Will students see an online school day during the week?
December 16, 2021
86% of voters said they would like having an online day a week.
Having an online learning day would help students, and teachers immensely. Students have tons of homework from all sorts of different classes, and lots going on in their lives. We all know last year we had a day of online schooling. Many students made great use of the online day to work on mental health, get their work done, and hang out with friends or family. Extra time for students could even improve overall grades, because they have more time to work and to themselves. Although some did not use the day to its fullest potential it benefited many students.
How Would It Help Students
Having the day off would help students with school work and mental health. When interviewing Ms. Melville Spash assistant principal, she said, “Anywhere we can find a point of decompression for students is huge, and we’re always looking for a schedule that is conducive to students.” Students have lots of deadlines to meet constantly and it’s stressful. It sounds like the school does care for our mental health but they don’t know if an online day is the best option. SPASH administration may be looking for some sort of day or extra time off.
That being said, students could definitely use the help. When interviewing Spash student Grace Newby, she said, “I would use the extra day off to catch up on homework.”
This first hand shows a student who would use the extra day to catch up on homework and missing assignments to stay on top of their school work. It could have so many different uses for students and would be super helpful.
Teachers Could Use the Day Too
As well as students, teachers could use the extra day off to help with the lack of subs and big workload this year. Ms. White, Spash English teacher mentioned the online day was used as a day to confer with other teachers and make sure the lesson is planned and ready to go. It gives the teachers much more prep time, so they don’t feel overwhelmed. The lessons will all be planned better, and she’ll be able to compare with other teachers giving a better learning experience. She said, “The online day also allowed me to reach out to parents and students with concerns easier, because she had more time.” The format of online day still works if the teacher has good communication. It allows time for her to check in on the students and maybe even their parents.
Many teachers lack subs for a multitude of reasons, the big one being health. Many substitutes are older and dont want to take the risks of Covid. That is understandable because if I was older I don’t think I would want Corona either. Another thing talked about was how she thinks it will definitely help most students’ mental health. It’s nice to see that the teachers, even though stressed out, are looking out for students.
Possible Changes
Even though it isn’t likely that there will be an online day, that doesn’t mean SPASH won’t see a schedule change. When Ms. Melville was asked if there was a possibility of an online day she stated, “Parents and staff are looking for consistency and how to get people back in the groove. We’re always looking to find a schedule that is conducive to students, but that doesn’t mean there will be an online day.” Ms. Melville was saying it’s not likely there going to be an online day but it’s not impossible. They are just trying to get back into the old schedule before everything was different so we can all see how it was run, and know what to expect in our future.
Furthermore Ms. Melville also said that she wants to find a way in the current schedule without an online day, to give teachers time to confer and plan to make the lessons go smoothly. There could possibly be a slight schedule change to give teachers time to catch up. This could also give students a bit of time off as well. A huge concern with an online day is loss of learning for students. Not all students participate in online learning and use it as a day off. The higher ups don’t want to give a day just for students to do nothing with it, and they have no way of ensuring that normal learning will continue.
Although we most likely won’t have an online learning day it is possible to see some sort of other time off, for the teachers and the students. All in all, if we did get the online day it would immensely benefit students and teachers. Many people may be concerned about the amount of learning done, but students have done it before and proved it can work.
Taslima • Dec 17, 2021 at 12:56 PM
I really liked reading why it would benefit both students and teachers! I think that it’s important to give the teachers a break as well as us students. You did a great job with your analysis and I think that your photo really showed some good data of what students truly think about having one day be E-learning. Overall, you did a great job and it was very interesting to read.
Mason • Dec 17, 2021 at 12:44 PM
This was such a good read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was interesting seeing the benefits for not only students, but teachers as well. I liked how you mentioned some ways that the online school day could be worked out.
Grace • Dec 17, 2021 at 12:34 PM
Keegan, you picked and strong topic that a lot of kids talked about and wrote about it so well. I was intertwined in the article the whole time and never got bored. I really liked the images that you chose to use as well. Your conclusion was nice because it gently pulled readers out of the reality of having an E-Learning day, and you wrapped it up well without it being an abrupt ending.
Marcus • Dec 17, 2021 at 8:02 AM
I like how you meshed everything together well and used good examples from the teachers and staff at SPASH. The picture also really brings out the reality of how some students are struggling with school, and how they could use a break. You had a really good analysis of your topic and that put everything together well.