Tips for Overcoming Test Anxiety

Sweaty palms? Check. Racing heart? Check. A bad case of butterflies in the stomach? Check. It must be test time.

Many students struggle with test anxiety, but those feelings of panic and dread can be even worse for your English learners, students with disabilities, and struggling readers who struggle in the classroom. So what can you do to help your students relax and do their best on tests?

Students with Disabilities Find Independence with ILE

Students with disabilities at Bryce Valley High School are now using Imagine Learning English with great success. Behavior problems are decreasing, scores are soaring, and confidence is on the rise. Special education teacher Phoebe Wiseman believes Imagine Learning English has helped her students gain greater confidence.

“They’ve found a place,” says Wiseman. “They’ve got something where they can put on earphones, and they can have this independent time where they’re learning at their own level--and they’re succeeding at their own level. They don’t have to be like the child next to them; they don’t have to be like the students in the other classes. They can just spend that time gaining for themselves. And because of that, they’re doing overall better in school."

Click here to see what high school special education teachers and coordinators are saying about Imagine Learning English.

Adapting Instruction for Cognitive Disabilities

How can you help meet the needs of your students with disabilities without neglecting their peers in the same class? We referred to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) for some answers.

Teachers often make adaptations to their instruction when the content or the method of delivery proves a barrier to learning. But ideally, as Keith Lenz and Jean Schumaker in a 2003 edition of CEC Today say, these adaptations would be “designed into curricular materials by the developers” to relieve teachers of this complex and time-consuming task. Imagine Learning English was developed with an adaptive curriculum that automatically assesses and provides appropriate instruction and feedback. This is great for one-on-one instruction, but what about when you meet as a group? Adaptation strategies make it easier to include students with varying abilities.

After School at Imagine Learning Academy

Class is in session. No, we’re not a few months behind in our newsletter topics. Although many schools started regular classes a few months ago, students in Washington, Colorado, and Hawaii are starting something new this month — Imagine Learning Academy. So what is Imagine Learning Academy, and why are we all so excited about it?