The 2016 PSAT has come and gone. What did people think of them?

There was definitely a negative edge in the air after the testing concluded. While some students argued that the PSAT allowed them to gain scholarships and grants, others thought it a waste of time. One argument was that since the sophomore PSAT did not count toward scholarships, they should not be mandatory for all students. However, these PSAT — like the acronym implies — were aimed to be a practice test for the SAT that most colleges require students to take. But why take it so many times? For those sophomores who did the practice given in class before the week of the PSAT, they were essentially taking a practice test for a practice test for a practice test. Understandably, a number of students didn’t like the idea.

The difficulty of the test was up for debate as well. The general consensus was that the calculator-free section in math was the hardest. With a very short time limit, and no aid in calculations, who could blame students for struggling? Despite this, some students had more trouble with other sections; while most students disliked the phrase replacement in the English portion, others struggled with the reading comprehension. In the math section, some even found the calculator problems harder than the calculator-free– but that was not as common.

The value and difficulty of the PSAT was a controversial subject — what side are you on?

By: Kristen Plahn and Chris Acampora

It is a week before the project is due, you’ve gotten all the supplies and are ready to get down to business and suddenly something catches your eye. It could be your phone, the TV, even your laptop. Suddenly the project that was once your main priority has gone to the back of your mind; it’s still there, just causing you a little bit of stress.

Now it’s been a full week of doing anything but that project. You become anxious, wanting t to do anything but that project, yet at the same time you know you have to. So, you pull out all those supplies, the rubric, the instructions, the notes, and then you have a small panic attack, knowing it’ll become another all-nighter like last time. When you finally finish at around three in the morning, giving yourself a measly two hours of down time, you scold yourself with one little word: procrastinator.

Yes, that is what you are (and don’t you deny it): a procrastinator. Maybe someday you’ll learn to just do your work and get everything done ahead of time, but for now, you’ll continue to put things off as long as you can.

Are YOU a Procrastinator? Do you:

1) Leave everything for the night before it is due?

2) Think that instead of looking up information, playing a game would be better?

3) Read a 500 page book and then write a three page essay about it in one night?

4) Get a panic attack just thinking about all the work you need to do?

5) Find that working under pressure helps you achieve your goal quicker?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you, my friend, are a procrastinator!

Wikipedia defines procrastination as “the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. (often accompanied by) the practice of doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, or carrying out less urgent tasks instead of more urgent ones, thus putting off impending tasks to a later time.”

Some people become “pro procrastinators,” where their long history of procrastinating teaches them the skills they need to complete a weeklong project in one night, a monthlong essay in an afternoon, and a 400 page book in a weekend. The biggest aid to procrastination is holidays. Weeklong breaks, Thanksgiving and Halloween are the biggest culprits. Just think, you have to read that book over winter vacation. There’s snow, festivities, and so much to do; reading Charles Dickens suddenly becomes a lot less interesting.

There’s also the type of procrastination where, even on a fun project, you know you’ll have time to do it later. Always later.

Some teachers have found the dagger to stab in the heart of procrastination: check-in dates. It’s the simple solution to procrastination. Some who don’t struggle with procrastination may find these to be a nuisance, but these deadlines can save those of us who otherwise would put off everything until the final due date. We suggest that if your teacher doesn’t give you multiple due dates, create your own. The procrastinator in your mind won’t thank you, but maybe your tired body — weary of yet another all-nighter — will.

Last week was my first experience with a college fair, an event held in the gymnasium where colleges from all over the country (but mostly from New England) set up tables explaining key details of their curriculum. Before going in, I had expected it to be something like an elementary school science fair: trifold presentations littered around seemingly at random. In this aspect, I was gladly wrong. The tables were set up with clear information as to the courses offered, tuition and other important information. The schools were also organized in alphabetical order, with the Army being right near the  door and the Ws at the back of the gym. However this was the only thing about the fair that exceeded my expectations. For such a fairly important event, I had expected an hour dedicated to walking the floor and getting a good chance to speak with the representatives of the colleges. What really happened was a slapdash of running around and collecting pamphlets upon pamphlets upon pamphlets, all within the span of about 10 minutes.

By the start of the next period, my binder was bulging with an excess of stickers and brochures. The representatives seemed to realize that they only had so much time and never stopped to talk about what their school offered. The best experience I had at a single booth was where the representative gave me a list of schools that were better than his for my chosen major (none of which were at the fair).

