Right now, in this age we have a great resource of technology. We have Google and we have a bunch of websites that are made to help you help yourself. And you can instead of just acknowledging we have those tools, you also have to use them in your favor, cause if you don’t know something, and you don’t know anyone who knows it, nowadays, that’s not an excuse. Nowadays, you don’t have to spend and hour in a library to find a specific answer, you can just like, go online and find someone who knows it and it takes 5, 10 minutes. And so I really think nowadays, being curious, if you look for it, you can find it. ­– Allan, 19

In this fifith installment of our “Just Listen” series of one-minute video clips, high school students from NYC iSchool and Prospect Hill Academy (Somerville, MA) talk about "anytime, anywhere learning." They applaud the wonders of Google where they can learn "more and more" deep into the night; they marvel at how they learned to play the guitar through online instruction. They also point to after school programs that help them catch up academically, music lessons in the community, a summer job with an adult who takes a special interest in them.In this fifith installment of our “Just Listen” series of one-minute video clips, Often, they're talking about technology, about the wonders of Google where they can learn "more and more," deep into the night or learning how to play the guitar through the computer. Just as often, they point to after school programs, music lessons in the community, a summer job with an adult who takes an interest in them.

We hope you’ll pass the clips on to others through the networks you use, as well as using them to spark thoughtful conversations in your own setting. To view these video clips full screen, click on the icon with four arrows in the lower right corner of the frame. Transcripts appear at the bottom of this page, followed by links to other parts of this video collection.

NOTE: Over 200 of these Just Listen clips appear on the Just Listen channel on YouTube. Look on the right-hand side of the screen for playlists dedicated to specific themes: The Teacher-Student Relationship, Becoming Adult, Just-Right Learning Challenges, and many more. (If you want to get a new playlist by email once a week, click here and our Fires in the Mind blog will make that happen!)

TRANSCRIPTS

Technological resources
Right now, in this age we have a great resource of technology. We have Google and we have a bunch of websites that are made to help you help yourself. And you can instead of just acknowledging we have those tools, you also have to use them in your favor, cause if you don’t know something, and you don’t know anyone who knows it, nowadays, that’s not an excuse. Nowadays, you don’t have to spend and hour in a library to find a specific answer, you can just like, go online and find someone who knows it and it takes 5, 10 minutes. And so I really think nowadays, being curious, if you look for it, you can find it. -- Allan, 19

Classes fly by
Sometimes classes fly by because it’s so interesting, and you’re like, “It’s time to go already?” And you really don’t wanna walk out the classroom because you wanna learn more about it. But I use Google after that, so I learn more and more. -- Amanda, 16

Learning on your own
I like to play guitar a little bit, so I would get into a song, and then I would practice it a couple of times. And then I would just not even look at the guitar and try to finger pick it and I would eventually get it. And I would feel good because like I didn’t have to take the time to take the money and spend on a guitar lesson. Like I actually did it myself like on a computer. Like I taught . . . I actually taught myself how to play it by ear. Like that’s a good feeling. -- Elijah, 17

Rising to the challenge
Last year, I had a lot of challenges coming, since I came halfway through the first quarter. I really didn’t care…I just found it in myself that I already fell into the hole, my life hole and I really couldn’t get out of it. And then towards the end of the year when I was failing all my classes they had this program I think it was called Club 10 – every day after school until 5 o’clock you have to stay after and work. And it was like this big challenge for me because it wasn’t just one class, it was most of my classes, so having to do all that work every day and having to stay after with teachers and redo essays and trying to get myself out of staying back and trying to get out of summer school (even though I went –just for 1 class) so I felt that after that year I felt like I gave it my all and passing most of my classes and flunking just one is like the biggest challenge I overcame and like actually knowing that I was going to get held back and working myself up. -- Carla, 16

Discovering new talents
I started getting into piano because of this school, because they offered the class. And outside of school I decided to take lessons, and I really feel like that is like my calling card. And because I love it so much and this school has really helped me a lot find out what I wanna do with my life. [laughs]. -- Hannah, 16

Summer job
Outside of school I used to work for a program. It was a youth program that hires a lot of youth to work for them. It’s a summer job basically. And it goes on through the school year if you want to go through the school year, but I chose to just do the summer because I had extra-curricular activities and it’s just an amazing job and an amazing experience. It’s mostly about environmental protection and all that stuff. But it just, like you have such a good interaction with your boss, which is also your friend and your co-worker that it just creates a bond that can just help you be a better person and the bond is created so that you can talk to the person when you need their help. They’ll understand you better you know. -- Wilson, 16

Click on the links below to read other monthly JustListen postings.

INTRODUCTION | HOW SCHOOLS HELP KIDS BECOME ADULT | THE TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP | WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEACHER | STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT AND REFLECTION | ANYTIME, ANYWHERE LEARNING

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