Let’s look at a few math test anxiety tips to help our students conquer their fear.
What is one thing that you are afraid of, but you know you have to do it, so you do it afraid?
For me, it’s flying and going to the dentist. Yes, I hate going to the dentist. I was so afraid one time that I actually bit the dentist on accident. Lol! Let me know if that’s you too!
In my first two years of college, I went to Kent State University in Ohio, so I had to fly back home to Louisiana several times a year. Flying alone at night when the turbulence is bad or if there’s bad weather, is definitely not the time of my life. There are things that I have to do to help me complete those things even when I’m afraid. This is what we want to help our students do when they are facing big tests that they are afraid of.
Definition of test anxiety
Before we look at math test anxiety tips, let’s first look at the definition of test anxiety. The Learning Center at UNC at Chapel Hill explains it as, “a combination of physical symptoms and emotional reactions that interfere with your [a student’s] ability to perform well on tests.” If this interfere’s with a student’s ability to perform well, this should be our main concern. It won’t help to drill a student to make sure they know the content if they won’t be able to perform well anyway. When students are experiencing anxiety, their frontal lobe is blocked and they can’t recall information.
Causes of test anxiety
Let’s look at a few things that cause students to experience math test anxiety. I’m sure there are more, however, these are the ones that I’ll address in this post.
- Low self-efficacy due to a lack of mastery experiences
- Fear of failure
- Fear of making mistakes
- Adult pressure
- Unrealistic expectations
Importance of Self-Efficacy in Students
Much can be learned from looking at the importance of self-efficacy in students. There is a correlation between math anxiety and student self-efficacy. They have this relationship in that math anxiety can be linked directly to low self-efficacy. Research shows that
“a student who feels anxious about mathematics can almost feel incapable of doing mathematics. Similarly, the stronger the self-efficacy, the more active are one’s efforts and the longer he or she will persist at a particular task or behavior in the face of obstacles. Thus, math anxiety could be an indicator of self-efficacy, and higher anxiety in math is related to lower reported levels of self-efficacy.” (Kurbanoglu, 2011)
What does test anxiety look like in students?
If you ask me what does test anxiety look like, I can give you a list of some symptoms of math test anxiety that I’ve personally witnessed. It can look like a headache, stomachache, nausea, excessive sweating, and panic attacks. In case you notice any of these symptoms in your students, you may want to have a plan of action in place. I suggest speaking with the school’s guidance counselor to develop this. It may help if the student can be removed from the environment for a while. This will also keep other students from getting upset as well because emotions are contagious. One student’s stress can cause other students to begin to freak out as well.
Fear of Mathematics Among Students
Fear of mathematics among students is not a new problem and it’s not just found in your class. Statistics show that 93% of Americans have admitted to having a fear of math. This is a major concern in our nation that negatively affects so many people. It’s so powerful that this fear affects the path of life that we choose.
Did you pick your career based on the level of the math courses that you had to take? I know I did. In high school, I ran from Advanced Math and took a theatre class instead. I was even a theatre major during my first two years of college. Besides the fact that I had a scholarship in it and it was my passion at the time, it also brought me much comfort because I didn’t have to take high-level math courses. It’s a serious problem in our nation that we can’t just continue to ignore.
Conquering the Fear of Math
We’ve got to begin to intentionally create math classrooms that our students enjoy and where they feel empowered. If you’d like to join in and create this type of math classroom environment for your students, you can download this free guide and begin tomorrow.
How to Help With Test Anxiety
Below are a few math test anxiety tips that have worked for me:
How to Relieve Math Test Anxiety with Pep Talks
There is so much power in pep talks. Especially when you’ve built a strong relationship with students and established trust. If you are asking how to help with test anxiety, I suggest beginning with pep talks. Help students focus on positive thoughts. If you’ve ever experienced anxiety before, you know that there is a fixation on the worst-case scenario. Help students avoid those negative thoughts about past experiences and fear of negative future outcomes.
Students can easily get caught in this negative cycle. The more they focus on the worst-case scenario, the higher their level of anxiety gets. The anxiety will be so bad it will cause the student to not be able to focus, which will result in poor performance on the test.
How to Relieve Math Test Anxiety with a Happy Environment
Don’t you just love walking into a beautiful space? My mood is automatically lifted when I see pretty things and pretty spaces! I also love to be encouraged. I remember a few years ago, I was working for a company and all of the teachers who were just starting with the company got to visit the company’s headquarters. When we arrived at the parking lot, there was a double line of employees holding posters and signs welcoming us and telling us how awesome and appreciated we were. The line started once we entered the parking lot and extended into the building with decor and posters.
This is what I imagine when I say create a happy environment. At another school that I worked at, the PTA got sidewalk chalk and decorated the sidewalks along the path that students took to get to class after they got off the bus or out of their car. Here are a few ways you can create a happy environment for your students:
Math Test Motivation Posters
You can also decorate your classroom with posters and signs that encourage students and remind them of all of their positive wins in math. If you’re worried about having to take the signs down for testing you can decorate your door or hallway bulletin board. How perfect for when students have to use the restroom during testing. It could also serve as an encouragement break!
Personalized Test Motivation Letters
My students absolutely loved personalized letters. This was my secret weapon right before Thanksgiving break. I wrote letters to each student telling them a positive attribute about themselves that I appreciate. They all would light up and placed those notes in binder covers, pencils pouches, wherever they could put it to have it front-facing them. I didn’t prompt them to do this. It revealed how much students love getting personal meaningful notes.
You can help students get out of their negative thoughts with a positive letter reminding them about the effort that they’ve put forth throughout the school year. Remind them of their wins, big or small. One of my favorite quotes is, “effort ignites ability.” You can view the note below as an example of what you can say to your students.
Candy Sayings for Test Motivation
How about some motivational testing treats? Do you know those candy sayings for test motivation? Students look forward to receiving these every year. You can have them waiting on the students’ desks so that they see them when they go to their seats. If it’s a sweet treat, I allow them to enjoy it during the testing break or at lunchtime. Two of my favorite are “stick with it” and “you’re one sharp student.” You can attach Pixie sticks or pencils to these.
More Math Test Anxiety Tips
Bibliotherapy
This is just a fancy way of saying have your students read a book where the character is experiencing similar trauma. One of my favorites for testing anxiety is the book, The Anti-Test Anxiety Society by Julia Cook.
It’s such a great story about a girl who has major test anxiety and she learns to use a different part of her brain to ease it. She creates the “Dynamic Dozen” which helps her to cope with her test anxiety. Your students will absolutely be able to relate to this character.
Allow students to journal about how they are feeling. This helps students reduce the math anxiety that they are experiencing.
Calming Exercises
This quick smiling breath exercise helps students switch their moods from an unpleasant mood to a pleasant one.
It is important to note that these are strategies that are for kids experiencing mild levels of math test anxiety. If students are experiencing severe anxiety, I strongly suggest referring he/she to the school’s counselor who has been trained to deal with students that have severe cases.
Be careful of what is taught in the hidden curriculum. What messages are being delivered through our actions, routines, tone of voice, and day-to-day decisions that are made in the classroom? There are unintentional messages that we can send that cause students to experience math anxiety when taking tests. Who gets celebrated in class? What are they being celebrated for? What happens when students don’t make passing grades on an assignment? I have a resource that can help you reflect on this. Download my free guide below that will show you 5 unintentional mistakes that math teachers make that cause student struggle.
Which ones of these math test anxiety tips do you plan to implement?
