From now until early May, students will be preparing for the big tests. How can students and teachers cope?
As a teacher, I worry about my students becoming overly stressed about taking the high stakes tests. Middle school and high school students have achievement tests to take. High school juniors and seniors must worry about college entrance exams. Teachers are under extreme pressure for their students to pass the tests. In most cases, their jobs depend on their students doing well on the tests.
So, how do students and teachers cope with the stress?
- As a teacher, I do my best to prepare my students for the test. I hate drill and kill activities and try to do more creative ones that deal with the test indicators and standards.
- My school uses computer generated practices as well. It gives the students immediate feedback on how they are doing on test questions.
- At the middle school, our staff even created games with achievement type questions on them. We rotate students through the different subject areas. Teams compete against each other. It is quite fun.
- The parent organization at my school donates breakfast foods and snacks for the test days to calm nerves and to give the students a full stomach to begin the test.
These are just a few ideas to help prepare students for the big test. The key is to have a positive attitude with the students about the tests. If the kids see value in them, generally they will try their best.