But, there is still hope. From the sound of it, the seniors and juniors got significantly more time to explore, which makes sense since they will be applying to college before I will. Also, the fair had been going on for a little while and the representatives were probably tired of having to explain why their college is the best choice for everyone. So ultimately it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I can see why and I’m hopeful for next year.

By: Chris Acampora – Featuring Kristen Plahn for team ‘GIF’

This article is best viewed at www.hhsindian.com to see GIFs in their full glory. (But we still love you if you’re reading this in print)

Everyone has seen a GIF. Even if you think you haven’t, you have.

C’mon. You’ve have to admit you’ve seen these before.

The Internet has is very serious with GIFs. Even Google Docs recognizes the GIF. (Although I wouldn’t put one on your next essay for English class).

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It was created almost 30 years ago (seriously, it’s that old) by Steve Wilhite. Its purpose was to achieve “video” but load quickly on the slow Internet speeds of the past. It is accomplished using lossless compression, a technique where file size is shrunk, while still retaining good image quality.

The GIF, though, has been plagued by a raging debate. Is it pronounced ‘gif’ or ‘jif’? The debate over the pronunciation of GIF has ruined lives, marriages and friendships, so it needs to stop. That is why today we have decided to try to put an end to it.

Team Soft G: Chris

Wilhite, while accepting a lifetime achievement award in 2013, told The New York Times how annoyed he was over the pronunciation debate. “The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both definitions. They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,” pronounced ‘jif.”

The guy has a lifetime achievement award. You should respect his creation! A lot of things don’t sound like they are written: pneumonia, aisle, tsunami, xylophone, eight . . . to name a few.

‘Gif’ people are such hypocrites. The most common image file, the .JPEG, stands for Joint Photographic Expert Group.  Since the “ph” in photographic is pronounced like an “F,” then people who say ‘gif’ should say ‘jfeg,’ right? But they don’t.

Team Hard G: Kristen

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. Look closely at the first word: graphics. How is graphics pronounced? With a hard ‘G’. If you need more proof than that, just look at almost all of the one-syllable words that start with the letter ‘G’, like guy, gum, gun, gain, grain, game, gift . . . I could go on. In one poll by The Los Angeles Times, more than 60 percent of people pronounced the word with a hard ‘G’ sound! To understand how GIF came to be pronounced as ‘JIF,’ you can look back to Wilhite saying that the only reason he wanted to pronounce it as ‘JIF’ was because of the peanut butter company! If the company Jif was never created, then GIF would be only pronounced with a hard ‘G’.

Conclusion

The final answer to this debate is up to YOU, the Reader. Will you pick team ‘GIF’ or ‘JIF?’ Use the arguments here, and the further reading listed below, to make your decision. The only way to come to a world-wide decision and finally settle the issue is to get people passionate about your side. What is written here doesn’t matter if YOU, the Reader, don’t pick side. So go ahead. Make a choice. . . Tell us your answer in the comments.

Sources & Further Reading

• GIF – Wikipedia
• JPEG -Wikipedia
• GIF Creator Quote
• www.howtoreallypronouncegif.com
• GIF – Definition
• Hard and Soft G – Wikipedia
• History of the GIF
• Los Angeles Times Poll

It’s a dreaded part of the school curriculum. It’s long, arduous, repetitive, and you just want it to be over with. No, I’m not talking about standardized testing (I’m saving that for another day), I’m talking about homework. If you’ve watched the news recently, you’ve probably seen stories about Cherry Park Elementary in Oregon. The principal has joined a handful of others across the country in banning homework. While this isn’t the most relevant school to acknowledge, it is the most recent. It also shows that the number of schools dumping homework is increasing, although most of these schools are elementary schools. There has also been research done that shows that there are many benefits of having a regular homework schedule aside from reinforcing learning. To try to sort through the issue, I have interviewed parents, teachers, and students on how they view homework and read the latest research. 

