Had a most stimulating visit this afternoon to College Track at their East Palo Alto site, where I met with their inspired site director, Sharifa Wilson, their ACT trainer, Ed Harris and College Track’s Director of New Initiatives, Geraldine Sonobe. College Track is a growing program that works with under-resourced high school students to give them the nurturing they need to get into college. After the meeting I was buzzing with possibility.
I got on train to San Francisco where I met a young Israeli, Shai Magzimof,who works in the game development business. We had an animated talk about video games and my developing them as vehicles to train students in stress reduction (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron). On the train Shai introduced me to a few games. I found them mildly amusing, especially the challenge of keeping myself calm as the game was pushing my nervous system in the direction of getting over-amped. But of course, I had my usual question: what’s really going on here? (usual answer: not much). Shai was on his way to hear Fred Markus speak at a meeting of game developers at Dolby Studios in San Francisco, and I asked him if I could tag along. Read the rest of this entry »
The web is offers an infinite number of valuable suggestion for students. The latest is from a blogger named Jannelle Martel who shares her thoughts on reducing test anxiety. She suggests three stages: strategize, plan and practice. Good and comprehensive. I’d add one more thing: learn how to keep yourself calm. Janelle is covering two of the “legs” in our three legged stool model: confidence and focus. To keep things balanced we need the third leg: calm. Staying calm during the study phase and calm on the test. You can get a thorough explanation and useful tools right on this website. Use the tools and let me know what has helped you and what questions you may have. Thank you Jannelle!
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s noted daily newspaper in English, featured yesterday an article I was invited to write. Titled, “The Fine Balance Between Stress and Stimulation,” the article grows out of a lively conversation I had with SCMP editor and journalist Alex Lo. I responded to an article Mr. Lo wrote about parenting (see my post below on November 22). I am honored to have received this invitation and I thank Mr. Lo for this auspicious introduction of my work to Asia. A Happy New Year indeed!
I am on a trip to Hong Kong and India and have been reviewing my work over the past year.
One of the most profound experiences I had was a trip in November to Umatilla, Oregon– which is in the eastern part of that great state. Beautiful plains and rolling hills. Horses, cattle, cowboys. Still the west and some of it wild.
The purpose of my trip was to raise funds for a scholarship program at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution, a state prison in Umatilla. About a year ago one of the prisoners received a copy of my book and he and I have been in correspondence since. He was part of a state funded program to see some prisoners through an academic program leading to an associates degree. That was, until the Read the rest of this entry »
Pressure on students to score high on tests is universal. As we see in America, the pressure is from many sources– getting into the “right” school, peer competition and even government mandates to “do well.” Test stress also plays itself out in families– tension builds up between parents and children to the point where it can actually negatively effect the child’s test performance and cause family dysfunction. In my book Test Success!, I have dedicated a chapter exclusively for parents.
Why is this such an often-asked question? Because many people experience the same thing: feeling not-too-confident about remembering lots of information as test-time comes approaches. The answer to “How do you become confident….” is simple You become confident in anything by taking small, manageable steps. Think about how a baby learns to walk. She doesn’t drop out of the womb and run across the room. Not a chance. She lays on her back, turns over, gets up on all fours, crawls, slowly lifts herself up holding onto something (or someone), takes tentative steps, falls, gets up, takes a few more steps, falls again. And this takes months and months. All this is on the way to having confidence. Confidence is not just a mental action or a feeling, it’s a direct result of what you do, the consistent, directed actions you take. Read the rest of this entry »
I am thrilled to be receiving graduation invitations from students I’ve coached over the years. Suddenly (to me, not them!) they’re finished with medical school, or dental school or college, and about to march down the aisle (the graduation aisle, not the wedding one). Yet for many this very happy is clouded by the uncertainty of what is coming after graduation.
One of the things we don’t generally teach — from kindergarten through graduate school — is how to be in the present. And yet, that’s precisely the skill we need to need to navigate
the rough and testy waters of uncertainty graduates are plunged into. Being in the present Read the rest of this entry »
I’m at Learning and the Brain Conference in Chicago. Spent the day at a terrific seminar conducted by Dr. Judy Willis: ”Brain Research to Increase Student Focus, Motivation, Memory, and Test Success.” A most informed, generous teacher. She writes for Edutopia. See her website. The day was a total affirmation of all the material in my book. I’m speaking at the conference on Friday morning with a book signing right afterwards. Great crowd. Feeling blessed.
Watch the vid. Dr. Judy is the second speaker: “We can turn kids around. They don’t have to be stuck. We have control. We have neuroplasticity.” Yes! Thank you Dr. Judy!
As the Obama administration rolls out the funding for its Race for the Top, a good deal of attention is being paid to value added measures for calculating teachers salaries. Simply put: teachers in many areas will be paid based on their students’ test scores. Like everything, there are pros and cons. But for a person who’s working with the effects of stress on performance, and until certain things about value added measures are rethought, I’m going to give this two thumbs decidedly down.
A good, brief comprehensive summary on the problems with value added measures is by cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham. Of the
In a short but impassioned statement Weprin states: “[High stakes tests] are likely to reflect the rampant use of test-preparation drills that keep scores high but rob students of the opportunity for real learning. I am not participating in the hand-wringing over lower percentages of students deemed proficient because I reject the premise that high-stakes standardized tests ever provided
