- you're watching teen kids news. i'm veronique. here's this week's top story. (energetic music) few words strike more fear into the hearts of students than the word test. some of us take it as a challenge to show what we know. others absolutely dread taking tests, and as amelia reports, that dread may actually hold us back from doing our best. - do you like or dislike taking tests? - i dislike taking tests. (dings) - i don't like taking tests. (dings) - because it's just more pressure. (dings) - i get really stressed over the type of questions. (dinging) - describe the feelings you get

either before or during a test. - well, before taking a test or during, there's definitely butterflies in my stomach. i pretty much have to, like, go to the bathroom when i'm taking it. um, yeah, pretty much just general anxiety. - i get nervous because if i get something wrong it'll, like, affect me in some sort of way. - well, i get really, like, flustered and nervous. sometimes i'll, like, start sweating, you know? - in fact, some of us get so nervous, it makes it hard to do well on tests. - yeah, it definitely does because when you're nervous, you kind of get fidgety, and you try to rush through because sometimes you've been stuck on one problem for a long time, then you realize you have 20 more problems ahead of you that you have to do, and you only have like five minutes left. - that fear of just doing poorly on it just kind of gets to you and then you might, like, read the question wrong. - you can't focus completely when you're worried about how you're going to do. - good point. if you really fear taking tests, you might have what's called test anxiety.

(dramatic music) and you're not alone. researchers estimate that more than 30% of all students have test anxiety. but fear of tests is not something you have to live with. for some tips, we turn to kalliope barlis. she writes about things like test anxiety. welcome. - thank you so much for having me. - why do so many us flip out about taking tests? - because we want to do well. and flipping out is a feeling, and it's a feeling that doesn't really help. a better feeling to have is a certain amount of stress because it keeps you alert, it helps you pay attention. - okay, so how can we overcome our fear of taking tests? - great athletes see themselves winning before it actually happens. they see the ball being hit by the bat. they hear the sound of the ball going through the hoop. they feel the roar of the crowd when they win. the same skill can be applied to anything, not just sports.

it's like planning for what it is that you want to do and do your best. - so you're actually talking about using your imagination to visualize success? - it's not just about visualization. it's a full sensory experience. when you're taking a test, instead of flipping out, if instead you begin to plan for doing well, seeing the grade that you want to get, backtracking to feeling calm while you're actually taking the test, and then backtracking even more, seeing yourself prepare, studying, paying attention to the teacher. and just remember that imagining you doing better isn't gonna make it happen completely, because you still need to study to make it happen. - (chuckles) darn. i thought there was a shortcut to not having to study. (chuckles) kidding. so how does visualizing work? - when you present something in your imagination

vividly and in color, your brain will search and sort for it until it finds it, so that when you prepare for a test, when you pay attention to your teacher, when you study, it will reinforce the knowledge and give you the confidence that's necessary for you to do well on your test. and when you have the confidence, because it's usually the lack of confidence that makes people flip out. - so what you're saying is that too often we focus on failure and not on success, and that it makes us more likely for failure to happen? - once we start thinking and planning for the best, it becomes more familiar to us, and we gain the experience and reinforce the success so that it's more likely to happen. - good advice. i'm certainly gonna give it a try. (chuckles) thanks, kalliope. - thank you. - the chinese have an appropriate saying.

if you think you can't, you won't. so rather than fearing the worst, plan for success. if you've properly prepared and know the material, don't let fear of failure take control. spend more time picturing yourself doing well, and you probably will. for teen kids news, i'm amelia. - there's lots more ahead on teen kids news, so don't go away, we'll be right back. - [boy] closed captioning is brought to you by ...

- yoga is more than just a form of exercise.

it's popular the world over for its ability to help practitioners relax and find inner peace. that's why more and more hospitals are turning to yoga to help their patients, especially the younger ones. eric tells us more. - [eric] not a lot of things in a hospital bring smiles, but these kids are certainly looking forward to their yoga class. it's being held at md anderson cancer center in houston, texas. - inhale, reach up high. yoga is a form of exercise that not only only exercise your body, but it's also exercising your mind. - the patients love it. they get to go and meet with other patients, get to know them, do something that makes them feel normal. - press down on your feet. - so some talk about, "hey, i get to go and be physical "instead of stuck in this bed all day long, "and i just want to get out and do something active." and then other kids talk about, "i get to be social. "i get to meet other kids and be silly with them."

and then some people also talk about being able to calm down and relax, and just do something that's not cancer related and put their worries aside. so there's been so many different things that the kids are getting from this, and it's luckily able to help so many kids from all sorts of different ages. - [eric] while the kids doing yoga today didn't have to be attached to any medical equipment, that's not always the case. - people ask me, "how do you help kids "deal with being in a wheelchair, "or being hooked up to an iv "and still wanting to be active and do yoga?" if they have a pole attached to them, you find a modification, you find a way to work around it. kids have amazing imaginations, and they want to be a part of something, so they're willing to try things a lot of times that adults aren't willing to do. so it's just a matter of modifying and maneuvering over what's the obstacle. and that's a great life lesson, too, it's learning to conquer your obstacles in life whatever they may be.

