Student Section: GEC August 2020 Student Newsletter

AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

Student Section THE NEW NORMAL

What's Inside: "Learning from a Distance: What We're Getting Wrong, and Who's Being Left Behind" by Ashley Garcia Torres "Returning to School Online" by Meghan Barnes "Pandemic Pods: A Question of Privilege" by Whitney Toutenhoofd

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AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

LEARNING FROM A DISTANCE: WHAT WE'RE GETTING WRONG, AND WHO'S BEING LEFT BEHIND

BY ASHLEY GARCIA TORRES

As

the

weeks

the

In my belief, the reopening plans of my

deadline to school beginning has come

school and many schools in general, do

nearer,

question

not take into consideration the needs

lingering in everyone’s mind: how will

of those who cannot or do not ask for

school now function? It seems that many

help. I mean this in a myriad of ways.

schools

For some students, it’s difficult enough

there

have

have has

yet

passed

been

to

one

truly

and

figure

out

everything that is going to begin taking

to

ask

for

help

place in the upcoming weeks. Something

transitioning into online learning it

that students don't get asked enough is:

can be equally as difficult, if not more

what do you need to personally succeed?

so, to ask for help. Not only that, but

The reopening plans that have currently

some

been put into place only meet the needs

environment of a classroom to focus

of — or seem to support — the most

and feel driven.

students

privileged and fortunate students.

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in

simply

class.

need

When

the

AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

LEARNING FROM A DISTANCE I am in full support of schools taking precautions

for

the

safety

of

the

students and staff, but coronavirus is not the only threat to safety. When speaking

about

the

safety

of

the

students, we must also consider those who live in abusive households. We must consider the students who need school as an escape, and even those who

just

use

the

school

as

a

distraction. For those students, the absence of school as a safe haven hinders their educations and their mental health — one of the biggest issues that has been showing up with the transition to online school is the lack of mental health resources. Of course, this is an issue that has been present in our school systems for much longer than coronavirus has been around, but with the lack of a social

environment,

students

need

mental health aid now more than ever.

There are a plethora of reasons as to why students might rely on mental health

resources.

If

students

have

access to this aid, it can lead to a new type of mental clarity. One of the biggest

things

that

is

negatively

affecting the education of my peers is lack of motivation, and while this is something

that

looks

everyone,

having

a

different

for

therapist

or

psychologist for students to speak to (if they wish) can provide this needed motivation.

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AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

LEARNING FROM A DISTANCE In terms of the impact on education, it feels as if we students aren't being prepared for either the short or the long run. My school has decided to have 20-day sessions in which we learn two different subjects for three hours each. In effect, we will be learning an entire semester’s worth of material in the span of 20 days.

There are many issues with this plan: we don't have the attention span for such

intense,

teachers

fast-paced

learning,

having

difficulty

are

planning their classes, and students will likely forget the majority of the material by the second semester. Not only will we not be able to retain this information

and

apply

it

to

our

future classes, but, just like plants, we students cannot truly thrive in environments that are not suitable for us. There are quite simply too many things not being accounted for during this time of uncertainty.

I go to an incredibly diverse school— one that is rich in culture and spirit.

But my school also has an upsetting graduation rate, a high number of students failing their classes, and below average SAT scores. It's very easy

to

working

blame hard

students

enough

or

for

not

for

not

caring enough when looking at the stats alone, but this issue—like most— is far more complex. There are many more

inequities

problem

than

playing are

being

into

this

directly

addressed. I hope that teachers and those begin

in

positions

listening

to

of

power,

students

will and

implementing the changes we wish to see.

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AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

RETURNING TO SCHOOL ONLINE

BY MEGHAN BARNES

When my parents asked me if I was sure I wanted to go back to school in-person, I said, “Sure, but it

will

About

be a

cancelled week

anyway.”

later,

BVSD

announced the shift to Phase 1: Home Learning. I doubt we will go back at all this year, but the possibility of having even a little bit of a normal senior year keeps me hopeful.

