A few months ago, some of you may remember Google Form going around. In this form, I asked you all to answer some questions about how your schools were handling the COVID-19 pandemic as we entered the new school year. I meant to publish this article a while ago once I was sure most schools had started again and everyone had gotten a chance to answer the questions on the form. I ended up not being able to get this out when I had originally planned. Personally, I blame my university (*cough* my Latin professor *cough*), but as for you guys, just go ahead and blame me lol. Anyways, let’s take a look at some of the responses! The questions will be marked with a Q and any responses I give will be in pink (because PINKratgirl).

Q: If your school shut down early due to the Corona Virus, please explain what that was like. Did you switch to online learning, did your education for the year end there completely, did you know the shutdown was coming, etc.

We had an idea something would happen, but they made it seem like it would be a simple one week break. We switched to online learning, which was an actual catastrophe.
– FlapFish (aka <RF> Fish), New England (US), taking hybrid classes at a public high school.

We switched to online learning but that basically ended the education for the year. Learning was impossible.
– Anon, New Jersey (US), taking hybrid classes at a public high school

I’m actually homeschooled so it’s an interesting concept that corona virus hasn’t affected us at all.
– Da Man, Singapore (AUSIA), home-schooled middle-schooler

Switched to online learning platforms.
– Chaos, England/Britain (EU), taking hybrid classes at a public high school

we originally weren’t gonna do online and wait for lockdown to stop but they gave up on that and we finished the semester online (though we didn’t learn anything)
– Mariana, Puerto Rico (US), taking online classes for a private high school

Yes we had online
– Shadow is Smart (aka Shadow), Dubai (AUSIA), taking online classes for a private high school

I was student teaching at the time and although my university moved over to online right away, the school that I was at didn’t know what they were going to do. We were also told to not attend student teaching for the rest of the school year. I had a feeling though that my school was going to shut down, I didn’t know whether the school system that I was student teaching at was going to right away.
– Speedy, Illinois (US), currently in their senior year of university/college and student teaching at a grade school

The school shut down only a few days after the first confirmed case in the country so it was a rapid adjustment. It shut down for 2 weeks (1 week counted as our “early easter break” and the other one as one extra – we would later just finish the semester one week later) so it could adjust to the online learning and then it was the same schedule just online.
– Anon, Eastern Europe (EU), taking hybrid classes for a private university/college

It shut down when the government informed our school, at first we’re not that bothered because it’s still not worse unlike now. We switched to online learning. And didn’t finish half of the 2nd semester. Actually I didn’t expect that because I dont watch or read news. So I don’t have any idea.
– Anon, AUSIA, senior taking online classes for a public high school

I think it was a long weekend and then all of a sudden we were all online, there are some people that I had just met that year but we weren’t friends and those relationships just sorta fizzled away for the most part
– To Boldly Go Yo, Canada (US), taking online classes for university/college

We switched to online learning, but we didn’t actually see the shutdown coming. Our mayor didn’t want to end school, and when he did it was supposed to open again in April.
– Steax, New York (US), taking hybrid classes for a public high school

My university shut down just when the cases started to increase in a rapid way, and since the economic condition of the majority of students was not good, the university couldn’t proceed with online classes, until now, they’re just starting today in an online format.
– Toia, Brazil (US), taking online classes for a public university/college

Our school ceased in-person operations on March 13th, the day I was to take my Writing SOL (Standards of Learning Exam). I was in 8th grade that year, ready to graduate from high school. Of course, the county scrambled to create an online setting and experienced several setbacks (you can hear about them in the news), but we eventually launched our own virtual learning platform named Blackboard Collaborate. It would later evolve into Blackboard Collaborate Ultra after some fixes.
– Vinzed N, US, taking online classes for public high school

My school switched to a super chill online where we had online classes every now and then and mostly it was online worksheets. Grading basically did not exist.
– Yodabobobo, New York (US), taking hybrid classes for a public high school

It was so sudden how the news got out. As soon as we heard of this disease, schools across the whole country, let alone STATE were closed. Download Zoom! Download Google Meet! This isn’t the end of the world! THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD! Chaos was spreading as schools had to shut down and adapt to sudden online learning. Major plans were cancelled, and everyone had to IMMEDIATELY stay home. Too bad if you left something at the schools, you can’t leave your HOUSE. Wildfire panic, the economy is in shambles, why, world, WHYYYYYY???
– Blank, Indiana (US), enrolled in a private middle school

