Test Preparation: Managing the Stress

Standardized testing is at the forefront of everyone's mind. While we know that these tests should be just one of many assessment measures, they are high stakes tests for most schools and students. Either way, we do all we can to ensure students perform to the best of their ability.

You have prepared your students throughout the year through instruction and practice of content, reading strategies, and general test-taking skills. And surely in the past weeks, you have incorporated a variety of practice test exercises.

We know from a large body of research and our own life experience that stress can positively or negatively affect performance depending on our ability to manage it. The brain's ability to function is key. It is highly sensitive to changes brought on by hormones, food additives, oxygen, and water. As much as is still unknown about the brain, there are techniques that have been shown to have a positive impact on overall health and performance. Of course, we want to be sure our students are well hydrated and that they have proper nutrition on test days.

Be sure you also give ample attention to preparing students emotionally, physically, and mentally to deal with tests. It is critical that students learn to manage their own stress. There are simple, deliberate techniques you can teach your students today!

Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and using positive talk/images are all tools that can allow students to manage their stress response. Teach, model, and remind students to use these whenever they feel the negative affects of stress.

1) Breathing Techniques can help activate the body's own calming response. Simply telling students to breathe deeply often results in a room of hyperventilating kids. There are simple techniques students can learn and use before, during, and even after stressful events.

1. Breathing deeply engages the diaphragm.
2. Teach students to breathe in through their nose and out through nose/mouth.
3. Their bellies and rib cages should expand when they breathe in and contract when they breathe out.
4. Simple counting technique: Breathe in to a count (maybe 5 to start), using the full count. Hold the breath for a second, and then exhale for the full 5. Guide students to feel their ribs expand, their diaphragm release, and their shoulders release down.

2) Muscle-relaxation. Teach students progressive relaxation techniques. This can be as simple as closing your eyes and tightening up and releasing parts of the body, head to toe. Different mental images work for different people. Students can do a few simple head rolls, shrug shoulders up and down, and even releasing their jaw where many people hold tension.

3) Positive self-talk/images. Students can practice simple self-affirming statements and images to visualize how they want to feel. This extends to how we direct students, such as stating the behavior we want rather than the behavior we don't.

Examples for reducing stress:

1. I am relaxed and prepared.
2. I feel peaceful and energetic.
3. I breathe out tension. I breathe in calm.

Like other techniques, using these types of statements needs to be modeled and practiced over time. All of the techniques should be the students' choice. Give students models and allow them to devise their own. Encourage students to try them all and practice those that they find helpful.

Putting it together: Students can combine positive images with relaxed breathing. There are many more physical techniques, including Brain Gym exercises and simple yoga postures.

The following technique is from Victoria Tennant, called Take 5. Ask students to use the fingers on their hand to memorize five calming steps. Tell them to "Make a fist to represent feeling stressed. Release a finger each time yoau say a step – thumb: "I notice how I feel"; pointer finger: "I accept myself"; third finger: "I calm myself", ring finger: "I notice how I feel now", little finger: "I tell myself something positive." Say "You now have an open hand to represent feeling relaxed and calm."

Educate yourself and your students about the impact of stress on the brain and body. Then teach them real ways to manage their stress. Learn the techniques, model them for your students, and give them opportunity to use and adapt them. Some of the methods may seem hokey to some, but they work. They may even help you deal with the stress of testing, among other things, yourself!! Peace!!

Student link-general tips for test stress: http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/article10.html

For more on the effects of stress on the brain, as well as a range of techniques: http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/teaching/tennant.htm

Reference: Victoria Tennant, M. Ed. is an independent educational consultant. Her current workshops and curriculum materials reflect a synthesis of 25 years of studying and presenting implications and applications of brain/mind research. She is the creator and trainer of two interactive programs: Healthy Beginnings, Nurturing Young Children's Growing Minds™ and Calming Ourselves in Stressful Moments™ published by Comprehensive Health Education Foundation. Victoria is a licensed Brain Gym® instructor/consultant. For presentations and school in-services contact Victoria at vtennant@verizon.net.

Social Justice Resources FREE!!

YES! is a national ad-free quarterly magazine published by the Positive Futures Network, an independent, nonprofit organization. We honor classroom teachers and faculty for informing and inspiring the next generation.

Thanks to the generosity of YES! donors, we are able to provide middle and high school classroom teachers, college faculty, and homeschool resource center instructors with a one-year introductory subscription at no cost.

If you qualify for this offer and are interested in a magazine with positive, solution-oriented stories about environmental sustainability, economic and social justice and peace, simply complete the form below and click “Submit.” We are able to provide only a limited number of subscriptions each year, so apply soon. As a subscriber, you will automatically receive our Education Connection newsletter.

* * * * * PRE-REGISTER BY NOVEMBER 20th! * * * * *

6th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
TEACHER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE:

Reframing Race, Gender, and Teacher-Education Policy

Dates: 5-6 December 2009
Location: University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), U.S.A.

