Forget about turning your cellphone off before you enter class.

Forget about having it confiscated for texting during lectures, or for browsing the web while you should be listening.

Your cellphone is now part of your classroom experience, so you better make sure that your battery is fully charged before you head to school.

Many school districts have bans on cellphones in classrooms, citing them as learning distractions or tools for social harassment.

Schools in the Toronto area have lifted the ban on cellphones in the classroom and are looking at the different ways that cellphones and other hand-held technology can be harnessed to make class time interactive.

Across the US, school boards have been have been researching the effectiveness of iPads as learning tools for students of all ages.

Classrooms already using personal electronic devices (PEDs) to teach and learn all report success:

• improved student engagement
• increased literacy
• ongoing student communication outside of the classroom

Cellphones—or other PEDs—are tools to access social media, which can be harnessed as a benefit to the classroom, and might help students who might be too shy to interact in the classroom otherwise.

Universities are already using personal technology and social media to interact with students.  A recent study shows that up the 30% of profs use social media regularly.

And other studies are showing that social media site Facebook can actually help increase grades.

It will take a few years to implement a district-wide cellphone policy in Toronto, but certain teachers are embracing the technology ahead of schedule and engaging students using the technology—and the ability to learn—that they already have in their hands.

Read more:

How iPads will change textbooks forever

Media literacy and your child

Online safety tips for children

Does a shorter school week seem like the opposite of what school boards should be doing to improve on the quality of education?

A few school districts in the US have passed legislation to allow a four-day school week.

The main goal is cost-cutting, but there have been some surprising academic results.

By eliminating the Friday school day, and by extending the Monday-Thursday school hours to maintain the same number of total teaching hours, educators have noticed:

• reduced absenteeism
• reduced drop out rates
• extracurricular participation increased
• increased feelings of student positivity
• better test scores

A report examining the four-day school week indicates that the shortened week might be more beneficial to high school students to lower drop out rates.

Read more: Los Angeles Times:  Shorter Week, More Learning

Interested in alternative school schedules or better test scores? Contact your local centre today!

In class, I often have a tough time figuring out how much of what the teacher is saying I should be writing down.

Some of my classmates write almost every word the teacher says, and some don’t write much at all.

When it’s time to study I find it hard to read pages and pages of notes, so I have started to try to write down less.  I try to focus on only writing down the key points. Then, if there are any examples, or other info that are relevant or important to the key points, I write one or two words as well.

When it’s time to review for a test, I find the rest of the stuff is pretty easy to remember and I can focus on the key points.  If I am not sure about key points from a class, I make sure I ask the teacher before I leave.

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

High School is typically a four-year commitment. However, an increasing number of teens are choosing to return for a a so-called Victory Lap.

The Victory Lap is a term that refers to returning after graduation for an extra semester or two.

Why would teens want to return to high school? There are many reasons:

• Not feeling emotionally or socially prepared for college or university
• To continue with sports
• To improve grades
• To complete credits
• To increase self-confidence
• To increase post-secondary qualifications
• To save money

Some estimates say that as many as 15-20% of Ontario students return for an extra year. If students don’t feel ready to go to university or college, or don’t have the grades, and high school will allow them to re-take courses, or to take additional courses, then is there anything wrong with staying in high school for an extra year?
But critics say that in terms of the cost of education, it’s an expensive habit that is a waste of taxpayers money.

The official government of Ontario position is that not all students learn at the same rate, and if certain students need an extra year to obtain the necessary grades to graduate, then—as long as the students is under 21—this is perfectly acceptable.

Other critics say that it gives students an unfair advantage over others who don’t have the option of taking a Victory Lap—that students who remain behind to take (or to re-take) courses to bring up their averages may be unfairly stacking university admission odds in their favour.

Those who support the extra year of high school say that it helps students better cope with transition anxiety, as the move from High School to Post-Secondary is recognized as one of the biggest life transitions, right up there with marriage and retirement.

