Praxis Preparation Skyrocketing Your Test Anxiety? Here’s How to Cope...
Praxis preparation is not designed with the average teacher in mind – and that’s enough to make any teacher quake in her shoes.
Take me, for example. I graduated from high school back in 1974 and started a long and rewarding career as a substitute teacher at my local elementary school. I’ve always considered myself an exceptional teacher.
So when I picked up some Praxis II Preparation , I thought it would be an absolute breeze.
And then I took a closer look at the material – and my blood pressure practically skyrocketed as a result.
Praxis preparation has absolutely nothing to do with what goes on in my classroom.
Urgent Newsflash: The Praxis Exam Doesn’t Reflect The Real-Life Classroom
It sounds like the worst kind of irony, doesn’t it? A test that’s designed to certify teachers in no way reflects the content on the exam.
But it’s true. As my palms started to sweat and my heart practically pounded through my chest, I realized that nothing I had applied in the classroom would be tested on the exam. Instead, I was expected to know random information about educational theories I’ve never even come across.
I practically felt faint with sickness.
I knew I had some serious studying to do. But in all honesty, my testing anxiety was so bad that I couldn’t focus on my Praxis questions. I felt like my Praxis preparation had suddenly become a dark cloud over my life..
...And there was no way I was going to escape from it.
When Praxis Preparation Anxiety Attacks, Here’s What to Do
I had talked to other substitute teachers who were feeling the same way as I did. We all gathered around the break room table at lunchtime, commiserating over how preparation for the Praxis II was designed against us.
And as we kept talking, I felt my test anxiety taking root.
If I had any hope at successfully tackling my exam practice – any hope at all – then I desperately needed to not only absorb everything in my study guide, but to tackle my test anxiety as well.
After all, even if I knew everything there was to know about the exam, suffering a minor panic attack during the exam would make all of my hard-won knowledge absolutely useless.
So I decided to approach my Praxis II Preparation from a different angle. I decided that if I had any hope of achieving that all-important pass mark, I needed to grab my anxiety by the horns and wrestle it to the ground.
And I found out how to do exactly that, thanks to the following tips and techniques:
- I learned how to self-soothe when I started to feel the anxiety take over. A few special mantras was all it took for me to get my testing back on track;
- I reminded myself that I was not in control of my test. I know it sounds detrimental, but acknowledging that I couldn’t control the test meant that any testing hiccups seemed like minor bumps in the road. Not full-blown obstacles to critical Praxis preparation.
I also used the online resources for Praxis Test Preparation at www.teachingsolutions.org/praxisii.html, which helped me master my testing content. After all, when you feel prepared for the big test, anxiety is a thing of the past!
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