Problem: Article: Observe her to see what kinds of books she reads, music she listens to, or teams she follows. Try picking up a book by the same author or wearing a t-shirt with the band or team she likes when you’re around her, and she might just strike up a conversation about it.  Even if she doesn’t start talking to you, she will likely notice if you’re wearing, reading, or looking at something she’s interested in, too. Smile if she looks over at you, or even say “Hey, how’s it going?” to start up a conversation. There’s no need to snoop or be overly observant to find out the things she likes. Just pay attention when you see her wearing, reading, or talking about something excitedly. Chances are you already like some of the same things, or would want to learn more about them. Start up a conversation more easily by having a question in mind to ask her. You can start with “Hey, how are you?” or “Hey, how’s it going?” but you can also be more specific with something like, “Hey, did you catch what the homework was for English? I missed it,” or, “Hey, did I see you at last week’s basketball game?” Don’t be disappointed if your question doesn’t lead to much of a conversation or if you blank out on what to say after the question you had in mind. Just smile and thank her for talking to you before walking away. She’ll remember that you were nice and went out of your way to talk to her. If you strike up a conversation with her, ask her questions about her family, hobbies, school, movies, books, or sports and you are bound to find some things in common. Say, “I really like art too!” or “I have a big family as well; three older sisters and one younger brother.” She’ll remember these things, and take more notice of you in the future.  You can use subjects you find in common with her to strike up future conversations. For example, if you’re both into learning about bugs and insects, you could bring a book you found on the subject to school and tell her, “Hey, look, I found this book with really cool pictures of beetles. I thought you’d like since we had that conversation about how we both like bugs.” Remember to be honest and tell her true things about yourself. Avoid the temptation to tell small lies or say you like something just because she likes it. The truth will only come out and make you look bad later if she continues to talk to you and get to know you better. Let the girl know that you’re smart and funny by sharing fun facts, participating with answers in class, and telling jokes. Share the things you’re knowledgeable about with her and tell her a new joke when you talk to her.  Never downplay your intelligence or “play dumb” to get the attention of the girl you like or to seem cooler around your friends. Avoid boasting about the things you know or trying too hard with silly jokes. Just make funny observations, engage in school, and don’t pretend to know a lot about something unless you really do! Give her your full attention and listen carefully when she talks to you to show her that you really care what she has to say. Use polite language like “please” and “thank you” when you’re asking her a question, and wish her a good night or weekend when you’re parting ways.  Kindness and respect can really make you stand out if other people she knows just try to tease her or end up being mean to get her attention. Everyone likes to be listened to and respected, and being mean is an immature way to get noticed. Remember things she says that you can bring up in later conversations. If she talks about a TV show she likes, you can start another conversation the next week saying, “Hey, did you see that there was a marathon of that show you like on TV yesterday?” Show you are more mature than other boys by not engaging in some of the things you might see other boys doing, like teasing or taunting girls to get their attention. Know that girls mature sooner than boys, so even if you’re in sixth grade too, a sixth grade girl may be going through changes that you don’t know about yet.  Never tease a girl about her body or call her bad names that you hear on TV or from other boys. The girl will not respond well or like you at all if you do these things. Instead, use respectful and polite language with her, and give her compliments on aspects of her personality, like her sense of humor or her taste in music, rather than on her appearance. If you talk to her about how you like her or ask to go on a date or start a relationship and she says no, don’t get upset or mad. Respect her feelings and don’t bug her about it. Understand that she may not be ready for a relationship yet, could have mixed feelings about you, or just not have those feelings at all. Be friends with the girl if she’s not interested in dating or anything else with you.
Summary: Get her to talk to you first. Ask her questions to get to know her. Find what you have in common with her. Show her your intelligence and wit. Listen to her and be polite. Avoid teasing her.

Problem: Article: When you want to include a citation at the end of a sentence clause, you have to put the citation information between the last word in the clause and the punctuation that follows. To begin creating this citation, place a left parenthesis here. For instance, if you wanted to begin a citation for a sentence on water levels in North Texas, you would write: Water levels are at an all-time low in North Texas ( You don’t need to use the author’s first name when citing in APA; just the last name will do. If the article doesn’t have an author, use a shortened form of the title.  For example, if you wanted to cite an author named Jean, your sentence at this stage would look like this: Water levels are at an all-time low in North Texas (Jean To shorten an article’s title, simply write the beginning words of the title up to the first noun. For example, you can shorten "A Particularly Fascinating Story in a Greenwich Village Bar" to "A Particularly Fascinating Story". If the author’s name is included in the text of the sentence, then your parenthetical citation should not include the author’s name. This should be the publication date for the original publication. For instance, if you’re citing a PDF of an academic article, you should write the year that the article was published and not the year that the PDF itself was created.For example:  Your example sentence should now read: Water levels are at an all-time low in North Texas (Jean, 2006 If the work has no publication date, use “n.d.” in place of the year. If you’re writing a direct quotation or if you’re referencing information that comes from a specific page of the publication, then you need to include the number for that page. Place a comma after the year, followed by “p.” and the number for the page. If your example sentence included a direct quotation, it would read: Water levels are “at an all-time low” in North Texas (Jean, 2006, p. 36 Add a right parenthesis after the page number and before the punctuation. If this is the end of the sentence, put a period after the right parenthesis. Your completed citation should read: Water levels are at an all-time low in North Texas (Jean, 2006, p. 36).
Summary:
Open a parenthesis at the end of the clause. Write the author’s last name after the parenthesis. Place a comma after the author’s name and write the publication year. Add the page number if you’re directly quoting a part of the publication. Close the parenthesis and add appropriate punctuation to complete the citation.