What is/was your school like?

[SpaceXray]

Tell us about your current or past school that you graduated from! I am sure we are all interested in the difference between each one.

You can also include the location of your school and anything related to it, just keep it in one post. I'll start.

Little about me and the surrounding environment:

I am currently in high school. This is now my 4th school since my very first one (International school) which was in Kiev, Ukraine. It is where I learned English as my second language at the age of 7. Now I am in the top school in my country, Latvia. I passed the maths-oriented entrance exam in spring with a score of 81/85 and also managed to get into the prestigious International Baccalaureate class.

There is only one in the whole school, and there are only 2 other schools which have IB(one is a gymnasium just like this one and the other is an international school too). I forgot to mention, my school is Riga 1st Gymnasium(1st for a reason).

By now I've been here for 5 months, and I have to say I enjoy it a lot more than I did my previous one. Note my native language is Russian, and in Latvia there are schools for Russian-speakers and native-speaking Latvians. In most cases Russian speakers stay in their respective schools. My Latvian knowledge is sufficient, but of course not on par with native speakers, so it was a bit hard for me in the beginning, but my classmates were understanding and always help me if I forget a word(which is rare, but still) or get my grammar wrong.

About the school:

Lessons start at 8:20. Each student goes down into the vast underground section which includes the lockers for a thousand students(only 1 in 30 schools have lockers). each lesson is 40 min, with 10 min breaks in between. The bell is speaker-based(plays Big Ben melody).

A lot of classes have interactive boards(a touch-screen whiteboard with a projector, combined produces touchscreen). The library is very efficient. Each library book has a bar-code, so getting and handing in a book is a very fast process.

Each student receives a login to the school network. We can access the school server using SFTP or a local terminal(such as the computer center). Additionally, we get a free e-mail and access to the "skapis", meaning you can check which books you took from the library since all the data is stored on the server.

At 11:30, for grades 10-11 it is lunchtime which is 35 min. We can go to the school cafeteria, the school buffet(snacks, drinks, and big tables for doing work/chatting/playing poker) or go outside. There is a number of cafe's, a McDonald's, a Subway and a few other all in a 200m range. Sometimes, if we can get out early, we order a pizza at a pizza parlor and walk there for 10min and each get a huge slice.

At 15:15 lessons usually end(after the 8th lesson) and we are free.

Location:

The school is in the center of the city, 10 min on foot from my apartment. In front there is a nice park with a stream which freezes in the winter, but has boats on it when it is warm. In the spring/fall I go and sit by the water. If there is the unlikely event that I forgot something at home, I can easily walk there and grab it

My class:

The class is full of incredibly smart kids, all unique and ages 15-17. Apparently, Latvians are quite friendly and more sociable than my former classmates. I've already been to a few parties(never been to a real one in the past 6 years), and the atmosphere is always very relaxed and friendly. One girl has a huge, 5-story house with a pool and a sauna, so we often meet there. They never make you drink or smoke(those who do), they'll ask if you want to but they'll never force you. We all speak in different languages all the time. One moment I might be speaking with one of the Russians in my class, the next thing I know we are speaking lLatvian then a few others join and we start speaking in English. Then someone from the german group starts joking around in German, so I have to switch to German...oh boy

Our class also has a talisman(a plush Alpaca). Those who go abroad take it with them and send us pictures. So far it has already been to India.

Some unique things about the school:

There are always a lot of different events for students

Cards and poker is allowed, and it is very popular

Students can use any technology during lessons

Students can keep drinks from cafe's and other places on their desk during 90% of lessons

Teachers always try to avoid monotonous work by

always giving different types of tasks and trying to make us work in groups more often.

This makes us learn to talk to each other, and we can each teach others and memorize the material ourselves better.

I joined the debate club(English ver.) and I absolutely love it. I've already been to a national competition and we got a fair 9th place(doubt I could survive through the final and semi-final).

So far I am enjoying my school. It is a lot more challenging, yes, but in it I fell like it just above my level and I can talk to people who think just like me. Here is the website: rv1g.edu.lv (you can switch it to English)

Alpaca

Little trip back in fall 2014

Edited January 16, 2015 by SpaceXray

[Claw]

Please remember to be careful about posting personal information, and be mindful of our forum rules regarding age where appropriate.

Cheers,

~Claw

[SpaceXray]

Please remember to be careful about posting personal information, and be mindful of our forum rules regarding age where appropriate.

