Test Anxiety & Worries

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress!

What is test anxiety?

Most people get nervous before they take an important test, but some people experience more intense feelings.

Why do we have test anxiety or worries?

• Fear of failure and uncertainty of future
• Not feeling prepared
• Past experiences

Our Body’s Response to Stress

Stress

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Adrenaline

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Brain

Symptoms of Stress

• Cognitive Symptoms – racing thoughts, self-comparison to others, difficulty concentrating, blanking out, negative thoughts of past performances
• Emotional Symptoms – fear, anger, feeling helpless, guilt, shame, disappointment
• Physical Symptoms – nausea, racing heart, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, headache, dizziness, dry mouth, tense muscles

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How to Help Yourself Daily

• Ask an adult for help when you don’t understand something
• Prepare and practice
• Use positive self-talk and challenge the “never” and “always”
• Practice self-care…eat, sleep, and exercise
• Allow yourself to make mistakes. We are not perfect.

Strategies to use while testing…

Grounding Technique: Skillful Senses

Use your 5 senses. Look around the room to find one thing each for what you can:

• See
• Smell
• Hear
• Touch
• Taste

Grounding Technique: Rainbow Magic

For each color of the rainbow, think of something that brings you comfort or makes you feel happy or calm.

ROY G. BIV

• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue
• Indigo
• Violet

Deep Breathing

Slowly breathe in through your nose and slowly release out your mouth.

Smell the flowers….blow out the birthday candles.

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Go Skiing! (Finger Breathing)

Slowly and lightly trace all 10 fingers as you calmly breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Get on the ski lift up the mountain slowly breathing in through your nose-enjoy the view at the top holding the breath a couple of seconds-slowly ski down the mountain releasing your air through your mouth.

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Take a MAGIC 10

Step back from what you are doing. Close your eyes. Very slowly count backwards from 10 to 0.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

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Sensory Mind Break

Close your eyes. Think of any calm, relaxing place.

• What can you see?
• What sounds can you hear?
• What can you feel and touch?
• What do you smell?
• What can you taste?

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Water or Snack Break

• Get a nice, cool drink of water
• Eat a healthy snack

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Take a Brain Break

• Close your eyes and relax
• Stretch
• Chair push-ups
• Wall push-ups in hall
• Sit-ups in hall

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Think of a Happy Time or Memory

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You've Got This!

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You can do it!!