- i did yoga before i was diagnosed because i was a dancer and it was a way to help me with my flexibility and stretching. - [eric] not all the yoga exercises require learning how to master different poses. the instructor shakes up jars filled with sparkles to teach a simple relaxation technique. - you see that all the glitter goes everywhere, and that's representing what our minds look like when we're stressed, anxious, angry. and then you just teach the kids to sit calmly and watch the sparkles fall down, and as those sparkles fall down, it becomes slower, and slower, and slower, and calmer, and that's the same thing that happens to your mind. soft, dry sand soothes the back of your legs, feet and toes. so it's kind of teaching them to, when you're confronted with something that's stressful, to take a step back, breathe, relax, and just become calm about it,

and everything will fall into place and settle down. - [michelle] overall, yoga makes me feel calm and peaceful. - i guess you could say that yoga is medicine for the mind. for teen kids news, i'm eric. - if you feel overwhelmed by all you have to do, don't miss my make the grade report, next on teen kids news.

- christin's back with another make the grade report. - do you have a do list for your school work? i do, and sometimes i think it's going to do me in. most days, i can only get to the things on the top of the list, which means i never seem to get ahead. even worse, i often fall behind, so my do list just keeps growing. (serious piano music) along with my frustration. so i'm going to try a time management technique

called the catch up, keep up, and get ahead system. this is my catch up stack. things i've fallen behind on. i made a list, but that's not enough. it's too easy to keep pushing off focusing on these items, so i need to make a commitment to set aside a time every day to accomplish at least one of these tasks. i check them off as i get them done. ah, that felt good. next, i do my keep up work. things that i can't let slide. this is where i'll spend most of my time tonight, but i'll save a half an hour or so for my get ahead list. these are items that are not due for a while, but if i can get work done on them now, my keep up pile will stay under control. not only that, but if i keep working with this system, eventually, my catch up stack should disappear altogether, and good riddance. i'm christin, here to help you make the grade.

(high fashion music) - if you wear makeup to school and just want to take it up a notch for a party or date, makeup expert jeanna doyle shows us how. - a tip on glamor to go from day to night is to use a glitter eyeliner. i like to do this as close to the lash line as possible. as you can see, it adds a little bit of drama. and always focus on one area when you're bringing drama to the face instead of all of them. it gives a little extra pop. - thanks, jeanna. for teen kids news, i'm jackie. - frenemy isn't a real word. however, most of us know what it means. it's what's called a blended word because it's made up of two other words. in this case, friend and enemy.

another popular blended word is bromance, comprised of brother and romance. it's used to refer to two guys who get along well. it seems that new words are being created all the time and then made popular by television and social media. guess you could call that telesociedia. or maybe not. - it's time for another important message from the national road safety foundation. (scribbling) (engine starts) (funky beat music)

- oh, no! - (gasps) oh! (laughs) (horn honks) (energetic music) - coming up, we'll show you how to make a healthy pasta dish that actually has no pasta in it. - teen kids news will be right back. - so stay with us.

you'll love this dish. nicole's going to learn how to make another healthy and easy to make recipe. - you might say that k. lee graham is cooking royalty. after all, she is miss teen usa 2014 and has the official sash to prove it. so what are we making today? - today we are making some healthy low-carb pasta that can be made in a microwave in your dorm room and for anyone that's on the go. - sounds great, let's get started. - all right, we're gonna start with our zucchini. this is our pasta base. and you can go ahead and wash that for me. - [nicole] all right. - today, our pasta is gonna come from this tool called a veggetti, and the veggetti actually makes pasta noodles out of different vegetables. so now that that's washed i'm just gonna cut the ends off. and you can see here we've actually already done some.

i'm using this knife, so kids, make sure you have permission from your parent to use a knife. so we've got our ends cut off of our zucchini, and if you will just take this, and we're gonna spiralize it right into this bowl. - [nicole] wow, i love that word "spiralize." - [k. lee] yeah. so just like this, you just twist it, and it creates these awesome noodles. - [nicole] wow, that's so easy. - isn't it great? and then you can pick up one of these at wal-mart, bed, bath and beyond, really anywhere that sells those as-seen-on-tv kind of gadgets. - [nicole] very cool. and so this is actually what our pasta is made out of. - yes, this is our pasta, and i think that's good combined with what we have. - [nicole] okay, great. - [k. lee] for one serving size, i normally use one zucchini. it just is a great, great base. - and so then this replaces all the carbs you would get in normal pasta. - right, right. and you get all these added nutrients from the zucchini. - so a much healthier choice. - absolutely, absolutely. we're just gonna toss this in the microwave for two and a half minutes. - okay, great. - it's super quick.

