Fixing Finals: Mistakes Educators & Students Make at Exam Time

Apr 8

TL;DR

If finals season left you thinking, “There’s got to be a better way to support my students,” you’re right. Last-minute cramming often reveals a deeper issue: students need stronger academic systems and executive function habits year-round.

This post introduces the Triage vs. Proactive Coaching framework—a practical way to tailor your support based on real-time student needs. If you’re looking for executive function strategies, spaced retrieval tools, or ways to reduce cognitive overload, summer is the perfect time to build your coaching confidence inside the Anti-Boring Learning Lab.

This Post Will Resonate Most With:

1:1 academic, ADHD, and executive function coaches looking to deepen their toolkit
Tutors and learning specialists who want to move beyond reteaching content
Classroom teachers craving a more “coach-like” approach to student support
Any educator ready to use summer for meaningful, manageable professional development

Let’s take a closer look—especially if you’re ready to feel more confident knowing when to jump into triage mode and when to plan ahead with intention.

This Post Will Resonate Most With:

Classroom educators who want to help students succeed without last-minute chaos
Academic coaches, EF/ADHD specialists, and tutors supporting overwhelmed learners
Curious parents looking to encourage better study habits with science-backed tools

Let’s take a closer look—because knowing what not to do is half the battle.

Why This Matters for Academic Coaches, Teachers, and Tutors

Let’s face it: final exam season is a perfect storm. Students are overwhelmed. Teachers are crunched for time. Academic coaches and tutors are scrambling to get systems in place fast enough to make a difference.

Everyone wants to help. Everyone cares. And yet... chaos still creeps in.

That’s because good intentions aren’t enough. We also need good systems—including systems for preparing for, and actually studying for, final exams. If we want students to learn how to study effectively for finals, we need to teach strategies grounded in learning science.

This post outlines the most common finals prep mistakes I’ve seen over 15+ years as an academic coach. These are patterns I’ve observed in students, teachers, and yes—even in myself and my peers who provide 1:1 academic support. I also asked the Certified Study Skills Coaches in my community to share what they’ve seen. They are such smarty pants, and I’m excited to share what they noticed.

You may see yourself in these examples—and that’s not a bad thing. Mistakes are where better habits begin.

To ease in, let’s start with students.

Common Mistakes Students Make During Finals Prep

We love our students. They want to do well. They’re trying their best. But they’re also tired, distracted, overwhelmed, and navigating a school system that unintentionally promotes last-minute hustle.

These are the most common bad study habits that get in the way:

Starting Too Late
Many students underestimate how much there is to review—or overestimate how much they’ve already retained. Combine that with a packed end-of-semester schedule, and it’s easy to see why review doesn’t start until panic sets in. But cramming sacrifices both memory and confidence. Finals prep is most effective when it starts weeks (not days) in advance, with small, repeated study sessions that reduce cognitive load and build real mastery.
Defaulting to Pretty (but Passive) Study
Highlighting. Rewriting notes. Making everything color-coded and cute. These feel productive—but they rarely test memory or improve understanding. Without retrieval practice, it’s hard for students to know what they actually remember. A messy self-quiz is often more effective than the prettiest notes in the world.
Focusing on What Feels Easy
Students love to re-review what they already understand—it feels safe and affirming. But real growth comes from facing down the tougher material. And that word “review”? It’s passive and vague. What students really need is to interact with the material: quiz themselves, talk it out, compare ideas, and test their understanding—especially on the stuff they’d rather avoid.
Not Using Study Tools from Earlier in the Semester
Past assignments, old quizzes, and previous notes are goldmines for finals prep—but only if students can find them and know what to do with them. Too often, these resources get buried in backpacks, forgotten in Google Drive, or ignored entirely. Teaching students how to curate and revisit their work throughout the semester helps make finals less of a fire drill.
Trying to Multitask
“I can watch Netflix while I made flashcards!” “I need to keep my phone near me.” We’ve heard it all—and so have you. But the science is clear: multitasking doesn’t exist, and attempting to do so destroys retention and doubles the time it takes to get anything done. It’s not about being strict—it’s about helping students notice the difference between feeling busy and actually learning.
Skipping Reflection
Most students have never been taught how to evaluate their own learning process. They don’t ask: “Did that method work?” or “What would I do differently next time?” Without this kind of metacognition, ineffective strategies get repeated—and effective ones don’t get reinforced. A quick check-in after each study session can build this habit over time.
What Else?
I know this isn’t a complete list. What would you add? Share your observations in the comments below!

Here’s the takeaway: These mistakes aren’t about laziness or lack of effort—they’re about missing systems, missing modeling, and missing metacognition. With just a little guidance and repetition, students can develop smarter, brain-based study habits that help them feel confident and actually retain what they learn.

So if those are the mistakes, what should students be doing instead? Good question!

Join me for Finals Without Freakout, a FREE Office Hours session for educators where we’ll dig into how to guide students to use simple, science-backed strategies that reduce stress and boost learning.

👉 Click here to save your spot.

Common Finals Prep Mistakes Teachers Make (With Love)

Teachers, this section is for you—with deep respect and solidarity.

You’re balancing grading, curriculum pacing, and end-of-year events. You want to support students through final exams, but there’s rarely enough time.

