Bruno: Sleep, Don't Study

Here's some educational news you can use.  According to a recent study in the journal Child Development, a student who stays up late to study is probably not doing herself any favors. Instead, "if that student sacrifices sleep time to study more than usual, he or she will have more trouble understanding material taught in class and be more likely to struggle on an assignment or test the following day." (Try here for an ungated version of the article.)

The authors point out that sacrificing sleep to study is typically a bigger problem in the later grades. Another wrinkle is that students are not very good at studying in the first place. If students are giving up time spent on something academically important (e.g., sleep) and then wasting it by "studying" ineffectively, it's not surprising that their school performance suffers. How would the results be different if students were using that study time more effectively?

In any case, if you or your student are trying to decide between doing that last homework assignment and getting a full night's sleep, you should probably go with the latter. And my experience is that most teachers don't mind granting the occasional extension for a legitimate reason. - PB (@MrPABruno) (image source)