When I was going to school, I would look forward to this time of year. Taking a break from classes and trying to fit sleeping into my schedule. Also at this time, I remember myself slacking in the organization department. I would start the school year off with a place for everything and everything in its place. Then, subjects would find themselves mashed in the same binder, becoming a stew of knowledge. Of course by exam time, everything would have to be dissected, as I would find notes and To Dos I had long forgotten about. I didn't have a BlackBerry way back when, if I did, I would also know of an application that would be my study buddy.

Class, please say hello to StudentDocket. Formerly known as StudentBerry, StudentDocket prides itself upon being a task managing application designed with the student in mind. This teacher's pet will help you keep track of assignment due dates, class schedules, teacher information and more.

"Student Life is Hard. We can Help."

Whoa look at the time! We'd better get a move on before we're late again...

Turn to page 394...

StudentDocket can be run on OS 4.1 through to 4.6 (recently adding Bold Support). It's brought to you by the folks at TGQE LLC, which was founded just under a year ago. StudentDocket will move into your locker (BlackBerry), taking up 139.3KB.

The main menu is comprised of two sections; the icon menu and the view screen. At the top, you will see a row of icons. The bottom section provides information found within the highlighted icon.

the main menu

New Task - used for simple assignments, or assignments that require a single step before being completed (math homework, test, read this chapter, etc). Mark the class its due for, the due date, status, etc.

New Project - Used for more complex assignments. Requiring multiple steps before it's finished. For example - a paper may require turning in a rough draft, research notes and so forth. While you can see the project's due date, you can also view the next task due for that project. The application includes a progress bar to give you a visual depiction of how complete the project is.

To keep you from falling behind, StudentDocket colour codes your projects and tasks. Those that are past due (tsk tsk) are highlighted in red, while those due today (hurry up!) will be highlighted in blue. The projects and tasks can also be viewed by class, day, week, "x" number of days, or month.

New Class - The best part of a new semester is learning where all of your classes are. With this feature, you can keep track of class locations, their start times and the Teacher. Within New Class, you can record the Teacher's name, office location, schedule, email address and contact number. A lot has changed since my day - there's no way my teachers would give me their number or email address.

create a new task, like "Wash Gym socks"

create classes to manage, keep track of your teachers

At first, I found inputting all of this information a little tedious. Like any good BlackBerry application, it didn't take long until that feeling disappeared. If I was a student, I could see myself reaping the benefits of being this organized. The remaining icons give you various views to choose from. The first three give you a view of what's due today, this week or this month. The Back icon shows you what was due yesterday, last week and last month. The Next icon gives you a peek at, you guessed it, tomorrow, next week or next month.

The application makes use of keyboard shortcuts as well. That way, you're not busted playing with your BlackBerry in class. Here's a list of the available shortcuts;

Hot Keys!

Once having the information entered, the application was extremely easy to navigate. Pair the trackball with the hot keys, and I was able to zip around all of the features with ease.

My two favorite days were the last day of first semester and the last day of school. The joy of cleaning out your locker (and airing out old lunches or your gym clothes) or dumping your desks, provided a sense of relief. StudentDocket carries that feeling onto your BlackBerry. Once you have completed a semester or school year, highlight a class and select delete. The class, along with its task/projects, is dumped and forgotten.

create new task/projects/classes and view them in various ways

Last day of School!!

As long as you are a diligent, responsible student, StudentDocket will help you all the way to graduation. The application provides a one stop shop for managing projects, homework - almost everything to help you stay on your Teacher's good side. You may be a bit overwhelmed while getting your feet wet, but you will soon become a StudentDocket master. So, while your peers are scribbling down notes in their margins, you can type away on your BlackBerry. Seeing your project progress in the application, may give you a sense of accomplishment. My only gripe is why I didn't have this when I was in school?!? StudentDocket is available at the CrackBerry Store for $19.95

Remember Cram ? Well it seems as though they have partnered up with StudentDocket to offer a Student Starter Pack. For a limited time, get StudentDocket and Cram together for only $30!! Head over to www.studentstarterpack.com

Hmm, it looks like I have Football practice and Band scheduled for the same time - decisions decisions.