a test with all this going on???
HOW TO HANDLE TEST ANXIETY
1. Study for the test and when you are completed know that you have studied and let the cards fall where they may.
2. Don't think about the test until it’s on your desk and in front of you. Get rid of your negative anticipation of it by saying to yourself, with your intelligence, "I'll handle it when it’s in front of me and I'm not going to worry about it now."
3. When you sit down to take the test, don't get yourself upset by trying to take in all the questions at once, you'll become overwhelmed. Remember how I showed you to handle multiple situations in class? One at a time while ignoring those that are not in front of you. You will want to use the same technique for test taking.
4. Look at the first question and ignore all the rest. Some students put a sheet of paper over the other questions so that they can focus only on the first question.
5. Read the question slowly and deliberately and word by word. Read it at least twice. Once you have total comprehension of the question, retrieve the information from the material you have studied.
6. Go with your first impression and answer. Second thinking most often comes from the bad habit that doesn't want you to be successful and insists on questioning your judgment. Answers from second thinking are most frequently incorrect. While your first impression answers may not always be correct, they usually are.
7. Use the same procedure with the remaining questions and when you've completed the test, realize that you've done your best and leave it at that.
GOOD LUCK
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Friday, November 12, 2010
Some Techniques to Deal With Disruptive Students
Some Techniques to Deal With Disruptive Students
For more information please check out our website at: http://www.attentiontraininginstitute.com/home.html
Although students who display inappropriate behavior do suffer from chronic inattention as the source of this inappropriate behavior, an explanation alone will not be helpful to those instructors who must deal with these behaviors in class. Listed below are a few techniques that may prove helpful to contain inappropriate behaviors in students.
1. Know your students. While many students may display inattentive behaviors, disruptive students generally always display these behaviors and noticing them may give you an indication to expect disruptive behaviors and to be ready for them. These behaviors may include: inattention to direction, chatter with other students, poor eye contact, failure to respond with direct answers, dazing off in class, attention toward other items such as a phone, a paper on the desk, who is passing in the hallway, and other things rather than toward what is being presented, attention toward what other students are doing, etc.
2. Be aware of what is going on in your class. Prevention is always preferable to intervention. The best way to prevent disruptive behavior is to be aware of its potential before it manifests. A way to be aware of your student's behavior is to speak and teach them while facing them as a group. Frequently, it is when you are facing the board, looking to a book, or speaking to a few students that disruption takes place. Remember, a disruptive student is an angry student who feels badly about themselves so that deception will be a major behavioral characteristic. By facing your entire class while teaching, you will reduce the frequency of deceptive behaviors in the disruptive student. One way to get your student's attention is to tell them, as a group, "Pay attention, this is important" frequently. The statement will gain their attention and cut down on inattention and possible deceptive behavior.
3. Have your students understand that part of their participation grade will be impacted by their tendency to be disruptive or unprofessional. Disruptive or unprofessional behavior could be to such a degree as to warrant a failure grade for that student.
4. Model professional and appropriate behaviors for your class. Have them see themselves as capable of performing these behaviors. You may even have some of your students demonstrate for the class what you have taught. You might include your disruptive student(s) in this demonstration to show them that they, too, are capable. Remember to reward your student's professional behavior with praise.
5. Distraction is a wonderful technique to intervene on any unwanted behavior. Disruption usually escalates into a problem. If you hear chatter with others from your disruptive student or see any indication of a problem, distraction by asking a question pertaining to the lesson, asking students to go to a specific page, or any other change will have the effect to distract the disruptive student and possibly prevent a problem.
6. Humor is a wonderful way to disarm the disruptive student. If your class sees you as able to have humor, the disruptive student is paid less attention and usually joins in on the humor.
7. A disruptive student usually requires an audience to gain power. It may be one or two students that cooperate with the disruptive student and fuel the student’s defiance with attention. The sooner you break up this union the better. One way to do this is to have your students break up into small groups that will be asked question periodically concerning your lesson. The questions are for no credit but will indicate their attention to what is taught. These small groups may have to be changed periodically but do prevent the attention that the disruptive student gains from the one or two others that had fueled the disruptive student's behavior. In addition, the interaction between the disruptive student and more common students will have a positive effect of the target student.