Go:

In 2007, a group of researchers conducted the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This study involved interviewing students from 59 countries worldwide about their academic experience. The study showed that US students are right in the middle of the 59 countries studied. But the most interesting result was that some of the highest scoring countries on the TIMSS’ math exam – Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan – were shown having ‘heavy workloads’ below the international mean. This trend was common with most countries studied; there was no correlation between high scores and extreme homework. Excessive homework was commonly seen in countries with lower income and higher inequality. There have also been links found between excessive homework and sleep deprivation and a negative attitude toward academic achievement. Policies that completely eliminate homework have also been cited as problematic, and are almost universally disparaged. However the main takeaway from all of this research is that homework has no conclusive effect on grades and learning.

Stay:

While homework has no conclusive benefits on grades, there is evidence that it is beneficial in other ways. One of the most influential effects it has is that it teaches work and time management skills to younger children. It also lets children learn which way they study best and how to become independent. Homework itself is split into two smaller subcategories, instructional and noninstructional. Instructional homework is standard rinse and repeat, practice-practice-practice work that primarily reinforces what students are learning in the classroom. The other type of homework, noninstructional,  is assigned for interaction between students and parents, or students and their classmates. This type of homework has been tested far less, but has been shown to very effectively allow students to socialize with others in order to complete a task, thus building teamwork and other character-building traits.

The Verdict:

All in all, this is a very tough question to answer just yet. There hasn’t been conclusive research done recently enough to make a call and what research has been done has been focused on younger grades where students are beginning to develop and need the extra practice. High school is a much different story about much different people who are very much different in their own ways. The best answer anyone can give right now is that homework should be treated on a case-by-case basis. Students who aren’t being challenged don’t need more homework, they need time (and motivation) to challenge themselves. Students who are being challenged don’t need the extra stress of daily assignments. But the average U.S. student should be able to handle the current level of homework assigned in this country. Until grades start dropping like flies and the main culprit is Undesirable #1, there’s nothing we can do but accept that homework will be homework.

Works Cited

1. LeTendre, Gerald K. “Homework Could Have an Effect on Kids’ Health. Should Schools Ban It?” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2 Sept. 2015. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.
2. Pawlowski, A. “How a “no-homework” Policy Is Working for These Schools.”TODAY.com. TODAY, 08 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.
3. “What Research Says about the Value of Homework: Research Review.” What Research Says about the Value of Homework: Research Review. Center for Public Education, 5 Feb. 2007. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

Living in the midst of the era of social media can lead to a pretty narrow exploration of the World Wide Web. As teenagers, we seem to devote all of our time online to just a few social media sites. But there are so many helpful and interesting websites to explore even if they do not come in app form. I think that it would be interesting to share some of the websites that I have found to be particularly great, whether they involve personal interest or relaxation, forgotten appointments or forgotten songs, or becoming fit while having fun. Perhaps we can make positive use of the Internet in an even more expansive way.

StumbleUpon

Have you ever wished to find new inspiration or explore your interests? This discovery engine is your chance. StumbleUpon links users with websites relevant to their specified interests—whether sunsets, neoclassical architecture styles or any other branch of life. By using this site, you will be able to interact with what makes you tick and then continuously grow those interests. Stumble away!

Calm.com

There is no need to travel to the Caribbean or pull out a yoga DVD when you have access to this site. In a world that is often hectic and disconnected, Calm.com offers a visual and auditory escape to a place of mindful relaxation and meditation. Take a break from your stress and your studies to center yourself in a peaceful, clear state of mind. With audio-guided or self-guided mediation, you will leave this website with an understanding of why it is called Calm.com.

Any.do

Go to this site and watch your life (literally) fall in to place! Any.do’s organization grid allows you to chart in your agenda for “Today,” “Tomorrow,” “Upcoming” and “Someday.” What is more, the online website allows for a full view of your tasks so that stress can slowly ease away.

Forgotify

If you are looking to acquire a unique, undiscovered music taste, Forgotify will provide you with just that. While Spotify offers more than 20 million songs, this site offers about 5 million that have never been heard. Broaden your taste and your music sensibility by giving some of these hidden songs a listen.

Fitocracy

If you are a competitive person, getting healthier will become easier and likely much more fun with this website. Fitocracy allows you to unlock goals, compete with other members, and go on health “quests” to ramp up your health, all with access to an online coach and team. This website allows fitness to become a team sport!

Hopefully, at least one of these sites is appealing and will become a new bookmark in your browser. And maybe there is even a chance that you will be happier, healthier, and relaxed for it.