I did online learning for a while and i lowkey didnt have the motivation for it LMAO which meant my education took a hit
– Yas, EU, taking in-person classes for a public high school

switched to online learning like 3 days after O_O
– Broder, New York (US), taking online classes for a public high school

Yeah so my high school examinations were luckily over by March. They announced lockdown in April so uh I basically didn’t have any online lectures cuz exams were over and we had to study for individual University entrance exam so it was kinda okay, we just had to study by ourselves so not much of a headache, or at least that’s what I thought.
– Vishal, India (AUSIA), taking online classes for high school going into university

switched to online learning, didn’t know was coming, lived in parent’s basement (for schoolwork)
– Anon, Pennsylvania (US), taking hybrid classes for a private university/college

The Covid-19 situation started before I even got to start the 1st semester of my 3rd (final) year of polytechnic. it was horrible. I was supposed to do my final year internship during my first semester but because of covid, companies were letting go of internships due to the increased disease spread risk (i’m in a health-related course, so kinda affected more too). so because of covid i was forced to do final year project and modules first (how my school works is one semester internship, the other is taking modules and doing a final year project), but since i switched late, I didn’t get to choose which modules i wanted to take and instead were auto-assigned the modules and project topic. Covid really messed up my final year and the plans I had for it, totally did not see it coming :/ And yes all my lessons were conducted online, i’m pretty sure all that daily 7 hours of video calling for lessons fried my laptop battery cause its dying now after a whole semester of that :’
– jjsnowflake (aka jj), Singapore (AUSIA), taking online classes for a public polytechnic

I was about to take my exams, which got cancelled in favour of giving us predicted grades so after that was announced all of my classes were essentially cancelled after about two or three weeks of online learning
– Sharkboi, England (EU), taking hybrid classes for university/college

It was around the beginning of March where the school board was in talks of deciding whether students should still attend classes in-person for the rest of the month. I think they finalized the decision to make all classes for the rest of the semester (as well as the semesters following) online.
– Soapy, Canada (US), taking online classes for a public university/college

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Before we continue with the replies, here are some of the demographics of those who responded to the survey if any of you were curious:

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Q: Please explain how your school/learning institution is adapting to COVID-19 and the unique challenges it brings. Explain how your classes now work if they have changed, how your teachers are handling it, how things are being assigned, etc. Most importantly, how does it all make you feel?

During our covid-19 time, we all went into online classes and we still continue to work fairly well but at a slower pace due to limited access to irl tools at school and asking teachers for help is also hard too.
– Hexxer, Vietnam (AUSIA), taking in-person classes at a private high school

Some people are doing all remote, some (like if they have special ed or aren’t fluent in english) are doing fully in person, but the majority of us are doing hybrid. My district is splitting up the hybrid kids into 2 groups – and we alternate who goes into the school. 1 week it’s group A, the next week it’s group B. On Wednesday, everyone in the school does remote. When we’re not in the school, we do remote work with our group.
School just started, so I dunno how I feel yet. I’m just excited to be back in school.
– FlapFish (aka <RF> Fish), New England (US), taking hybrid classes at a public high school

Most assignments are no longer on paper. Everyone’s required to wear masks and social distance, but teachers are cherry picking who they enforce this on and who they don’t. I hate it but I’m so glad to be in school.
– Anon, New Jersey (US), taking hybrid classes at a public high school

The only difference was that instead of going places to meet with other groups of homeschoolers we switched over to zoom which could hold a max of 100 members so at the end of the day we got to say hi to friends we hadn’t even heard of in months.
– Da Man, Singapore (AUSIA), home-schooled middle-schooler

Social distancing enforcement, requiring masks. I’m very comfortable with the measures put in place.
– Chaos, England/Britain (EU), taking hybrid classes at a public high school

My classes are online, it’s a normal schedule as if we were in school. However, we have fridays (kinda?) off so that we can do all the excessive amounts of homework they give (we have to go to homeroom though). i’m at a new school so i don’t know if the classes have changed. teachers are giving WAY too much work and i’m super stressed, they’re not being considerate (especially considering we’re seniors and have the college application process to deal with). I’d say my mental health has definitely taken a decline over online school. I’m constantly tired and don’t have time to do things I enjoy.
– Mariana, Puerto Rico (US), taking online classes for a private high school

Pretty well my school is one of the best here and I feel no difference
– Shadow is Smart (aka Shadow), Dubai (AUSIA), taking online classes for a private high school

