Beyond Stuyvesant: How are Other Schools Approaching Online Learning?

Public High Schools

“We are still continuing with [the performing arts classes]. We do this thing called the Riverside Concert every day, but because of [the] coronavirus, we couldn’t do it this year. Our teacher sent us videos of professional groups singing the songs we were going to do, and he had us write a reflection about this. We have to record ourselves singing and send it online or schedule an online conference with her where we would sing it in front of her.” —Chloe Lou, LaGuardia, junior

“For entertainment, Bronx Science connects with students on Facebook with Wolverine TV. Students and teachers can send daily vlogs to Wolverine TV, which can be included in upcoming episodes. There were different topics such as how student-athletes were staying fit, what were people cooking, and what did teachers do to pass time.” —Angela Phuong, Bronx Science, junior

“It’s simple. Some classes have gotten easier, and some have gotten a lot harder. Chinese class is a lot easier now. But AP U.S., [Pre-Calculus], and AP [Biology] are harder; [the classes] don’t really teach. Because everything is online, I can rely on the Internet. At first, I had no idea what I was doing. But it got easier, [though] I don’t have classmates to rely on anymore.” —Miki Lei, Brooklyn Tech, junior

“We have a schedule similar to the one at school except our periods are 45 minutes each instead of 85 and our elective periods are 30 minutes. We have our first two periods and then a 50-minute break, then the last two periods and elective. We still follow an A day, B day schedule. My school decided not to do testing at all during this remote learning experience.” —Karen Lei, High School of Math, Science & Engineering, junior

“One issue is that some teachers teach more periods than others, so they’re going into periods when other teachers are supposed to have Zooms—so one kid could have two Zooms at once. They’re trying to sort that out. Also, we have very [few] APs at my school, and we don’t take Regents, so that is not really affecting us as much.” —Hannah Devine-Rader, Beacon, junior

“Sitting at home and listening to a teacher speak on my computer screen can be distracting at times, since the teacher has no access to what I am doing during the session. [T]hough schools are trying their best to keep up with students' curriculums, it is impossible for us to learn without proper focus. [T]hough online learning takes the stress away from learning, it also takes the learning away from learning.” —Benjamin An, Townsend Harris, junior

“Our teachers are adapting to the changes and working hard to ensure that we learn all the material. The school and its community are doing a great job to help us, the students, adjust. Additionally, on Wednesdays, the day [there] isn’t instructional periods for each class, there is an advisory period to have discussions, talk about our situation, and work through personal problems.” —Bridget Ducey, Eleanor Roosevelt, senior

“My school has been holding classes following our regular school schedule on Zoom, which means we have free periods, periods for lunch, and periods for clubs to meet via video chat. They’ve recently implemented a rule that no class should go over two to three full Zoom class times per week to help students from staring at computer screens all day. In days we don’t use Zoom, we do discussion posts, submit assignments electronically, and do group assignments via Google Docs. Third quarter has currently become pass/fail, [though] the guidelines for what means in every class is very unclear. It’s unclear how tests are going to be taken and what will go into our pass/fail grades. It’s also going to be a lot harder to distinguish yourself as a hard-working academic if colleges are comparing pass/fail scores.” —Frances Leung, Hunter College High School, junior

“Many of my classes feel disorganized because of the disorienting amount of postings on the Google Classroom page, making it hard to keep track of which assignments are due when. In addition, I feel there is unclear communication between the students, teachers, and administration. The administrators have not yet explained how grading will work for the remainder of the semester but have made clear that it is okay to miss class if you are unable to attend and have urged students not to stress about grades. I think that my school is doing the best they can in a bad situation.” —Jesse Brown, Frank McCourt, senior

“The BCCHS educators are encouraging the 10th grade to have a health and wellness period before 9:30 a.m. every day. The COVID-19 outbreak can be stressful to numerous students experiencing a shift from physical to online class, so the staff wants to check up on our mental health by allowing us to record a daily journal, meditate, read, or listen to music. Also, gym classes are currently not implemented, but the teacher is attempting to develop an exercising plan for the 10th grade.” —Kyra Shimbo, Baruch High School, sophomore

“I know our teachers have tried their best to explain any issue and provide us the best lessons [though] we aren’t physically there. It can be pretty overwhelming, but our guidance counselor tries her best to calm us down. I don’t know if other guidance counselors are doing this, but my guidance counselor created her own chat on Google Hangouts, and whenever we have a comment [or] a question, she is able to able us or provide any sort of information.” —Joshlyn Mendez, World View, junior

