It was just another day for Sandy when she picked her daughter up at school.
Immediately she knew something wasn't right, so she asked her 9 yr old, "Beth, what's wrong?" Beth looked up and said, "We had a test today and I freaked out!" Sandy didn't have to ask how well she did.
She knew it was bad because this wasn't the first time.
That's when it hit Sandy.
The Maryland School Assessment (MSA) test was next week and her daughter had to do well.
I mean her whole academic life depended on it.
No pressure here.
A common misconception is that this is a case of not knowing how to study for tests.
So the solution that most parents and schools implement is a course on how to be a better tester.
But something deeper actually is going on.
Every human being has an internal set of process that run the show.
They are referred to as internal strategy.
What Sandy was experiencing was a limiting internal strategy in action.
When Sandy "thought" she was falling behind the other kids in a test it triggered the limiting internal strategy.
That thought led to toxic internal dialog, "I'm so stupid!!", which in turn led to her feeling pretty bad about herself.
Unfortunately, she looped it back to more toxic dialog.
This loop continued until she "freaked out".
Symptoms of a limiting internal strategy: * Freezing up during test * "Losing" all the answers during a test * Getting stuck on a question but unable to let go and move on to the next question * Paralyzing Anxiety If we want our kids to do better in school we have to look for ways to identify and transform limiting internal strategy.
This will allow kids to test better so they can reduce their stress level and get further ahead.