June 13th, 2011
Dr. Joy Magtanong-Madrid
Yesterday my wife and I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Commencement ceremonies for the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. One of the students who graduated, now Joy Magtanong-Madrid, DDS., was a student several years ago in a post-baccalaureate program in which I was the performance coach. There were 12 students, like Joy, who had all recently received their bachelor’s degree, and had wanted to go on to dental school, but didn’t get in anywhere they applied. They then applied for the post-bac program, which was a year to get their grades up and improve their scores on the DAT. What an amazing group of people! I loved coaching them. Why? Read the rest of this entry »
May 12th, 2010
A well-respected instructor in a prestigious health care training program. stopped me in the stairwell. “I want to tell you how I used the 3 legged stool last week,” he said. He proceeded to tell me about a recent incident in which a competent student did poorly on a performance test. After the procedure the teacher found out that the student had just suffered a death in his family and was planning to leave immediately after the test for the funeral. But the student hadn’t told anyone about the tragic event or his plans. He was determined to barrel through and take off.
Things didn’t work out the way he planned. Uncharacteristically, his test performance was sub-par. He barely got through. This was a smart,
Read the rest of this entry »
April 6th, 2010
Why are we stuck listening to the negative voice?
A student I am working with has a problem. Here’s what she says about it: “Every time on a test when I’m not sure if my answer is right, I immediately have negative thoughts, ‘You’re not going to get this right,’ ‘You don’t know the material,” ‘You can’t figure this out.’ Why do I always think these negative thoughts?”
This is a great question and something I’ve wondered about for a long time. It’s a very common situation: in a difficult or doubtful situation most of us usually veer towards the negative. What’s going on? In a series of posts I’m going to address this issue. Today we’ll look at one cause and one method of dealing with it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Ben Bernstein | Filed under
Effective Study Skills,
Fast study skills,
Mind,
Staying calm,
Students,
Test prep,
Test taking anxiety and tagged:
Breath control,
calm,
Effective Study Skills,
Fast study skills,
Test prep |
No Comments »
March 20th, 2010
The calm, confident and focused teacher
As the health care debate nears some resolution (at least for the time being), the legislative agenda is already setting its compass to point towards education. A lead article in the New York Times titled “Obama Calls for a Major Change in the Education Law,” the President and his Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan are calling for a re-visioning of No Child Left Behind.
(see referenced article link to ‘Major Change in Education Law’)
One of the key features of the new policy is the focus on teachers and how they teach.
Quoting the article: The administration’s proposals would also rework the law’s teacher-quality provisions by requiring states to develop evaluation procedures to distinguish effective instructors, partly based on whether their students are learning.
I read this to mean: teachers are going to be tested. Big time. I don’t mean…
Read the rest of this entry »
March 15th, 2010
The Workbook as textbook for basic skills course
Recently I learned that Mendocino College is offering a course titled Test Anxiety and Test Taking Skills. The course description reads: “The mental, emotional, and physical aspects of test anxiety. General life stressors, school related stressors and techniques for eliminating or reducing anxiety. Studying for a test and test-taking strategies will be emphasized.”
A course with this title and purpose was so intriguing to me that….
Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2010
In a most interesting article in yesterday’s Washington Post, reporter Nelson Hernandez covered a story at a local middle school. He wrote, “Schools these days focus mostly on preparing students for tests of reading and math, but during lunchtime at Kenmoor Middle School in Landover, the youngsters sitting in a small circle were tackling the really deep questions: Ethics. Fairness. How to split dessert.”
Read the rest of this entry »
November 23rd, 2009
Charles make the model his own
Want the best way to reduce your test anxiety? Personalize the training model I present in the book.
I gave a talk at Oregon Health Sciences University, School of Dentistry, last week and one of the 3rd year students, Charles Nguyen, took the 3 legged stool and ran with it.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 12th, 2009
I came across an article about a successful program designed for at-risk students and dropouts working toward their GED. It’s an 18 month program in which students learn academic, personal, leadership and vocational skills through hands-on-activities.
Karen Bryant, who mentors students even after graduation, said she credits the success of the program to a relationship built on trust and respect with her students. Many of the students have remained friends of Bryant over the years.
In the ‘confidence’ leg of my 3-legged stool performance model I explore into the relationship between ‘trust’ and ‘confidence.’
Read the rest of this entry »
November 11th, 2009
Talking about his family, President Obama said, “And part of our job as parents — Michelle and my job — is not just to tell our kids what to do, but to start instilling in them a sense that they want to do it for themselves.”
I remember a high school student brought in by her parents. I asked her, “Do you know why you are here?” She immediately replied, “Yes. My parents want me to get higher SAT score. And I don’t want to work for it.”
Then the three of them leaned in. All eyes were on me…
Read the rest of this entry »
November 6th, 2009
A student, I’ll call her Sophie, came to me for coaching recently. She’s been having terrible problems with tests, saying she “freaks out” every time she takes an important exam.
I asked Sophie to explain what she meant by “freak out,” she described the intense static going on in her mind while she attempts to answer the questions. “I keep thinking, I don’t understand the question … I didn’t study the right things … I don’t remember anything … I’m not going to get this answer right … My scholarship won’t be renewed.” Her voice trailed off. She looked discouraged and dejected as she whispered, “It’s a mess.”
Rings a bell?
Read the rest of this entry »