“Our school created a cycle day schedule so that students have time for every designated class. It’s split into day A, B, and C. Day A is periods one to three; day B is periods four to six; and day C is periods seven through nine, and it alternates days. Each period is 75 minutes with a 45 minutes of break in between.” —Jessie Lee, Staten Island Tech, freshman

“Every day, I need to attend a video call from 9:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. for advisory, when our attendance is taken, and we can discuss any issues we have or any information our advisor wants to give us. Afterward, I log onto Google Classroom and begin the assignments for each class. I kind of hope we implement online learning till June because I feel like it took a lot of effort from both teachers and students to get a grasp of this system.” —Sanjana Hussain, The Young Women’s Leadership School, junior

“Many teachers reached out to ask if everything was well, and some gave out extensions on due dates without penalties, which I think helps us be less stressed with school work and our own issues.” —Karla Cortes, Richard R. Green High School of Teaching, junior

“We get all our work at the beginning of the day, and if you don’t keep on top of it, you’ll be up all night. It’s also hard because there’s really a lot less human contact. It went from [eight] hours a day to whenever or if you ever choose to Facetime friends.” —Sophia Rothman, The Baccalaureate School for Global Education, junior

“My school is approaching online learning by using Hangout meetings with apps that include Hangout, Zoom, and Flipgrid. They post assignments with Google Classroom. Some of my assignments require a camera and a mic, which I don’t have except [on] my phone, so it’s a bit difficult, but I’m still managing it. I prefer school more than online classes because the amount of [e-mails] and homework I get from my teachers gives me anxiety. And I just miss the school spirit.” —Marina Kikkawa, LaGuardia, freshman

“For most of my classes, work is posted through Google Classroom, and our teachers have tutoring hours [when] we have a video call and meet via Zoom or Google Meet if we need any [additional] help. For my vocal and chorus class, we have mandatory group meets for sectionals. —Ashton Zheng, LaGuardia, freshman

“I would prefer real life learning because it’s easier to ask for help. You have to [e-mail] them, and some teachers reply very fast, and some reply really slowly. Others don’t even reply at all. It’s easier for me to learn face-to-face and receive help individually.” —Lydia Luo, LaGuardia, freshman

“Online learning isn’t that bad right now, but I’m expecting online learning to get harder because now we’re forced to learn through videos. The workload has been lighter for most of my classes except for my technical theatre class. I have many teachers for this class, and each of those teachers have assigned us their own work.” —Erica Low, LaGuardia, sophomore

“There is less pressure since we are at home, [but] it’s harder because the teacher isn’t there to teach and help you in real time as you learn it, unless you go to tutoring hours […] also, SATs have been cancelled, not allowing me to study or take one as of now.” —Edwin Chen, LaGuardia, junior

“I think the way that they’re teaching APs is really stupid because in classes like voice, I’m getting a lesson every other day, but for [AP Calculus], I’m expected to learn the material by myself through Khan Academy. The workload is way more than we would ever get an actual school day, in my opinion, just because I think the teachers expect us to have way more free time.” —Zoeish Lam, LaGuardia, junior

“At first, remote learning was great because I was able to learn at my own pace. Usually, the pace of lessons at school is too slow for me, so this chance to learn on my own was a good one. However, I find myself distracted a lot by things around me, whether that be my phone, my family members, or the comfort I feel at home. I realized that I would prefer going to school with a strict schedule and a teacher to directly go for support. I actually miss school.” —Laura Song, LaGuardia, junior

“Some classes are difficult to conduct remotely, like PE and Band. Obviously, since we are on lockdown, we can’t go outside or to gyms to exercise, so my teacher wants us to do activity every day indoors like stretching and yoga. For Band, it’s pretty difficult because many people use school instruments, so they can’t even really practice on their own at home.” —Giulia Cartegni, Bronx Science, freshman

“There aren't many hardships I am facing with this approach to online learning, but it is proving to be an obstacle to remain as physically active as before.” —Faria Miajee, Bronx Science, freshman

“A few of my teachers surveyed our classes about what specifically we thought would be the most beneficial and always look[s] for feedback on videos or certain types of assignments they post. Additionally, all of my teachers have made themselves available for extra help at a specific time during the day, so even without a full fledged class, I think we’re still able learn just as much and access the same resources.” —Angelena Bougiama, Bronx Science, sophomore

