LOTS OF TEACHERS, LOTS OF BOOKS, OH YES!

Hey, Middle Schoolers. Was this you just a month ago?

Is this you today?

 

Mizz C. to the rescue with a study skill tip you can try out TONIGHT, yes TONIGHT-- and every night for the rest of the school year. This amazing study tip will do more than index cards, nagging voices, or class notes to help you prepare for tests, memorize information, stay focused in class, and get your work done. 

Can you guess what it is? 

Not!

                                                          
Mizz C. knows the energy you need for school doesn't come from a can. It comes from two things you can see in the picture below. You probably have both of them right in your room. 

pillow and alarm clock

Mizz C. has been accused of repeating herself. Now she's going to do just that. The best study skill you can master this year can be found in one of Mizz C's first blog postings, Sleep, the Super Study Skill. 

Now go catch some zzzs (unless you're in class right now or you haven't finished tomorrow's homework yet).  

Lights Out, Middle Schoolers!

And that goes double for you, iPad, Mortal Kombat, TV, cell phones, and laptops!

Are tech toys stealing your sleep? Colorful, exciting tech screens are fun. But they can really mess up your sleep if you keep them on too long. Bright lights interfere with a great sleepytime chemical called melatonin that your body releases when the lights dim. Here's what happens to melatonin when tech toys light up the night:

• brightly-lit screens = less melatonin
• less melatonin =  trouble falling asleep 
• trouble falling asleep = falling asleep at school
• falling asleep at school = crankiness, forgetfulness, stress, and trouble with the teach.

Bad way to go to sleep--with the TV remote and a bowl of popcorn about to hit the floor. 

Isn't this better?

So put your screens to sleep 30 minutes before you put yourself to sleep. 

P.S. Feel free to pop in at Mizz C’s other snoozy blog posting--the one where she tells the world that sleep is an important study skill. 

Sleep workshop over. Go catch some zzzzs.

Decisions, Decisions

It starts before you even open your eyes. “Do I get out of bed right now or sleep five more minutes? Wear a jacket or sweater, sneakers or shoes to school today? Eat oatmeal, toast, or a muffin for breakfast? Grab an apple or banana for lunch? Sit in front or back of the school bus? Raise my hand in class or hide behind the kid in front of me? Start on easy or hard test questions? Pick a fantasy or a mystery book for my book report? Write about snakes or cockroaches for science? Do harder or easier homework first? Do all my homework right after school or right after dinner?”

Experts call having too many choices "decision fatigue." Mizz C. calls it brain freeze.

Here’s how one stressed-out student describes "decision fatigue:"

After making many decisions they become hard for me too. They also . . . make me very tired and lazy to the point where I don’t want to do anything. If they start to make me tired I procrastinate or try to forget that I have a decision to make.

Mizz C. has loads of decision making tips that she'll be blabbing about in the future. Here are a few starters:

• Only make big decisions you're rested and fed. 

• Save your brain power for deciding the big stuff. Figuring out what activities to choose is way more important than deciding what to have for breakfast.  

• Put small decisions on autopilot. Go with the same food choices, if possible, for some meals or snack times. It's Oatmeal-for Breakfast-Week! Every Monday is Green Pants Day. Too many choices? Toss a coin! Heads up, it's a mystery for the next book report or snakes for the science project. Do harder homework first one week then easier homework first the next week. Decide which homework style works better for you. Stick with it for good. 

Now if only someone could help Mizz C. decide which shampoo to buy when the store runs out of her usual brand. Shampoo for curly, frizzy, dry, oily hair? Flower or lemon-scented? Economy or trial size? 

Never mind. Mizz C. needs a nap.

New Years' Resolutions Can Be Habit Forming

A habit is something you can do without thinking - which is why most of us have so many of them. ~Frank A. Clark

It's late January. Did you make a 2012 New Years’ resolution to start a new habit, Middle Schoolers? Good move. According to The New York Times, almost half the people who make a resolution keep it. What are their secrets? 

• Make one small resolution at a time. How about one of these? 
• Keep a short, specific To-Do List to get yourself organized. 
• Go to bed a little bit earlier every night. 
• Use a timer to do homework for short periods with no interruptions.

• Move temptations out of sight. Too distracted by TV, video games, or other gadgets? Do your homework in a gadget-free room. 

•  Tell the world what your new habit is. Ask friends and family members to help you stay on track.

