Staying up all night is definitely not an efficient way to study. Although from the length of the studying time, it seems that students can learn more materials. However, there is some importance of sleep that cannot be neglected. First, it provides an opportunity to repair and develop, and it also "re-energized" your body. Students stay up all night will absolutely feel tired and difficult to concentrate on studying the following day, which decreases the efficiency of studying. Additionally, according to the article, during the slow-wave sleep, the neurons start to enhance the connections between them about the information learned during the day, which strengthens the procedural learning. Experiment shows that the volunteers who have just learned new things right before they go to sleep show better performance after they wake up.
Schools should not start 1 hour later to "let students have better sleep," because it is ineffective. When I was in China, students needed to get up about 6 AM because the class started at 7. There were quite a few people who were sleepy. After I came to Canada, the school started at 9, and there were still students who slept over(being late), or felt sleepy. This proves that there is no correlation between the time schools start and the quality of sleep the students have. Another perfect example is that, in Canada, there is a time change between summer and winter. This year, on November 3, at 2 AM, the clocks were turned backward to 1 AM. Theoretically, if it true that the quality of students' sleep can be benefited from school starting 1 hour late, there should be a noticeable change in the students. They should be more energetic, more concentrated in class due to the improved sleep. However, there is not. Those who have been energetic all the time are still energetic;those who have been constantly sleepy before still repeatedly inform me their tiredness. In conclusion, the quality of sleep the students cannot be improved by school starting 1 hour late, but only by better time management and self regulation.
I am positive for inserting an hour for nap after lunch to increase students' academic performance. After lunch, the blood flows into the stomach and intestines to aid digestion. Students won't be as concentrated the first class, which is approximately 0.5 hour after they finish their lunch, due to lack of blood in the brain(this is even worse for the students if they have a test after lunch). After 2.5 hours' morning classes, I strongly feel that we need more time to rest. Besides, many clubs and other activities during lunch time, which shortens our resting time even more. In China, the gap between the last class in the morning and the first class in the afternoon is 2 hours. I used to wake up fresh and sober after a "power nap" and can understand, respond to the teacher quickly. In conclusion, schools should add an extra hour into the lunch time, so that the students can rest well and do better in the afternoon classes.