Here are some patterns we often see:

The Late Study Guide Drop
Review packets handed out a day or two before the test leave no time for spaced practice, metacognition, or student-led planning. Even the most motivated learners can’t build strong memory pathways overnight. When students receive a study guide with enough lead time—ideally a couple of weeks—they’re more likely to pace themselves, seek help early, and feel a sense of agency in their prep.
"Go Study!" Without Modeling How
“Make sure you study!” is a common directive, but rarely do students hear how to study effectively. Without clear modeling, they default to passive strategies like rereading, highlighting, or flipping through notes. Instead, we need to explicitly teach and model active strategies like retrieval practice, spacing, and self-quizzing—especially for students who struggle with executive function.
Every Class is THE Priority
Teachers naturally want students to care deeply about their subject—but students are juggling 5 to 7 classes, each with its own final exam or project. When every teacher expects top priority, students are forced to make impossible tradeoffs. A little acknowledgment of the full workload, paired with tools to help students prioritize and plan, can go a long way in reducing stress.
Missing Feedback Loops
When past tests go unreviewed—or are returned too late—students miss a powerful opportunity for learning. Without time to reflect on errors and adjust their strategies, they’re more likely to repeat the same mistakes. Quick feedback loops (even 5 minutes in class!) can help students identify patterns and make smarter study choices for the final.
Accidental Shame Spirals
“This is 30% of your grade” is meant to motivate—but often it increases anxiety and shuts down learning. Students who are already nervous may interpret this as pressure to perform perfectly, which can lead to avoidance or emotional dysregulation. A better approach? Frame finals as an opportunity to show what you’ve learned—and emphasize progress over perfection.
What else?
Have you noticed any additional patterns or mistakes—either in your own finals prep or across your school? Drop your thoughts in the comments! We learn so much from each other when we swap stories and insights.

Here’s the takeaway: Small shifts—like starting review earlier or modeling retrieval practice—can make a huge difference. And those shifts don’t require rewriting your whole curriculum. Just a few well-timed tweaks to language, timing, and tools can lower student stress and increase retention.

Curious what those brain-friendly tweaks actually look like in the classroom?

Join us for our upcoming FREE Office hours where we answer your questions about how to prep for a final exam season that minimizes freakout and maximizes follow-through!

👉 Click here to grab your spot.

Mistakes Academic Coaches and Tutors Make in 1:1 Support

If you’re a learning specialist, ADHD coach, executive function coach for students, or tutor, you have a unique opportunity to teach effective study skills. But even in 1:1 spaces, it’s easy to default to high-pressure triage.

Here are some pitfalls we often fall into:

Taking On the Student’s Overwhelm.
When we spend our days with frazzled, anxious students, it’s easy to absorb their stress. But when we start spiraling, we lose our ability to model calm, regulated thinking. Students need us to be a steady presence—especially when they feel scattered. Ground yourself first, then co-regulate.
Trying to Teach All the Tools at Once
Cognitive overload = no retention. When we share five new strategies in a single session, students often walk away unsure how (or when) to use any of them. A better bet? One tool at a time, with practice and reflection built in.
Rescuing Instead of Coaching
It’s tempting to do the heavy lifting—make the calendar, organize the to-do list, set the plan. But when we jump into fix-it mode, we rob students of the chance to build their own metacognitive muscles. Coaching is about co-creating, not controlling.
Treating Symptoms, Not Systems
Helping students “just survive this test” is sometimes necessary—but it shouldn’t be our endgame. Our real impact comes from helping students build study systems they can reuse—next week, next semester, and beyond.
Skipping Nervous System Check-Ins
You can’t strategize with a student who’s in fight-or-flight. No planner in the world can cut through panic. A quick breathing practice or “stress thermometer” check can do more than any academic tool when a student’s dysregulated.
Being Too Generic
Not every student needs Pomodoro. Or color-coded flashcards. Or your favorite notetaking system. One-size-fits-all advice falls flat. What students need is iterative, personalized support that matches their learning preferences and brain wiring.
What Else?
What coaching “oops” have you caught yourself making?
Or what patterns do you see other coaches and tutors fall into during crunch time? Let’s normalize the learning curve—drop your thoughts in the comments so we can keep growing together.

Takeaway: Even the most experienced coaches slip into these traps—especially during finals season, when everyone’s juggling time pressure and high emotions. But naming these patterns helps us recalibrate.

Curious which strategies actually help students stay calm and take action when the pressure’s on? We’ll explore those in my free Finals Without Freakout Office Hours, where we’ll explore simple, effective coaching moves that reduce overwhelm and increase student buy-in.
👉 Click here to save your spot.

Why Naming These Mistakes Matters

Whew. That’s a lot of mistakes. Did you find at least one that you make? I hope so! That means you’re willing to grow. And you are so not alone.

These aren’t one-off slip-ups—these so called “mistakes” are baked into the rhythms of schooling, the pressures of the calendar, and the reality of being human in a high-stress season.

When we name these patterns with compassion, we stop blaming students or ourselves—and start building better systems.

Whether you're in the classroom or working 1:1, recognizing these finals prep mistakes is the first step toward:

✅ Supporting students with tools that match how neurotypical and neurodiverse brains actually learn
✅ Reducing stress (for everyone!)
✅ Providing thoughtful, science-backed, end-of-semester support that actually helps students thrive
✅ And creating a repeatable process that works this semester—and long-term, too.

I’m a big believer that anyone can provide solid academic coaching for students — and it starts with learning what we’re missing, and then committing to fill in our “holes” with new thoughts.

Ready to Go Deeper?

We’ve mentioned it a few times already, but here’s one last invitation—because we’d really love to see you there.

Join us for a free, informal Office Hours session where we’ll explore your biggest questions—and offer real-time answers—about how to best support students through final exam season.

We’ll help you turn insight into action with brain-based teaching and coaching strategies you can use right away. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes preview of our upcoming masterclass, where we’ll go even deeper into how to help students manage cognitive load, executive function, and stress during finals prep.

👉 Click here to reserve your spot at our free office hours. .

Let’s help students prep smarter, not harder—and let’s do it together. 🧠✨

Gretchen Wegner