By Jeremiah Al-Aljeleel, Warrenville High School Student
Covid has had a big impact on the lives of everyone.
It has also impacted education in the Cleveland schools. In this article, I will discuss the challenges a few of my peers and I experienced when having to adjust to this new learning environment.
First, Covid took me out of a classroom environment. I was always used to being in a physical classroom with posters of the material we were learning on the wall. I was used to having my classmates next to me.
When the school district decided that we would switch online, I realized I wouldn’t be in a classroom anymore. I had to go to school using whatever technology I had.
It was a big adjustment to make. For one, I didn’t have the proper technology to do a virtual school year. The school district was aware of this. As a result, they provided as many students as they could with laptops and hotspots, which helped a lot. I could now stay connected with my teachers. Now, instead of having to catch the bus to go to my school building, which is on the other side of town, I could just go to school from my bedroom.
Covid took away the fun of going to school. Being in a physical school environment allowed for a lot of
different activities to be held such as pep rallies, school dances, and after-school events, like fundraisers. These were nearly impossible to do online.
It lowered the morale of myself and a lot of my peers because every day was mostly the same. We logged on to our class and sat there for hours in our own homes. We listened to a screen talk. It was also hard not to get distracted by the many things in my house such as my dog or a family member who needed help and didn’t realize I was in school because it was online.
Lastly, Covid affected the way I was learning. I have always preferred to learn by reading a book or having the material in hand. Having a virtual class meant that a lot of material was going to be online. So, I had to take more notes than I usually do. I had to find a way to make the learning more interesting by adding more interactive opportunities. This enhanced my creative abilities. I found that making virtual study groups with my friends, printing out the materials from my own printer, and going into more depth on the material helped. I could now be better prepared for the class.
Overall, I will say that Covid has had a big impact on my education – some bad and some not so bad. It made it more difficult to learn and disconnected me from my peers, but it also helped me adapt to difficult situations and to become a more well-rounded individual who can educate myself when I have to and make learning fun.
