97 minutes has never felt so long. Login. Take notes, (Awkward) breakout room. Classwork. Repeat. Over, and over, and over again.
When we found out we were going to be switching from hybrid back into remote learning, we were disappointed. Being able to go to school and see the friendly faces we missed so much over the spring and summer was so refreshing.
Yet, we find ourselves sitting behind a screen every day yet again, dreaming of being back in the LHS building.
Last year, remote was more of a “on your own time” style. You’d get a few assignments in each class each week, maybe a Zoom call here and there. Overall, it wasn’t ideal, but it was manageable.
However, this style of remote learning seems to be taking longer for us to adjust to.
This year, the format is completely different, and it just doesn’t feel right. The days feel longer, and classes feel more difficult. Trying to adapt to this new style of remote learning seems to be taking longer than we expected.
A huge change to remote this time around was Google Meeting into each class. With a new block schedule of four periods instead of a standard eight-period day.
The purpose of the longer classes was so the majority of the assigned work for the class could be done in the time frame given. This would mean classes weren’t just all lecturing, but also included independent work time.
However, it seems that sometimes the work designated for the period is too much. Most teachers do a combination of some lecturing and some assignments, which is nice because it provides a bit of variety. Regardless, having to sit in front of the computer for 97 minutes is just downright terrible.
This means you don’t really have enough time to actually complete your “classwork” during your period. There is simply not enough time in a class to teach a lesson, have time for questions or discussion, and complete classwork/homework all under two hours.
Perhaps allowing more independent work time or cutting down assignments would allow more time for lessons. This way, teachers can have ample time to teach, and students have ample time to complete assignments.
Having enough time to complete work is so important considering most teachers still assign the classwork that was going to be given that day. That means students are expected to complete assignments on their own time, turning it into homework.
Although it is understandable that occasionally classwork might take longer than the time given, teachers should be giving ample time to work on independent assignments.
With that being said, teachers aren’t entirely to blame for this. They are learning to adjust to everything too, just like students are. This is a whole new way of teaching, so they are getting used to pacing the class and workload. Hopefully, as we all try to settle into this remote learning format, more lessons will have a better ratio of classwork and lecturing. I imagine it’s difficult for them to have time to stretch, eat, and go to the bathroom, too!
Not only is it sometimes a struggle to stay caught up in class, it also isn’t always easy to stay motivated. Some students have 4 classes back-to-back, barely allowing any time to use the bathroom or grab a quick snack
When you are still doing work your entire day, sometimes being able to take a quick walk or get up and stretch is very much needed. When we were in school we were able to walk from class to class, socialize with friends, ect. Yet now, the chance to take a step back from working for a moment isn’t always available.
However, the LHS Administration is listening to Lancers. By using feedback from Competency Coaches and the teaching staff, administrators are trying to improve the remote learning system as best as they can.
For instance, after a large piece of feedback being about the longer classes with fewer breaks, a new schedule was introduced. Now, students have classes that are a few minutes shorter, but also have a mid-morning break from 10:43-11:11.
“We understand that things are still not ideal, but we want to make the best of the situation,” principal Jason Parent said. “We are always wanting to hear feedback from you guys, as well as our teachers.”
Although this version of remote seems to be taking forever to get the hang of, Lancer Nation is strong enough to preserve and hopefully make it to a day where we can all be in the building together.
