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How
Educational Psychology Can Help With Exam Anxiety, Part 3 –
Smart Success Strategies For Use After The Test.
After the test you might be relieved,
emotional, worn out physically, mentally tired, jubilant, confused,
or a mix of all of these, depending on how things went. You just
went through a performance, so you may well feel spent and in need
of a break. Your goals now are to recover, refresh yourself, review
what happened, and improve your study skills and test-taking skills
for the future, based on an analysis of your strategies and how
well your executed them. Here are ten things to focus on after the
test.
440
words.
How Educational Psychology Can Help With Exam
Anxiety
Do You Know These Ten Test Success Strategies?
Part Three: Smart Success Strategies For Use After The Test
Bill Cole, MS, MA
Founder and CEO
William B. Cole Consultants
Silicon Valley, California
The test is done. Now what?
After the test you might be relieved, emotional, worn out physically,
mentally tired, jubilant, confused, or a mix of all of these, depending
on how things went. You just went through a performance, so you
may well feel spent and in need of a break.
Your goals now are to recover, refresh yourself, review what happened,
and improve your study skills and test-taking skills for the future,
based on an analysis of your strategies and how well your executed
them.
Here are ten things to focus on after the test.
- Refresh and Release: Take some time off and let off
some steam so you lower your stress levels.
- Physical Activity Helps Recovery: Your body and mind
will recover faster if you go for a brisk walk, or get some exercise.
- See How You Did: Review your notes to see how well your
study strategy matched what the test asked.
- Rate Your Stress Control Skills: How did you do handling
the pressure of the test? Did you use breathing and relaxation
techniques? How well did you apply them? What would you do differently
in this area next time?
- Rate Your Will To Succeed: Did you give 100% effort
right to the end? Did you do everything you possibly could to
succeed? Did you focus only on the things you could control, and
let the rest go?
- Were You Test Savvy?: Did you use smart test-taking
strategies? Did you approach the test strategically and plan out
your approach?
- Compare Notes: Talk to your peers after the test to
see how they handled certain sections or tricky questions, from
a test strategy standpoint. File this data away for future use.
- Consult The Teacher: If there were particularly difficult
questions, talk to your teacher for advice. This shows initiative
and makes a very positive impression on the teacher so they might
give you more extra help or the benefit of the doubt on future
tests.
- Attend Test Review: If the teacher has test review,
attend. This will help cement the material into your long-term
memory.
- Assess Your Performance: Review how you did from a test
psychology standpoint. What did you like? What would you change?
So there you have it, a post-test series of tasks
you should perform each time. You will set yourself apart if you
follow this procedure of diligence so you can not only learn before
the test is given, but even learn more after the test is done. Do
this and you will leverage your time and effort into deeper levels
of knowledge.
The other two articles in this series deal with handling
anxiety before the test and handling
anxiety during the test. Good luck on your next exam!
Knowing about educational psychology and being test savvy
is certainly an important part of being a good student, but top students who
get consistently high grades also have a knowledge base and applied skills in
stress control and peak performance. You need to know how to manage your mind,
calm your emotions and relax your body so you can get into the “test zone”,
that powerful, deeply focused mind-body state that gives you excellent recall,
mental alertness and clarity. You need to learn these skills and become mentally
tough so you can handle the extreme pressures of academia. Other mental skills
training you need are visualization, confidence-building, mental readiness training
and motivation skills.
To learn this set of mental toughness, zone, and stress control skills, sign
up for our special Test
Anxiety Stress Reduction Program or contact me for a complimentary review
of your test-taking skills.
Copyright © 2011-
Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.
Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority
on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and
CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps
organizations and professionals achieve more success in business,
life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International
Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com),
an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development,
professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He
is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school
alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author
and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league
pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For
a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments
visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.
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