Mixed feelings as some students go back online, others heading to the classroom

Students across Newfoundland and Labrador are having yet another week of changes, as recommendations mean many of them are heading back into a classroom setting, while others are back to online learning.

With the Alert Level 4 changes for the Avalon Peninsula, most K-9 students will join their peers in other parts of the province in heading back to in-class learning, with those in the older grades having a mandatory mask-wearing rule in place for their full school day.

The vast majority of high school students, meanwhile, are moving back to fully virtual learning, under changes announced last week by the Department of Education and the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District, with some exceptions in small school communities like in parts of Labrador.

I think the younger ones do have to get back — for everyone's mental health balance.- Katie Power

Emma Waterman, in her last year at Corner Brook Regional High, said she enjoyed being able to go back to the classroom, even just for a little while, after Alert Level 5 was lifted last month for her region.

"I missed it.… Being social for me is one of my necessities, and I'm sure it's a necessity for a lot of other students, so having that interaction really just boosted everybody's morale. I think a lot of people are disappointed that we're back online full time," Waterman said.

"Personally, I love being in the classroom. I think that it helps me learn — I can ask my peers questions, I can talk to my teachers — just having that interactive element of being social and being able to make eye contact."

However, Waterman said she understands that with the outbreak last month of coronavirus variant B117, the recommendations from health officials that led to the move back online put student safety top of mind.

Waterman added that students should head back to a classroom with 20 or 30 people in it only when Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald and Health Minister John Haggie deem to safe to do so.

"I think then that's the opportunity to push students slowly back into school, but rushing it is not the right option, because I feel that if something were to happen, students would feel the blame for it because we've been either pushing to go back to school or pushing to leave school, and we need to be directed by health officials," Waterman said.

'I've had a really hard time with online'

In her experience of online learning, Waterman said student experiences vary.

"It's hard for some students to pay attention, it depends on how you learn. Students such as myself who are kinesthetic learners have a hard time paying attention because they're hands-on learners, while other learners, such as visual learners, have an easier time because they're just looking at their screen and they're taking it all in," she said.

"Personally for me I'm not an independent learner, so I've had a really hard time with online. But I've seen students who have flourished online because they're very independent people and being at home is their safe space."

That's not an uncommon response, according to Don Coombs, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils.

Coombs said the federation sent a survey to its members, garnering more than 500 responses, asking for feedback on options for learning.

A lot of those results were "passionately" in support of online learning, Coombs said, and the federation is confident that moving high school students online "is the best option" currently available.

He added that based on some of the feedback, increasing online learning "may be an option down the road" that education officials could consider.

For parents of younger students on the Avalon Peninsula, it's a different story: children from K-9 are heading back into the classroom on Thursday.

Katie Power has two children, ages five and seven, who she says are thrilled to be heading back to their kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms at Vanier Elementary in St. John's.

"They're pretty excited. They're counting down, like they do for Easter or Christmas or their birthdays," she said.

"They just really want to see their friends again, so they're excited about that and I can assume there's gonna be some pretty high energy in the classroom, they're probably gonna want to do a lot of outdoor time."

Power says she believes sending the younger kids back is a good idea — it wouldn't be advised otherwise, she said.

"With spring coming on soon and us moving down in the levels, I think it's good timing for them to go back. I do feel for the parents that have kids in the high school age group and have them home and some kids going [to class], but at least at that age group the parents don't have to be watching over them and missing work and having their entire life thrown off balance," Power said.

"I think the younger ones do have to get back — for everyone's mental health balance."

When her children were learning at home, Power said she had to adopt a "slower-paced routine," but as an entrepreneur it was difficult to balance it all.

"I do think it is needed, the kids going back into their routines — as well as the parents — and the kids getting to interact with their peers and just having some of that sense of normalcy back in their life. I think that is most definitely a priority right now."

Waterman, in the meantime, said she hopes to get some time back in the classroom before she and her peers graduate from high school and move on to post-secondary education. But it's not without its challenges.

"It's hard to stay motivated," Waterman said, "but as long as you have Zoom calls with friends, you keep updated with your friends, talk with your family, have those positive things around you, they kind of motivate you."

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