June 16th, 2010
Cheating is not an option
The New York Times ran a story recently titled: Pressed to Show Progress, Educators Tamper with Test Scores. The article is about teachers supplying their students with test questions and in some cases, changing the answer sheets, all to raise their students’ scores.
Why would a teacher, a role model for his or her students, take such a drastic action?
May 12th, 2010
A well-respected instructor in a prestigious health care training program. stopped me in the stairwell. “I want to tell you how I used the 3 legged stool last week,” he said. He proceeded to tell me about a recent incident in which a competent student did poorly on a performance test. After the procedure the teacher found out that the student had just suffered a death in his family and was planning to leave immediately after the test for the funeral. But the student hadn’t told anyone about the tragic event or his plans. He was determined to barrel through and take off.
Things didn’t work out the way he planned. Uncharacteristically, his test performance was sub-par. He barely got through. This was a smart,
March 20th, 2010
The calm, confident and focused teacher
As the health care debate nears some resolution (at least for the time being), the legislative agenda is already setting its compass to point towards education. A lead article in the New York Times titled “Obama Calls for a Major Change in the Education Law,” the President and his Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan are calling for a re-visioning of No Child Left Behind.
(see referenced article link to ‘Major Change in Education Law’)
One of the key features of the new policy is the focus on teachers and how they teach.
Quoting the article: The administration’s proposals would also rework the law’s teacher-quality provisions by requiring states to develop evaluation procedures to distinguish effective instructors, partly based on whether their students are learning.
I read this to mean: teachers are going to be tested. Big time. I don’t mean…
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….
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.
November 3rd, 2009
Something about this story catches my attention. here’s the link.
http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11415560
Despite low test scores, some schools in Maryland have taken a different approach to making sure students learn. The teacher are making the difference. Through their tireless hard work they try a range of approaches, including games, and– noteworthy to me, “When students make a mistake their teaches tell them not to be embarrassed and work it through with either a partner or teacher.
I’ve written chapter in my book specifically for teachers. They need support for their great service. Teaching is arguably one of the most challenging professions in the world. It demands on-going attention to an ever-changing flux of variables – from an individual student’s cognitive and emotional growth to dynamic group factors, from highly charged cultural and political issues to rapid advances in technology and information processing. Keeping a finger on the pulse of all this is a full-time, virtually non-stop, excruciatingly difficult job, and yet that’s what teachers are expected to do. The dedicated teacher has to be wide-awake and ready to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving system.
I started writing this book for students. It is meant to equip students – high school, college, graduate – with the nine tools for being calm, confident and focused on any test – the qualities necessary for success in performance situations. Teachers started using the model too and reporting excellent results. Teachers who are calm, confident and focused are less stressed and more successful in their role in the classroom. They are also more exemplary as role models for their students.
By the way, I am giving a workshop 4-5 pm today at UCSF Mission Bay Campus. Free. Open to public. Both students and teachers are welcome. Come say hello and bring your questions. See post directly below (Nov 2) for details.
August 4th, 2009
All 80 students of the Young Musician’s Program at the University of California Berkeley, received THE WORKBOOK FOR TEST SUCCESS as a gift from a very generous YMP Board member. YMP is an exceptional program for underserved youth, holding yearly auditions for musically talented and musically promising students . Though there is a strong focus on music, YMP is a college-track program– with 100% success rate of its students getting into schools — including Juilliard and Oberlin– many at full scholarship. The dynamic director of the program, Daisy Newman, invited Dr. Bernstein to work with the students on issues related to performance (anxiety; dynamism; preparation; academic issues), and the results have been palpable. The students were thrilled to receive the book. Said one, “This book is so great. It’s just like having Dr. B in my house!” We are seeking sponsorships like the one at YMP– to get the book into the hands of the students, parents and teachers who can really use it. If you are a board member or a philanthropist, please contact us to discuss your group and how we can work together.
July 19th, 2009
Hello!
If you are stressed out over tests, you have come to the right place. If you want higher test scores, you will find the path here. If you’re a student, a teacher, a school administrator or an educational policy maker, and want to improve test results, read on. THE WORKBOOK FOR TEST SUCCESS: How to Be Calm, Confident and Focused on Any Test is for you.
We are thrilled to be online and sharing the THE WORKBOOK FOR TEST SUCCESS. Advance copies of the book are already selling quickly! Generous, thoughtful sponsors are providing copies, free, to University of the Pacific in San Francisco; the Young Musicians Program at Cal Berkeley; and to Etgar, a summer traveling program for teens. Corporate and philanthropic sponsors are gifting the book to schools, parent teacher associations and to youth development groups. Two wonderful teen summer interns are employed (under the stimulus package!) to work on the book launch. Great things to come! And please be patient with us. With all the interest in the book we want to get this blog/website up and running.
Stay tuned!
