Test Prep Books/Effective Study Skills for Test Taking Anxiety

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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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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Calm, confident, focused

On November 4, 2008, 66 million people elected Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States.
How did he, a young man with a brief resume, make this dream come true?

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Barack Obama faces big tests daily:  the economy, the war, international crises, opposition in Congress… the list goes on.  Whatever you think of his politics, one thing we can all agree on is that he possesses the three traits necded for success in any stressful, test-type situation: He is calm, he is confident, and he is focused.

He never loses his cool, he never seems dejected or bitter at a loss, and it certainly doesn’t make him lose steam and he is never off-message.

He is a good role model for facing important tests: staying calm, keeping confident, and being focused is the key.

These are the skills that should be part of any leadership training. Leaders are constantly tested. They have to face moment-by-moment challenges, and we trust that they will do that. Have you ever considered that we are really trusting them to stay calm, confident and focused?  Imagine a leader who is tense, doubtful and distracted.  That doesn’t define “leader.”  Calm, confident and focused do.

If you are in a leadership position, or you are training others to be leaders, consider that for the vitality of the organization and the well-being of its members, you want to cultivate the three qualities in The Workbook. We want, and value, leaders who stand on a sturdy three-legged stool. Leaders who are calm, confident and focused.

What are the qualities you value in a leader?

Is fear derailing you?

The more I work as a test prep performance coach the more I see how fear not only derails test takers, but immobilizes them. It is the single biggest cause of poor test performance.

What are they afraid of?  (And if you’re a fearful test taker and are reading this: what are you afraid of?) Doing poorly?  Failing?  Not living up to standards?  All kinds of consequences like not getting into the college of you choice, not qualifying for a scholarship, making someone (a teacher, parents, our yourself) disappointed?

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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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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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Have you ever wondered what the purpose of your life is?

Common answers are “success,” “happiness” or “satisfaction.”

While these are all worthwhile goals, here’s what I have come to believe: the purpose of your life is to face every challenge, every test, as a chance for you to become the person you are meant to be.

Life is a test for you to become your highest self.

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Agnes, 4th grader, uses The Workbook!

At our Chinese-American Thanksgiving feast, our cousins Tommy and Daisy told us about their fourth-grader Agnes, and how she’s using THE WORKBOOK FOR TEST SUCCESS. “She’s going through the checklists and thinking about herself and checking off things,” Tommy told us.   While the book is written for high school and college students, knowing that a younger child finds it relevant is great news. Many parents of young kids are buying the book because they (the parents) want to know how to help prepare their children for all the pressures of test-taking and especially to help reduce test-taking anxiety.  If the book can help teach effective study skills also to a 4th grader, we’re delighted!

As a matter of fact, I wrote a chapter especially for parents. so this is not a test prep book only for students. I want parents to have the help they need to guide their kids through the treacherous terrain of test taking.

Let us know your stories about younger kids and test-taking anxiety, and how you teach them effective study skills.

An interested reader: high school sophomore

On Sunday there was a book signing at Barnes & Noble in San Bruno, California

It was so interesting to see who came up to the table to ask about the book and question me about their own issues regarding test taking.

Students:  a number of high school students were curious about the book. Their issues? Getting nervous during tests. Procrastination while they’re supposed to be studying. Losing confidence when they have a difficult question. The test prep books on the market don’t adequately handle these issues. Yet, when mastered as effective study skills they can make the difference between a high and low test score.

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