Oh, the pain of the test!
“Science test tomorrow? Yikes! What? History test, too?! I will not be sleeping tonight…”
About sixteen hours later, we have an exhausted student sitting in the classroom, frantically trying to remember all the information and details of last night with mediocre success as the final minutes of the test clock winds down. What a familiar sight and, for many of us, a familiar experience!
Background and Rationale
A lot of the anxiety around tests can be easily avoided with the simple habit of studying for as little as ten to fifteen minutes per day (outside of homework). It’s such a useful habit that will take our students to success all the way to college and beyond. Studying daily helps students log the information into their long term memories. Studies have shown that it takes at least fourteen repetitions of interaction for the brain to learn new information. It will be more likely for students to learn something well if they give their brains exposure to the information daily. The sooner they start, the better.
In addition, ten minutes the night before the test will feel nothing like the two to three hours it takes on average for a student to cram for one subject the night before a test. This habit helps promote a more balanced approach to studying and school, and helps students give time to other important aspects of their life, like hobbies, extracurriculars, and family.
I have found that the students who have the toughest time buying into this habit are the ones with the great memories and easily ace tests in the elementary and middle school classrooms. These same students struggle in their later years of high school and college as they’ve never needed to invest in the habit of studying daily, and I’m speaking from first hand experience. As a college freshman at UCLA, I actually had a minor identity crisis. I had always considered myself as a relatively bright kid. I graduated high school with a GPA above 4.0 and was one of the top two students in my graduating class, and I hadn’t spent my time studying all the time. Things were easy for me to remember. As I started college, however, I found myself struggling in almost all of my classes and some days felt as if all I did was study. It never even occurred to me that there were other options asides from cramming for tests. The great discovery (common sense) came when I joined the work study program and had to work 20-25 hours per week. I managed straight As during those quarters of college. It took something else to make demands of my time for me to realize I had the option of studying for each class daily, regardless of whether there was a test coming up. I had to. I couldn’t very well cram for tests if I had to work the night before one. It was such a great eye-opener. I felt more confident going into tests and, with each day of studying, I became more efficient and studying took less time. Tests actually became easy and… enjoyable!
The Tool: The Study Log and Effective Ways to Use It
Now, “studying” every day is not a fail safe system if students don’t know what studying actually means or how to do it (but most of them think they do know and don’t think to ask for help or clarification). It is very important for the teacher to give proper instruction on how to effectively study. I’ve heard students say to me that they studied for hours and felt that they studied really well. However, with more investigation, I found out a lot of them “studied” in front of the tv or mindlessly flipped through their notes.
I’ve found that a simple study log helped a lot of students. It provides a way for them to track studying daily, giving them a visual which helps them feel accomplished. In addition, I’ve added a short list of more effective ways to study for them to refer to. It is important to have a short discussion with the students before utilizing this. Emphasize the importance of studying daily to help them log information into their long term memories and that studying means more than just looking at notes while sitting in front of the tv. Though “read your notes at least 2-3 times” is listed, ensure that students know this means active reading.
Here is what it looks like:
If you would like a copy, I am providing them for free at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Feel free to edit as you see fit.
I hope you find this helpful! Thank you for teaching!