Most publications and blogs that cater to students will
eventually run an article on how to stay awake during class. They
offer (sometimes) valuable advice on getting enough sleep, avoiding
all-nighters, using caffeine intelligently, cutting down on sugar,
etc. I wont go into details here, because I may decide to write an
article of my own 
In this article, I will focus less on preventing classroom catnaps,
and instead talk about what to do after you wake up. Because lets
face it: some of us cant do anything about our sleep schedule
without cutting into study time, CCAs, or aspects of our social
life that are important to us. We know that we are sleep-deprived,
but sometimes we cant do anything about it. We even fall asleep in
classes that we love most, sometimes during the lull between two
exciting parts of the lecture. If you are like me, and you know
that sleeping better and changing your diet isnt enough, then its
important that you master the ability to recover from an episode of
classroom catnap.
First, a few words on my experience. Im in my fifth year of
Secondary School, and since the beginning of "god-knows-which" year
I have been notorious for sleeping in classes. Heres the kicker:
my teachers still like me, and are willing to help. Well, most of
them anyway. And it has nothing to do with the kind of grades that
I get.
I have a lot of wonderful friends who are excellent students, and
every now and then one of them will call me up to ask what they
should do, because they either: A) fell asleep in lecture B)
overslept and disrupted the class by showing up thirty minutes late
C) slept through an exam. In all three cases, their first instinct
as to what they should do is usually wrong.
After literally years of experience sleeping in virtually every
class, I have developed my very own standard operating procedure
(SOP) for coping with the fallout from a classroom catnap. But
before I go on, I want to make it very clear what this strategy
will and will not do for you.
This strategy will not help you sleep less in class. It wont help
you learn the material you missed, or get stellar grades on tests.
It wont turn you into some slick talker who can convince your
teacher to give you an A and the shirt on his or her back.
This strategy will help you limit the damage sustained to your
reputation from your nap. Very often in secondary school,
especially as you get to the upper-sec, maintaining a good image in
the eyes of your teacher is an important part of taking a class. In
extreme cases, you may care more about whether the teacher likes
you and thinks you are bright than you do about whether he gives
you an A or a B. But even if its just some class with some old
teacher, you will feel far less comfortable going to office hours
and asking for advice if you feel that you have antagonized your
teacher (and he or she will be less likely to go the extra mile
when providing help and giving much-needed breaks and
extensions).
So, without further ado, I present my SOP (patent pending).
1. Open your eyes. Taking long naps is pushing it. The last thing
you want to do is start snoring theres no forgiveness for
snoring in class! Even if you dont normally snore, when you are on
two hours of sleep for the better part of a week, the odds are
against you. I learned this the hard way last year.
2. Make eye contact with the teacher immediately, and offer some
kind of facial expression. Whether its a smile or a wince, all you
want to do is indicate that you are embarrassed.
3. Sit up in your seat, with your back straight. For bonus points,
lean forward as if you are intensely interested in whats on the
blackboard.
4. Give yourself a few moments to get your bearings. Then, ask the
first semi-intelligent question that comes to your mind. Dont
waste everyones time, but dont worry about being wrong either.
Your purpose here is to show your teacher that you care. If you are
stuck here, questions of the form Teacher, I just want to make
sure I have everything right: you said x,y,z just a little while
ago are always an option, especially if you are in a lecture that
requires taking a lot of notes.
5. Whatever you do, dont try to act smart by making a pedantic
observation or correcting the teacher. This will earn you the
disdain of both your teacher and your classmates. Just dont do it.
On the other hand, if by some miracle you do have a bright idea
that actually contributes to the discussion and/or lecture, do
share it. Its always impressive when someone can wake up and
immediately join in on the discussion.
6. If you didnt get to ask a question, then answer one. If your
teacher asks for hands, volunteer yourself. Unless you are
exceptionally bright, or the class is remedial, you will probably
be wrong. Perhaps youll be horribly wrong. But thats okay
youve just shown the teacher that you want to participate, despite
your sleeping problem.
7. This should go without saying, but try to get the missing notes
from a friend or neighbor.
8. Careful: this wont work with every teacher. If you dont plan
on keeping in touch with this teacher after the class ends, you may
want to skip this step. I always do it for all my teachers. After
class, go up to your teacher and wait for the students who are busy
sucking up to conclude their business. Then, apologize to your
teacher for sleeping in class. 90% of the time, your teacher will
respond by saying I know, I saw. When this happens, you will be
very glad that you chose to speak with him or her. You have two
options now. You can either explain how you enjoy the material but
simply cant help falling asleep, or you can offer fervent promises
that it wont happen again. Be honest, and try to choose the
explanation that you think will be consistent with your behavior in
the weeks to come 
And there you have it. It sounds pretty straightforward even
naive. Perhaps many of you think it wont work but it does, as
long as you are realistic about what its going to get you.
So what do you all think? Anyone have a great story to share about
falling asleep in class (Ive can think of a couple good ones
myself..)? As always, feel free to post a reply or email me at (uh
oh here comes to spam): [email protected]!