Cheers,

~Claw

Dont worry, I didn't provide anything you can track me by.

[Yukon0009]

Latvians sound like really nice people!

[LordFerret]

School? Wow... I think that was... what?... 100 years ago now? lol

[Flymetothemun]

School? Wow... I think that was... what?... 100 years ago now? lol

Heh, I bet that you still dream of visiting all 13 states!

[LordFerret]

Heh, I bet that you still dream of visiting all 13 states!

Let me put it this way: A computer just about filled a whole room.

Seriously though, when I graduated high school the PC didn't exist. The computer(s) I used were the likes of PDP's and the HP-1000 (CPU shown below)...

[Thomas988]

In my school district all us high-schoolers are issued free Chromebooks, with limitations of course. They're okay, but for the most part have caused a lot more harm than good, such as the "shady" kids blasting explicit rapping music in the halls and using them as an excuse to do nothing in class. Whatever happened to paper, pencils, and books?

[SpaceXray]

In my school district all us high-schoolers are issued free Chromebooks, with limitations of course. They're okay, but for the most part have caused a lot more harm than good, such as the "shady" kids blasting explicit rapping music in the halls and using them as an excuse to do nothing in class. Whatever happened to paper, pencils, and books?

Who the hell came up with that kind of decision? I would've understood if everyone used them for studying(their intended purpose) and the teacher could create interactive tasks using them, but why even hand them out when not even in use for educational means?

Why not store a bunch in every class and hand them out when they are required?

Kind of feels like the kids who use them like that don't deserve them. In our school we have some very smart kids who come from poor families, so poor they can't afford to even go to the canteen or cafeteria every day, not even talking about owning something as simple as an iPad.

They are the ones who deserve at least a Chromebook for their effort, not some spoilt lazy kids who use them as improvised MP3 players do distract themselves further from learning.

Kind of ironic-what was meant to be used for education created more procrastination

[Thomas988]

Who the hell came up with that kind of decision? I would've understood if everyone used them for studying(their intended purpose) and the teacher could create interactive tasks using them, but why even hand them out when not even in use for educational means?

Why not store a bunch in every class and hand them out when they are required?

Kind of feels like the kids who use them like that don't deserve them. In our school we have some very smart kids who come from poor families, so poor they can't afford to even go to the canteen or cafeteria every day, not even talking about owning something as simple as an iPad.

They are the ones who deserve at least a Chromebook for their effort, not some spoilt lazy kids who use them as improvised MP3 players do distract themselves further from learning.

Kind of ironic-what was meant to be used for education created more procrastination

I couldn't summarize it any more perfectly, and it seems you have more intelligent logic than my entire school district. Even in the classes where we do use the Chromebooks a lot, we only have to get them out a couple times a week and for maybe fifteen minutes at most. Some classes, such as my civics and math class, don't even use them at all!

I knew my school district was full of whackjobs when my old elementary school, when I was there, got a huge grant form the state. Rather than hiring new staff, improving the infrastructure or even boosting salaries, they blew all the money on a fancy light-up sign. Then the princible there just became a full-out idiot and was even arrest for...things (yeah, not going to say).

Not convinced at how idiotic my district is? There's even Chromebooks for elementary kids! My younger sister is at my old elementary school, and apparently they have Chromebooks that they can borrow. I love technology, but this screams in the face of what I believe in. This is a time for younger kids to develop social skills, to build their verbal vocabulary, and to learn important life management skills. Computers are making this important phase for everyone, including myself, way too easy, and the difficulties of life are going to hit us like a train.

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Well, I went to three different schools in high school. Last one was for adults, at night, good because it allowed you to have a day job, which most of us had. Also, being your own guardian, you can sign you off the school whenever you wanted! Not me because I was 16... but I had a friend that could do that for me.

As it was an adults school, we didn't have much of anything. Sciences, math, or anything else really were at the minimum possible, given that you don't have much time for homework, you have an actual job and family outside school.

As you can imagine, when I graduated and went to college (computer sciences) I was at a complete lost. Integrals? What the hell is that?!

Talking about computers... I remember we had them, don't remember what exactly, but it was the late '90s, so... I guess Pentium II, Win98, MS Word and Excel pretty sure... Yeah, I recall using Encarta for a Physics project in 3rd year. Encarta my god....