Adjusting to online learning this school-year has been very stressful for everyone. Two students have shared their coping strategies and opinions on what is to come, and even these two show some of the varying responses to the online challenge.

For keeping track of work, Zach W., a Longfellow student, writes his assignments down in a notebook, and Haley O., who attends a different middle school, uses her computer. Haley uses an app that helps her remember when she needs to turn them in.

One common complaint among students is the early lunch break. Zach said that he doesn’t eat lunch until the end of the day and instead just eats a snack at the allotted time. But Hayley eats a full lunch during the break, with a snack after school.

When asked whether they would want to go back to school or stay online, I was surprised by their answers. Zach said that if he did go back now, it would be as confusing as online learning because he would feel weird back at school. Hayley, on the other hand, would very much like to go back, though she did admit that the first few days would be an adjustment.

Online learning brings a lot of typed assignments with very few handouts. Zach is much faster at typing and feels it is easier to make corrections on a computer. Though not opposed to typing, Hayley wants to do more things by hand because she feels like she’s not learning as much when everything is typed.

When asked to focus on the bright side of online learning, they both said they enjoyed things like using the bathroom whenever they want and being able to eat during class. Though not excited about sitting in one place for hours of classes, Zach said the bright side is that he can sit anywhere he wants as long as he can pay attention.

While getting up early isn’t really a change for the middle school schedule, they both weighed in on the school hours. Zach is used to getting up early, so it isn’t a problem for him.  Hayley likes to sleep in a bit more, so she’s not too happy about getting up early, but feels it is ok because then she can get out of school earlier.

With only two students interviewed, the differences are pretty remarkable.  It just goes to show that each student is having a unique experience of online learning.