5 tips to rock online school
Ogden High School lunch lady Chandi Gill hands out school lunches to students and parents who drive up on Friday, March 20, 2020, in the school parking lot. Despite being closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, area school districts are distributing breakfast and lunch to students in need.
Due to COVID-19, some students’ greatest hopes and dreams have come true. School is out! For … who knows how long!
However, with this much needed “break” there come a few problems and issues. Students don’t have a lot of motivation to do homework to begin with, and preventing them from going to school only makes things harder. Especially with it now being the last quarter of the school year, senioritis is really setting in!
I know for me and my school, the juniors were scheduled to take a free ACT on March 24. This, of course, didn’t happen, which kind of ruins a lot of schedules, both for students and for teachers. Hopefully, after all this blows over, they will find a solution.
Not only that, but due to the virus, we seniors might not get to walk at graduation.
Thankfully, some classes are already based online with the help of Google Classroom and Canvas. I used to hate these websites, and I still do a little, but now I’m grateful for them. It’s easier to get my work done and see what I need to do. Using these tools, it’s also easy to turn in my assignments on time.
These things have worked for me, as well as a few other things I have learned and taken from experience. In order to stay on top of all of our responsibilities and homework, here are a few tips to keep you floating.
1. Always try to stay on top of your work. I know that since we have online school, it’s a lot more difficult to work up the motivation to do homework. I know I’ve had a hard time! But it’s always important to get your work in before the deadlines. Just because school is out doesn’t mean your responsibilities are. For me, I have an A-day/B-day schedule. Even though I’m out of school, I still keep to this schedule in order to make sure that I do my work every single day.
2. Ask questions! If you have a question, email your teachers. Don’t be afraid to ask. They’ll understand, especially at this time in life. It’s a lot harder to learn in school when you’re not even in school, so if there’s something you don’t understand, then don’t be scared to ask questions.
My hardest subject to deal with is math, but after I spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure it out, I managed to get my assignment done.
3. Limit distractions. Especially at home, there are distractions all over the place that can prevent you from finishing your work. If you want to watch a movie or listen to music while doing homework, that’s fine. Just don’t let it overwhelm you and keep you from working. If you have siblings like I do, try going somewhere private or ask them to be quiet.
4. Consistently check your grades and email. Now that we’re out of school, there seems to be no need to check grades. With us still turning in assignments and tests, the teachers are still obligated to make grades for us. It’s always important to make sure that your grades are still good, just in case anything might happen. Along with email, this is the only way that your teachers are able to communicate with you.
5. Don’t think of this as a break from school. It might feel like it because we’re not physically in school, but if you think of it like that, then you’ll feel less obligated to do homework. With school being all online now, it’s hard to stay focused on your homework tabs when you want to do everything else.
For me, I try not to think of quarantine as a vacation from school. I’m still doing schoolwork and trying my best on every assignment, and even working hard on every at-home test I have to take. If it was a vacation, then you’d be less willing to do homework. It would feel like you’re wasting your own time.
Overall, I think it’s best to stay on top of your assignments and do everything you’ve been doing when you were in school. This is the ultimate test of responsibility, and if we use this time wisely, we can grow to be very responsible people.
Try not to get wrapped up in all of the worry and drama of the world and stay focused on the work in front of you. Above all, stay safe, stay healthy, do your work and everything will be fine!