How Mindfulness Can Improve Test Scores

Students face tests on a regular basis, from routine school exams to high school entrance tests to the SAT and ACT during the college admissions process. Kids who have to juggle test prep with their typical homework workload and extracurriculars may view tests as a huge stressor, which can lead to decreased performance on exams and test anxiety. Without some kind of strategy for managing stress before exams and on test day, kids can feel a little overwhelmed.

Whats the difference between mindfulness and meditation? • How can mindfulness and/or meditation help students test better? • What are some simple mindfulness and meditation practices that kids can start using?

Youve probably heard mindfulness and meditation used a lot recently, but it can be tough to understand what both of these practices are and what their differences can be. At first glance, mindfulness and meditation might seem like the same idea—both practices can help reduce stress and improve concentration, as well as lower blood pressure and ease anxiety. But thats not the whole story!

The goal of mindfulness is to become fully aware in a particular moment, which can help you calm down your mind and relax. Its a great strategy to use when you know youll be in a high-pressure, stressful environment. Mindfulness encompasses many other types of mental exercises, but doesnt necessarily dictate one specific action, like meditation does. Meditation usually refers to more targeted techniques or focusing on something in particular to help calm down the mind, which might sound pretty similar to mindfulness. If you think about meditation as a certain implementation of mindfulness strategies, youll be on the right track. Long story short, you cant really practice meditation without using mindfulness practices as well, and vice versa.

MINDFULNESS AND TEST PREP WHAT ARE SOME SIMPLE PRACTICES THAT KIDS CAN USE?

Deep Breathing To Reduce Stress

One of the biggest issues that will come up during exams is extra stress if the questions are different from what students anticipated, or if students start to feel overwhelmed by everything they need to get done within the time limit. Both of these situations produce increased stress, and that stress combined with the exam conditions can wreak havoc on even the best students concentration. One easy way to help counteract this kind of stress is by pausing for a few seconds and taking a few deep breaths. Usually students want to race through their exams and not waste a single second, but running ahead while youre stressed out is the easiest way to make foolish mistakes and then waste more time by going back to correct those errors. Even though it might feel like moving as quickly as possible is the best approach, sometimes its worth it to put down the pencil, close your eyes, and take ten deep breaths before going back to scrambled paragraphs, reading comprehension, or tough math problems. Deep breaths immediately help to calm down a speedy heart rate or racing thoughts, and breathing is an important part of both mindfulness and meditative practices. Theres no need to shave minutes off of the exam time limit, but taking thirty seconds to pause and calm down will do wonders to reduce stress.

Replacing Negative Thoughts With Positive Ones

Another frequent problem students have during exams is seeing a question they know they can answer, but suddenly drawing a blank. Even for well-prepared kids, this can be frustrating and a little bit scary! Like the surprise questions scenario, realizing that youve learning something but suddenly forgetting how to apply that knowledge can lead to a wave of stress, and some students have difficulty coping with that added nervousness. Faced with this kind of scenario, kids can start to doubt themselves and have thoughts like I just dont know how to do this kind of problem, so I should give up, or Ill never be able to finish the test in time, so Ill just stare at this question, or I dont belong here and Ill never pass this test/get into this high school/go to a good college.

Discouraging thoughts combined with drawing mental blanks is a recipe for disaster unless students have a good way to combat this kind of negative thinking. As soon as you notice yourself falling into a pattern of negative thoughts during an exam, ignoring those thoughts wont be good enough. You might want to try some deep breathing for a few seconds, just to clear your head, and then you should remind yourself that youre prepared and ready for this exam. Specifically countering these negative thoughts will help you feel less anxious during the test, and once youve reminded yourself that you are prepared and capable, you might even find that the mental block is gone.

Prepare Purposefully On Exam Day

While its important to calm down during stressful parts of the exam, its also key to get ready for the exam in this same purposeful way. Setting up the area where youll take the test can help reduce anxiety later, because youll know exactly where your pencils are, where the bathroom is, how to get more scrap paper, etc. Theres nothing worse than being stuck in the middle of a tough problem with only a few minutes left, then running out of pencil lead and not having extra writing implements. Preparedness will help pave the way for a successful exam day, and getting yourself set up with ample time before a test begins will give you the chance to sit back and rest for a few moments before diving in to your exam.