Plenty of teachers frequently complain that North Atlanta students are incessantly checking their phones. Hey teacher! We’re not always on social media checking the hottest story on Snapchat or the latest post on Instagram. Consider this: We might just be checking the grades that you just posted on Infinite Campus.

As everyone knows, Infinite Campus is an online portal where teachers input grades so students and parents can view them. It can be accessed online or through a mobile app, and it’s that mobile app that proves to be so popular – even addictive – among students.

Infinite Campus is a huge help to students when it comes to managing their grades, especially since progress reports only come out once every quarter. One of the main reasons Infinite Campus is such a huge help to students is because the mobile app sends notifications to you when teachers input grades. “The notifications help me manage my grades better,” said junior Lesley Laws. “I sometimes forget to check the website and I lose track of how I am doing in school.”

It might surprise teachers to know that a significant percentage of students are checking their grades on a daily basis. So it’s not just cat videos, okay?! “I live on Infinite Campus. I check my grades multiple times a day,” said junior Presley Brafford.

The anticipation of a teacher putting in a grade can be very exciting for some or very stressful. “Whenever a teacher puts in a new grade, it makes me very anxious but when I do well it’s a really good feeling,” said junior Roya Register.

The real-time updates are fun – and informative – for students. But they also can bring students real-time domestic woes. Hell hath no fury like a vigilant parent who checks on the Parent Portal religiously. At the first sign of a failing grade come real consequences in the home. “I’ve had my mom tell me that if I make any grade lower than a 70, there has to be an immediate trip to tutoring,” said senior Lauren Parkerson. “When I was a freshman, my mom was a total Parent Portal stalker.”

The constant stream of updates creates all sort of interesting exclamations during the school day. “Woo hoo! I just made a 98 on my algebra test!” “Uh oh: I just bombed my physics test.” “Are you kidding me! You scored higher than I did on that essay?!” The discussions are as endless as the stream of grades keep coming in.

So teachers, the next time you catch us on our phones, maybe we’re not on Facebook. Maybe we’re checking on that grade you just posted on Infinite Campus – and we’re wondering why you didn’t curb that test.