It’s all becoming more real as I receive Google Classroom invitations and see people posting about their online learning experiences.

When we first transitioned to online in March, it was kind of chaotic as many teachers did not know how to use online resources or couldn’t adapt their class to an online format. I know many teachers have been working over the summer to be able to effectively teach online, so I’m hoping this year will be better. The plan is to have school from 8:30 to 1:20 each day, with 10 minute breaks in between the 90 minute classes.

I don’t love the idea of sitting in front of a computer for that long each day, but I understand that administration believes this is the best plan. We also only have 3 or 4 classes each quarter, which will be an interesting shift in workload and time management.

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AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

RETURNING TO SCHOOL ONLINE Since we really haven’t been given that much information, I still have a lot of questions about how everything will work, but I’m guessing most people feel the same, seeing as this is new for everyone. In the short term, I don’t think this will really affect our education. It might be annoying for the first couple weeks, but we’ll get used to it, like we got used to wearing masks and staying home.

In the long term, if online continues, I would hope that better methods arise that don’t require sitting in front of a screen for most of the day. If in-person learning resumes, measures must be taken to ensure that teachers and students feel safe, most of which require funding. Educational equality is more important than ever to ensure that all students can get the most out of their learning experience even with all the changes being made.

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AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

PANDEMIC PODS: A QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE

BY WHITNEY TOUTENHOOFD

Despite hopeful early predictions, by now, the United States has proven its inability to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic in any meaningful, long-term way. The unfortunate truth has been unveiled: this deadly virus isn’t going anywhere — at least not until a vaccine becomes widely available.

Prioritizing the health and safety of students and staff, many schools across Colorado have adopted a virtual learning plan for the foreseeable future.

Yesterday was the first day of my senior year of high school. What should have been a day of joyous reunion and school spirit was reduced to five hours straight of zoom calls with long awkward pauses, nonstop technical difficulties, and spotty wifi connections. It was — in one word — tiresome. I’m seventeen, and if I don’t find online learning the least bit engaging, I can only imagine how ineffective virtual school is for elementary-age kids.

Remote education may be the safest option for the community, but it certainly isn’t a sustainable model.

Parents of young children see the flaws with this system, and many have turned to a controversial solution: pandemic learning pods.

Pods, small groups of students who meet up in-person to complete their school work, have been popping up everywhere.

These groups are guided by a parent, a tutor, or in some cases, a qualified teacher.

While it’s understandable that parents want to do what is best for their own children, many people worry that pandemic pods will ultimately widen the achievement gap between students from wealthy and poor families.

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AUGUST 2020, ISSUE 3

PANDEMIC PODS: A QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE

Pandemic pods are obviously a new phenomenon, but they fit into a long history of “white flight”: in instances of hardship and inadequacy, rather than stay and fight to fix what is broken, wealthy white families often use their privilege to find loopholes and exit strategies.

Maybe it’s unreasonable to expect parents to sacrifice what is best for their child for the sake of the greater good. After all, it’s human nature to put the needs of those we love first. However, regardless of whether pandemic pods are morally just, they will certainly breed irreversible inequities. For many children, pods are simply not an option, as their parents don’t have the time or money to devote to pod learning. Since a disproportionate number of these children are students of color, pods are ultimately just another appendage of systemic racism.

Coronavirus is exacerbating the worst problems we face as a society, and educational inequity is no exception.

This is an emergency situation without a simple solution. It seems like the best thing we can do is wear masks, socially distance, and hope that our students

can

return

to

in-person

learning sooner rather than later. We will never be able to completely repair the damage done to these children’s educations, but if we want to gain back even some of that lost ground, we

must

funding

for

schools

are

dramatically

increase

education.

Colorado

already

massively

underfunded, and fixing the damages done

to

education

by

pandemic are not cheap.

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a

global