Test De-Stress Tips (For You & Your Students)
Pre-Test De-Stress
Prepare for testing season with these four tips that will help in reducing stress and performance anxiety for you and your students.
Ah, Spring. Warm weather returns, flowers begin blooming, summer vacation is so close you can almost taste it, and *insert record scratch here* testing season begins.
Between classroom end-of-year evaluations, routine comprehension checks, and high stakes standardized assessments, testing can be a real downer in an otherwise amazing season.
While the anxious tester in me wishes someone would send out a mass email memo declaring all tests cancelled forever, this year has certainly proven that tests are here to stay. So, let’s put on our learning celebration party hats (shout out to my high school government teacher, Mrs. Osborne— the one person I know capable of making “learning celebrations”, otherwise known as tests, fun), pull out our stashes of “brain food” candy and talk about some test de-stress tips!
Performance Anxiety:
“Apprehension and fear of the consequences of being unable to perform a task or of performing it at a level that will raise expectations of even better task achievement.”
APA Dictionary of Psychology
STRESS: It’s not just for test takers.
“Just like other types of anxiety, test anxiety can create a bad cycle: The more a person focuses on the negative things that could happen, the stronger the feeling of anxiety becomes. This makes the person feel worse and, with a head is full of distracting thoughts and fears, can increase the chances that he or she will do poorly on the test.”
Katheryn Hoffes, Ph.D
Before we start chatting test de-stress tips, let’s do a quick roll call on the what, why and who of test stress. We aren’t just talking about students getting stressed here!
WHAT IS TEST STRESS? While many types of stress and anxiety can play a role in test taking, these tips are going to focus on performance anxiety. The APA dictionary of Psychology defines performance anxiety as, “apprehension and fear of the consequences of being unable to perform a task or of performing it at a level that will raise expectations of even better task achievement.” As far as symptoms are concerned, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America posits that they can be physical, emotional and behavioral/cognitive. Examples include:
PHYSICAL | Headache, Nausea, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, light-headedness, dry-mouth, and feelings of “butterflies in the stomach”.
EMOTIONAL | Feelings of anger, fear, helplessness and disappointment are all common with performance anxiety.
BEHAVIORAL/COGNITIVE | Difficulty concentrating as well as negative thoughts and self-talk can be common.
WHY DOES CURBING STRESS MATTER? Especially for young students, test stress can feel like it comes from left field, which can make it difficult to combat without guidance. Whether the stress comes from feeling ill-prepared for a test, having a perfectionist mindset, or from feeling pressure to perform from peers or family members, stress left unchecked can interfere with our ability to perform well.
When our bodies are under extreme stress, they release the hormone adrenaline which catapults us into fight or flight mode (Kathryn Hoffses Ph.D, 2018). Cue the sweaty palms and instant difficulty in recalling information you knew like the back of your hand just yesterday.
WHO | Stress is contagious! It’s a bummer, but it’s true. Teachers, students, parents and other caring adults all are impacted by test stress. Our desire to see our students succeed can be so strong that it can quickly cross over into palpable anxiety. So when we talk about de-stressing, don’t remove yourself from the equation! And be sure to consider the effect that household pressures and stress may be having on your students as well.
Here are four high-impact tips for helping students (and you) de-stress before a test!
Check Your Own Anxiety
Having your own testing anxiety as an educator is natural. We want our students to succeed! That being said, students will feed off of our nervous energy and anxiety if we don’t manage it well before testing. Consider preparing for testing day just as you would coach your students to- eat a good breakfast, don’t skimp on your usual exercise routine if that is a stress reliever for you, and give yourself time to engage in a few moments of mindfulness before students arrive- even if it’s just putting on a favorite song in your car, or taking a few moments to yourself with the lights off in your classroom.
If you’re still learning what works best for you in managing stress, consider filling out this Cognitive Behavioral Model Worksheet designed to help you interrupt your stress cycle.
