Chapter 7b and 7c

Chapter 7b:

One interesting point that I read in the chapter was that preteens are starting to take SAT tests in middle school. There is a lot of pressure on young adolescents to test well. Many students suffer from testing anxiety. I like how this chapter gave some tips for working with anxious students because every teacher will be dealing with anxious students in their class as soon as they announce the phrase, "There will be a test this week". Some tips for dealing with anxious students that were written in the book are the following:
-Establish a rapport with the student whereby the student has confidence in your suggestions
-Specific suggestions with positive outcomes (be prepared, read directions carefully, make an outline, etc.)
-Relaxation techniques (deep breathing, stretching, contracting muscles and then relaxing, thinking of a happy memory)

This section of the chapter was a good reminder of how to deal with students that deal with anxiety. I plan on reviewing for tests throughout the week, without naming each review session, "test prep". I do not want my students to fear the word "test". I will work with my students so they will gain confidence while taking tests. I would follow Helija's way of teaching by assessing students on what they learned and how much of the information they retained through a certain amount of time.



Chapter 7c:

This section of the chapter offered many examples of how to write different types of test questions. I liked how this section gave advantages and disadvantages to the different types of questions. I would use this information when I am making up tests for my students so they are able to learn in different ways. By making up several different types of questions, such as multiple choice and matching, I will be able to asses if the student is learning the material well.