As per my experience this spring school season with distance learning due to covid-19, I have made conclusions as to which methods are the best and efficient, and which were just not so great.

Let’s just say learning at home is difficult. With all the distractions, chores, daily adjusted schedules, and various responsibilities around the house while my parents are at work, it has become clearer and clearer that it is impossible to continue learning online; however, for the sake of the safety of my classmates and teachers, I think it is the best solution to our situation for now.

In agreement with my classmate, Allison Nguyen’s strongly-argued opinion, “With the class sizes I have experienced at FV, I do not see how we can social distance. 80% of infections are mild or asymptomatic, meaning people could have the virus and not know because they aren’t showing any symptoms. The only proper way is testing but it would be impossible to test everybody and get the results back in the amount of time needed. Classes would need to be cleaned daily to prevent more people becoming infected. I do not foresee everyone at school wearing masks. People become antsy and may take them off in areas in which teachers are not nearby to say anything. Also the boys bathroom doesn’t have soap dispensers, and washing hands is the most effective way to prevent this virus. Although being online is not ideal, I feel it is the safest way for us to learn.”

I found Allison’s opinion to be agreeable and reasonable because there is no way on earth that we can test all students for covid-19 and segregate the diseased and the not diseased.

Given the four choices, I found that the option regarding 1/4 of the class attends school, while 3/4 stays home would be the most efficient because it is fairer since everyone has the opportunity to attend school and stay safe at home. Rotating, meaning attending school once a week is the safest for everyone, including our teachers, because we do not interact with as much people. Additionally, I believe that not only does online learning grant us the opportunity to absorb the material deeper but it also allows us to make our schedule more flexible because all assignments have a due date and we can always move things around. Furthermore, I feel like a smaller class population will allow for deeper understanding because we can ask questions and learn to the best of our abilities without the distractions of the remaining class populations around us.

In strong agreement with my classmate, Shane Hill, “Zoom videos were just overall terrible, it was a gathering of 70+ kids that didn’t listen to a word the teacher was saying. For me, I found the zoom videos as waste of time and realized teaching myself concepts that I barely understood worked better. Loom videos are a little better, but still I can’t stay focused when I am in the environment of my own home and trying to listen to a teacher.”

I think that Shane’s proposition of a mix of online and on-campus attendance is very reasonable because not everyone is forced to attend school if they do not feel comfortable or safe with it. Since the disease is most likely to be roaming around our environments throughout the years, this may be the best option because students have the ability to choose what they think is best for their health.

This image is a remake of A$AP Rocky’s TESTING album. I love his music and I think you should go listen to his music ASAP!! Stay safe ❤