OK Please tell me what tricks/electronics/tools help your kid in High School

[FINFAN]

DS is old school all the way, however, we live in a highly competitive town( as do most of us) and it seems strategies change daily on how these kids accomplish their assignments, get ahead etc. We do not have an I-anything, kindle, lap top,notebook, the term "App" pretty much appplies to a job search. I realize DS is not the only one without the latest and greatest but am beginning to see he is at a disadvantage of sorts in not knowing exactly how he could be using certain tools to stay competitive. He is a Junior this year and things are moving at a huge pace already.
So, can someone walk me thru what your HS kids use to assist them and how? I know phones are not allowed to be on during the school year, yet my neighbor sees kids on facebook during the day...accessed thru their phones I guess? Again, DS is old school as am I. DD was our link but she is 4 states away at college and her world consists of MAYA.
Again, not looking for a magic answer but I really need to get up to speed on what tools may be helpful.These days it takes knowing all the advantages out there that can be helpful, if not downright necessary! One family uses a program called Dragan/Dragon....where their kid orally says eveything and the program basically puts it all into the right order for a paper....because he does not like to type. That would never occur to me, and that is where I am noticing the error in my ways...and DS needs to be at least informed on what is beneficial. He has tried to ask, but kids are tight-lipped about this stuff, do not want the teachers to realize etc. If people want to PM me , that would be awesome!
(All these Ipod threads obviously affected my curiosity)

 

[clh2]

DD is also a junior...

We don't have any special electronics for her - I-pads etc. She basically has a cell phone (obviously not to be used during school) and at home a computer. DD is (bragging mom alert ) is ranked about 25th in her class of almost 350 students, and is taking physics, AP Stats, Pre-Calc, English, AP Psych, Spanish 3 and phy ed. Not a slouchy schedule by any standards, and is doing fine without extra bells and whistles.

Now - on the other hand - what DD does every year is she goes to an office supply store and looks at each planner, and picks one that she uses religiously throughout the year. being orgnaized is a far greater asset IMO than any electronic device you can purchase.

Is your DS taking any AP classes this year? I heard a brilliant tip earlier in the week...so good I wish I would have thought of it myself. Princeton Review publishes review books for the AP classes. It was in the back of my mind to purchase them closer to the AP exam time. The BIG hint I got was to purchase them at the beginning of the year (2011's have a release date of 9/7/11) and they may be helpful studying for the regular tests and semester exams throughout the year in addition to the AP final.

Good Luck!

 

[golfgal]

Our school has almost all of their textbooks online now, there is a classroom set and a few extras for those that don't have internet but for most of the kids they will be accessing their books online so I would say a laptop would be helpful if your school is the same. It will also be helpful in prepping for college testing. All that other stuff really isn't necessary nor is it really all that helpful.

 

[fimac]

Ds(14) is in a very diverse economic high school in Canada.

In grade Nine he used is laptop [which he uses due to his tremor}, but there were a few laptops in the class towards the end of the semester. Used for power point presentations, submitting written work. Some of the teachers wanted written work to be submitted electronically for the whole class.

He used his I-pod to bring in the music for band and music class. However that is him ever helpful.

Dragon speaks naturally is a pain to use although it might work better for a high school kid. But all is does is type the word it thinks that you said.

Most have cell phones, but are only supposed to be used at lunch or after school. Other wise kept in the lockers.

 

[MoniqueU]

I have 3 kids a 7th grader an 8th grader and a senior. They all have access to pretty much any electroic thing they want. I even text them at school, sometimes they get back to me in a few minutes other times on break. I don't drive and often there are schedule changes that my son that drives needs to know about and it is easier then calling the office and pullling him out of class. He goes to a private school and unless the kids are real blatant about it it's not a big deal. My dd's go to a public jr high and they are stricter about the phones but are no longer allowed to take them away. That probably isn't answering your question though.

My oldest son was in a laptop program where he did everything but math on a laptop in Jr high. He is disorganized and has bad handwriting so it was good for him. Now he is in high school and still disorganized and about the one thing he needs and we misplace all the time is the flash drives. I bought quite alot this year.

My oldest dd the 8th grader is super organized and on top of everything. We started her out in laptop because it had been so good for my son. She HATED it. i tried to talk her out of quitting it but in the end decided she is the one going to school and she gets good grades so who cares. She also always uses a flash drive. She is also currently using my kindle. as since I don't drive getting down to the book store is a pain. She will be getting her own for her birthday. She is in honors classes and has to read a ton so this is handy for us. She just uses a regular folder and I usually have her help my other two do theirs. She can run my house better then I can.

After what I paid for my seniors books at a private school I will be praying whatever books he needs for college are on a kindle and buying that. I do believe those are here to stay and the sooner they put more textbooks on it the better.

youngest DD also came home asking for a flash drive. I had stocked up since we had issues with where they went last year. She didn't want to do the laptop program either so I figured why even start her in it. She is also a good student but has to work for her grades which she does.

All my kids have laptops and basically other then folders,flashdrives and the printer we could get by with just one computer; It would be hard but we could. The other thing is that the schools around here want the kids to have like 5 binders one for each class. That is not what works best for my kids. One with the tab dividers works best especially for my son. So I just ignore that and we do one.

