It’s a Monday afternoon and it’s ninth period. Legs are shaking, pencils are tapping, everyone’s getting a little restless. And as expected with a restless class, we all tend to get a bit off topic. The “off-topic” portion today was the entire class complaining about how this year, Niles West decided not to provide the freshmen and sophomores with assignment notebooks.
To be fair, the school actually decided to not give assignment notebooks last year (to freshmen); however, many freshmen ended up receiving them anyway after a mix-up.
The school decided that it would be best for the students just to write our assignments and homework onto our lovely netbooks. Judy Wheatman, executive secretary to the principal, said the reason why freshmen and sophomores do not get planners anymore is because, “The school wants them to utilize the handbook online. Eventually we want the school to go electronic. Juniors and seniors get them because they don’t have netbooks.”
As you all may know my opinion on these netbooks (if not, here’s the link), I believe that they took away these greatly appreciated assignment notebooks, because the school is trying to get some use out of these tiny devices. Or maybe it’s because they want our teachers to get used to us taking them out during class. I recall that last year, in most of my classes, I was usually yelled at if my netbook was out.
Honestly, I think what’s really stirring everyone up is the fact that the school never told us what program to use, or where to write our assignments. Do we just write it on Open Office? Or should we just click on all the pre-loaded applications to see which one works best? Hmm, that sounds like an adventure I’d like to skip.
But on a brighter note, this change does save some trees. And… that’s about the only Pro I can possibly think of.
I personally feel that the real, paper assignment notebooks are much more convenient for about three reasons. One, I don’t have to worry about it’s battery being low, considering that it’s paper. Two, I know my legitimate writing won’t delete itself or not save. And three, I know for a fact that my paper assignment notebook will keep my level of frustration with these computers low.
Do you guys think that this change was a great idea? Or did you have to waste $3 and buy one in the book store, while the upperclassman got them for free? Tell me your thoughts!
Ali Toth • Sep 12, 2011 at 9:17 AM
My little sister is a freshman, and she was quite annoyed that she didn’t get an assignment notebook. Considering how her Netbook has horrible connection and constantly crashes, if she tried to write down her assignments in her Netbook, she’d most likely lose them. She went and bought an assignment notebook from Staples, but the only downside is that she doesn’t have the school events (like days off, late starts, and the like) printed in there, and she has to look in my assignment notebook and transfer the dates into hers. It’s a lot of busywork that could easily be prevented.
That aside, there’s something nice about having a physical assignment notebook. It’s nice to be able to flip through the pages and look at an event in advance, or to look at two pages simultaneously, which you can’t really do electronically (or not easily, at least).
shalalala • Sep 11, 2011 at 8:31 PM
I appreciate how our school is going green, but I personlly think that it would be better if we received assignment notebooks. I’m a freshman, and I went and got my own assignment notebook, because I like to be able to just flip it open instead of taking out my netbook, signing in, waiting for it to load, and finally opening the document. Also, I try not to use my netbook too much because according to my mom, my eyes are getting worse 😛
TheProcrastinator • Sep 8, 2011 at 10:10 PM
I’m happy to have a physical assignment notebook and honestly, if I had the choice between books and a netbook, I’d have to agree with sen1o2 2012 and would prefer to carry 50lbs of books as an alternative.
Not happy with all of the technology changes this year…
Open office is just too weird to get adjusted too and I can tell that some of the teachers are frustrated because they can’t open their power points correctly without the format getting all out of wack.
I can’t even access my own documents easily because EVERYTHING is restricted on the computers.
It’s good that Niles West is trying to modernize and we’re so fortunate to have the funds and technology to do all of this, but all I have to say is…I’m so happy I’m graduating this year before everything is online…
sen1o2 2012 • Sep 7, 2011 at 6:10 PM
I am glad I am a senior. These computers are useless. I rather carry all my books on my back then spend time with a netbook. To be honest, I rather kill a few trees than deal with these netbooks. Thankfully I am a senior.
Michelle Sproat • Sep 7, 2011 at 6:08 PM
I don’t like the fact that the sophomores and freshmen didn’t get assignment notebooks at all. As Breana said, we usually get yelled at if our netbooks is out in class anyways. Also, having to take out our computers just to type up every single thing we’re assigned is a hassle and can be easily be replaced by having our handy assignment notebooks to just pull out and write down our homework. It’s unfair that we don’t get the assignment books for free and have to either buy one for $3 or go out and get one on our own.