Starting a few weeks ago, we asked you and other students to tell us what needs to change in your schools, and we've been overwhelmed by the response.

Already, more than 500 of you have told us how you need better teachers, more textbooks and roofs that don't leak. You've said that your school's computers are out of date, the cafeteria food is awful and you can't get the help you need with your classes.

Don't worry—we didn't ask you to tell your story just to make our website look pretty. We're listening. In the middle of December, we'll take the top stories to the Governor and other key decision-makers to show them that young people do care about getting a quality education and deserve to be involved in the process. Will you help lead this movement? The authors of the five most compelling stories will get fancy new laptops and a chance to tell their stories in person to policymakers.

See how your story has been rated so far at www.RightToLearnCA.org. The higher your rating and the more ratings you get, the more likely it is you'll be selected to represent the youth of California when we go to Sacramento.

Thanks for participating in Right To Learn!

What is school like for you? Good? Bad? Boring? - Tell your story at www.RightToLearnCA.org

YouthNoise introduces Right To Learn, a campaign that asks you to share your stories about the good, the bad, and even the ugly experiences you've had in school. Many politicians are working toward education reform in California, but none of them know what your school is really like. We're collecting stories so we can figure out what's working and what needs to be fixed in our schools.

Stories lead to solutions. Solutions lead to change. Together we can make education in California change for the better.

Straight Up Facts:


Students retain 70 % of the first 10 minutes of a lecture…and only 20 % of the last 10 minutes. That means you gotta read this in 10 minutes. Ready, GO.


Lecturing appeals primarily to auditory learners and assumes that all students have similar learning styles and identical informational needs.
Not all students are created equal. Let your teacher know if lecturing doesn't work for you.


Words accompanied by visuals are three times more effective than words alone.
A picture is worth more than 1,000 words indeed. Ask for images during the next lecture.


The brain cannot retain information without "saving" or processing it by actively linking new concepts to existing knowledge. It works just like your Macbook!


Instructors who expand their repertoire stand a better chance of reaching all of their students. Duh.

Most learning occurs outside the classroom.
That's the best news you've read all day.

Every student takes a different amount of time to learn something new.
Lurn-ing takes a looooooong time for some pee-pol.

The range of the learners' abilities from low to high that can be present in any given classroom makes providing learning opportunities to all students difficult and in some cases simply not possible to do.
DIY: Get a tutor, make flashcards, play games, and you can always cheat-umm, kidding!


Helping students to unlearn patterns, behaviors, and ideas is more difficult than teaching students new concepts.
So, 2+2 DOES NOT = 5!


Students now live in a media based culture and it is difficult to offer students a visual learning experience that competes with what they are use to.
Such as reading amazing fact sheets online.


Learning Resources:

http://www.tutorvista.com/
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
http://www.adec.edu/online-resources.html
http://free.ed.gov/

California Learning Resources:

http://www.tutoring911.com/
http://www.california.topnotchtutoring.com/
http://free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=140&res_feature_request=1
http://schooltree.org/resources/CA-Tutoring.html
http://www.cdlib.org/

Sources:

http://citea.org/images/resources/Facts_about_academic_success_dropout_rates_and_CTE.pdf
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/
http://www.tag.ubc.ca/resources/tapestry/archive/98/repertoire.html

Yeah, you may like some of your teachers. Maybe one taught you how to write an awesome essay. Or
another finally got you to hate math just a little less. But do you really know what it takes to teach?

Today's Teachers…

Spend an average of $443 per year of THEIR OWN money to meet the
needs of their students. That's money they could be using for better
clothes and haircuts so they don't look like this guy, Mr. Honda.

Make an average starting salary of $31,704 per year. YA can barely buy a car
With that salary. Why do you think some seem a tad bit bitter? Eh?

Enter the teaching profession to help shape the next generation.
3 out of 4 enter teaching because of their desire to work with young people.
7 out of 10 say that's why they stay in the profession. (Cuz it sure as hell ain't the money!)

Have lots of experience.
About 1/3 have 20 or more years of classroom experience. 20 years in the classroom, getting paid just enough to get by, is tough. You might loose your mind! And, buy lots of cats.

Often quit because of poor working conditions and low salaries.
20% say unsatisfactory working conditions keep them from staying at their jobs.
37 % say low pay is their decision to quit teaching.


Quit and retire early. More than 3.9 million new teachers will be needed nationwide by 2014 because of decrease in teacher availability and increased student enrollment.
About 50 percent of newcomers leave the profession during the first 5 years.
The greatest shortages of teachers are in bilingual and special education, mathematics, science, computer science, English as a second language and foreign languages.

Today's Teachers… Make little money and make great change.

So, you know the facts. Next time you're in class, learning, thinking, criticizing, wondering, questioning, writing, imagining, think about who makes you do so.