Co-Sponsors:
Center for Anti-Oppressive Education
Department of Educational Policy Studies, UIC
Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, UIC

hat does it mean to prepare teachers to teach toward social justice? Across the United States and around the world, educators face many challenges. Especially troublesome are the economic, social, and political contexts that make difficult our attempts to address differences and oppressions in schools and society. Yet, in the face of these challenges, teacher educators are continuing to produce significant theories, practices, and coalitions. The largest conference to date, the 6th International Conference on Teacher Education and Social Justice will offer rare opportunities to discuss cutting-edge research, develop innovative resources, build networks, and explore possibilities for new directions in teacher preparation. The Conference draws together hundreds of educators from around the world with diverse experiences but with shared commitments and priorities, including scholars from Australia, Canada, Chad, Chile, India, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Palestine, Uganda, and across the United States.

** Special Note** The Conference Organizers are pleased to announce that registration is free for the 6th International Conference on Teacher Education and Social Justice. All participants must pre-register for the conference by November 20th. Space is limited, and on-site registration will not be available, so please pre-register early. Participants are responsible for their own transportation, lodging, and meals. CAOE does not issue letters of invitation to participants from outside of the United States.

http://antioppressiveeducation.org/2009conference.html

Curriculum Fair Basics - FAQs 1) What happens at the Curriculum Fair? For those who don't know...The Curriculum Fair is like a Science or History Fair, except teachers “exhibit” their curriculum oriented toward social justice, we have a keynote speaker and a number of workshops (and food!), and hundreds of like-minded people gather and learn with each other. 2) What does it mean to "exhibit" curriculum at the CF? Each teacher gets a 6-foot long table at the Fair to set up her/his materials. Many teachers exhibit curriculum by bringing a tri-fold board (like those science fair boards) and bring lesson or unit plans, student work, assignments, artifacts, video, whatever, to share their curriculum ideas. Many bring their students along who sit at the table and explain the work with their teachers. The CF is set up so that we can browse the “exhibits,” talk with each other, and share lessons. 3) Does the curriculum have to be a finished, perfect product to exhibit? Is there such a thing? The whole point of the CF is to recognize that teachers collectively produce knowledge about, for example, how to teach for SJ, and that we have much to learn from each other. There are no blueprints here, and we can learn from our mutual experiences. We stronglyencourage teachers to share work “in progress” and to give and get feedback from others in order to further develop our collective understanding of what teaching for SJ means in theory and practice. Sometimes people may feel that their work is somehow not yet “there,” and our view is that the CF is as good a place as any to strengthen it. It has been our shared experience that both exhibitors and non-exhibiting attendees have learned much from participating in the fair. 4) What are the workshops? Although the main focus of the CF is person-to-person contact through the exhibitors at their tables, we also have a limited number of one-hour workshops. These range from curricular innovations about SJ pedagogy to, for example, using multicultural children's literature. These provide more in-depth, interactive ways for teachers and students to present what they’ve been learning and doing in their classrooms.

Creative Writing Field Trips for Middle School and High School students

What Are Adventures In Creative Writing Field Trips?

Welcome to the wonderful world of Open Books! We would love to see your class or student group in our literacy center for an Adventures in Creative Writing field trip. Please read on for all the details on how it works and how to apply.

Adventures in Creative Writing field trips are unforgettable 2-hour experiences designed to help young people develop their writing skills in meaningful and creative ways. At our colorful literacy center, students write and read as a whole group, in small groups, and as individuals, working with our friendly, supportive writing coaches. They read sample work aloud, discuss it as a group, and write their own prose or poetry. At the end of the session, those who wish to share their work read aloud in front of the class to enthusiastic applause. (And just ask any past participant about the joy of wearing The Pencil Costume!)

What Makes Adventures In Creative Writing Field Trips Special?

Field trip participants do more than just write, edit, and perform their own work in their 2 hours at Open Books. They read, discuss, and perform published pieces from diverse authors and learn about the literacy mission in Chicago. Writing coaches are acknowledged as volunteers and, in turn, students are urged to become volunteers in their own communities. Writing samples have been chosen to encourage smart life choices, strong character, and compassionate, positive behavior and attitudes. Students leave the field trip not just excited about writing and reading but also inspired to be leaders and role models in their own communities.

Details About Adventures In Creative Writing Field Trips

Location: Open Books, 213 W. Institute Place, Suite 305, in the River North area of Chicago. We're easily accessible by CTA -- just two blocks north of the Chicago Brown/Purple El stop and near many major bus lines.

Participants: Field trips are open to classes or groups of 4th-12th grade students from schools or community groups (maximum 30 students per field trip) accompanied by at least 2 adults.

Schedule: Field trips are held from 10am to 12noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fill out the form at the bottom of this page to request a date for yours!

Curriculum: Choose from three formats -- prose/memoir, traditional poetry, or slam/spoken word poetry.

Cost: $5 per student

Value: In addition to the workshop itself, each student receives a published booklet of the class’s writings and photos, as well as a blank journal and Open Books pencil to encourage continued writing and a recommended reading list. Teachers also receive booklets and suggested follow-up lessons.