By Anna Levi '24
A few months into the 2020-2021 school year, and the first semester is finally over. However, this year certainly has not been a normal one. After the abrupt end of the in-person 2019-2020 school year, all NYC schools began learning remotely; few to no classes took place in school buildings. After the two-month-long summer break, the Department of Education (DOE) decided that school would mainly take place online. Some schools settled on hybrid options: students would go into school a few days a week and take classes online on other days.
The first semester is usually the perfect opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with teachers and peers. This year, students struggled to create bonds and maintain a sense of community through computer screens and two-hour advisory sessions in person once a week). Advisory was an opportunity for students to visit the building, see their classmates and meet some teachers. Unfortunately, towards the end of the first marking period, schools closed again, and all advisory classes switched to online settings.
Socially, this pandemic has taken a toll on us, but what about academically? Many students did not have an easy time adjusting to the online schooling system. Tests, classwork, and various projects had to be worked on during 30-minute long zoom sessions. These short classes allot time for struggling students to receive feedback from their teachers. Some students felt overwhelmed, leading NEST+m to schedule its first asynchronous day on November 23rd. In other words, students did not need to attend Zoom meetings and, instead, worked independently through Google Classroom and completed past-due assignments. To accommodate for the lack of student to teacher contact and discussions, students can attend office hours. During office hours, students can join a link provided by the teachers to ask questions and review notes.
Tests and quizzes are also drastically different this year. There is little to no frantically going over notes with friends or drilling concepts and dates. Most tests involve opening a Google form and answering a series of questions; for many, this is a comfortable and efficient way to take exams, but for others, it is yet another reminder of how the pandemic has altered our lives.
The changes do not end there. The school day starts at 8:30 A.M. and finishes at 12:30 in the afternoon. On a regular day, students will have three morning periods, followed by a 15-minute break. After the break, students have four more classes. After 12:30, students are free to complete homework, study for tests, and engage in extracurricular activities. Teachers assign homework during class, and students usually have until the end of the day to send in their work via Google Classroom.
When asked to reflect on the semester, Era Gjocaj ‘24 said that her teachers were “really supportive and [gave her] tons of motivation when she felt like giving up. Gjocaj encourages students to do some mindfulness or relaxation to calm down when they feel overwhelmed. “I like to go out for walks after class," said Gjocaj. "They help clear my mind.”
“Time management is more important now than I can ever recall, said Ariel Mekonen '23. "Our schedule is more individualized, [and] our assignments are done alone on Google Classroom. Everything is much more difficult to stay on top of because it is all so solitary." Mekonen says that it is much more difficult to socialize with other students over Zooms: “Socializing is so important during normal circumstances, and now it's even more important. The isolation is an unavoidable obstacle of Zoom and this pandemic, but one that I hope we can make it less so.”
Stella Fusaro ‘21 said that “the school's online program was successful in the first semester considering the limited resources they have being virtual.” However, one of the main issues Fusaro mentioned is a lack of motivation in classes, which “makes classes boring, especially because not many people participate.” In Fusaro’s opinion, this can change if teachers make assignments more interactive. Fusaro’s advice to students is to build relationships with teachers and turn cameras on. “This may be difficult to do online but will help in the long run because, after all, teachers are there to support students,” Fusaro says.
We are all still figuring out this virtual format and what works best for our individual needs. Hopefully, we can use what we have learned from our mistakes and improve to make each marking period of the 2020-2021 school year better than the last.
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