Over the course of online learning there have been many changes that we all had to make, and there have been many things we had to adapt, like trying to figure out how to use different technologies and logging onto class every day, and now that it feels like we are finally starting to get used to the things are, boom, here is this new idea of going to schools on Fridays. On November 6 students were required to go back to school on Fridays on a new C day schedule where students will have to meet with all eight of their teachers instead of our normal, standard office hours where students and teachers could easily set up a meeting at a specific time and be provided with some extra help but it was one on one time.
Students already have enough pressure put on our shoulders. Now we must also adapt to things like waking up early on Fridays and going to every class in one day. This change makes school even more stressful because a lot of us relied on those office hours for one on one time with the teacher so we could get extra help with work, and it allowed us to have our own pace.
I interviewed several students and teachers who felt that having a new C day schedule would provide many difficulties.
“Virtual Learning can not be compared to online school,” junior Natalie Young said. “Students and teachers are staying in one place for the majority of the day, with limited breaks, limited personal social interaction, and extended screen time. All of these combined will cause students to feel more pressure from school and have less motivation. Teachers will not be able to focus on helping students succeed if they are only focused on grades and attendance “
Another student that I interviewed felt that this new C day schedule would not benefit us at all, they felt that it then would only cause more stress and confusion when it comes to online learning.
“How would it at all benefit us?“ junior Jessica Price said. “It would only add more stress, due to the fact that we have another day of school and have to wake up early in the morning to check-in, which in my opinion is just time-consuming, especially when you could be doing other things like work, or sometimes that’s when students have to work “
Lastly, I interviewed a senior because with this being their last year and they’re getting ready to go off to college, and I believe that though this is their last year it will still affect them mentally because they aren’t gone yet and I this new idea could still affect them.
“It messes with my sleeping schedule for work, sleep, home-life and personal time”, senior Haile Emerson said, “ adding an extra day to a week and then cramming all classes into a confusing schedule, … it’s a lot”
Staff members also feel that this new C day schedule is just too much to take on for students.
“I worry that this will increase their anxiety about school tenfold,” high school English teacher Valerie Schroll said. “We were just getting into a ‘groove’ of kids regularly logging on, learning tech, and turning in assignments. I think for students this could be bad.”
Now that we have experienced this new schedule, I think that this change is still unnecessary because it continues to ignore the fact that this puts a lot more stress on students and it doesn’t benefit us in any way. This new schedule doesn’t provide the needed time for students to get help with work, we have to either worry about the limited time length, or we have to worry about the fact that other students need help with their work as well, so therefore students might not even get a chance to finish all of their work. It’s just too much and this is a change that we didn’t need.