To reduce test anxiety, add these strategies to your high school study skills.
- Review your notes for about five minutes every night. Frequent review helps your brain store information in long-term memory.
- Take notes on assigned readings. Organizing and summing up information helps you remember it.
- Use mnemonic devices. Words or rhymes can help you remember facts. For example, the word homes can help you recall the names of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).
- Find out as much as you can about what the test will cover. Listen carefully for hints in the days before the test. Teachers often stress and review information that will be worth big points on a test.
- Ask about the question formats. Will there be multiple-choice questions? Short answers? Essays? Will you have to draw a diagram? A time line? Make up practice questions about the test material in the format you expect to encounter. Then answer them. If you're not sure what kind of questions will be on the test, assume you will have to write an essay. Pulling together the information necessary to answer an essay question will help you answer a question in any formatl.
- How important is the test? If it's a quiz worth a tiny fraction of your final grade, don’t spend days studying for it. Set your priorities based on a test's importance to your grade.
- Bring everything you need to the test. For example, if you need a calculator, don't depend on your best buddy to have an extra.
- Read the test directions carefully. What does the question ask you to do? Compare and contrast? Show all your work? Give examples? Stick to what the question requires—no more and definitely no less.
- Answer the easy questions first. Your confidence will rise, and you can use that momentum as you focus on the harder questions.
- Ask for help. If you don’t understand a test question, ask your teacher to clarify it for you.