Caring For The Kids: Relieve Testing Stress with Two Great Motivational Videos

De Cito Eindtoets Basisonderwijs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last week was a big week at my school and throughout much of Georgia as well. It was a week of standardized tests which reveal how much students have learned throughout the year and for some grade levels the final test score plays a big factor in whether or not the student passes to the next grade. Students of course stress over tests. I remember one year as I was sorting out the math scratch paper from the test booklets for some second graders, I ran across one piece that had this written on the page; "Dear God, Help me do good on this test".

Believe it or not teachers stress over tests as well. It is as much a challenge for the teacher as the students since it is a reflection of how well they have taught all year long. One teacher told me that she hardly slept the night before testing started and when she did, she awakened from a dream where she imagined she was holding in her hand big clumps of her hair. Doesn't really take a rocket scientist to figure out the meaning of that dream does it? Another teacher told me in great desperation some of the questions her students asked after she carefully read them the directions to the test. These questions included such things as, "Do we stop on the page where it says stop?" "Do we stop bubbling in answers on the answer sheet when it says to stop working in the booklet?" Much like the question, "When do we celebrate the Fourth of July? " these sorts of questions strike fear into the heart of the dedicated teacher.

In order to relieve some the stress over testing, one of the teachers at my school clued me in to the following motivational video that she played each morning before the test. I bet you will like it as well:

Is that awesome? It's hard not to feel inspired after watching that video. The kids were out of their seats dancing and singing along. Here's another one that was made by some kids. It's not as professional and polished but what a good job they did and I think kids always like to see other kids perform: