Spring Break

Congratulations to all of my fellow students who are now on spring break. It’s finally here! I know it has been a long time coming but I am proud of all of you for making it. I hope that you all take this week to relax and have fun. Whether you are going on a Caribbean cruise or planning on staying in bed all day I hope all of you will be able to let go of the stress from school and just sit back and relax.

Many of my friends are going on vacation this week, and I am a little jealous. I plan on getting caught up on my homework, apply for jobs, and start looking at scholarships. Yes, I know, I'm a nerd. But I don’t have much of an option because I am also getting my wisdom teeth out. Chances are that the majority of you will have to get yours out too, and let me just say I am not looking forward to it. For the next three days I'm going to be stuck in bed eating Jell-o and mashed potatoes while all of you are across the country getting tan. (Not that I'm jealous or anything)

But my point is, yes you need to relax and have fun on spring break, but you could also use this time to save your grades. It’s not often that you get a whole week off that you can spend working on things and maybe, for once, get ahead on your school work. But, if your family has planned a vacation, don’t worry I would rather be there than staying home to do homework and getting four teeth ripped out of you.

Helpful hint: RELAX! School can be super stressful, I know, so take this time to distress, you need it.

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The Best of Teen Drama Shows (part 2)

Teenage Drama shows have been a guilty pleasure for many people for many years. I'm not sure why, maybe it makes us feel better about our own lives or maybe we watch it because we have nothing better to do. Either way these shows are super addicting, and needless to say, I have watched way too many of them.

Now, I haven’t watched all of Pretty Little Liars but after about season three I moved on. Maybe it got better after that, I don’t know, but I stopped watching because I found the plot super drawn out and kept feeling as if the characters where just going in circles. Quite frankly, I got bored. I liked how this show had a darker side to it and I think the hair and clothes are amazing, but that’s pretty much all it has going for it. I would not recommend this show unless you have a high attention span and a lot of time on your hands.

The Secret Circle is a lesser known drama and it didn’t last for many seasons but I thought it was one of the better ones I’ve seen. I know you can watch it on Netflix but other than that I'm not exactly sure where you can go to watch it. Anyways, I liked this show because it was different than other shows I've watched recently. It’s a mix between the stereotypic teen age drama series and Supernatural. It’s about a group of teens who discover that they are witches and ban together to save their town from the evils that try to attack it.  I find it sad that more people don’t know about this show and for how short it actually lasted. Plus, I might have a little bit of a girl crush on Britt Robertson.

One of the first teen dramas that I ever got into was The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I personally liked it because it opened the doors to the world of teen drama TV shows for me and I remember thinking it was super scandalous. But, to be fair it has been a while since I've watched it and I don’t even remember if I finished it, but if you are looking for something to watch, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

 Another show I haven’t seen in a while is Awkward on MTV. I remember falling in love with the first couple seasons but then I never really got back into it when the third season started up. If you haven’t seen it I would recommend at least the first two seasons. I think this will be the next show I’ll watch because I the first two seasons were that good.

Word Count: 455

The Best of Teen Drama Shows (part 1)

Everyone has their own guilty pleasure. One of mine, like many of my high school peers, happens to be teen drama TV series. I know that this is a huge stereotype that I am playing right into, but I mean it’s not called a “guilty” pleasure for just anything. I am writing this blog post as, sort of, a review for the different ones I have enjoyed recently.

First off is One Tree Hill, this one I most recently completed through many binge sessions on Netflix. I found it strangely addictive. By now it isn’t hard to predict what happens next on shows like this one, but I still found the show engaging. Plus, the cute boys helped keep my attention. It starts off when all of the characters are in high school and follows them as they grow into, somewhat, mature adults. Like most series that last as long as this one, at times it can be slow and predictable. But, overall I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I have to admit, however, that I didn’t like that for the last two or three seasons the characters, Peyton and Lucas weren’t hardly seen or heard from.

I finished watching 90210, a while back but I can still remember that I enjoyed the first couple seasons but by the end, it got a little repetitive. I really like how distinct the characters are and even as they grow up and mature they still have distinct personality traits that stay with them. I felt like the ending to the final season was a little rushed and predictable, but it fit the plot line and it tied up all of the loose ends. The final seasons seemed very drawn out and repetitive to me, so I would recommend only watching the first couple. I mean, this show is exactly what you would expect when you think of teen drama.

Gossip Girl is my all-time favorite teen drama TV shows. I would highly recommend it because it never gets old and keeps you guessing at all times. You will fall in love with the characters and immediately want to be immersed into their world. It deals with the pressure of high society, the clashing of different economic classes, the stress of growing up, power, sex, love, money, finding yourself, and, of course, gossip. As a side-note I would just like to add that, yes, you do eventually find out who gossip girl is but you just have to keep watching for it. It’s almost funny at first, because it seems like just a bunch of rich brats but you’ll learn to love them and get passed the wild spending of money. Anyways, highly recommend that you check this show out; I know you’ll love it.

Word Count: 461

How to get away with sleeping in class

Last week I wrote a blog post about how to stay awake in class. This week I will be writing about sleeping in class and how to get away with it. Before we begin let me just say that I am neither condoning nor encouraging you to take a little cat nap in the middle of math class. It is way better to stay awake and try to pay attention to the lecture the teacher is trying to give you. But it has recently been a fad to see all the creative ways students have found to sleep in class while looking like they are wide awake. Some methods are going to be more effective than others and it all depends on the situation. Let’s take a look:

 

 

This is one option, just pretend like you are praying. It is completely natural for people to worship in the middle of class, so why not take a little snooze. No one will even know, guaranteed to be a success. I mean are they really going to question your spirituality? I don’t think so! If the teacher does, however, question you, you can always get offended because all you were doing was just practicing your religion.

 

 

Then there is the classic draw or in this case tape a picture of open eyes on your eyelids. This way when your eyes are closed and you are fast asleep, you will still appear awake to your teacher. This is a flawless plan, except for the risk of looking slightly creepy. But it might be worth it to get that hour of sleep.  I mean it’s not like the teacher will call on you or require you to participate at all. So if you have enough artistic ability to pull this one off. I say go for it. But if you are like me and don’t, then I could see this plan not panning out for ya. I mean teachers might notice if your eyes just turned into a circle with a dot in the middle of it.

 

Then for those brave enough you could always just lay your head down and use your desk like a pillow. But be warned, teachers have a higher percentage of catching you and calling on you when using this method. But sometimes you lack the motivation and creativity to do any other method. This should be a last resort option because it comes with the most risk. I have found that this works better in larger class rooms where the teacher is probably more distracted by others to pay attention to you looking like the people in the pictures above.

 

Picture Credits (not in order, sorry) also check these out if for some reason you cant view the images above:

·         Bottom left picture of person wearing the blue jacket

·         Bottom right picture of girl sleeping on desk with head on books

·         Middle picture with creepy guy with tape on eyes

·         Relatable post #73

·         Top left twitter picture

Word count: 511

How to stay awake in class

                When you are in high school there will be times you stay up way too late on a school night and you can feel yourself drifting off in class. You know the feeling. The teacher is on another long monotonous lecture and your eyelids feel super heavy, and all you want to do is lay your head down, close your eyes, and fall asleep. But, unfortunately, that tends to be frowned upon. So here are something’s I have found, to keep you awake:

1)      Bring a water bottle to school with you. When you are feeling like you can’t stay awake, distract yourself with taking a sip of water. You might need to repeat as needed, but at least you will stay hydrated.

2)      Tap your foot. Not loudly of course, because that can get annoying to others. But, shaking your leg up and down will keep you awake because at least you are moving.

3)      Hold your breath. It increases your adrenaline levels which will make you more awake. If you are bored in class it is also interesting to see how long you can do it. But please be careful, the last thing I want is someone passing out in the middle of class because they were holding their breath for too long.

4)      Standing up. Walking to go get a tissue or to sharpen your pencil is a great way to wake up your mind because it gets you moving around.

Helpful Hint: Coffee is your friend.

Word Count: 252

Studying For Retakes

We have all been there before. When you get a test back and it is a lot worse than what you think you did.  You know you can do a lot better if you get the chance to retake it. For those with enough fortune to have generous teachers that give you the chance to retake tests, here are some helpful study tips for you:

1)      Look at your first attempt. And by look at it I mean actually try to learn something for it. Redo every single question that you got wrong and make sure that you understand your mistake because if you don’t, then you will probably make the same mistake on the retake. I know this can be painful because you want to forget this test even happened, but suck it up and just do it. Trust me; it will be better in the long run. By doing this you will also get a good idea of what the retake will be over and what you need to focus on when studying.

2)      Redo some of your homework assignments. If you got a certain type of question wrong then look for similar ones on past homework assignments and redo them. If you can’t find any go to the internet or ask your teacher. It’s like they say “practice makes perfect”. I know it is not the most fun thing in the world, but it makes you prepared for similar questions on the retake.

3)      Actually study this time. Retakes are rare and they can really improve your grade. Do not take it for granted and actually make sure you are prepared this time for it. It is known that retakes can actually be harder than the first attempt, so you need to be ready for anything. Don’t take this lightly because the last thing you want is to do worse than the first time.

4)      Get help from your teacher. See if you can come in during lunch or before/ after school to get help because they are the ones who write the test so they will be able to answer any questions that you may have. Plus, if you are really lucky they might accidently give you hints as to what is on the test.

5)      Make sure you understand the grading. Some teachers will take the average of the two tests while others will completely replace your grade.  Either way it is worth the time and the effort to retake it. Well, I guess it all depends on our own definition of terrible.

Helpful Hint: If a teacher is offering retakes to you and you did bad on a test, TAKE IT. Trust me, not every teacher is that nice and it is a huge luxury that you shouldn’t take for granted. This could save your grade if you are struggling in a class, and it is over stuff that you have already learned. 

Word Count: 492

What High School is like in other Countries -- Mexico

                High school in Mexico is a little different than in the United States. First of all Mexico high school in Mexico is not required, and most of the time it is too expensive for the rural community to afford. Plus, high schools are mainly found in urban areas which makes it even harder for the rural people to commute. The average class size is quite large with it being between thirty-five and fifty kids. There is a national curriculum and textbooks are free, but you either have to bring your own lunch or buy from the school.

                There are SMART boards in some class rooms to help teach students, like there are here. I don’t know about you, but my school has one in nearly every classroom. In Mexico the grading system is different as well. Instead of A, B, C, D, and F there is a number system between 5 and 10. 10 being like an A and a 5 means you are failing the class. I mean that’s pretty similar to the United States in that you can either pass or fail the class but they gage that a little differently.

                School uniforms are required at practically every school, weather public or private. So that’s either a benefit or an annoyance depending on which side of the issue you’re on.  High school is for grades 10-12 and there are two programs to choose from: the SEP, and the University aimed program. There are other programs but they are only offered to private schools and are less common.

                90% of students will attend primary school, which is good and all but only 62% then go on to secondary school.  These statistics is pretty low considering only 25% of those kids move on and attend higher education after that. The government has been criticized for paying the teachers too much instead of investing in the students or other areas of the education system. Another large problem with the education system in Mexico is the lack of infrastructure that gets to the rural areas. This, like I said before, makes it extremely difficult for the people who live in rural areas to attend school.

                Typically high school in Mexico is three years long and broken into semesters. The beginning is pretty much the same for everyone. However the later semesters are more specialized. Students can differentiate between the physical sciences and the social sciences depending on their on choosing. Students who go to high school for a three year program are usually preparing for higher education such as attending a university. The students who typically attend a two year program are typically training to go straight into the work force upon graduation.

                This is the second blog post I have done like this and my previous one was about China. In both cases I was really surprised at how similar our lives are and the lives of high school students in other countries.  I am not really sure what I was expecting but I guess I thought there would be more differences. I am planning on doing more blog posts like this one and I predict that my conclusion will be the same for each country that I learn about. That no matter where in the world, high school may have differences but they are actually a lot similar than we think.

Word Count: 563