Calder Shen

Monday, Nov. 26:

It went pretty well. I got there during lunch, but everyone was eating lunch outside. The classes felt pretty much like regular classes but we just had to get on zoom during them too. They also had a bunch of tape on the hallways and staircase to try to make sure nobody would be running into each other. Other than that it felt pretty regular. The people in the classroom would just log onto the regular zoom so the people at home could see us, and instead of looking at the shared screen we would just look at the board.

Tuesday, Nov. 27:

How did you feel in the building?

Before school there was an orientation where they showed us everything and all the protocols, so I felt pretty safe. The building had markings for where people could stand and walk down the hallway so there was as much social distancing as there could be.

When you were eating lunch and stuff, and had to take your mask off, did you think that was handled well? And also, was it difficult to go the whole day with your mask on?

I don’t think it was difficult to go the whole day with my mask on, because during the quarantine I spent a lot of time outside where I had to wear my mask. Obviously in a class everyone has to wear a mask, and there has to be social distancing, but during lunch and the periods between classes it’s a lot harder for teachers to enforce social distancing because people and their friends want to talk to each other. So, it’s definitely easier in the classes than outside of them.

Do you prefer in-person or remote learning so far?

I think for learning they’re basically the same. You can get more help in person but we’re still doing basically the same stuff – there aren’t really any paper handouts or anything – so I think the learning aspect is the same. But, in terms of the general atmosphere of school, I much prefer in person because I get to see everybody and meet people in person.

In terms of the learning itself, could you say a little bit more about what you do in class?

We’re all required to bring some sort of a computer to class, and in some classes, we have to zoom in to the actual online class. In other classes we don’t zoom in, and the people who are remote are just seeing the people who are in their cohort who are also on zoom. Some teachers will try to teach the lesson altogether, but other teachers will have the zoom cohort do a different activity, and then do a more teacher-led activity with the people that are in person. [how does zooming in the classroom work?] In some classes we’ll be on our own computers, and in other classes the teacher will put the students who are on zoom on the projector so we can see each other.

Do you feel like there’s any sort of disconnect between the students who are in person and the students who are remote?

The teachers are trying to make us feel like one big class, but it definitely feels like there’s two classes because we don’t really interact with the people who are on zoom.

How was Tuesday in comparison to Monday?

I think they were pretty similar. I didn’t really go to school on Monday because I had A and B Block electives so I stayed at home and then went to school during lunch, but overall I would say they were pretty similar in terms of how they went.

Do you have anything you want to add?

No, I don’t think so.

Friday, Nov. 13:

It’s going pretty well. I think the teachers have figured out how to better manage both the online and the in person classes. Now that the rest of the highschool is back, I don’t know how long hybrid is going to last, but considering there’s even more people back I think it’s going pretty well!