Since the middle of August, students have been forced to learn virtually. As everyone knows, this happened because of Covid-19, which started way back in the beginning of 2020. Not many people had thought that this virus would have this much of an impact on everyone. People have lost jobs, people have lost loved ones, and even the way people live has changed. For kids and students, school was a huge change! Learning virtually is something that not a lot students have ever experienced before.

At first, virtual learning was difficult for some, but as the days past, virtual learning became something that students had gotten used to. Still, students have trouble with classes that they would much rather learn at school. There are students that are very good at virtual learning and there are some that need that face to face learning.

“All the classes I have are pretty good. I don’t really have any problems in them, but sometimes it is hard to focus when your watching a video or your teacher is talking for thirty minutes straight. After that thirty minutes, I already forgot what she or he said because it’s boring. Some of my teachers come into class with a, “We are gonna get things done today,” in a good mood type of vibe and I really like that because it helps me focus and it makes learning less boring. I’ve had a fairly good experience with this virtual learning and I hope it gets better as the days go on,” said freshman Jayden Ulloa.

For many students, some of the classes that prove to be the most difficult to learn or participate in virtually are hands on classes that are typically electives or some science classes.

“For me, the more difficult classes are the ones that may require in person demonstrations or special equipment such as science and technical drawing. The classes that I think are the easiest are classes that don’t need very much individual instruction, like math and Spanish. Technical drawing is a great class, but a lot of my classmates have difficulties logging into the web app on their individual devices, but in person, we will be able to use school computers to use the full version of the drawing app. My science teacher seems to be very dependent on student interaction and she likes to do fun demonstrations with the whole class, but when we aren’t in person, her entire way of teaching changes drastically,” said freshman James Lacey.

“The easiest class to learn over virtual learning is math. I am very good in math and like to do it. My teacher, Mrs. Piercy, gives us homework over google slides that are drag and drops which makes it very fast and easy to do. At the beginning of the year, she gave us books so that when we get on her zoom calls, she explains how to do problems and we follow along and that takes a lot of stress away. For me, the hardest class to learn over virtual learning is child development. Child development is just a very hands on class. It is much easier to learn in person, but Mrs. Jenkins makes it very easy to learn even though we can’t do some stuff ourselves. She is very careful and explains stuff with a lot of specific detail. She helps us take notes and shows us videos to help explain some stuff. I like the class but I know that it would be much easier doing hands on stuff with Mrs. Jenkins,” said sophomore Kira Thomas.

“For me personally, I would take history and English classes to learn virtually because those classes require lots of reading and writing. I can do the assigned reading and get help for the writing assignments. If the teachers assign discussion groups, I would fully participate showing the that I have done all the required reading and assignments. I’d rather not take P.E, Ag, or art to learn virtually because those classes are hands on classes. Hands on classes requires you to physically do or create something, and for me personally, I would find it more difficult to learn those classes virtually,” said math teacher Mrs. Koval.

Learning the a lot of the first semester virtually, many students agree that math and science classes are difficult to learn online. For students who struggle, it is hard for them to learn math and science without any face to face interaction.

“Virtual learning has become one of our only choices in schooling this past year and it comes with its own set of difficulties we don’t experience during in person schooling. Some issues like internet connection, not having access to the right technology, or not being able to figure out what stupid category your assignment is in on Google classroom are some examples of any problem you may have in any class across the board. When it comes to classes, like math or science, in which there is a lot of memorization (formulas, definitions, etc.), it helps to be at school with a teacher constantly reminding you those things. When you are at home, it is easy to forget to study on your own, or simply forget that you need to know those things to begin with. These are probably the harder classes to learn virtually. History also involves memorizing, but that’s basically the entire class so its not as difficult to get used to, while science and math you are applying formulas to word problems, or definitions to experiments. English is probably the easiest class to learn virtually because you might already be doing things like reading an assigned book or typing an essay on your own time, so not much changes compared to in person learning. Overall, virtual learning is a strange thing to get used to. Depending on the student and the subject, it can be very beneficial to your grades or make school a lot more difficult,” said freshman Mary Rodman.

“The easiest class for me to learn virtually is probably English because we can just read books online and its easier. We already use the computer to write our SA, so we already know how to do that. I honestly like English at home because its easy. The hardest class for me virtually is definitely math because its already hard for me doing it at school, so I need that face to face learning. I can’t fully understand what the teacher is teaching when I’m not there at school learning,” said sophomore Megan James.

“The easiest class for me to learn virtually is typing. Typing is super easy since we are already on the computer. Also, it is probably very easy for the teacher to teach it. Typing class is very laid back and I get my work done easily and quickly. The hardest class for me to learn virtually is English because it is very weird. We have to find books on the web to read and I do not like doing that. Another hard class is math. Math is definitely something that I need face to face learning with, and without that face to face learning, I am not doing as good as I would like to in that class,” said freshman Braylon Sinclair.

As people can see, these students had some different takes on what classes were easy and which ones weren’t. Students have been having many difficulties and problems learning in certain subjects that they find the most difficult. However, students and teachers know everyone can all get through this and everyone will come out together and stronger. This school year may not be the best so far, but well get through it as teachers and students continue to do their best.