Exams, pressure and stress...

[Unknown Entity]

Its been on the news over here for the last few days about teachers teaching whats going to come up in the exam, and nothing else that could help with either other subjects and/or life skills. Also, there have been some stories about teachers putting too much pressure on students to do well.

In my opinion, exams should be as stress free as possible. When I'm stressed, all I want to do is chill out by reading a book, playing on the internet or playstation and meeting mates - NOT revision. Lots of teachers pile stress on to their student to do well, and maybe even push a few to do their best. But. How far can they push and do they know when enough is enough?

When I was doing my Drama exam, my teacher made all of the groups stay back after school to rehearse - EVERYDAY! I couldn't fo to other revision classes on offer. I was being shouted by most of my teachers for not going to their classes, and my excuse was always that I had Drama. It sucked. i'd come home and be too tired and stressed to do any revision for anything, and I'd sleep. By the time Drama had finished, I could go to the revision classes, but lots had shut down due to not many people turning up for them.

My Maths teacher giving us countless sheets and booklets and a DVD saying we needed to know everything in them... I cried when I got them home. How can we be expected to learn of THAT in a few weeks?! THEN, I did the exam yesterday only to find that the exam wasn't as bad as we all thought it was! All that stress... sleepless nights... crying for some pissy exam that could have been done with my eyes shut!!!??? GGGRRRRR!

So, what do you guys think about stress and exams? Should we worry and stress about them? What about being pushed by teachers who feel they are doing the right thing when really, they just make everything much worse?

(Mods, if you feel this is way too similar to the thread in General Chat, please delete... Please and Thankies!)

[Mr Spike]

I don't consider myself to be an expert at this, but having gone through 2 years of crucial exams myself (now in the 3rd) i've found that a little and often of revision always helps.

Thing is, regardless of what you may think (crikey, i think this of ALL my teachers) they do want to you pass the exams. However what they fail to see is that everyone studies and revises differently. Whereas someone may find that writing and re-writing something helps get it into their head works, others may find that pictures helps them revise. If all the material that your Maths teacher gave you dosn't work - don't use it. And if they get on your back for not doing what you've been given, then tell them. At the end of the day, it's your choice.

Worry and stress does no-one any good at all. Personally i find a walk does wonders for stress (yes, even in the rain). Exercise, read, play ping pong in space - if it helps then why shouldn't you do it?

When i revise i find that i will do an hour, go off and do something else (at the moment, i'm long distance training for half marathons) and then come back, refreshed and ready to start again.

What's important is to break everything down into sections and then, most of the time, it isn't as daunting.

Just don't worry - that gets you worked up and then everything goes in one ear and out the other. And believe in yourself

EDIT: I also find that sticky notes with small bullet point notes on them all over the place can help as well.

[Govinda]

No exam is crucial. One thing that teachers fail to point out is that you are not going to die if you fail an exam.

I remember my Standard Grade English teacher, 'Well, if you don't pass SG English, then you can't do Higher, and if you don't do Higher, your chances of university are...well, they're not. You won't have any.'

This made me angry because I knew the woman was talking bull. When you're in highschool, in Britian at least, you've always got another option. I'm not saying you need to take it, nor am I saying you won't be a little bit sad if you do mess up. Revise, revise. But remember - failure is not the end of the world. You don't need to follow the straight and narrow path through the education system that teachers make you think is the only way to progress.

Almost all of my teachers tried to stop me from leaving school at 17 to go to community college. They said it would hamper my chances. Blah blah ****ing blah, going to college was the single best decision I have ever, ever made. It's landed me in university after one year with more life skills than school gave me in five years.

Of course, teachers will say none of this, as they want you to pass. They get so sucked in to their little system in their little world. People just need to learn to stop taking them so seriously. Don't be scared of them - they're highschool teachers. They did a degree, and did not excel at all - so they are now teachers. If you want to excel, they are not the people to look to. They work within and live within old systems that put a lid on real achievement. Of course, they're not all like this, some are cool and will talk to you like you're a human. But the good ones are few and far between, and often bound to tell you to follow a certain path.

Exam strategy: JUST CHILL. In highschool at least. As soon as people start thinking and start realising this, it'll get better. Try looking at the situation from the outside. It always helps. Revise, revise, revise, but remember that under no circumstances will failure bring upon you anything that you can't survive.

[Joe]

So, what do you guys think about stress and exams? Should we worry and stress about them? What about being pushed by teachers who feel they are doing the right thing when really, they just make everything much worse?

Stress and Exams? To be quite honest, it's only happened to me twice, and that was with exceptionally important college finals (*cough, cough* chemistry and Precalc *cough, cough*) Only reason I was stress about chem was that I was borderline failing, and Precalc was easy, I just forgot most of the homework, and needed to ace it to get the B I needed.

As for being pushed by teachers who feel they are doing the right thing, when in reality, their actions are detrimental to learning, I'd have to say that aside from the really nasty/bad teachers *cough, cough* Chemistry, high school world civ*cough cough* I've been lucky enough to recieve teachers that treated me as mostly human, if not as a student worthy of honest critique, both in life and schoolwork. in fact, I'll be honest, if it wasn't for the teachers at my high school, I wouldn't be nearly as successful as I feel I've become. I've also found that the handful of amazing teachers I've had taught me a lot about how to be a better person, being more mentors than instructors.



