THE LONG PROCESS OF RETURNING TO NORMAL HAS FINALLY BEGUN
Each morning, at 8:25, my alarm went off. Five minutes before class started, I would groggily roll out of bed, log onto Zoom, and stare blankly at the wall of black squares and names. Every day, for four hours a day, my teachers would go through the motions, clearly just as disenchanted with Zoom as the rest of the “classroom.” With each passing week, it became increasingly clear: This wasn’t working.
San Diego Unified made the transition to online schooling more than a year ago, and the district never really got it right. After the closure of all campuses districtwide, schools were given a “three-week spring break” with the hope that COVID-19 would fade away. When it became apparent that wouldn’t happen, the district prepared for the first iteration of distance learning. Looking back, the last three months of the 2019-2020 school year were almost entirely a waste. To avoid punishing students for a pandemic completely out of their hands, grades were frozen and could not drop below pre-pandemic levels. In practice, this meant that any information after March 13, 2020, went in one ear and out the other. Teachers halfheartedly assigned work to students who needed to raise their grades, but for everyone else, it was like school was completely canceled. Live instruction through Zoom was rare, optional and scheduled at random times throughout the day. With no solid schedule, and frankly no plan, we all collectively tossed out the last few months of that year, hoping that the next one would be normal.
Unfortunately for everyone, this school year has been far from normal. The district clearly learned from some of its mistakes the previous year, but distance learning round two was almost as disappointing. A concrete schedule was implemented, mandating a full hour of synchronous Zoom lectures five days a week, with 20 minutes set aside for office hours. Middle and high schools were set to have three classes per day, totaling three hours of live lecture and one hour for questions and help from teachers. Unsurprisingly, the schedule did very little to solve the main problems with distance learning. I felt just as disconnected from my teachers, friends and school, and less motivated to learn than ever.
The first few months of online school were disorganized, inconsistent and ineffective, and while this school year has been better, online school just doesn’t cut it. Every aspect of our virtual education is dramatically inferior to what we used to have. Students are struggling with academics, participating in fewer extracurriculars and socializing less. Thankfully, after more than a year of distance learning, the light at the end of the tunnel is emerging.
I’m coming towards the tail end of my senior year of high school. While I must admit that this year is not at all what I hoped for, the return to school this Monday provided me with a new sense of hope. After what feels like the longest “three-week break” of my life, my high school, like all other schools across the district, has opened back up for business. I still have my concerns with returning — two days a week in person feels insufficient, teachers will have to balance half a class in person and half on Zoom, and I do wish many of the traditional senior activities could happen — but going back to school is a strong first step. As the state continues to round the corner, as COVID-19 cases continue to fall and as vaccination rates increase, schools will open up more, bringing us closer to where we used to be.
A year of online learning has taught me at least one thing: No matter how frustrating school could be, it will always be better. I’m incredibly excited to return to school and meet up with friends, teachers and staff I haven’t seen in over a year. I’m excited to meet my new teachers who have spent more than seven months teaching me through a screen. Most of all, I’m excited to step back on campus and finally start the long process of going back to normal.
The district clearly learned from some of its mistakes last spring, but distance learning round two was still disappointing.