There is much to be said for strong study skills; it’s something we stress in formative elementary years since patterns begin early.  As a student and lifelong learner (for too many years now), I have my personal study methods, all developed over prior failures and successes that work best for me.  As a mom, I try to provide a positive example to my children; they each have unique methods of their own to match their learning styles.  As an educator, I model habits and encourage personal best each day for our Miller learners.  This all sounds great, but it never changes…I still get stressed for any test no matter the success.

It’s Finals Week for my youngest daughter and she has one more to go now.  While she had to be checked out of her dorm room tonight (our car is cram-packed), she still has a test to go early tomorrow morning (thus I’m writing from a hotel room).  I’m watching her study Economics right now (not my best subject).  She’s sitting at the hotel desk in the executive chair, papers and notes spread out all over, using her visual aids, trying to ensure she’s ready for semester’s-worth of mastery.  Honestly, I’m stressed and she’s the one studying!  I’m thankful I’m not taking her final exam… 🙂

Test anxiety and stress are not uncommon; learning coping skills are critical.  I realize it’s been a stressful year with STAAR testing for our learners (and their classroom leaders).  We won’t have scores or data to better understand our outcome for a while.  I thank you for walking a challenging path with us this year as we ventured into new STAARy horizons.  As my own child likes to say, “I guess we have to sometimes be stressed for success.”