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Tiger HI-LINE
Front of the Bus Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
As the buses pull up to Peet Junior High, there is a screech while they come to a halt in front of the crosswalk. While most kids are in the middle of class, freshmen Efupom Fang and Klaertje Hesselink are among several other kids headed up from a junior high on their way to the high school. Both students go up for fourth hour and spend the rest of the day at the high school. While Fang and Hesselink are technically Peet Junior High students, they spend more than half of their day at a different school. Fang comes up to the high school for honors biology, honors English 10, French 1 and honors geometry. She said that coming up for advanced classes has been mostly beneficial for her. “It’s nice to have a challenge that brings some-
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Volume 59 Edition 2
Junior high students using high school courses for acceleration, opening later opportunities
thing new and exciting to my schedule. Most of my classes aren’t that hard,” Fang said. Fellow freshman Hesselink agreed. “I’m mostly taking these classes so that I can get ahead and eventually take more advanced classes,” Hesselink said. High school counselor Susan Lagan said that she sees a good number of junior high students opting for high school classes. “Most of the junior high students we see here are for acceleration. There are a lot in math and science, sometimes English and world languages as well. A lot of kids that finish math or science early at the high school have the option to take more advanced classes at UNI”, Langan said. An NYU study found that 49 percent
of high schoolers felt “greatly stressed on a daily basis.” With the added pressure of advanced classes, many students feel pressure to not only succeed, but defy expectations from teachers and parents. “While I feel a lot of pressure from people pushing to take these classes, the most pressure I feel is from myself to get the best grades possible, and I think that’s something that l will probably continue throughout most of high school,” Fang said. Hesselink said that she is focused on the future, and that makes it easier to work toward her goal. “I want to get ahead and not only challenge myself, but to push for a better learning experience. Ultimately, I know that these classes will take me to more accelerated
classes,” she said. With ninth graders being separated from the rest of the high school students, Langan agreed that there is added stress by taking these more advanced classes. “It’s definitely a choice, but it does have added stress for freshmen just due to the driving back between schools. That can be tough on teachers too, with having students missing their first and last 10 minutes of class,” Langan said. Fang said that the sacrifice is worth the ultimate reward. “Finding a balance between pushing yourself and just being a kid can be hard, but I think going past your limits and becoming your best self is something is worth any price.” By Staff Writer Erin
MCRAE
Hi-Line Survey: 95 percent embrace education apps, websites
According to a survey of 300+ students in a Hi-Line Poll, over 95 percent of students are using academic websites and apps to boost their learning There are hundreds upon hundreds of apps and websites students from all over the globe use for academic purposes. A narrowed down list singles out some of the top rated within the Cedar Falls student body. Quizlet is one of the most popular, used by four out of every five students. Others that are recognizable are Slader, a website primarily used in math to double check problem solutions; Duolingo, an app that eases the process of learning new languages for many and Grammarly, an app that constantly gives users new word suggestions, notifications for spelling errors and even helps with things like sentence structure while typing papers. Other popular digital teachers include Khan Academy, an interactive website used for varying degrees of math; and Trello, Desmos, Membean and even the basics such as YouTube. A more surprising factor in digital education is the amount of time student’s dedicate to these apps. More than one out of two students use at least one app or website on a weekly basis, one of three students uses them daily and only 2 percent say they almost never use any digital websites or apps.
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95% of students surveyed use online resources to enhance their learning at Cedar Falls High School Sierra Miller Graphic In the Hi-Line Poll, words of gratitude from students sprang up everywhere thanking these apps and websites for helping them cut down stress levels and feel more prepared. One student said, “I use Quizlet to study for a lot of tests, specifically for my AP Biology tests last year. It was really nice to have a consolidated version of each term and concept we needed to know that could refresh your memory quickly and easily before a test after reading the book. Without Quizlet, I probably wouldn’t have gotten an A in that class.” A current freshman from Holmes Junior High said, “In math, we use Desmos to give us an idea of what graphs and
functions are. We had an assignment where we had to type in the function to find out what kind of graph it made, and the website was super helpful.” Others commented on the beneficiality of other apps as well. “Quizlet helps me a lot with vocabulary terms in my classes, Desmos helps me a lot in my math class for graphing and Grammarly for an extra pair of eyes on my English essays,” one said. Another said, “I use Quizlet to prepare for all of my American history tests,” along with, “The apps help me get 100% on my Spanish tests, mostly because of Quizlet. It really helps you study and focus in on learning the new material.” For some, simple things like organization can mean the
The Hi-Line Poll represents over 10 percent of students. world while staying on top of already challenging classes and balancing homework. This is where another useful app called Schoology is handy. Schoology is used by almost every teacher in the school and is also used to post updates about anything going on in the school. “Schoology helps me with keeping track of all of my classes and staying organized,” one high school student said. Especially with learning foreign language, studying is a necessity for many, “Duolingo has helped me in French class with learning things like greetings and goodbyes.” Another said, “When I’m struggling with French I can always use Duolingo to help me understand.” On top of it all, many
apps and sites boil down to the preparation for important tests and exams. Survey respondents said it’s hard to do everything to study and still not know what to expect when test day comes. That’s exactly what some apps would like to offer. A freshman said, “Being able to take something that will look similar to the test and not have it be graded is a really nice benefit.” By using academic apps and websites, 95 percent of students are gaining important knowledge about a collection of things as well as the reassurance these apps and websites provide to reduce stress levels. By Staff Writer Alex
WILLIAMS