Springtime Challenges: How to Help Students Balance Life and Test Prep
Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, spring is in the air, and students have the light of spring break at the end of their tunnels. So, what’s the problem?
Springtime can be the most challenging part of the year for high school students. It’s a time when state testing often begins, students are either taking or prepping for midterm or final exams, and the spring sports season is starting. If students are involved in the arts, springtime is spent practicing and planning for their cumulative performances (e.g., concerts, art shows, musicals).
When standardized testing and the college admissions process are heaped on top of an already full plate of classes, extra-academic activities, and the rest of life outside of school, figuring out how to balance it all can be particularly overwhelming. Tutors need to recognize the challenges that students face in the spring and work to craft the best ways to help them establish and maintain a productive academic equilibrium.
Finding a Balance
We like to offer helpful tips and tricks for tutors and test-prep professionals to share with their clients whenever we can. Here are some to help your clients better prepare and better perform during challenging times when it seems as though everything is considered a high-priority event for them!
Prioritize. The worst thing for a student to do is overextend. Especially as students move into their years as upperclassmen, it’s vital for them to prioritize how they spend their time and energy. They need to be intentional in choosing which sports and extracurriculars to be involved in; those extra-academic activities should be both personally rewarding and purposeful value-adds to the student.
In the same manner, students need to keep both schoolwork and test prep as equally high priorities. They may fall into the trap of thinking that they can ease up on test prep to focus more attention on schoolwork, or vice versa. Ultimately, they must see these two worlds as one. Remember, colleges will be looking at both their GPA and their test scores!
Organize. In order to keep all plates successfully spinning, it’s crucial for students to know which plates need an extra spin and when. Our advice? Get organized.
Students should be utilizing an analog or digital planner to keep track of all of their commitments - both in school and out - including activities, events, big tests, and projects. Part of this process must involve also allocating specific time for each priority on their list.
Academics require extra focus. Just as one would block out time to work at a job, students should get into the habit of blocking out time for each of their subjects and studying obligations. For example, “Tuesdays and Thursdays @ 6:30-8pm, study for Biology.” Or more specifically, “Wednesday, March 9th @ 3-4:30, read 3 chapters of To Kill A Mockingbird and answer the reading comprehension questions for English III.” They should get into the habit of being deliberate and detailed in how they spend their time outside of school. Setting reminders and notifications on their digital devices can be helpful, too.
Pick your targets. What are the student’s larger aims? They should be keeping big-picture goals (e.g., maintaining solid grades; building a well-rounded, comprehensive college portfolio) in mind when setting and focusing on the small-picture tasks in front of them (e.g., acing their US History II test on Friday).
As a tutor, you can be instrumental in both diagnosing which academic content areas deserve the most attention and when. This is also an area where school and test prep can seamlessly merge, so that the student is reaping benefits from practicing and studying in both arenas simultaneously.
Be flexible. There’s no such thing as a test-prep plan that is set in stone. That’s simply impossible. Tutors and students must accept that there will be delays and interruptions along the way. Both you and your students will have to be flexible to a certain degree in order to evaluate and adjust plans and schedules as needed.
That said, there are certain events that are set in stone (e.g., test dates, project due dates, performances) that must be seriously considered for students and tutors to plan their prep accordingly.
How Test Prep Can Help
Fitting in test prep can be a challenge, which is why you need to be sure to make the most out of any time students are able to dedicate to it. Part of the value of your test-prep offerings needs to be a commitment to personalization. You need to strike a balance between respecting your students’ limited time and focusing on the areas where their skills are most ripe for improvement. In doing so, the fringe benefits of test prep (e.g., organization, time management, work ethic, problem solving, flexibility) will likely also carry over into other areas.
It’s important to remember that for those of us in the test-prep business, thinking about the ACT® and SAT® can become an all encompassing focus. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking only about preparing for those exams. But, the best test prep tutors in the business are those who pay close attention to their students’ needs in both the short and long term.
Having the ability to customize and personalize each clients’ test-prep plan is far more beneficial to students than just some run-of-the-mill, off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-most test prep package. If you’re interested in taking your test-prep business to the next level, contact us for a free demo and see for yourself what a difference our 100% custom, white-label test-prep system can make this spring and beyond!