8. be flexible in your thinking and in your behavior. Your class will have more respect for you if they see you as flexible. In addition, you are modeling flexibility to your students. Rigid or authoritarian styles are seen as a challenge to the disruptive student and you can count on a problem from them as a result.
9. Smile often to your class. Many disruptive students will justify their behavior by seeing you as angry and inflexible. Smiling to your students helps to prevent this justification.
10. Use confrontation with the disruptive student only as a last resort and never in front of other students. Confrontation in front of other students only provides an audience for them as a well as a pressure for them to respond in a negative manner. In a private meeting show yourself to be concerned, helpful, and understanding of the disruptive student's situation.
These are only some interventions that you may find useful with some of your students. These do not cover all situations.
For more information please check out our website at: http://www.attentiontraininginstitute.com/home.html
Although students who display inappropriate behavior do suffer from chronic inattention as the source of this inappropriate behavior, an explanation alone will not be helpful to those instructors who must deal with these behaviors in class. Listed below are a few techniques that may prove helpful to contain inappropriate behaviors in students.
1. Know your students. While many students may display inattentive behaviors, disruptive students generally always display these behaviors and noticing them may give you an indication to expect disruptive behaviors and to be ready for them. These behaviors may include: inattention to direction, chatter with other students, poor eye contact, failure to respond with direct answers, dazing off in class, attention toward other items such as a phone, a paper on the desk, who is passing in the hallway, and other things rather than toward what is being presented, attention toward what other students are doing, etc.
2. Be aware of what is going on in your class. Prevention is always preferable to intervention. The best way to prevent disruptive behavior is to be aware of its potential before it manifests. A way to be aware of your student's behavior is to speak and teach them while facing them as a group. Frequently, it is when you are facing the board, looking to a book, or speaking to a few students that disruption takes place. Remember, a disruptive student is an angry student who feels badly about themselves so that deception will be a major behavioral characteristic. By facing your entire class while teaching, you will reduce the frequency of deceptive behaviors in the disruptive student. One way to get your student's attention is to tell them, as a group, "Pay attention, this is important" frequently. The statement will gain their attention and cut down on inattention and possible deceptive behavior.
3. Have your students understand that part of their participation grade will be impacted by their tendency to be disruptive or unprofessional. Disruptive or unprofessional behavior could be to such a degree as to warrant a failure grade for that student.
4. Model professional and appropriate behaviors for your class. Have them see themselves as capable of performing these behaviors. You may even have some of your students demonstrate for the class what you have taught. You might include your disruptive student(s) in this demonstration to show them that they, too, are capable. Remember to reward your student's professional behavior with praise.
5. Distraction is a wonderful technique to intervene on any unwanted behavior. Disruption usually escalates into a problem. If you hear chatter with others from your disruptive student or see any indication of a problem, distraction by asking a question pertaining to the lesson, asking students to go to a specific page, or any other change will have the effect to distract the disruptive student and possibly prevent a problem.
6. Humor is a wonderful way to disarm the disruptive student. If your class sees you as able to have humor, the disruptive student is paid less attention and usually joins in on the humor.
7. A disruptive student usually requires an audience to gain power. It may be one or two students that cooperate with the disruptive student and fuel the student’s defiance with attention. The sooner you break up this union the better. One way to do this is to have your students break up into small groups that will be asked question periodically concerning your lesson. The questions are for no credit but will indicate their attention to what is taught. These small groups may have to be changed periodically but do prevent the attention that the disruptive student gains from the one or two others that had fueled the disruptive student's behavior. In addition, the interaction between the disruptive student and more common students will have a positive effect of the target student.
8. be flexible in your thinking and in your behavior. Your class will have more respect for you if they see you as flexible. In addition, you are modeling flexibility to your students. Rigid or authoritarian styles are seen as a challenge to the disruptive student and you can count on a problem from them as a result.
9. Smile often to your class. Many disruptive students will justify their behavior by seeing you as angry and inflexible. Smiling to your students helps to prevent this justification.
10. Use confrontation with the disruptive student only as a last resort and never in front of other students. Confrontation in front of other students only provides an audience for them as a well as a pressure for them to respond in a negative manner. In a private meeting show yourself to be concerned, helpful, and understanding of the disruptive student's situation.
These are only some interventions that you may find useful with some of your students. These do not cover all situations.
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