My personal EXAM STRATEGY: I find that blasting loud music through my headphones just before hand helps calm and center me. This in turn allows me to focus on the exam, and not worry about it. As Pablo Honey says, it's just high school, it's not the end of the world if you don't do well. I also have to agree with the point that the exams are rarely as bad as they're made out to be by the teachers. They just act like it is, because, at least in America, more often than not, school funding comes from High test scores. So, I reiterate, just relax and go with the flow.

(that was one hack of a ramble, hope this made sense )

-
Joesteel

[Rocky]

Just keep in mind that all the teachers are trying to do is they want you to give it your best, so thats why they may need to push kids to do well. The reason they make such a big deal of it is because sometimes students who don't know what they are going to be doing in the future may not care as much, some students are very self-motivated and vice versa, some students learn and retain information at a faster rate, and the list can go on. Just know that they are important and since I can tell you want to do well, realize within yourself that you are motivated to do your very best instead of being guided by what everyone else is saying, because in the end thats what counts when you go off after school.

For studying tips, I like to study in the early afternoon, read/review stuff for like an hour, then I go and enjoy the weather, do a lap at the park or whatever, and I get back to what I'm doing, etc. Some people have studying "timezones", or when they learn the best, and I found out mine are in the morning and early afternoon hours. Find when you have yours, and do work.

[Dimi]

Well, with this being my last year in high school, exams are really important to me. In fact, I really didn't start taking them really seriously until my junior year. During my freshman and sophomore years, I didn't do any kind of revising or studying apart from the review homework that we were offered in our classes.

And I do agree with you, Unknown Entity. Exams should be "stress-free." But the reality of it is there's always going to be that pressure of wanting to pass and not fail those exams. If anything, try doing something to relieve your stress. Go on a walk. Go for a jog. Take a break while studying. Because going to school really nervous on the day of exams, can affect your overall performance.

My strategy for preparing for exams is taking piece by piece and reviewing what I've learned throughout the classed I've tooken. Like in my psychology class, we've been taking an endless amount of notes it seems. And vocabulary plays a big role on the exams as well which to my advantage, I would make flash cards and try to remember the exact words and definition of it. But, I take my time reviewing what's going to be one the test. I doubt that I'm going to know everything and do perfect on them but just take your time and try to take it easy.

[Halie]

If anything, try doing something to relieve your stress. Go on a walk. Go for a jog. Take a break while studying.

I was going to say something exactly like that, and he's right. Just take a break every now and then. Revise on all your subjects individually, too. Revise on one thing for about an hour or so, take a break, go back to it, and move on. Also, getting a family member or a friend to quiz you on them helps a lot. Afterall, exams usually need a good memory to be able to answer the questions, and being quizzed on the answers at home will help give you just that.

And I do agree, teachers put way too much pressure on kids. Yet at the same time, others are getting ignored during those times. Teachers can get really busy with some students, to the point where they don't have time for the other ones. It's happened to quite a few kids at my school, and it had quite a negative impact on them. >.<

[winterborn86]

I do think that teachers but i lil bit to much pressure on children bout their exams, but dont they just want the best for the exam takers? and jus try an help you get started in the world? getting good results play apart in what type of job/uni u get into, but i dont think good results are vital, unless you wanna do something like be a doctor or teacher and so on, if your not that fazed about what job you do then exams might not feel as important to you. but either way i dont think the teachers should push kids as much as they do, they should ease of a little bit. Its not the end of the world if you dont get good results, there are plenty of courses that let you re-sit GCSE's and try for better results

[Furore]

Exam strategy: JUST CHILL. In highschool at least. As soon as people start thinking and start realising this, it'll get better. Try looking at the situation from the outside. It always helps. Revise, revise, revise, but remember that under no circumstances will failure bring upon you anything that you can't survive.

She's right as always.
Though yeah, after you find out what studying method works for you, take enough relaxation time. Burning out is probably the worst thing for when exams come round. Or that's what I observed over here anyway.

Apart from those slightly creepy individuals that get perfect marks across the board due to studying outside of school and the like, most people can expect to get a question or two wrong. For people like me, I would do a test better with no studying and just lazing around before the test than if I were constantly working before the test. So yeah, keep stuff like that in mind. Everyone works differently, and you need to find what works best for you.

I'll end with a piece of advice I found beneficial that a friend originally gave me. 'Don't worry dude, even if you **** up there's always other opportunities. Some are even with decent pay. Just make sure to keep relaxed, remind yourself of that and think very carefully for each question before answering during the exam. Either way you win.' Or it was something like that anyway.

In other words, study, yeah, but stay cool as well.

[HUNK]

Well in my opinion you should not worry about exams. I mean if you have payed attention in class and studied then you've got nothing to worry about.

I mean right now im taking my last EOC for the year in honers English and im not that worried. Which is strange beacuse i worry about almost every exam ever. I am usally a worry wart but this one time im just fine...I guess im just happy that schools almost out for summer.
Well thats all i have to say about that.AJB.