[Numbers]

Hi

Ok bet a lot of people have problems with this, and since mine are coming up soon, and I'm already getting nervous, I thought I'd ask..

How do you not get nervous at exams?

do any of you have some good ideas... cause I get extremely nervous!

Izzy

[charlene]

I know about the anxiety and fear and I am in the same boat as you, but mine is surgery related. What tests are you having?

[Rio_]

Diaphragmatic breathing should help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing

Also, when I had a panic attack in my French prelim, drinking a glass of water helped calm my breathing down. I doubt bringing a glass into your exam would be exactly practical (only reason I got one was because I had to get taken out the room into the languages base ), but you should be allowed a water bottle, at least.

Good luck!

[Numbers]

Talking about school related tests charlene sorry you have to go through sugery..

Thank you for the link Rio... it looks interesting. And I'll bring a water bottle that's a good idea. Usually they have glasses with water but I just spill it, which get sme more nervous cause I get embarrased. Bottles are good

Izzy

[Desirae2]

I just study at the hardest of my ability. With that I always feel confident. I also learned that stressing just contributes to wrong answers. When you fill in a question, or bubble..whatever, leave the first answer be unless you know for 100% fact it's another answer because typically the first answer is correct. Also, I've learned if your doing multiple choice that crossing out the answers that you know are way off and leaving the possibilities behind and guessing from them gives you a greater chance of guessing correct. I feel your pain! I studying for finals too. Good luck! I hope all goes well for you.

[drunksunflower]

Maybe keep in mind that sometimes a little exam nerves can be adaptive - I have read (and WISH I could remember refs) that it just keeps you that little bit on edge and sharper and speeds you up a bit.

I have never gone into an exam complacent, but then I've never really studied hard and consistently (I am a crammer). I always got pretty good marks at uni :> So for me, I think it gave my performance a bit of an advantage.

I guess whatever works for you - but maybe viewing it as something useful might help a little - I dunno ...

Good luck

[morning_view]

I'm feeling so much better right now - earlier today I had my advanced piano assessment, last one of the year, and I've been stressing so badly over it all - the pieces just didn't seem to stick in my head, it's been causing me so much anxiety and stress: and it didn't help that I had to listen to everyone else in my class go first, because they're all amazing...

BUT, I got up, played my first piece and I played it note perfect, and my teacher was full of praise! I don't even really care that the other 2 pieces were not as perfect, because he seemed so pleased with the first one - so, Panicking OVER.... at least for now, hurrah!

Just thought I'd share that with you all because I'm feeling good about something for a change! :-)

x

Two semesters ago I was taking a test in my psychopharmacology class... I was getting so anxious, thinking I was going to forget all of the information (and of course the anxiety wasn't helping). I called my sister before class to help calm me down and she goes, "Don't think of it as a test.... think of it as a fun and exciting adventure." It was so stupid that I couldn't help but laugh hysterically and now whenever I take a test, I think of it as a "fun and exciting adventure"-- and it helps to relax me.... mostly because it's funny.

[ickydog2006]

This is finals week for me and I"ve been really struggling. One thing that helped a lot was replaying an email over and over again in my head. I had emailed one of my teachers after my second test. He had told me I'd probably ace it. I replyed after the test saying I had just finished and he was right, I probably aced it. He emailed a reply which said "I never doubted". It meant so much to me. I constantly doubt myself, but he honestly had never doubted me and my abilities on the test. I don't know if other people believe you do good. But I would suggest you try to focus on other peoples faith in your abilities (not their expectations) instead of your own lack of faith in yourself.

Good luck... to everyone facing tests right now and upcoming.

(((((((((((hugs))))))))

[drunksunflower]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
ickydog2006 said:
This is finals week for me and I"ve been really struggling. One thing that helped a lot was replaying an email over and over again in my head. I had emailed one of my teachers after my second test. He had told me I'd probably ace it. I replyed after the test saying I had just finished and he was right, I probably aced it. He emailed a reply which said "I never doubted". It meant so much to me. I constantly doubt myself, but he honestly had never doubted me and my abilities on the test. I don't know if other people believe you do good. But I would suggest you try to focus on other peoples faith in your abilities (not their expectations) instead of your own lack of faith in yourself.

Good luck... to everyone facing tests right now and upcoming.

(((((((((((hugs))))))))

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

That's awesome, and sorry to drag it a bit off topic, but there has just been research done here on an intervention type thing conducted with teenagers in predominently low-decile (poorer area) schools who are traditionally lower achievers (they are from a specific cultural group).

With this new 'style' of teaching, the teacher raises expectations of what they should be achieving amongst other things. One of the factors in developing the teaching style that came out is that teachers traditionally expect this demographic to be lower achievers and often fail. The kids themselves said they wanted to be expected to succeed, not given excuses to fail.

Results showed increases in passes in the subgroup of teenages of NCEA Level 1 (they do these exams at 15ish) from 30% to a staggeringly awesome 125% in comparison to achievement in previous years.

