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Essay Writing Tips - Step by Step
-Read your Assignment Instructions and any Rubric you may have been given
-Review any Sample Essays or Lessons related to the assignment
-Gather any Essay Outlines provided or Find an Essay Outline template online
-Construct an outline to Organize your thoughts
-Consult with a Librarian for help with Research Needs
-Begin to combine your Outline notes and Research notes into a Working Essay
-Review your Rubric and Assignment Instructions again
-Proofread your Essay for Clarity, Organization, and Grammar
-Consult with a Writing Tutor to address any Concerns at any stage of the process
Alana Williamson
former Sr. Lab Instructor for Academic Support and Tutoring
If Math Makes you Anxious, You are Not Alone
I want to tell you the story of my battle with math anxiety. In elementary school it was difficult for me to write since I was born with cerebral palsy. For this reason, I had a teacher who helped me with writing all my math calculations while I dictated step-by-step what should be done. This was stressful for both of us and I’m not sure it really helped me learn. For me math anxiety grew slowly.
If math makes you anxious, you are not alone. According to an article published in 2019 in the Harvard Business Review, one quarter of university students in the United States experience math anxiety and for 11% of those students, the anxiety with learning math is severe enough to justify counseling.
In my second year of high school, I took algebra for the third time and can remember thinking, “I will finish this class this time and be done with it.” And, I did it. I attacked math like a little kid devouring broccoli to get to dessert. At that time I would have told you, “I am not a math person.”
My purpose in finishing algebra that year was because I needed it in order to graduate. Sadly that is the only reason that many students see for learning math. It’s important for young people to see how math is used in daily life, and that students think about how they will apply math in their careers.
Years later I was blessed to find a job as a lab instructor at MCC, teaching remedial math. The only college math I had taken was algebra but now I had some real motivation for practicing math. I was using math every day to do something I loved, teaching and helping students reach their goals.
As I became familiar with math, I began to see math as a language. This point of view helped me persist. Math is a way of describing the world and communicating ideas to others.
After working at MCC for more than ten years, I completed my Master of Science in Mathematics degree in 2016. My graduate-school advisor always told us, “If you work on a problem for more than thirty minutes and don’t get anywhere, it’s time to look for help.” I think that’s a good rule for any math student.
Holly Webb
Assistant Professor of Mathematics and former AST Math Lab Instructor
Test Anxiety and Relaxation
Provided by MCC's Success Coaching Services
Strategies for coping with test anxiety
Anxiety Reducing Exercises
Deep Breathing
Really? Yes, breathe. Most of us breathe improperly most of the time. We tend to take quick breaths and never get quite enough oxygen into our bodies.
When an insufficient amount of fresh air reaches your lungs, your blood is not properly purified or oxygenated. Poorly oxygenated blood contributes to states of anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and makes each stressful situation many times harder to cope with. Proper breathing habits are essential for good mental and physical health.
Visualization-Positive Rehearsal
Find a comfortable chair. Sit down in the most relaxed position that you can. Close your eyes and do some deep breathing. Now begin to imagine what is going to happen on exam day, in a totally positive way. Imagine yourself getting up in the morning, following your morning routine, and then going off to take the exam. Imagine it in considerable detail. See yourself walking into the examination room. Hear the other students shuffling into their seats. Feel the desk, the pencil in your hand, and see the exam in front of you. See yourself looking over the exam calmly and confidently. See yourself looking at the exam and discovering that the questions are perfectly clear to you! You work rapidly and accurately. When you have finished you hand in your exam and walk confidently out of the room, experiencing the feeling of having done well. Breathe a sigh of relief and satisfaction.
Now imagine it is several days later. You return to the examination room and you receive the results of your test. Breathe. You look and see an excellent score. You congratulate yourself quietly and leave the room.
Rehearse this scenario a number of times. Visualization really works. Professional athletes regularly use this technique to improve performance.
Another aspect of rehearsal is desensitization. This means to take as much of the "scare" out of the exam as possible. If you can, visit the actual site of the test and walk around the room. Sit in the desks. Go to the front of the room. Sit at the teacher's desk if you can - anything you can do to desensitize yourself to the testing environment.
Avoiding Doom Mongers
One way to reduce test anxiety is to avoid other students who increase your anxiety - either by talking about how hard the test may be or by convincing you that you have not prepared properly. STAY AWAY FROM NEGATIVE PEOPLE - they only increase your anxiety.
Focus on the Task at Hand
Research shows that students who do well on tests think about the test itself while test anxious students focus on their feelings about the test. Try to stay positive and focus on the test itself and not on your feelings about the test. Concentrate on the task at hand and tell yourself that you will feel your symptoms later.
Thought Stopping
Thought Stopping can help reduce test anxiety before, during and after an exam. Thought stopping involves listening to your negative thoughts - negative self talk like - "I never pass essay exams. I can't find the answer to #3; I know I will get the rest wrong too! What am I doing in college? I don't belong here." Be aware of what you are saying to yourself and THEN STOP SAYING IT!! Negative self talk won't help you to do better; it will only interfere with your thinking.
Say to yourself, "stop" to interrupt the negative thoughts. It has been well documented that negative and frightening thoughts increase your anxiety and increase your physical symptoms of anxiety.
You don't have to convince yourself that you are doing fine; just convince yourself to stop scaring yourself to death. Say "stop" and then say something realistic like "I'm doing the best I can and am just going to keep working - taking my time. Then we will see the results."
If you are in a test situation, you can say, "stop" quietly to yourself. Sometimes it helps to add a physical cue. You might want to pinch your finger lightly when you say stop - to get your attention.
Or you could slap your leg lightly - anything to add a physical stimulus to your mental one.
Keep Practicing
Test anxiety takes time to develop and time to go away. Be patient with yourself and keep trying to figure out ways that reduce your stress level. After your test, you might want to write a list of the things that come into your mind when you are taking a test and then do a reality check. Many time these messages are totally unrealistic. Try to substitute realistic responses for these "scare messages" and write them down somewhere you can look at them often.
You may want to write some positive affirmations on index cards and tape them to the mirror in the bathroom - or somewhere you will be likely to see them every day. You might want to write things like, "I will make an A in my history class. I know what I need to get out of school and I will work hard to get that. Even though I wasn't a good student in high school, I am a different person now and I am very motivated to do well in my classes." Write down what you want to happen and then keep saying that it will happen; you will be programming yourself with positive talk and this really helps.
Learn new Techniques for Test Taking and Studying
Learn new ways to prepare yourself for tests if the old ways are not working adequately. If you study the same old way, you will probably get the same results. New techniques can save you time and can improve your performance. Check out reading, writing, and study skills resources.
