March 15th, 2010
The Workbook as textbook for basic skills course
Recently I learned that Mendocino College is offering a course titled Test Anxiety and Test Taking Skills. The course description reads: “The mental, emotional, and physical aspects of test anxiety. General life stressors, school related stressors and techniques for eliminating or reducing anxiety. Studying for a test and test-taking strategies will be emphasized.”
A course with this title and purpose was so intriguing to me that….
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March 6th, 2010
Help your child by calming down
If your child hates tests, life is hard for your child and for you. You worry along with them when they become severely anxious for any reason. You are frustrated when they won’t study. You believe you have failed as a parent when their test scores are lower than their peers’. You might be intensely angry at the school system—if not the whole culture—for putting so much weight on testing. It shouldn’t make your child suffer or put you in the position of worrying for them.
As the stress rises and your child’s performance worsens, you probably feel hopeless and helpless. You want to do something to…
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February 28th, 2010
Today a college student came to see me for the first time. She is having a lot of trouble with tests. She studies hard, but a few days before the test a mounting self-doubt takes over and by the night before a test her head is whirling around, she’s tossing and turning in anxiety and she can’t sleep. She’s consumed with thoughts that she won’t pass, and that doing poorly will shoot her chances to get into a good graduate school. As she spoke I noticed a few things…..
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January 15th, 2010
Alan Sitomer: one passionate teacher
I have been reading, with great interest, the postings of a California teacher, Alan Lawrence Sitomer. His committed work and passionate voice first came to my attention last week with a blog post titled, “Raise your test scores, that’s all they want.”
I highly recommend that every teacher start tuning in to Mr. Sitomer’s blog. They will find mirrored there the many questions, frustrations, joys, challenges, and tests that every thinking, heart-centered teacher has.
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January 7th, 2010
The latest 5 star review of THE WORKBOOK FOR TEST SUCCESS came out today on Google Books and Amazon. Here’s what the reader says:
Excellent reading. This book helped me to focus not only on academic tests, but also in various situations of my life. It is amazing how a simple tip such as “don’t forget to breathe” could make all the difference in my performance. Dr. B hits the nail on the head when describing all the rollercoaster of emotions that a GMAT, GRE, LSAT and other standardized tests can cause in a student. I particularly enjoyed the exercises and recommend this book for anyone.
I’m particularly glad the reader picked up on how the book applies to a whole host of tests as well as life situations. Isn’t the “rollercoaster of emotions” she references something we all experience, at some point, every day?
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Posted by Ben Bernstein | Filed under
Effective Study Skills,
GED,
LSAT,
Standardized tests,
Test performance,
Test prep and tagged:
Effective Study Skills,
GED,
GMAT,
LSAT,
Standardized tests,
Test performance |
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January 5th, 2010
In a most interesting article in yesterday’s Washington Post, reporter Nelson Hernandez covered a story at a local middle school. He wrote, “Schools these days focus mostly on preparing students for tests of reading and math, but during lunchtime at Kenmoor Middle School in Landover, the youngsters sitting in a small circle were tackling the really deep questions: Ethics. Fairness. How to split dessert.”
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December 16th, 2009
PTO Emery is a bright light in East Bay
On Monday night I had the honor of being the featured speaker at the Emeryville Unified School district’s parent teacher’s association meeting. After a delicious holiday dinner we all moved into the library of Emery Secondary School and PTO President Brynnda Collins introduced me. The school district generously provided each parent at the meeting with a copy of my book. I gave a talk on the book and particularly chapter 5, “How to Calm Down.” I think the material in this chapter is particularly helpful for parents when their kids are stressed out about tests.
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Posted by Ben Bernstein | Filed under
Effective Study Skills,
Fast study skills,
Higher test scores,
Parents,
Parents Teachers Org/Asso,
Staying calm and tagged:
calm,
Effective Study Skills,
Fast study skills,
Parents,
Parents Teachers Org/Asso,
Raise test scores,
Teachers |
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December 14th, 2009
Recently, I met a student who was anxious about taking the LSAT. She came to my book launch, brought by her sister, to get help for her test taking anxiety. The student was skeptical, but her sister bought her a copy of the book anyway.
A month later I received the following email from the student:
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Posted by Ben Bernstein | Filed under
Confidence,
Effective Study Skills,
Focus,
LSAT,
Test taking anxiety and tagged:
Breath control,
Building confidence,
Fast study skills,
Focus,
LSAT,
test prep books,
Test Taking Anxiety |
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December 7th, 2009
Is there a pill for test stress? No. Do I have a bag of magic tricks? No.
There’s no kit with a top hat and a wand that you wave over your head and then
Presto! You can now sail through tests without studying and without concentrating.
I can show you what to do. You have to finish the job.
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December 4th, 2009
Students and parents make a great audience
We had a book reading and signing at Clayton Books in Clayton CA last night. I greatly enjoy the interaction with students and parents.
The lively discussion produced some interesting questions. One, from a parent, was: “What if my child has trouble focusing while studying, but not during a test?”
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