- it just goes right in. (beeping) all right, so while that's cooking, we're gonna prep our spinach and mushrooms, and this is gonna just add a little bit of flavor to our spaghetti. - okay. - [k. lee] we've got some fresh, clean spinach and mushrooms that are pre-sliced. we're going to put this in this microwave safe bowl because metal cannot go in the microwave. - absolutely. - might cause your microwave to explode. so we've got that-- - and we're prepping this to get steamed in the microwave? - yes. - and that's all it takes to steam them. - right, you're just gonna add a little bit of water for me, just a little splash over here. - [nicole] all right, how much is a splash? - [k. lee] let's see, i'll tell you when. - [nicole] all right. - [k. lee] and that's good. - all right. - perfect. - so yeah, it takes out all of the time that you would spend steaming vegetables like on the stove top. - right. - definitely cuts out all the time it takes to boil the water, and set up the steamer, and let them steam, so this seems so much easier. - yeah, it's great.

and we're just gonna wait for our zucchini to be done and switch this out. - excellent. (beeping) - so our zucchini just finished cooking. we cooked it for two and a half minutes. and i'm taking it out, it's very hot, so i'm using oven mitts. and now i'm just gonna put in our spinach and mushrooms with a little water. - [nicole] great. - [k. lee] and we're going to cook that for two and a half minutes as well. (beeping) (microwave starts) - and now what do we do with this? - this is our freshly steamed zucchini. - it looks beautiful. - we're going to strain it to get out all the excess water since whenever it was microwaved it created a lot steam. so we're just gonna use this, toss it in here. (chuckles) - [nicole] toss the bowl in there, too? - [k. lee] toss that in there, too. - okay, just toss our spaghetti around a little bit. smells good. - yeah, it's nice and fresh. we're gonna go ahead and plate that over here. - all right.

throw that on there. - toss that on. - [nicole] okay. - so we've got nice, freshly cooked zucchini noodles. we're gonna set that aside. and now as our spinach and mushrooms are cooking, we also have our veggie burger here. and i included this because, you know, some people want extra protein in their spaghetti, or if you just want something that'll give you some more energy. if you are vegan like me, then you can substitute this for a vegan burger, or you can use chickpeas and it makes just as good. - what does a vegan eat? - well, vegans, we eat lots of plants, veggies, fruit, whole grains, but no dairy, eggs, or meat. so yeah, but all of these recipes, especially this one, it's great vegan, or if you don't like that, you can make it however you like. - great, well, i can't wait to try it. - yeah. - while the veggies are cooking, we're gonna take a quick break. teen kids news will be right back.

(beeping)

- all right, our spinach and mushrooms are done now, so we're gonna take these out again with our oven mitts, and we're just going to put in the veggie burger for a minute and a half, or cook it as the directions say. (beeping) - great. - so these are our freshly steamed mushrooms and spinach. - wonderful. should we strain these as well? - um, you can, but it's not necessary. so we're just gonna put those on the plate after. we're gonna let them cool a little bit while our veggie burger's cooking. - all right. - pass me a fork, please? - i would love to. - thank you. you can toss these around. lots of steam coming up. all right, actually, let's strain them. i think that's a good idea. - [nicole] yeah, okay. - and take them to put in here. i got some more spinach. (chuckling)

i'm a little bit of a klutz. all right. - and then just put these on top as well? - yeah, so we're gonna top our spaghetti with it, and now we can mix these in. just gives the noodles some great flavor. - [nicole] wonderful. it's the greenest pasta i've ever seen. - i know! greens are great for you. i try and eat like as many greens as i possibly can. they make you happy, make your body happy. - [nicole] absolutely, make your mother happy as well. - that's right. all right. our veggie burger is done. and then we're just gonna add this to the side. - so now we're almost ready to eat. - yes, my favorite part. so now we've got all of our yummy food. we're just gonna top it with some marinara sauce. - so do you have to heat this before hand? - you can if you'd like, but because the noodles are so hot, you don't really need to, 'cause it'll warm right up. - [nicole] that makes it even easier. - that's right, one less step. we're just gonna top that.

top some of the burger. and we are done. - wonderful. - and that's it. super simple, super easy, and super healthy. - shall we give it a try? - i'm game, let's do it. it's nice and stringy like spaghetti. - mm. mmm! very different from what i was expecting, but super good. - yeah, it's a nice substitute, and it's really quick and easy. - you can make this pasta at home or in your dorm room in about 10 minutes. all you really need are the ingredients and a microwave. you can find the recipe on our website. for teen kids news, i'm nicole. - wow, that does look delicious. you can find the full recipe on our website. we'll be back next week with more teen kids news. (upbeat rock music)

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brought to you by beachbody. - are you a woman of a certain age? if you are, pull up a chair and sit with me, because this is for you. i'm leeza gibbons and it was a big year for me, i turned 60, and i'm all about aging gracefully with empowerment, and all of that, but let's be real, there are some parts about getting older that are just hard. - all the symptoms of menopause from a to z, i have them. - my body is changing. - i'm not as flexible as i used to be. - i'm anxious, i don't sleep. - my back hurts, my legs hurt. - my daughter said to me one day, mom, you need to stop taking care of everybody, and start taking care of you. - sound familiar? yeah, a lot of it did to me too, but i found a program that worked perfectly for me. yoga. i know, yes, yoga, and i know what you're thinking, 'cause i did too. i don't wanna go to the gym and compete with all those 20-somethings, i mean i don't even know if i'm that flexible.