Elementary Students Speak Out About the 2020-21 School Year
The elementary students have been missed!! In anticipation of seeing many of them next week, we asked several students two questions regarding their experience this year: What do you really miss that maybe you took for granted before the pandemic? What is something that is a great surprise that came out of this experience that you hope we continue doing after the pandemic? Here’s what they had to say!
Emma Cameron Hughes
I really miss hugging my friends and standing close to them. I didn’t know how much I took that for granted. It’s not fun that I’m not able to play with my friends at recess and play tag. That was one of our favorite things to do and I really do miss that. And I love recess! Having my teacher there by my side to help me instead of on the computer is hard too. I have to present my screen for her to see my work as I’m doing it and that’s hard to do. In person all she has to do is walk by my desk!
I was dreading not being at school but I found out that I like doing half days of school because I can work at my own pace and have more free time if I get all my work done. I really like working independently because it makes me feel better to know I'm getting my work done and creating my own schedule with my teacher. This is by far my favorite part of all of this.
Breann Wolf
When we first went remote, I was a little nervous but mostly excited because it was something different. I found that I really like staying home. I feel I learn so much more when I am home because I get more one on one time with my teacher and classmates. I really like when my teacher asked me questions because it really helps me understand what we were learning.To be honest, I would totally stay home because I like getting up early, doing video calls and then doing my homework in the afternoon. I hope we keep going over our quizlet words as a class. I like interacting with my friends through the computer.
Justin Sabotta
Playing with my friends is one of my favorite things, and I'm looking forward to going outside with my friends again. I’m also looking forward to doing math in class because I like math. I hope we keep the way we are learning math, reading, and writing like we do now when we go back to school.
Abigail White
I'm going to appreciate seeing friends again because before the pandemic I took seeing people for granted. I didn’t think it was a big deal before if I didn’t see my friends every day because I knew that I would just see them tomorrow. Last year, all of a sudden, we had no clue when we would see each other again - a day, a month, or LONGER!! Also, something I hope that can still happen is being able to wear sweatpants in school or having a lot of time to do homework. Now that we are remote, the teacher gives us more time to do assignments and is flexible. I like getting a due date and then having time to work on my assignments.
Jenna Thom
The thing that I appreciate now that I didn't know that I did is seeing my friends and teachers and not through the computer screen. I like seeing my friends in person. I am used to being around people way more than now. And I think we should keep our masks to protect us and others, even though I don't like it and I'm sure everyone else doesn't like it we have to protect everyone. I really learned a lot of stuff on the computer. I learned how to have a Google Meets and also a tab open where I can work on my math with Kami at the same time. That’s so cool! I hope we get to use all the computer skills we learned when we come back to school in person.
Well, there you have it. I think the students have definitely shown us that while this might not be the ideal, all has not been lost. In fact, I think we have all learned quite a bit.
