Test day!!! Panic attack!!!

For us teachers... the day of the exam is much easier than for our students...
For us students, the day of the eaxam is really difficult...
For people in general being assessed seem to be a traumatic issue to pass through. The reasons vary depending on many factors; most of them lie on the teacher's behalf.
Rick Stiggins (from Assessment Literacy) statets that having talked to our students about the reasons why to assess beforehand, helps them lower their guard:

The 4 key points teachers need to communicate with students taking assessments include:

1. What the assessment is for and what it is intended to measure. Both quantitative and qualitative research supports the notion that education strategies that help students understand what they are learning and how they will be assessed allow them to support one another effectively and develop a sense of autonomy.

2. The importance of all classroom assessments and the need for all students to do their best. Test-taking engagement is most likely to be a problem when students perceive an absence of personal consequences for test performance. This is called low-stakes testing (as seen from the student’s perspective). The general goal is to administer tests in such a way that maximizes student engagement throughout their test events. Although we can’t eliminate disengaged test taking from occurring, we can try to minimize its impact.

3. How the assessment results will be used by the teacher and the school. If the student knows what the subsequent data will be used for, they may be more engaged in taking the test. If the test results are not used to make decisions about instruction, tools or learning, it’s easy to see why students would feel disengaged from the process.

4. What parents will learn about assessments and outcomes. It’s important for establishing trust and transparency around the assessment process for students to understand what will be communicated to their parents about test data.

Remember: 

The purpose of...

Anyway... I'm not sure if I'll get rid of my panick attack just talking!!
:)