All our tenth-graders took the California High School Exit Exam during this past week, and I was the proctor for all our ESL students over two days (it would be nice if the state considered eliminating that test, as they are hoping to suspend several others to save money).

I had used some of the ideas I laid-out in my article, Ethical and Effective Test Prep, but it was a tough experience for them — as you can imagine.

One new piece of info I shared after the first day’s test which seemed to have a positive effect was an excerpt from a Harvard Business Review article titled Adopt an Immigrant Mindset to Advance Your Career. After struggling mightily through the test, hearing that an article from Harvard was urging all Americans to think like them and their families seemed to provide a little more of an impetus to carry on.

I’m considering turning the article into a lesson, and would love to hear ideas from readers on how I might do that.

Here’s a quote from the piece: