Researched and written by sixth graders: Valeria, Gabriela, Tailee, Jaila, Sarah, Sienna, Yazlenne, Rae-lynn, Lisbeth, Kayloni, Lissette, Naomi, Jade, Malazja and Jorlis.
12:30pm – Each day we meet and have morning meeting. We start this late so that the students can have time to set up, eat, and catch up on work or just sleep in a little longer before online school starts.
In morning meeting we just talk about coronavirus updates and how our weekend was, also how the week or day is gonna look like. Sometimes we talk about how our classes are going or which class is harder for you.
1:00pm - After morning meeting we go to our first class, which is Social Studies Currently in Social Studies we are reading a play about the Salem Witch Trials. The teachers at Sophia really try to explain everything so that we understand better but also make it a challenge for us at the same time.
1:45pm - The next class we have is science. In science, we have just finished a project about planets and space. We had to make a presentation about the planet we were assigned and we had partners! After that we go to math class.
2:30pm – In math, we’re working on circles. Pretty soon we are gonna do a big circle project.
3:15pm - Our last class of the day is Language Arts. In Language Arts we have just finished a book called Out Of The Dust. When we finished the book, we started to do some work related to the poems in the book, and we also started writing our own poems.
3:45pm - Right after LA we go into Closing Circle. We do not have a break after LA class. For Closing Circle, we usually talk about how our day went. We have questions of the day assigned to each day, but sometimes we come up with random questions to ask. Sometimes we end early, depending on how much time we took.
Between each class we have a 15 minute break, where we can prepare for our next class or just to stretch.
All of our teachers try to post any homework we have at or before 6:00 pm, and that concludes 6th grade’s online school day.
Interviews with Staff and Students:
Valeria (6th Grade):
Q: What do you like about online learning?
A: “I like that I can eat during classes and that we have breaks”
Q: What do you think is cool about online learning?
A: “We get to do mostly everything on docs and I don’t have to write anything.”
Q: Is learning online harder or easier for you?
A: “Online school is harder because in class we get more of an explanation on everything and the classes are longer but in online school the classes are shorter and we don’t have enough time to learn much.”
Idowu (8th Grade):
Q: Do you like online school?
A: “Yes.”
Q: What do you do that you can’t to in school?
A: “Eat food during class.”
Q: What snacks do you eat?
A: “Chips”
Q: What do you use for school phone or computer?
A: “Computer”
Dr. Greene Nolan, 6th Grade Advisor and Language Arts Teacher:
Q: Which do you prefer? Online school or Regular School?
A: “I like regular school better because I get to see my students and help them right away when they need help. We can also do a lot more things when we are all together. However, online school has impressed me more than I thought it would. We are still able to be together and talk and read every day, and that’s been good. And some students have really done an awesome job of working hard on their own time.”
Q: If you were a little kid would you like distance learning?
A: “I think if I were a middle school student going through this pandemic and online learning, I probably would have wished regular school would just come back. At the same time, when I was in middle school in the late 1990s, that’s right AOL instant messenger came out, and I spent an hour or two each night talking to my friends, and I like being online for that. So maybe I would’ve liked it!”
Q: If there is something you could change about distance learning, what would it be?
A: “If I could change something about online learning, I would probably enhance the google classroom app in a few ways. I’d make it able to have breakout rooms like the Zoom app does so that students could more easily work in small groups where I could help them. I’d also include more games in my teaching, which would take time to figure out how to do online.
Ms. Fisher, 5th Grade Advisor and Science Teacher:
Q: How is online school going for you?
A: “It's going okay! I've had to change some plans around and take some time to adapt, but so did everyone!”
Q: Which one do you prefer: online school or normal school?
A: “I definitely prefer normal school! I like being in the building and seeing everyone face-to-face. Hopefully we can all be together again soon!”
Q: If you were a kid would you like to do the online school experience?
A: “Hm...probably not! It seems really tough, and I admire all my students for how much effort they are putting in!”