• Give yourself gold stars! Use a calendar to keep track of how well you’re doing. 

• If you slip-up, restart your engines. Tomorrow's another new year.

Mizz C. started one good habit in 2012: blabbing and blogging. She can't stop!

What a Pain!

Okay, middle schoolers. Guess which kind of pain 9-13 year olds are most likely to suffer in a month? "Blisters?" "Sore knuckles?" "Fear of flying saucers landing on my school?” None of the above. It's headaches.  

Mizz C. doesn’t want you to miss school or "you time" because of headaches. Some mini habits can help you prevent many of them. Ready?

• Drink several glasses of plain old water every day, especially before, during, and after sports. Dehydration, aka cells screaming: "water, we need water," can cause headaches.
• Get the right amount of regular sleep—9 to 11 hours a night for middle schoolers. Overtiredness causes many headaches.
• Eat healthy meals and snacks around the same times every day. Skipped meals can trigger headaches.
• Give your eyeballs a rest from too much screen time.
• Avoid caffeinated drinks. They can cause rebound headaches when you suddenly stop them. 
• If you get that tight, nervous feeling called stress, go for a walk or a run. Or stop to breathe slowly and deeply until you feel calmer. Or close your eyes and let your stressful thoughts float right out of your head. 

“Okay, okay, Mizz C. we get it. But I'm getting a headache right NOW! Make it go away. I have to finish my homework.”

Mizz C's Headache Begone Plan:

• Stick a wet washcloth in the freezer to make a Headache Washcloth Popsicle.
• Drink a big, cold glass of water.
• Eat a small snack.
• Set a timer for about twenty minutes. You remember timers from Mizz C’s posting on how to love, love, love timers as much as she does.
• Go get your Headache Washcloth Popsicle. Lie down. Put the cool cloth on your forehead. 
• Close your eyes and take a short nap until the timer goes off.
• If you still have the headache when you wake up, ask a parent for an ibuprofen if that’s what your family uses for headaches.*

Feel better now? Go play with your dog or your little sister then go back to your homework, headache-free.

* Mizz C. isn't a doctor even though she sometimes acts like one. She does know that headaches can be a sign of illness. So watch for other symptoms such as fever, aches and pains, or stomach ache. There might be a bug going around.

Sleep . . . the Super Study Skill

You wont' fall asleep here if you . . .  

. . . get more sleep here. 

BULLETIN! BULLETIN!

MIDDLE GRADERS NEED AT LEAST 9-11 HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT TO BECOME THEIR HAPPIEST, HEALTHIEST, STRONGEST, AND SMARTEST SELVES! 

You can stop reading now if you're late for school. But if you're just hangin' and want to know what happens while you're asleep, read on. 

Mizz C. used to worry about why some of her students fell asleep in her class. Was she boring? Impossible! The truth was that many of her students had not been getting enough sleep. She learned this distressing news when she wrote a classroom and library health book.

What Mizz C. found out after researching her book shocked her so much, she added a whole sleep section in her new and improved A+ Guide to Great Grades. If you don't want to buy the book, check out this sleep expert for free:

Like many humans from the Jurassic Era, Mizz C. once thought that when the body went to sleep, it was done for the day. WRONG! Mizz C. discovered that during sleep brains are like night crews that come into a building after hours to clean up. They work when it's quiet. During sleep, brains do housekeeping chores that keep the body in tip top shape. That's why it's so important to get in all those hours of sleep every night. These chores include sending out messages to different organs in the body:

“Hey you, pituitary gland. Release growth hormones to make this sleeper tall and strong. While you're at it, fix those worn-out cells! And you over there, white adipose tissue. Release appetite control hormones. Otherwise that person’s body is going to think it’s hungry tomorrow, even if it’s full. Pay attention reproductive organs. Someday that sleeping kid may become a parent. His body needs to get ready now while it's sleeping. So release some of those reproductive hormones tonight! Hey you, memory cells. Organize that information you learned today. You’ve only got nine hours, ten hours tops. Get going!”

Now that you know why your body needs so much sleep, go get some zzzs. Tune in again when you’re all rested. Mizz C. will soon be blabbing about how to make sure your tech toys--computer, phones, video games, and television--get enough sleep, so that you do, too. And she has another blab post on the back burner about how to improve your memory by sleeping at least 9-10 hours right before test day! Prepare to be amazed. In the meantime, nighty night.