Your hands start to sweat, your heart is beating out of your chest, you're having trouble breathing, and your mind is racing.... sound familiar?  Test anxiety is a REAL thing, and it can be REALLY scary!  Most importantly, it can affect your performance on some very high stakes tests.  Knowing that the stakes are so high can only compound problems and create a vicious cycle of stress, anxiety, and complete overwhelm.

You've heard a few of the common ways to handle your test anxiety:  deep breathing, positive affirmations, positive imagery, exercise, adequate sleep, eating right.  All of these are very important, I agree, but they miss the reason that test anxiety exists in the first place.  It typically comes from the feeling that you will fail.  This fear breeds a sense of overwhelm that can be down right impossible to stop.  It can even trigger panic attacks!  These are not fun!  Believe me... been there, done that.

So in...

I get it... the frustration of yet again another hoop you have to jump through to finally get into the classroom.  You are tired! You have taken all your courses, passed all the other testing requirements, and now you are looking down the barrel of the RICA.  Why is becoming a teacher this hard? 

You may have long dreamt about the beautiful children you will teach, the fun activities and lessons you will create, and the Pinterest perfect classroom you will show off.  Why do you even have to take this stupid test? You are meant to be a teacher!  A test cannot truly measure your worth as an educator, right?

Well, yes... but a bit of a no, too.  Hear me out.

Reading is the single most important skill you will teach at the elementary level.  It is the foundation and the building blocks to all other learning.  It shapes a student's desire to learn, their self-esteem, and their willingness to take academic risks.  In fact, proficient...

Hey there, friend!

So your results came back, and you didn't pass.  ARGHHH!!! What do you do now?  It's time to REGROUP. 

Many factors go into creating the right combination of scores within the Multiple Choice and Constructed Responses.  And yes, the content is super difficult to master, but master it your will!  

First, it's time for some tough love here.  You may not like it, but you need to hear it.  The responsibility lies with you.  You are in the driver's seat.  You control how you prepare and what you choose to do.

That being said, there are certainly steps you should take and resources you should use to help you prepare.  But how you use those resources is completely up to you!  I always find it interesting when someone asks me, "If I enroll in your course, do you guarantee that I will pass?"  I absolutely cannot guarantee a pass.  I wish I could! But how you use what I create is - you guessed...