I was shocked that my one teacher friend in the same town I live in said like 40 percent of the kids she teaches don't even have one computer. I can't even imagine each of us not having our own let alone not having one at all. She gets papers handed in handwritten.

ETA all my kids know how to type bery fast and use aa track pad rather then a mouse. I haven't ever heard that they offer typing classes anymore here. You must get him typing asap.

 

[daughtersrus]

DS is old school all the way, however, we live in a highly competitive town( as do most of us) and it seems strategies change daily on how these kids accomplish their assignments, get ahead etc. We do not have an I-anything, kindle, lap top,notebook, the term "App" pretty much appplies to a job search. I realize DS is not the only one without the latest and greatest but am beginning to see he is at a disadvantage of sorts in not knowing exactly how he could be using certain tools to stay competitive. He is a Junior this year and things are moving at a huge pace already.
So, can someone walk me thru what your HS kids use to assist them and how? I know phones are not allowed to be on during the school year, yet my neighbor sees kids on facebook during the day...accessed thru their phones I guess? Again, DS is old school as am I. DD was our link but she is 4 states away at college and her world consists of MAYA.
Again, not looking for a magic answer but I really need to get up to speed on what tools may be helpful.These days it takes knowing all the advantages out there that can be helpful, if not downright necessary! One family uses a program called Dragan/Dragon....where their kid orally says eveything and the program basically puts it all into the right order for a paper....because he does not like to type. That would never occur to me, and that is where I am noticing the error in my ways...and DS needs to be at least informed on what is beneficial. He has tried to ask, but kids are tight-lipped about this stuff, do not want the teachers to realize etc. If people want to PM me , that would be awesome!
(All these Ipod threads obviously affected my curiosity)

When my DD was teaching in a high school last year, she had some students use digital voice recorders to take notes and record their assignments.

My DD's friend is teaching at your high school. I'll ask DD to see if she has any suggestions for you.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

A computer is sufficient. However if your son has not been out there in the cyber community fostering interest then yes you are up against some competition.

My 8th grade dd is beyond me. She does art online (a hobby), makes movies, AMV's, knows excel, word, powerpoint, etc... She knows her way around a computer and is up to typing 60wpm now.

She has been taking business-type classes in middle school in which she is learning even more.

He needs to learn how to type on the computer for starters. That would be necessary in my book. Your program does not sound appropriate for a JR in school. He needs to learn how to type and arrange a paper without a program.

He does not have to be up on the latest and greatest if that is not his interest but learning basic computer typing skills and Word type program is necessary, imo.

 

[FINFAN]

Thanks everyone...your answers have been helpful. We have 2 desktop computers so DS has access at anytime for homework, but we both noticed a lot more electronic gagdets being brought to school by the kids this year so I was intrigued. Not sure if the teachers assume all kids have such items o rnot, geivn the economy I don't think anyone assumes anything anymore. One item I saw that I thought would be useful was the Echo smart pen, but when I called the school to see if it was allowed, they said unless the student shows "need",(as in IEP/504) recording devices are generally not allowed ...for protection of privacy for everyone involved... It doesn't take photos, so unless a teacher is saying stuff they shouldn't I do not quite get that rule. DS would probably balk at using it anyway, like I said, old school but I am trying to get him more familiar at least so he knows whats what, then he can decide if it woudl be helpful or not.

 

[scrapbookworm]

I don't think that the Dragon-Naturally Speaking program should be used for writing papers, unless the child has a disability that prohibits normal typing and writing. My mom bought this program several weeks ago, but has yet to figure it out. (or rather, I think she wanted me to figure it out and then teach her???? No, I don't have time for that! Especially when I don't even have a copy myself)

 

[golfgal]

Thanks everyone...your answers have been helpful. We have 2 desktop computers so DS has access at anytime for homework, but we both noticed a lot more electronic gagdets being brought to school by the kids this year so I was intrigued. Not sure if the teachers assume all kids have such items o rnot, geivn the economy I don't think anyone assumes anything anymore. One item I saw that I thought would be useful was the Echo smart pen, but when I called the school to see if it was allowed, they said unless the student shows "need",(as in IEP/504) recording devices are generally not allowed ...for protection of privacy for everyone involved... It doesn't take photos, so unless a teacher is saying stuff they shouldn't I do not quite get that rule. DS would probably balk at using it anyway, like I said, old school but I am trying to get him more familiar at least so he knows whats what, then he can decide if it woudl be helpful or not.

It doesn't mean that teachers are saying things they shouldn't but you can't even give out a name of a student these days without some kind of release so if a teacher is giving a lecture in a class and calls on John Smith and someone records that-that would be a violation of privacy rules. Basically I think it is PC go awry but that is just me .