In the beginning for college it was nice to get to stay at home. But then closer to the end of the semester I was slowly getting annoyed at my professors and classmates. But when it was over, I felt like I needed school to have some sort of routine. So when it started back up again I enjoyed it. This semester is definitely different and Professors know what they are doing. It’s still an adjustment but we are all getting through it. I started student teaching again in a second grade class and even though it’s through zoom I miss being in the classroom with the students, but I keep reminding myself that it is only temporary and we will all be back in the classroom soon!
– Speedy, Illinois (US), currently in their senior year of university/college and student teaching at a grade school

The biggest adapting challenge was the practical and laboratory class shift. Obviously we couldn’t be in class so we had to do our labs and “clinical rotations” online which meant getting more theoretical knowledge (which is important) but lacking completely in the hands-on experience which was the entire point of the classes. We also had to do a laboratory practice at a clinic for 4 weeks, which could have been done during the academic year or during the summer. The deadline was supposed to be extended until late September due to a lot of people not being able to find employers in their region since most students went back to their own countries and the option to return to the university and work at the clinic there was non-existent since the airports were closed. The deadline however was not extended and due to this, a lot of students had to turn in their reports late or even not manage to complete the practice hence facing serious consequences (and almost failing the year). This was the only part that the university showed a lack of empathy towards (online classes were running very smoothly up until that point, no big complaints) which was very disheartening for a lot of students including myself, even if I wasn’t directly affected by it. The university seemed to make its decisions based on the situation in that country without taking account that every single student in that program, was from another country/region with different restrictions which was very disappointing and stress-inducing.
– Anon, Eastern Europe (EU), taking hybrid classes for a private university/college

We used Google classroom for online learning, it’s new to our school because they haven’t tried to teach online not until now. They haven’t changed actually. Our class hours are still 11hrs every weekday.
It’s hard for our teachers because some of them don’t know how to use devices/gadgets. They need to ask for help every time there’s a problem. Homework is posted in Google classroom. We take pictures when we FaceTime for attendance.
It’s difficult to adjust because of the time, at first it’s exhausting, and still exhausting because of the management of time.
But we can learn from everything that’s happening right now.
– Anon, AUSIA, senior taking online classes for a public high school

Online lectures, i’m a comp sci major so not much has changed tbh
– To Boldly Go Yo, Canada (US), taking online classes for university/college

For hybrid learning we’re going to be taking all of our classes online and only going in for art classes, and when we do go in it’s only for 3 hours on one day. we’re also only taking half of our classes each semester, like this semester im taking apush, ap bio and algebra 2 and next i’m only going to be taking english and ap bio
– Steax, New York (US), taking hybrid classes for a public high school

Classes just started in an online format with real-time teaching and pre-made videos that’ll be available for the students to watch anytime. Classes that require in person training, were delayed to the next semester; since I’m doing an internship I still have to be physically present in my university.
– Toia, Brazil (US), taking online classes for a public university/college

Now that I am in high school (my first year), we are following a stricter schedule. Every Monday is a “help day” where students can attend extra sessions with their instructors to get help. Before that, however, they must attend a 20 min. session beginning at 8:10 A.M. (the beginning time of all school days throughout the week). Meanwhile, the other weekdays have classes set on a rotating block schedule (A/B days). On Tuesday and Thursday, I attend my 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th period classes while on Wednesday and Friday, I attend my 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th period classes. Classes last an hour and 20 min, while there are 15 minutes between each class. Lunch lasts for 50 minutes between 3rd and 5th period on Tues/Thurs, while it’s between 4th and 6th period and Wed/Fri.
Instead of using a “quarter system” (averaging all grades within one quarter of the year and assigning them as a mark), my high school is using a rolling grade book. All grades are taken into consideration, and will only be averaged at the end of the year. This helps balance out lower grades (or so they say).
As of right now, all my teachers are calm and collected. All work assigned from them is due either in a week or on the next Monday. All students are expected to spend upwards of 30 minutes working on homework from each class.
One of the biggest problems we face in this setting is the setting itself. Students can get distracted or feel less motivated to complete assignments since they’re online all the time, and Wi-Fi can easily hamper one’s connection. It is also easier for people to cheat, which raises several concerns. Just this past week, however, an incident occurred where ransomware slowed down our online connections. It is still being investigated.
As for how I feel, it does suck that we have to be in this setting. However, it’s necessary to have school this way, as it preserves everyone’s safety and ensures that our next generations will be ready for the world once it reopens. My teachers easily reflect this idea.
Thankfully, our school district is listening to what’s going on in the current world. Several changes have been made to our curriculum, where applicable, to include the voices and works of BIPOC. We are reading more works by BIPOC in our English classes, and our Science and History classes will continue to highlight all the achievements made by our diverse world.
– Vinzed N, US, taking online classes for public high school

