These 5 steps can soothe students who fear classroom tests or assessments through effective preparation. This approach requires the support of an adult.

1. Anticipate questions

It is useful to look with the pupil at his last test in the subject studied in order to dissect its structure and anticipate the questions he may have in the next one. For example, the control can be organized as follows: 2 or 3 course questions, exercises modeled on what had been done in class, a more difficult exercise. The elements to be perfectly mastered can be deduced from it to ensure a maximum of points.

The revision work will be oriented according to the expectations identified. For example :

repeat exercises done in class by modifying the numbers in the statements,

ask a few class questions with the lesson in front of you to show that there is no trap, because all the answers are written in the lesson.

2. Spread the revisions over several days before the assessment

Two or three days before the date of the test, the pupil can organize his revisions around:

the exercises identified as essential beforehand (repeat the same ones as those done in class and imagine other exercises on the same statement by changing the numbers),

Memorizing the lesson.

Effective memorization involves transforming the lesson because simply rereading is not effective. This transformation can take the form of a reformulation with its own words, flash cards, a mind map , a diagram, or a list with titles, sub-titles and keywords.

I like revisions using personal mind maps because mind maps make it possible to request several memorization channels at the same time and therefore to memorize more effectively:

It is possible to follow the path of the different branches with your fingers to find the path of an idea. Once this has been done several times, we can even redo the path of the map in the air or on the table by mentally evoking the corresponding content by sight and / or by words. The gesture in the air allows you to detach yourself from the mental map that the student will not have at hand during the control.

The advantage of mind maps is that a keyword must correspond to a branch. This allows:

to repeat the key words aloud and / or in the head,

to hear them again through your own voice or the voice of someone else (the teacher, parents, review friends …),

to piece together structured sentences by adding the missing words through mind games. A mind map is a support for writing or reciting sentences, including definitions. There may be variations in the determinants or the tense of the verb, but the main thing is that the idea is understood.

currency mind map

3. Reread his file the night before

The idea is that, the day before the test, the pupil dispenses with the lesson written in his notebook but recites the lesson in his own words without rereading it before nor having it in front of him.

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It is essential to rework the lesson well the night before because the brain structures and consolidates knowledge during deep sleep .

4. Get started

Reasoning in terms of the project promotes the memorization and solicitation of information at the right time during the control:

when working on the lesson the night before, give the brain the “ mission ” to retain the information for the next day

The student may say to themselves a sentence such as: “I want my brain to memorize the information I am going to read during the night and be able to use it again tomorrow morning during the math assessment on fractions and decimal writing. ”

before entering the room where the control will take place, take a film of what will happen

Before entering the classroom, the student may take a moment to think, “I am going to come into this room to do a math test. This one will focus on fractions and decimal writing. I will sit down, I will read the instructions calmly, I will start with the course questions that I have mastered perfectly and then with the questions that resemble the exercises that I have worked well. ”

5. Relax and relieve stress

While the teacher distributes the copies, the student can take the opportunity to relax and get rid of the stress that may appear in this hesitant moment.

For example, a small, simple breathing exercise can be done discreetly in the classroom:

put your feet flat against the ground to feel “anchored” (it is better not to wear heels that day),

put your hands flat against the table to feel the pressure of your fingers against the table, the heat inside each finger,

let go of the anxious thoughts that will surely appear at that moment by concentrating on the feet firmly on the ground and the hands on the table,

Students who are very stressful can take a moment during the assessment to repeat this relaxation exercise.

As they practice these steps with children and adolescents, they will become more and more familiar with these tools. By dint of training, they will now have them available and will be able to request and use them independently.