Right about now, students all over the world are getting serious about their study time--when it's almost too late. I'll save the lecture about the difference between cramming and learning: let's get down to business.

The key to really learning a subject is repetition and reinforcement over a long period of time. But even if you don't have a lot of time before your next final, you can still benefit from repetition and reinforcement. But you have to throw in a practice test.

When you cram for a final, you want to avoid simply reading over the chapter, because there's no way to know if you're actually absorbing any of the information. You must quickly read and pretest yourself repeatedly. If possible, find a study partner. Make yourself a practice test (fill in the blank is best) and have your partner do the same.

Test yourself, grade yourself, and switch tests with your partner to repeat the tests until you get every answer right.

Bullying comes in many forms and it can have many long-lasting effects on students. Victims of bullies will suffer consequences in different ways, from lashing out and seeking revenge to internalizing and withdrawing. And, sadly, we all know that bullying can have more permanent, tragic outcomes, and that means we should all help spread awareness and educate ourselves.

It's not all that easy to educate ourselves, however, because laws and policies on bullying are different in every state. This chart will help you understand the policies and programs created by your own state representatives.

I think it is also important to note that some types of bullying can be less obvious, so we don't report or react because we are simply embarrassed. Students can suffer quietly, in the form of social pressure or intimidation, and these are not obvious to others. This kind of pressure can cause us to lose focus or stop caring about our grades. Sometimes a bully can cause us to fall behind in our studies for an entire school year, and this setback can also have long-lasting consequences. It can have a impact on our academic success.

Please realize that you could be the victim of bullying without realizing it. If your grades and your performance have ever suffered because of the actions of another, you are not alone. Statistics show that around 30% of students aged 12 through 18 have been bullied. Education and awareness will empower you!

Are you wearing a wrist watch? Do you even own a wrist watch?

It's the end of the regular school year, and many students will be taking several timed tests over the next few weeks. One essential tool you'll need to keep on hand every test day is a watch - but this is something students don't necessarily own, since so many of us keep time with our cell phones.

It is important to have a way to keep your eye on the passing time when you take a test, since you'll need to spend every minute wisely. You will need to make sure you finish the most important questions first (those that are worth the most points), and you'll want to give yourself little mini-deadlines for individual segments of the exams.

If you don't own a watch, it might be a good time to borrow one from a parent. Many classrooms don't have clocks, so you could end up mismanaging your time during an important test.

Sometimes students can find it hard to get started on an essay assignment because they don't know where to start. If this is happening to you right now, you probably have some good ideas about your topic, but those ideas seem jumbled and incomplete.

Whenever this happens, it is important to avoid allowing the problem to delay your start for too long. When you put off writing because you don't know how to start, you can end up scrambling to write a panic paper at the last minute.

Instead of procrastinating, start writing down your disorganized thoughts. Start by writing random ideas in a list. Type this list in bold print. Then, go back (in regular font) and elaborate under each bold idea. Write at least one paragraph under each bold heading, and then take a break from writing.

When you go back to read over your work, you will see that you have a pretty good framework to build upon. By reordering your paragraphs, writing a few introductory sentences, and adding some transition statements, you might end up with a good first draft.