Finally, Marisa Cohen from Scholastic suggests repeating to yourself a mantra that I just love-
“I am the antidote of the pressure rather than the cause.”
Quick Tips:
Prep for administering a test by getting good rest, eating a balanced breakfast and practicing the de-stressing routines that work well for you.
If you’re still learning what works best for you in managing stress, consider filling out this Cognitive Behavioral Model Worksheet designed to help you interrupt your stress cycle.
Help Students Prepare in Advanced
Preparing well for a test requires strong self-management and responsible decision making skills (Hello, SEL!). Several days before a big test, take some time to discuss as a class:
Studying strategies
Test preparation tips, like getting enough sleep and drinking plenty of water.
Strategies for when questions come up that you don’t know how to answer, like taking a moment to do some deep breathing and practicing positive self-talk.
Students can learn so much from each other!
And long before testing begins, help students build the muscle of checking in with their emotions. The desk format of the Friendzy Daily Check-in is perfect for this. When students have access to the check-in within their own personal space, they can feel empowered to update how they are feeling at any given moment. Simply acknowledging stress in the midst of testing can be an indicator to the brain to slow down and recalibrate.
If test anxiety is particularly prevalent with your students, consider creating a pre-test manual as a class where students write/draw their test prep activities and tips. For more mature students, consider pairing classmates up as accountability partners and/or have students write each other encouraging notes to read before a test.
Quick Tips:
Help students prepare for testing well in advanced by allowing students to discuss with each other studying strategies, test prep tips, and ways to manage stress during a test.
Use the desk version of the Friendzy Daily Check-in to help students in identifying their feelings at any given moment.
Try pairing students up as accountability partners and/or have students write each other encouraging notes to read before a test.
Reframe Test Stress
Stress isn’t always bad! This is news you should share with your students! Help students reframe test stress by giving them an idea of what is happening in the body. A little bit of stress is actually sending more oxygen to your brain which can boost your alertness and memory! Read more about the benefits of a little bit of stress in this Edutopia article and consider sharing an age appropriate science experiment, TedTalk or story of an athlete/performer using stress to their advantage as a way to help students reframe test stress as something positive.
Quick Tips:
Share with students the positive effects of a little stress.
Use a famous athlete or performers story as an example of how stress can be used positively.
Give Pre-Test De-Stress Options
Alight—we’ve made it to the day of the test! In a mostly perfect world (remember, in my version of a perfect perfect world all tests are canceled!), you and all of your students could eat a balanced breakfast together, spend an hour doing some fun review activities related to the test subject, and then spend another hour calming the brain with mindfulness exercises. And I mean, if we’re really dreaming, maybe there is even time for a nap!
Though the above scene is certainly just a dream, there is a lot you can do in the 15 minutes leading up to a test to help students prepare! The key to maximizing time and helping all students de-stress is to offer choices. Stress feels differently in the body for all of us and therefore requires different remedies. Create pre-test stations for students and empower students to choose what will be the most beneficial for them.
Consider activities like a coloring station using some Friendzy doodle printouts from your Friendzy volume and a deep breathing station with the Friendzy “Breathe In, Breathe Out” downloadable. Try an expressive writing station where students can share how they are feeling using our customizable SEL Exit Tickets, and have a space set up where students that prefer to de-stress through exercise can do so (try this reset + renew exercise routine).
Get creative and use what you know about your students to your advantage!
Pre-Test De-Stress Ideas:
A coloring station using Friendzy doodles (printable from your online resource portal).
A mindfulness station with calming music and the Friendzy “Breathe In, Breathe Out” downloadable.
An expressive writing station with a custom writing prompt using the Friendzy customizable SEL Exit Tickets
An active station with a set of movements like those in this Friendzy reset + renew exercise routine.
Tests will come and tests will go, but learning how to de-stress is a skill that will last a lifetime!
We hope these test de-stress tips and resources are helpful—let us know if you try them, or if we missed anything!
