Dear parents,

Soon a most welcome winter break will conclude an extraordinary fall, rich with activities and achievements of all kinds. Once students come back we’d like to help manage themselves and control their anxieties as they approach one of the important times in the annual cycle of school events. I’m speaking about exam week.

Many years ago, Milton abandoned the end-of-year exam week, in the belief that exams would better serve students’ learning if they came mid-course, so that both students and their teachers could use what they learn from students’ performance to improve the teaching and learning that happens in the second semester. When we come back to school in January, teachers and students will focus on preparing for mid-year examinations.

Most students do fine in maintaining a proper perspective and preparing well for exams without wearing themselves to a frazzled shadow of their regular selves. They report that they actually like exam week—they like the pace and the chance to collect themselves and figure out what they have learned so far this year. They take exam week as a chance to consolidate their learning, to show what they have learned, and to relate the parts to the whole in their courses. Exam week gives coherence to their semester’s work.

A small number of students will under-prepare, however, and many more will either over-prepare or undermine themselves by fretting unproductively. These last two groups are the ones that you as parents and we as teachers most want to support.

The Director of the Academic Skills Center, Kathy Burek, offers many helpful and practical tips for exam preparation, which you can share and discuss with your child. Here are a few that seem particularly helpful:

1. Predict – know what’s coming

• What are you responsible for knowing?
  
  
• How much time do you have and how much will you need to study for a particular subject? Make yourself a realistic schedule.
  
  
• How much time do you need to sleep and eat and stay healthy? Don’t drive yourself so hard that you are exhausted and distracted by exam time.
  
  

2. Personalize – know what works for you

• Design your studying plan to match your learning style.
  
  
• Choose a consistent, well-lighted place to study. Be sure you have a clear work space, and keep it organized and well stocked with pens, paper, and whatever you need for studying.
  
  
• Eliminate noise and distractions.
  
  

3. Plan – think through the logistics

• Plan your transportation. The bus schedule is different, and your carpool may change.
  
  
• Mark your calendar with times and locations of your exams.
  
  
• Note your other daily responsibilities on your calendar – athletics, etc.
  
  
• Check your class syllabus to help you review text book readings, handouts, or other packets of material.
  
  
• Review lecture notes. Do it early, so you can ask a teacher or classmate for any missing notes.
  
  
• Review previous tests, quizzes, papers, and homework.
  
  
• Use flash cards to test yourself on facts, vocabulary, verb forms, formulae, and so on.
  
  
• Organize your information by central themes. Look for relationships and connections.
  
  
• Practice responding to anticipated questions and essay topics.
  
  

4. Perform – take the exam

• Get there 5-10 minutes early, with pens, pencils, and so on.
  
  
• Relax. DON’T keep cramming up to the last minute, or study as you walk into the examination room – it’ll increase your anxiety and decrease your ability to recall what you have worked so hard to study.
  
  
• Read the directions carefully and make notes on what you have to do. Read essay questions carefully, noting essential points.
  
  
• For essays, think about the question for a few minutes before you begin to write, make notes, make a mini-outline and list points you want to make.
  
  
• Skim the whole test, so you can manage your time effectively.
  
  
• Do the parts that you know first, then go back to questions you couldn’t answer the first time through. As you work, you will usually calm down and remember more.
  
  
• Leave time at the end to check your work.
  
  

The bottom line: Students do better during exam week, and enjoy their work more, if they prepare calmly, rest properly, eat a real breakfast in the morning, and work steadily rather than cram at the last minute and late at night. Parents can be particularly helpful in reminding students that they’ll do best if they are rested, well fed, and clear-headed for their exams. In the big scheme of things, exams like Milton’s, especially mid-year exams, are not a summary judgment on a student’s intelligence; they are an exercise in pulling together the ideas and information of a course, and a chance for students to take what they already know and use it on a new problem.

Teachers, advisors, deans, the Skills Center, and parents all have roles in supporting students as they prepare for and take exams. One of our biggest jobs is helping them manage themselves and prepare adequately on the one hand, and not obsess, over-prepare, and exhaust themselves on the other. Most students have no problem keeping exams in their proper perspective – we have more work to do together, as teachers and parents, with the few who under-prepare and many who over-prepare. Let’s keep in touch about both.

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