Grades slipping. Friends disappearing day by day. Some did come back, but to a giant workload that seemed impossible to get through. This was the theme of our school at level one and when you think of it like this, moving to full virtual is the right answer. 

I was never quarantined while we were in person, but I saw the effect it had on the people around me. Kids that I knew had very high grades would come back to all F’s because they didn’t have access to their work. They were expected to know everything the people in-class had learned when they had no way to see the lessons. I was out for surgery while we were in hybrid learning. Even though I only missed half the days I should have, I still was behind and struggling. 

Yes, while in level 2 the number of kids that got quarantined was lower and they only missed half the days, but the pace of learning was slowed. The same thing was having to be taught twice instead of just once leading to half the class being perpetually behind the others. On the days they missed, even though it was less, teachers were having to teach more information as fast as they could leading to them still falling behind. 

All students’ educations are being affected by the ways we are having to learn. We are learning less, which will affect us in our futures. The teachers are also struggling with constant changes and having to make changes to their curriculums over and over again. This is why staying virtual for the foreseeable future would be the best option for everyone. It would help kids if we get on a more stable schedule, one that would not be flipped as soon as it started to feel normal. It would help make catching up not as daunting of a task. 

This does require students to pay attention in their classes, which could be hard with being home, but staying virtual for as long as is needed is the better option.  I know how hard it will be, but to keep kids learning and in-class, level 3 is the only way that could be beneficial at this point in time. I know staying on computers for the whole day is hard on everyone, but it is better than having students out for weeks at a time.