Silent Prayers to Pray Over Your Testing Students

Standardized testing is killing education. Fundamentally, I do not have a problem with accountability or standardized tests. But, the high stakes that are attached to the scores create the wrong motivation for learning. Because of testing (and I would add teacher evaluations), education is not about learning, but preparing. For a test. And students often get the mistaken idea that their worth is tied to their scores. Ugh.

So, let’s pray for our students and lift them up when they are feeling their worst. Besides, we are not allowed to do anything else while “actively monitoring” anyway. Win-win.

Below is a list of silent prayers to pray over your testing students that I originally posted to my Instagram (@the.efficient.classroom).

Lord, give my students confidence in their answers when they are unsure.

Lord, give my students peace to relieve their stress.

Lord, give my students ownership of their performance when feeling pressured by parents or teachers.

Lord, give my students energy to keep their minds alert.

Lord, give my students guidance when they are stuck.

Lord, give my students desire to try their best when they feel like giving up.

Lord, give my students humility when they are too confident to be thorough.

Lord, give my students perseverance to push through when they're tired.

Lord, give my students patience when they become annoyed by the test.

Lord, give my students focus to stay free from distractions.

Lord, give my students perspective when they're unable to see big-picture impact.

Lord, give my students calm to reduce their anxiety.

And, most importantly…

Lord, give my students wisdom to know this test does not define them.

I have created printables of the above prayers so that I can discretely carry them around as I actively monitor. I have created cards that can be printed in color, cards that are BW for easy printing and would be great on colored paper, and a one-pager of all the prayers. If you would like to get a free copy, please click here for the silent prayer printables.

Lastly, if you are looking for more ways to connect with your students, read about how my students and I participate in our school food drive.