Crisis Schooling: Ask the Students
We asked the kids of CC staff a few questions about “distance learning.”
In this Feature story, Amy MacLachlan interviewed teachers & parents to find out how the COVID-19 homeschooling experiment was going. Below you can hear how things went, from the students' perspective!
“I like that we can play games, and the stories that the teachers read me, but I miss my teacher and my friends. Mom is a bad teacher. I would give her an F [laughing]. Mom is a good teacher!” – Levi, 5
“I like getting to spend lots of time with my parents! But I don’t like not seeing my friends, and I miss art class.” – Kira, 8
“I like that we can do games online and you can still do presentations. But your teacher can’t come and help you and you do not get specific information. I wish I could see my teacher and friends more. My mom is a good teacher though. I would give her a B.” – Eli, 9
“I like having more time to do stuff you usually don’t have time to do. But it’s hard to communicate through screens. You don’t have the same structures as usual. And I’d like to see my friends in person and be able to play with them. My parents are willing to help me when they have time.” – Grace, 9
“I like that I can work at my own pace. I don’t like not seeing my teacher and there’s lots of extra work. It’s kind of overwhelming when I get my work all at once on Monday.” – Maya, 11
“What I like about online learning is that I get more free time. I go at my own pace, but I don’t like being on the screens so much. I get tired.” – Petra, 11
“I like setting my own schedule, but I miss my friends and class trips, and there’s too much screen time. If I could change something, it would be fewer subjects. It’s weird having my parents as teachers! Teachers know the answers more. Parents don’t know how my teacher wants us to do it.” – Alba, 13
“Online learning gives me time to become acquainted with the technology [and to] better understand the pros and cons of using tech. But I miss the face-to-face education which makes learning more enjoyable and interesting. It is a very different and interesting experience having parents as teachers, but overall my parents are doing a good job stepping up to the plate.” – Joseph, 13
“I like that there’s no uniforms and no group projects. But it’s harder to ask questions to my teachers, and I miss my friends. If I could change something, I would assign more hands-on activities, more interactive stuff. My parents aren’t really teaching me. I’m teaching myself.” – Robin, 15
Wondering what the parents and teachers have to say? Read the companion articles:
“Crisis Schooling: Ask the Parents and Teachers“
“Crisis Schooling: More Thoughts from the Teachers.”
Like a long-distance science lesson, Louisa and Bob Bruinsma have been sending photos and updates on a Great Horned Owl family in Rundle Park, near their home in Edmonton, to Ben Bick in Ontario. Here the owlets are (clockwise from top left) learning to fly, eating crow, and sharing the branch they hatched on. (Photo credits Louisa and Inga Goba).
