Reply #57: Omg. When I took handwritten tests, my mind stayed perfectly clear

[EFerrari]

and all my anxiety went right into my hand. It was horrible. So, my answers were fine but my handwriting looked HOSTILE. Finally, I just 'fessed up to my teachers and offered to read the thing to them. None of them cared once they understood.

Another trick is to break down the time you get: 5 for brainstorming, ten for writing, 5 for editing, that kind of thing. My students learned to just throw down their ideas, circle the ones they wanted to use, number them and start writing their answer. Most of them just needed somewhere to put their anxiety and figuring out a process for themselves seemed to help with that. Carrying the whole thing in their heads (as I tried to do, too) is fine but having a back up strategy is nice, too.