I alternate between a day consisting of 2 hours online followed by a 3.5-hour hybrid class and a day consisting of only 2 hours online. This gives me more time to get work done every other day and do other things I like. I think teachers are stressed having to deal with children and pets at home. In my school, I was kind of pissed that my schedule and classes were given less than 24 hours before school started.
– Yodabobobo, New York (US), taking hybrid classes for a public high school

Our school has started to use Google Meet and Canvas for our learning. We stick to a regular schedule, but now the whole class is online. You enter a code, sit in the class, have a 3 minute break, rinse and repeat ’till the day’s over. Assignments and quizzes are being published on Canvas (a tool used for most schools in the USA), and are graded/reviewed by the teachers. Each module for a class, and each class for a module. They would have their codes and assignments and agendas, all in one tiny, cute, little page up-front. You’d enter the code, attend class for ~50 minutes, and go back out for your next class.
To be honest, it’s easy to cheat because of how they don’t make you present your screen constantly, but it’s still better than sitting in a class in an uncomfortable chair and zoning out. Pros and cons to ya, I guess.
– Blank, Indiana (US), enrolled in a private middle school

My university is currently running hybrid/online and online classes. All but one of my classes are online. My teachers are running the class as normal, assigning homeworks along with the video lectures. All tests are online with some of them including a browser extension that accesses student’s computer cameras and microphones during a test. Personally, however, I can barely focus on the video lectures. And I still manage to fall asleep in tests.
– HistoryMightBeFun (aka History/Stress), US, taking online classes for a public university/college

Now that we are back in school we do 3 lessons per day, but those 3 lessons are all double periods and year groups are in their own “bubbles” meaning they cant mix with other years and like staircases are all one way.
the teachers don’t know if another lockdown is coming so they tell us all to like do the work as it could be our grades
– Yas, EU, taking in-person classes for a public high school

Our college classes are all online; the challenge for me is that I don’t personally know any of my instructors and this makes my freshman year of college less personable than high school where I knew almost every teacher on campus. All of my assignments are assigned through “i-Learn” or “Canvas” which are software programs through our College. It gives us all the details of the assignment and due dates that the instructor has assigned.
– Demsabres Uchiha, California (US), taking online classes for a public university/college

The administration and teachers are having a massive showdown because the administration made plans to go back to school without talking to the teachers at all so the teachers are angry they wrote a bunch of letters and a lot are resigning. as a result everyone is confused nobody knows the specifics for back to school and schedules are messy and taking a while to get out
– Broder, New York (US), taking online classes for a public highschool

Online learning is cool. Teachers try their best to improvise, adapt and overcome new situations. They work hard to come up with better methods and stuff. For students nothing much changed apart from their screen time. To me not much of a difference is imparted by staying at home, I’m just eating a lot of Pringels send help.
– Vishal, India (AUSIA), taking online classes for high school going into university

Outside tents with seating for studying, there are no breaks this semester send help (will be done around thanksgiving time)(stress)(we are already done a third of the semester but it feels like we just started) , some classes are split into 2 groups that alternate when they come in, one of my labs is split into 3 sections for smaller class size and our class has about 8 people in it but it is nice because only have half the lab time instead of having to stay for a 3 hour lab, there are markers on the cafeteria’s tables that we flip when we are done eating to notify that it needs sanitized, we can now pick up food from the cafeteria which is nice because that gives us another option, we can now order food from an app ahead of time which is also nice, some classes are just online, there are less events to look forward to this semester, track season is moved to fall (counts as low contact sport ) and cross country is moved to spring semester (counts as medium contact?????), some sports are still going but don’t really have games
– Anon, Pennsylvania (US), taking hybrid classes for a private university/college

Pre-covid my school work is usually done online, daily assignments submitted online, so with the covid situation the only difference really was that we no longer have classroom lessons and instead have to attend them through group video calling. no hands on experiences in school all virtual. it’s honestly not as fun and interesting, i was pretty demotivated throughout the semester. It was just pretty dull and mundane waking up everyday to look at my computer screen for 7 hours a day, teacher’s voice blaring through the speakers, video lag, technical issues, teachers getting confused with technology. I know our teachers are trying their very best and teaching virtually is no easy task and I definitely thank them for that. But online lessons are really just not the same and looking at my computer screen for so many hours a day plugged in just felt really unhealthy.
– jjsnowflake (aka jj), Singapore (AUSIA), taking online classes for a public polytechnic