 

[FINFAN]

true enough I guess. So here's a question then maybe I should post this as another thread, but)
what overal electronic item/gadget would you suggest to be the nmost helpful overall for a high school student? Not AP level....but college prep. There are so many out there and they change every 6 months. Our budget is slim, so adding paying ofr all these aps..monthly fees, killer. Lets put it htis way, we have a '96 Nissan van and huge college expenses, so unloike electronic devices, we need one that will not be obsolete in a few months

 

[ckay87]

true enough I guess. So here's a question then maybe I should post this as another thread, but)
what overal electronic item/gadget would you suggest to be the nmost helpful overall for a high school student? Not AP level....but college prep. There are so many out there and they change every 6 months. Our budget is slim, so adding paying ofr all these aps..monthly fees, killer. Lets put it htis way, we have a '96 Nissan van and huge college expenses, so unloike electronic devices, we need one that will not be obsolete in a few months

I honestly don't see why you wouldn't be okay with a home computer and maybe, if your kid is driving or into activities, a cell phone. That's all you really need.

 

[FINFAN]

I honestly don't see why you wouldn't be okay with a home computer and maybe, if your kid is driving or into activities, a cell phone. That's all you really need.

I'm ok with the home computer, I am just hoping to NOT have him at a disadvantage due to my lack of knowledge on what is out there. He is a good kid, will not ever ask for us to spend on things, like I said he is old school too. He has a cell phone, 5 year old clam shell model, no bells or whistles but he can text. I an just seeking hepl in any advice, current things that may be beneficial.

 

[Darcy03231]

I have four children, three are in college and one still in high school.

My kids all have laptops and a planner/organizer (one has an electronic one and the others have notebook style ones). Other than that they really don't have anything special.

I will say that all my kids do have phones with internet access and ipods. To me though they were a "want" not a "need". We bought the phones and ipods as birthday/christmas/graduation presents and they pay for their own internet access.

We have looked into getting ereaders for the college kids as we thought it would a better way for them to get their textbooks, but so far textbooks that download to an ereader are limited. Maybe within a couple of years.

 

[golfgal]

I will say that other then a home computer there isn't anything you have mentioned that will give your child a leg up nor will not having them put them at any kind of disadvantage. I am guessing people are having a hard time coming up with answers because there just isn't anything electronic (except the computer) that really does what you are asking. Now, for my oldest, the calendar on his phone was helpful but no more so then a planner would have been if he used it.

I think you will also find that for most of these "gadgets" the kids are showing up with that in a month or two they will be left at home because they end up being more work then they are worth.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I'm ok with the home computer, I am just hoping to NOT have him at a disadvantage due to my lack of knowledge on what is out there. He is a good kid, will not ever ask for us to spend on things, like I said he is old school too. He has a cell phone, 5 year old clam shell model, no bells or whistles but he can text. I an just seeking hepl in any advice, current things that may be beneficial.

So does he know how to type on Word for his papers? That is a biggie since when they get to college they are going to be basically doing everything electronic.

You have to know your way around some software because you have to adapt to the college setup.

Learning software is what will give him a leg up in the cyber world.

 

[FINFAN]

I will say that other then a home computer there isn't anything you have mentioned that will give your child a leg up nor will not having them put them at any kind of disadvantage. I am guessing people are having a hard time coming up with answers because there just isn't anything electronic (except the computer) that really does what you are asking. Now, for my oldest, the calendar on his phone was helpful but no more so then a planner would have been if he used it.

I think you will also find that for most of these "gadgets" the kids are showing up with that in a month or two they will be left at home because they end up being more work then they are worth.

lol...that is me, I am slef proclaimed electronically impaired. The frustration FAR outweighs the benefit. However, I do not want to have my DS go that direction in this day and age basically because I am not on up on the latest.

 

[FINFAN]

So does he know how to type on Word for his papers? That is a biggie since when they get to college they are going to be basically doing everything electronic.

You have to know your way around some software because you have to adapt to the college setup.

Learning software is what will give him a leg up in the cyber world.

He knows, well, is learning but so far I would say he is grade level but you make a great point, all the gadgets in the world are useless if the basics are not there.

 

[Skatermom23]

A computer or laptop is the only gadget you will need. Not an ancient model though, it needs to be fairly new. Old school or not, DS needs to know his way around that thing. Word, excel, powerpoint etc. As much as I hate to admit it, but giving the kids a way to chat on the computer helps them to. I'm not sure DS would have made it through his senior year of AP classes without the late night chats with classmates to solve problems. It is the way they communicate now. Phones are not used for talking!

Also, depending on what Math class he is taking you will need to get him the graphing calculator. It will also be allowed on the SAT tests and everyone will have one.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

A computer or laptop is the only gadget you will need. Not an ancient model though, it needs to be fairly new. Old school or not, DS needs to know his way around that thing. Word, excel, powerpoint etc. As much as I hate to admit it, but giving the kids a way to chat on the computer helps them to. I'm not sure DS would have made it through his senior year of AP classes without the late night chats with classmates to solve problems. It is the way they communicate now. Phones are not used for talking!

Also, depending on what Math class he is taking you will need to get him the graphing calculator. It will also be allowed on the SAT tests and everyone will have one.

Forget the "chat" as I am going to admit I bought my dd a microphone.
She does not have a webcam and I am not allowing it to her yet since she is only in 8th grade.

She uses Skype and has Skype parties with her friends.

So OP, that might be something I should add. The webcam or at least the microphone is a "gadget" that is going to be solid.