By David Tow, EdSource, January 17, 2021
During a recent class, my freshmen and I were discussing the best ways to engage with the complex world of high school. We talked about how to juggle multiple deadlines, contact their busy and unavailable teachers and balance appealing extracurricular activities with coursework and the omnipresent complication of Covid-19.
This discussion was part of an ongoing conversation about effective study skills and traits. Most of my 13- and 14-year-old students had not set foot in a physical classroom since sixth grade when the pandemic first drove teaching and learning online. The only classroom they had known for the past two years was their own bedroom, dining room or living room. Even those who had some in-person instruction had only reduced coursework.
Suddenly, my students began tearing up. They were overwhelmed. They were frequently up until 11 p.m., midnight, even 1 a.m., doing work that felt, at best, dimly connected to their learning. Things were moving fast, too fast it seemed. It was hard, they said, and it was hard to develop relationships with their teachers, who were themselves reacclimating to in-person learning and increased class sizes.
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