Adapting to online learning is more difficult for me as I dont work well at home alone due to distractions, my teachers are doing the best they can but with limited resources so im a bit :///
– Sharkboi, England (EU), taking hybrid classes for university/college

My college has adapted to COVID-19 by using hyflex (online-in person) classes and real time remote. I wish I could say the professors and students are handling it well, but that’s not the case. The younger professors have it in the bag, but I noticed that older professors, especially those who like to lecture, are struggling with programs like Zoom and Microsoft teams. There have been days where professors forget to send invites to students and those students end up missing class. The program used for school work is Blackboard and most teachers have it down because it’s a common tool.
I have mixed feelings about the current situation because I like the idea of online but with hyflex the professors are pushing the students to do more work then what they typically would give during a normal school year and I already feel burned out.
– Rummy, New York (US), taking hybrid classes for a public university/college

As of now, all classes except for some are online, and we are not allowed to go to our campus unless we have in-person classes or need to pick up books or other school essentials. Those with in-person classes must fill out a survey in regards to having any COVID-19 systems prior to going to campus, and they must sign in with someone at the entrances to ensure that they have a reason to be on campus. Classes are based on how teachers instruct them, so some have scheduled zoom class meetings while others just post lectures and study material weekly. Our class participation is graded based on zoom class attendance and post discussions. Assignments are usually due at the end of the week as an easier way to keep track of everything. Quizzes and tests are also open book, and some teachers even cancelled final exams.
– Soapy, Canada (US), taking online classes for a public university/college

Q: For graduates from the class of 2020, how did your school or institution handle the ceremony (if there was one) and other celebrations?

I have friends that graduated before the school year 2020-2021 started..
They graduated online lol. Our school made a live ceremony on zoom or Google I think. It’s still the same
– Anon, AUSIA, senior taking online classes for a public high school

No ceremony, were given results online and as far as I’m aware they have no plans to invite us back to celebrate
– Sharkboi, England (EU), taking hybrid classes for university/college

Q: Is there anything else you would like to say or have included in the article? Any questions for me?

Hi 🙂
– FlapFish (aka <RF> Fish), New England (US), taking hybrid classes at a public high school

(Heyo lol)

no but hi ur cool lol
– Mariana, Puerto Rico (US), taking online classes for a private high school

(no u)

Fight the good fight :salute:
– Anon, Eastern Europe (EU), taking hybrid classes for a private university/college

(FTGF :salute:)

Personal story time.
When you enter a class, you don’t knock. You type in the code and waltz right in.
Well, unless you had a non-school email. Alternate accounts for people were being accepted (presumably a sibling), but it turned out to be some troublemaking kids that started yelling cusses and slurs and inappropriate names. It happened to all the classes, not just one or two. Every single class in the grade, stormed.
But now, at least they have a verification system to let you in. No more mean nerds that have no life, yayyyy!
– Blank, Indiana (US), enrolled in a private middle school

(Glad the problem got fixed!)

I am very grateful that I have a few game systems so I can escape for a period of time between my online classes or homework because it can get very tedious or mind boggling quickly with so much expected to do alone without socialization of classmates and personal instruction from a human voice.
– Demsabres Uchiha, California (US), taking online classes for a public university/college

(I can totally relate, between classes (if I’m not drowning in homework) I play a few games of Osu! or Muse Dash.)

WRITE THE GOOD FIGHT
– Broder, New York (US), taking online classes for a public high school

(WTGF :P)

Yeah they conducted the University Entrance Exams in a horrible way. They asked us students to physically appear at examination centres at the moment when a population dense country like mine is having 3 million active nationwide Covid cases and experience us to not panic about safety and the exam altogether and not throw up. It was a really awful thing to do to us already distracted students to actually give exams in such bad conditions and put high marks qualification to take admission in universities.
– Vishal, India (AUSIA), taking online classes for high school going into university.

(Omg that’s awful! As if you didn’t already have enough stress with a whole pandemic going on…)

That’s all I have for now! I would just like to thank everyone who submitted their responses, helped promote the form, or helped in the creation and publishing of this article! Couldn’t have done it without y’all! Depending on the response to this post, I might do a part two with a new Google form and updated questions, we’ll see. For now though, I hope y’all have enjoyed reading about how different school systems and educational organizations have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe!

Some answers may have been edited for clarity.