By Massiha “Moose” Habibi High School Math. Alright, if you read that and groaned, my first points are for you. The big challenge with math in high school tends to be how it builds upon itself. What do I mean? Well, in your history class, you can answer questions about Rome even if you don’t […]
Now that you’re coming up on the close of the year in your science class, I’d encourage you to try to think about the big picture. Science is very much about the study of systems and how their different components interact — so why not try thinking about your science class in the same way? […]
Eighth-grade teachers love to say, “Your high school teachers aren’t going to do that for you next year!” High school is an important transition, and teachers are trying to help you establish your academic independence. One of the key ways we’ve seen this refrain ring through is in the day-to-day management of your assignments. Chasing […]
Have you ever looked at your notes from last year, last month, or last week and asked yourself, “What is this?!?” If you’ve wondered how you could have completely forgotten something you were sure you had learned, you’re not alone. While there are many reasons for that phenomenon, one explanation lies in the very nature […]
“Did you do your homework yet?” “Mom! I’ll do it. Stop bugging me about it!” …. “Is it done yet?” “AAAAAAARRGGGHH!” Sound familiar to you? I hope it doesn’t, but it just might. Fights over homework are all too common but avoidable. So why are they happening? Read on to learn some reasons they might […]
We talk a lot about executive functions like creativity, time management, persistence, and planning. But that’s a lot to process. With school starting soon, you may need to be more independently engaged, organized, and motivated than you have been in the past. We thought we’d give you a quick cheat-sheet to help you stay effective […]
The start of the school year is a rollercoaster of emotions. There are new school supplies and old friends, new classes … and the same old homework. But for most students, there is a moment sometime in the first month or so of school when they look at a clock to see how much time […]
Raise your hand if you’d like to spend less time studying and get better grades. No, no, not both hands, and stop jumping up and down! Seriously, though … if you’re like most of my students, you might feel trapped in a bit of a vicious cycle right about now: you stay up late to […]
As many parents remember, and as many teenagers are learning, a strong vocabulary is a key component of success on most standardized tests. Test makers often seem determined to punish less robust vocabularies with extreme prejudice. All of the major secondary school tests — the SSAT, the ISEE, and the HSPT — include verbal or […]
I used to love back-to-school shopping as a kid. Fresh pencils and pens, maybe a new pencil case, and, of course, new notebooks. Those wonderfully unblemished and perfectly blank notebooks that just beg to be seen as metaphor: the open mind waiting to be filled with knowledge; the blank slate that every student begins the […]