Terra Nova week is very important in the middle school. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can help your child next week (October 17-21, 2016):
- Discuss your child’s personal test-taking habits with him or her.
Does your child have a tendency to rush? To not double-check his or her answers? To be overly concise, not including enough detail? Does he spend too long on one question, instead of skipping it and moving on to a different one? Does she have trouble finishing a section on time?
If you’d like ideas and solutions, encourage your child to watch this test-taking tips video from a previous post by Mr. Mazon and Mrs. Hardin.
- Try to avoid ANY appointments or absences during testing week.
Please try to avoid scheduling any medical or personal absences during test week. We will be following a DIFFERENT schedule than usual. If you want to avoid a testing time, please email your child’s homeroom teacher to discuss a given day’s schedule.
If a student DOES need to make up a missed testing session, then this will take place at the most appropriate time during the next week; the student will most likely miss some academic class periods to make that happen.
- Make sure your student gets enough sleep.
Sleep is so critical to focus, alertness, memory, and creative thinking. Have your child shut down electronics and finish activities early enough to get a full eight or more hours of sleep each night.
- Help your child to be fully awake in the mornings.
In addition to a healthy breakfast, we need to make sure that the BRAIN is awake, and not just the body. Whether it’s a brisk morning walk, a chatty conversation on the way to school, laughter, or upbeat music, we ask all students to come to school fully awake!
- Don’t believe the myths.
Many rumors emerge about standardized tests that are NOT true. For example, don’t believe that “if in doubt, the best answer is always C”. That’s not the case on all tests.
More importantly, don’t believe that mints, candies, or a certain superstition will automatically help a student’s score. While there IS some evidence that aromas, including peppermint, can aid in alertness, it’s the boost of optimism that comes WITH that mint that’s equally (or more) important.
- Help your child to stay positive.
A student’s attitude matters more than we think. If a student enters a test feeling that he won’t do well, won’t finish on time, or won’t meet someone’s expectations, then he may create a self-fulfilling prophecy. We will do everything we can at school to help students have faith in themselves and feel that they are capable of doing their best!
- Take advantage of a week with NO HOMEWORK!
We teachers want students to be stress-free and fully rested during testing week, which is why there’s a “no homework” policy in place for the week. There are several ways that a student could take advantage of this week:
- Relax! It’s okay to take a break this week
- Read, especially getting caught up (or ahead) on an AR point goal
- Complete corrections on assignments for any classes
- Ask teachers if there are any areas in which the student needs to catch up or get more practice
Thank you for reading!
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