There’s a big test next hour in math class, you are not prepared, and the nurses office looks like a nice place for a nap. The Orono High School handbook states illness as an excused absence, so it may seem to the perfect plan.
“There are usually a couple kids gone during tests that normally don’t miss or tend to miss quite frequently on test days,” math teacher Jesse Allex said.
The nurse’s office sees an average of 20 students on any given school day. The majority of students that come to the nurse during the school day with complainants of stomach and headaches.
“I think one of the main things I see is the stomach aches and headaches because I don’t think we know how to deal with stress well,” Orono nurse Cyndi Olson said.
High School is a place full of tests, projects and quizzes, but is the stress truly on knowing the knowledge? Are you going to cut class and go to the nurse because you have no knowledge on the topic and you want extra time to learn, understand and value it, or because of what your lack of knowledge will do to that GPA you have worked so hard on, the GPA most students are convinced determines their whole future.
Testing is proved to increase stress levels according to an article published by Brain Connection. But is that stress good or bad for us? According to an article published by National Public Radio stress can be motivating but too much stress causes students to shut down.
“I don’t think punishment is the way to go. What are you punishing, their unreadiness? Their ability to plan?” English teacher Jarrett Lundquist said. Skipping and going to the nurse if not the solution to lack of planning, so as a result most teachers will ensure that the student takes the test or receives appropriate reactions if skipping a test.
“I found out they were in the nurse and then in all their other classes, I hand just handed them a test the next day and said here you go take it, so kind of caught off guard but they just have to do it,” math teacher Kaila Frank said.
“Anyone who is not here on the test day, if nothing shows up saying you were ill, I’ll click on your attendance to see if you were and if you were here for the rest of the day then you just get a zero,” Allex said.
Students who make a habit of skipping for alleged illness, can be monitored by the Student Assistance Team and may be required to show a note from a physician proving their ailments according to the handbook. Needless to say, if you become a regular in the nurse you may risk school punishment.
Testing causes stress but also benefits are learning process. An article published by the New York Times argues that testing helps cement knowledge. According to the study they cited performed by psychology student at purdue, students who are test on something are more likely to cement their knowledge of them if they reword or draw out what they remembered.
So testing helps us to learn but also causes stress because you have already cemented your grade on a test and the material won’t come up again until the end of the semester. Most Orono teachers offer re-takes but not for full credit. This is not to say that the fault rest entirely on teachers, as students we should seek out ways to test ourselves before the actual test in order to already have the knowledge cemented.
Students need to take initiative to plan out the tests and when they will study for them. Study not just by re-reading the note you took but by finding ways to quiz yourself. If students don’t procrastinate and plan for their tests, stress levels would decrease and taking the test on time would not seem so scary.