Of course, there were other factors involved in changing the style of classroom behaviour by the teachers, but this 'expectation / affirmation / reinforcement of success' appears to be very important.

I feel like that's kinda what your lecturer did? Telling you you'd ace it showed his confidence in you, and there is NOTHING wrong (and a lot right, IMO) in drawing from that kind of positivity ...

Sorry again to ramble a bit.

[Numbers]

congrats morningview, that's really great

I guess studying hard is the primary thing, but I think I always do that, too hard sometimes maybe.
Making it into an adventure sounds like fun but isn't it hard to do in the situation? It sounds funny though pinksoil

I wonder if maybe I should give some more informations. The nervousness doesn't help me do better one bit. I get so nevous before exams. Like there's a month untill my first exam and I don't even know the subjects yet, but I'm still nervous. When I'm in the exam room I shake and cry like a baby, and my head just keeps saying RUN RUN RUN.
I get so scared it's really horrible. I stutter and when I have to illustrate something or write something my hands shake so much you can hardly read it.
And I study hard, I do my best, except it isn't my best, cause if I could get rid o some of the nervousness I knew I could do better. At school work I get straight A's but I fail half my exams, which reall bothers me cause exam grades are the ones that count.

This year I've been given a tutor so I'm hoping it might help a little, but I'm still not comfortable with her. I guess I'm gonna have to learn to trust her, it isn't easy tho.

Izzy

[drunksunflower]

Can your tutor set you up with more 'mock' exams to help you get used to the idea?

I know you will normally do say the last few years' worth of papers to get an idea of likely questions / format, but setting up more of a test environment (e.g. strict with timing, silence, no refs to notes) to help you get used to it?

I don't know that I have any helpful hints then sorry ...

[Numbers]

Yeah we talked about that and going to try next week. But I've done tons of test exams and asn't helped so far. I'm really just wondering, since it's the anxiety forum if maybe some of you have good techniques for relaxing a bit more. Like staying focused and not panic. Breathing exercises are a really good idea. I'm gonna try that

[Rio_]

No problem!

[Perna]

I have a 3-hour exam coming up the 8th and there's 105 terms I'm supposed to know (and be able to write a paragraph/5 sentences about) although only 8 will be on the exam and only 5 of those I'll have to choose to write about and 14, hour-long essays of which 3 will be on the exam and I'll have to choose 2. So, I'm pretty nervous about having to know all that and/or guessing wrong on which ones to really study, figuring that they'll ask another I didn't study so well :-)

I try to make everything I study into a "story" or interesting in some way to myself so I remember it easier. The terms I'm kind of doing like they are a grocery list :-) and just sort of "translating" them into my own words so I'll personally connect with them and be able to say, "Oh, yeah, that one" and write. The essays I think of a topic sentence for and 2-3 supporting "ideas" that I can develop during the test. Once I start writing I'm usually okay and the jitters aren't so bad except for the idiot clock ticking down since it's timed. I'm always afraid I will spend too long on one of the sections and not have enough time for the others.

Post deleted by DocJohn

[Numbers]

Perna that is a really good way of remembering stuff. Tried it outon some of my homework, actually made me remeber better
Maybe taking it in a room by myself could be of help, at least for the written exams, with the oral ones there has to be someone to examine you..lol. I'll ask my tutor about it thanks

[BeyondRedemption]

sitting at the front of the room helps me, so i can't see anyone else. in my prelim exams i sat at the back, ot of habit, coz i hate people being behind me. but seeing everyone else writing down answers when i couldn't think of them myself made me nervous. i'm in the middle of my final exams and i've been sitting at the front and i've been doing okay
also, i go through the paper once only writing down the answers i definately know. then i go through it again thinking a bit more on each one. then again and write down a load of crap for the answers i don't know lol but i have gotten marks for the load of crap before lol
hope i helped a bit
good luck

-steph
xxx

[Numbers]

Thanks Beyond good luck to you too.
Good info, unfortunately it doesn't mater to me where I sit. I get nervous everywhere. I was told that for tests I can go sit in a room by myself but for the real exams I have to sit with all the others. Those are the rules unfortunately.
But at least my tutor will come with me in the room for oral exams, and they have given me permission to do a few things. Like I don't have to sit down if I don't want to. So that's good

and good luck wishes to all you others out there who have to do exams (((((((exam-people)))))))
Izzy

[Perna]

Is it okay if I panic now?

Tomorrow 1:00 I have my last final. I haven't really started studying yet. I have an A in all the other work so even if I only get 70 points in this 30% I'll still have an A. If I don't go, I'll still pass. I already got my other course grade and it was an A.

So, what's with the terror? I have only been going to college since 1968, you'd think in almost 40 years I'd have had a "few" tests and be use to this? For my first degree 68-72, I didn't do the work, didn't read a thing, went through college on what I learned in high school and my "native" intelligence and got C's so what's my fear now?