Imagine this: you’re sitting in your first-period class listening to a lecture that, well, doesn’t quite captivate your interest. You watch the clock tick at what seems to be an abnormally slow pace; perhaps you even begin to fantasize about lunch, which won’t come for another two periods. And finally, when your eyes begin to droop and it takes all the strength you can muster to keep them open, your pencil seems to levitate, pleading you to fill in all the enclosed spaces of the letters on the page. You do so willingly. When the task is done, you take to the hole punches, drawing flowers around one of the circles and suns around the others. By the end of the class period, you’ve begun to write your signature over and over along the margins of the page, practicing for when you become famous.

And while your teacher may peer over your shoulder with a look of disappointment, thinking you spent the entire class distracted and unengaged, your small sketches may actually have increased your productivity. A recent study determined that those who doodled were 29 percent more likely to retain information. Another study reaffirmed these results, adding that doodling can also serve as a way to stay attentive and awake. To spark your interest in this learning technique, here are some doodles from Boulder High’s talented students:

Anna Blanchard’s History Notes

Senior Anna Blanchard frequently sketched within her US History notes during junior year. To see more of Anna’s art, check out her bullet journal.

Tess Kuczun’s Collection of Hands

Senior Tess Kuczun also doodled within her history notes, mostly drawing sketches of hands.

Margaux Helson’s Not-So-Simple Sketches

Senior Margaux Helson draws more than a simple sketch within her physic notes. Margaux also incorporated bullet journaling techniques (very similar to doodling) into her Art History notes from junior year.

Some Small Doodles

Senior Cole Drozdek has developed a habit of drawing a small doodle on each of his calculus homework assignments.

Senior Paige Fincher draws a quick sketch of Mr. Castleman during class.

Senior Ella Heidman-Pinker embraces the traditional scribbles associated with doodling within her statistics notes.