By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. I came across an Instagram post the other day that said, “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you already have 6 blank notebooks at home.” At first, I laughed. But then I allowed my honest reaction to come …
How to Study When You Don’t Feel Like Studying (And the Real Reason It Feels Hard to Start)
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You have a test you know you need to study for. You want a good grade, and you know it’s important. There’s just one problem: You don’t feel like studying. You know you should. You want the result of what happens …
What Students With Good Grades Are Doing That Nobody Talks About
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. “Nobody does that.” That’s what many students say at the start of work together. When I start talking about managing homework outside of Google Classroom, taking notes in class, and starting study sessions days before the test instead of the night …
Time Blindness in Students with ADHD: Why It Makes School So Hard, and What to Do About It
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Most students have heard of the concept of time management. Maybe you’re good at it, or maybe you think it’s something you need to get better at. Either way, you’ve heard of the concept of managing time. What’s less well known …
How to Study When You’re Tired (Part 2): What to Do When Your Brain Is Fried
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You’re exhausted. You woke up early, spent most of the day running from class to class, went to practice, ate dinner in two seconds flat, and now you have to study for tomorrow’s test. But when you open your notes, you …
Stop Fooling Yourself: Recognition Is Not the Same as Knowledge
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You close your notes after studying and you think to yourself, yeah, I’ve got this. Or you flip through your teacher’s slides before a test and you think, yes, this makes sense. But when the test asks you to produce that …
Why Your LMS Is the Worst Way Ever to Manage Homework Assignments
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. If the only way you keep track of homework assignments is by checking your learning management system (LMS), you’re making one of the biggest school mistakes with the biggest consequences. That may sound dramatic, but I stand by the claim. In …
Why Your Study Systems Don’t Work Anymore
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You spent all of sophomore year perfecting your study system. Organized, color-coded flashcard, easy to review: it worked beautifully. Then junior year hit, and suddenly those same study methods feel completely useless when you’re preparing for exams. What happened? Well, here’s …
School Advice that Will Probably Hurt Your Feelings
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Disclaimer: You might not like what you’re about to read. And I’m okay with that, because my goal is to make school easier for students, and sometimes that means facing reality and being open-minded to hearing hard things. If you put …
Why You’re Good at Homework But Bad at Tests
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You get solid grades on your homework all week. You get full points for all your assignments completed in class. And you generally feel like you understand the material. But when you get your test grade back, it’s a completely different …