July 18th, 2010
Anxiety: where are you feeling it?
This week I had an experience I’d like to tell you about.
I have a summer engagement working with professional actors who are recording the voices to a well-known video game.
In the middle of one of the recording sessions I found myself starting to worry about something. What I was worrying about isn’t the point here. The point is I was…
June 27th, 2010
One of the chief ways we become distracted is by our own thinking. We start thinking about the past or the future or about something else other than what’s going on now, in the present. When we’re distracted we lose focus and then it’s much harder to progress towards our goals. Our stress goes up and our performance is compromised – whether it’s on a test or when we’re facing any challenge in life. We literally fall off the path.
An example of this is when we become distracted by our own old fears. I can’t handle this, I’m not good enough, I can’t keep it together…and other negative thinking. “Negative” here means minus-ing, taking away from. But taking
June 24th, 2010
Are you tense?
At a recent lecture I gave at the University of California San Francisco medical school, I was teaching the first year students how to use the calming tools: breathing, grounding and sensing.
Breathing is by far the most important of all 9 tools in the performance model. So much has been said and written about breathing, and no wonder! When we don’t breathe regularly it causes all sorts of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual problems.
After we worked on grounding, one of the students had a brilliant observation. First, to remind you:
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 29th, 2010
At a book discussion and signing at Borders in Pleasanton, CA, a seasoned teacher perused the book and said, “This book is the missing link. It’s the Rosetta Stone.” This is a big complement coming from a person with years of experience working with under-served students, helping them to succeed on tests.
The teacher, Steve Shramko, works at the Eastside Adult Education Program in San Jose, and has, over the years, recognized the need for material– “a curriculum” — that addresses the test taker, not just the test content. “This is exactly what we need,” Steve said, referring to the book.
May 25th, 2010
All of us, at some time or other, struggle with an inner voice that is critical, negative and even harsh. In its milder forms it sounds like this: “I can’t handle this,” “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t have what it takes.” In its more extreme form it’s judgmental and critical: “I’m stupid,” “I’m a loser,” “I’ll never succeed.”
What do you do when this negativity surfaces? You may try to ignore it or hide it. You don’t want others to know you feel “less than”– after all, everyone else seems to be doing so well. So you’re humiliated, thinking there’s something wrong with you. Stop. Let’s start right here. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re having a confidence crisis. No more. No less.
“Confidence” is made up of two root words: “con” which means “with” and “fidence” which comes from the Latin that means faith, loyalty, fidelity, belief in, trust. When we lack confidence we don’t believe in ourselves.
May 4th, 2010
Stop pulling your hair out!
Here’s a quick and vital tip: when you are feeling stressed pay attention to your body.
Much of what we think of as stress is exactly that, thinking. We start worrying about something that hasn’t yet happened (like an upcoming test) or fretting over something that has already passed (like the answers we put on the test this morning– Did I circle a or b?!). As soon as this kind of thinking kicks in we start amping up. We begin feeling anxious.
So here’s the tip: the feeling is just that, a feeling, something that’s going on in our bodies. Yes, it might be
April 16th, 2010
“It shouldn’t be so hard!”
How often I hear this from students, teachers and parents. And how often I think this myself!
From students it’s about homework, assignments, tests, keeping up with the schedule, all those after school and extra curricular activities. Pile it on! Parents and teachers have their own litanies.
I get the feeling pretty often that most of us are stressed out most of the time! Or, to be more exact…
April 14th, 2010
Los Angeles Public Library Main Branch
Albert Johnson, Senior Librarian for the Los Angeles Public Library, spearheaded the purchase of 498 copies of The Workbook for Test Success, for the LA Library system. 73 copies went to the different branches, and 425 were given away to middle school students at motivational events hosted by the library. Mr. Johnson wrote a glowing letter of recommendation to other librarians
March 29th, 2010
Today I watched a TV clip of an interview with someone who wrote about reducing test anxiety. If I were a student about to take the SAT or GRE or GMAT or LSAT, I would have found it woefully wanting. It’s not that the information was wrong (the specialist talked about “breathing”) but it was all so “tips” oriented. What do I mean and what’s wrong with “tips”?
