I used to be an idiot high school kid too, so let me see if I can help you out a bit. Both Ron and PJ034 posted absurdly biased definitions that will do you little good. As a libertarian-leaning independent who dislikes both major parties, I will do my best to present an impartial view of political philosophies.
There are two major political parties; the democrats and the republicans. Their names are taken from greek and latin terms for government ruled by people. The democrats consider themselves to be the "party of the people" while the republicans are the "party of freedom," Pick your poison.
Conservatives generally vote republican and liberals generally vote democrat. There is a big difference, however, between a conservative and a republican. A republican is a member of a party. A conservative believes in certain things. Arlen Spector is a republican senator, but certainly not a conservative.
And so what is a liberal or a conservative? These terms have lost much of their meaning because of overuse. In fact the terms used to mean the exact opposite of what they mean today. A liberal used to be an advocate of personal freedom and limited government, while a conservative wanted totalitarian government and monarchy. The modern definitions are basically thus; a liberal is generally pro-individual freedom outside of the range of what they consider 'economic' decisions, for example they are for legalizing drug use, gay-marriage, abortion, etc. With matters of economics such as healthcare, businesses, wages, unions, education, and so on, they believe the government should intervene to level the playing field and make things 'fair' for everyone.
Conservatives on the other hand, are socially less progressive. Because of tradition or religious beliefs, they are often pro-life, against gay-marriage, and against drug-usage. On economic issues, they are usually against government regulation and instead would prefer privatization to varying degrees in the field of education, healthcare, and so on. Conservatives lean right-wing on economic matters, while liberals lean left-wing, however there are socially conservative liberals and progressive right-wingers.
Next we should define left-wing and right-wing. These are essentially economic terms. Left-wingers believe the government should be large and have a great deal of control over people's lives and economic decisions, for example healthcare, public schools, etc. Right-wingers believe the free market works better than a large government. Left-wingers advocate socialism to varying degrees, while right-wingers advocate capitalism.
One other group I should mention would be the libertarians. Libertarians, or 'classical liberals' believe in the original ideas of our government and constitution. They are economically absolutely right-wing, but socially progressive. They usually are against having the federal government control abortion, marriage rights, welfare spending, or prohibit drug use. They want schooling and healthcare totally privatized, along with virtually all other industries except the military.
To see where you stand, I recommend
http://www.politicalcompass.org/. Just answer the questions honestly and you should get a good idea of what philosophy fits you. Also, be open to changing your mind as you become educated. I started off as a hardcore liberal/socialist, and after I got older and did some reading, I became almost completely libertarian.
Speaking of reading, here are some books for the various ideologies;
Liberal/Left-wing:
Reason by Robert Reich
The Great Unraveling by Paul Krugman
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx (the extreme left)
The Chomsky Reader (Noam Chomsky, a committed socialist)
Conservative/Right-wing:
The Official Handbook of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy by Mark Smith
Letters to a Young Conservative by Dinesh D'Souza (also The End of Racism by him is really good)
The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh
Libertarian/Capitalist:
Free to Choose by Milton Friedman
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand (her fiction is also pretty interesting. Check out The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged)
The Constitution of Liberty by F.A. Hayek
More Liberty Means Less Government: Our Founders Knew This Well by Walter Williams
For more sources, check out my website and blog at
http://www.contrarian-thinking.com or send me an e-mail at
therenegadeoffunk@gmail.com
Good luck, homie.