Factor in the high cost of post-secondary tuition and the alarmingly high first-year drop out rate, staying in high school to improve grades, and increasing university readiness will help high schoolers be more successful in college and university.

Read more:
The Gap Year
Are students ready for College and University?

There was an article the other day about how video games are actually good for your brain. They make it work better, improve hand-eye coordination, and help you make decisions. Take that, Dad!

I know that this doesn’t mean that sitting in front of the TV or computer for six hours a day is good, but a little gaming every day is okay. I like playing video games because they are relaxing, and challenging. I can that tell my brain is working. I like solving the puzzles, and learning new stuff, and video games help with that. I also really, really enjoy killing zombies, and where else can I do that but on my PS3?

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

That’s the question that we always ask, right? So much of the “stuff” that I learn in school makes no sense to me, and nobody seems to be able to answer my question about why its important, and when I will need this information. So, what’s the point of learning it if I don’t need it later? I mean, we have the ability to find pretty much any answer that we need in a couple of seconds courtesy of Google, a fact that seems to make the stuff we are learning silly. BUT, my real question is, why can’t anyone answer the question properly? Or, does what we are being taught need to change so we have an answer to the question? What are we learning in school, really? Is it important “stuff,” or is it simply how to follow instructions?

I think it might be more about the instruction than the stuff.

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

It’s tough being in high school, trying to get good marks, have a social life, help out around the house, and still have personal time. Sometimes it feels like there isn’t time to get things done. I try to stay on top of everything, but there are only so many hours in the day.

I’d like to stay up late to work on personal stuff, but I have to get up before 7 for school, so then I am tired. And then I read that teenagers need a lot of sleep.

This makes me wonder why we start school so early? It’s nice to be done before 3, but I think that it might be better to start a bit later in the morning. I see so many sleepy kids in my classes. and wonder how much we really are learning. I’d like to see school start around 9, maybe even later. Then I’d get to sleep in a bit and stay up a bit later too. The studies say I am right, so what are we waiting for?

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

Although everybody makes mistakes, there are some that can affect our future. As a teen, I make a handful of mistakes every day. I understand that this may seem cliché, but I try to always think through what I’m about to do before I act.

It’s important to think about how any decision may affect you in the future, near or far. Before you think about cutting class, however unnecessary the class may seem, think about how skipping one class can easily become a habit, and what the results might be. Maybe it’s losing a credit or even dropping out, leaving you with nothing. Just ditching a single class could dramatically alter your future, whatever it may be. Next time you are about to cut class, or just not study for a quiz, think about how this situation right now could end up hurting you later on.

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

Report Cards can be very stressful for families. Kids don’t want to disappoint their parents, or be punished for bad grades, and parents don’t want to find out that their child is struggling academically. While report cards can be stressful, they don’t have to be.

Before stress levels reaches the danger zone, consider the following:

It’s Still Early—this is the first report card, which means that there is still ample opportunity to make improvements this school year.

Language—report cards often contain confusing educational jargon, which can be frustrating. Forget the gobbledygook and focus on the teacher’s comments. These comments can give you a better idea of how your child is performing overall.

Context—some school years are more challenging than others. Certain grades are transition years, such as the first year of high school, or the shift from early to middle school. These years can be challenging to all students, regardless of their academic abilities.

Now that parents have read the report card, it’s time to have a chat with the kids about their grades. Here are some tips that will help parents—and kids—banish any icky report-card feelings:

1. Be calm, cool, and collected. If you’re upset or angry about grades, hold off on the discussion until you can speak calmly and rationally.
2. Say something nice. Start with empathetic and positive comments. Highlight something positive about the report card, no matter how trivial. For instance, “You are really kicking butt in English.”
3. Listen to your child. Recognize the struggles. School can be tough. It is helpful to students to know that you are listening to their concerns and complaints.

The final report card takeaway is this:

Problems Require Action! Remember that the report card is a red flag. There may be plenty of time left in the school year, but if you don’t act now, the urgency of poor grades will be forgotten.