“I like my schedule now because I have more time to do other things now instead of being at school. I don’t want this to be my new normal though; I’d just be lazy all the time. The transition hasn’t been difficult for me though, mainly because it’s not hard to stay home, you know? It would be nice to have some tests, though. My grades are pretty trash, and I [would like] the opportunity to bring them up.” —Jason Tan, Bronx Science, junior

“Our school has adapted well to online learning. My physics teacher hosts an optional Google Meets meeting every day from 11-12. My Pre-Calculus teacher puts up a prerecorded lesson each day. My history teacher assigns work from the textbook at the beginning of the week. [T]hough most of my teachers use Google Classroom, they all have different ways of teaching online.” —Daniel Bernstein, Bronx Science, junior

“The teachers are doing things however they want to; most/all the teachers are assigning daily or semi-daily lectures (in the form of textbook reading, powerpoints, and/or YouTube videos) along with relevant ‘homework.’” —Ethan Leung, Bronx Science, junior

“Online learning will never live up to in-class learning because you can’t have discussions. I miss being able to communicate with your classmates, hang out with your friends, [and] communicate with your teachers in person. It is harder to gain knowledge as a teacher is not actively teaching it to [you]. It is more difficult to retain the information. Overall, I’m doing less work.” —Yona Litwin, Bronx Science, junior

“The workload is really light. It’s much different than going to school because some of my teachers focus more on students' mental health and give us a few days or at least a week to complete an assignment.” —Elizabeth Kim, Brooklyn Tech, freshman

“At Brooklyn Tech, my teachers are simply assigning loads of work on us without teaching the topics. Every teacher schedules their optional Zoom conference between 1-2p.m., so there is no way to receive help from every teacher in this short one hour period.” —Angelina Lee, Brooklyn Tech, sophomore

“Online learning has been surprisingly an easy adjustment for me. I feel that since I’m not relying on a bell schedule, I can get my classwork and homework done quicker and more efficiently. I’m able to wake up and not worry about missing my bus or trains getting delayed. I can just open my computer and get to learning.” —Nicole Yefraimov, Brooklyn Tech, junior

“Online school has had its ups and downs. At first, it was confusing with the schedule the school put out at first because teachers did not fully follow the schedule and made up their own timing, which then interfered with other classes. This online learning has been overwhelming, yet relaxing too, but can’t say I fully enjoy it or not.” —Ana Victoria Liu, Brooklyn Tech, junior

“I prefer actual school more because I can feel the workload is a lot more with online classes than actual classes. However, I still think my school is doing a pretty good job. We basically are getting as much work done as we would in school. I love school.” —Alina Foo, Brooklyn Tech, junior

“My teachers are also new to online learning, so they’re trying their best too. I feel that they’re working hard to make this whole online system work as convenient as possible for us and them.” —Teresa Zhang, Brooklyn Tech, junior

“Online learning has honestly been a breeze for me. I wake up at 8 or so for my first class, and usually I finish all my work around 12 and don’t have much else to do besides play video games and contact my teachers during office hours. In general, because all extracurricular work has stopped and so has commuting, it’s a lot of free time to kill for most kids at [Brooklyn Tech].” —Jules Pace, Brooklyn Tech, sophomore

“Our school day is broken up into four 45-minute periods with a 45-minute break in the middle, which makes it easy to finish work quickly and between periods. It’s pretty easy to figure things out for me, but I’ve seen kids who have difficulties getting access to [the] Internet or computers.” —Sean Shapiro, High School of Math, Science & Engineering, sophomore

“At Beacon, every academic class is allotted [a] one hour tutoring session two days a week at a given time. This way, classes don’t intersect with one another, and students are able to regularly contact their teachers. In terms of grading, the teachers responses vary greatly, and Beacon has not yet decided on a grading principle for the school. So far, my grades have […]been based on completion of the assignments, with the exception of one quiz.” —Lily Pecoriello, Beacon, junior

“The workload is a bit overwhelming and borderline manageable. I enjoy learning in a classroom more, [though] online learning allows us to complete work at our own pace. I think the workload is much easier to handle when we have a destined schedule, and social interaction in real life is much more beneficial than interacting through a screen.” —Kaitlyn Cheng, Townsend Harris, freshman

“My school is approaching personal learning through a formatted schedule. [Though] it is not mandatory to follow the schedule, placing meetings in specific time slots makes it easier for both students and educators to organize and plan. My school has a pretty organized approach to online learning, and [t]hough it does have downfalls, it is the best method of learning I can get now.” —Joshua Lau, Townsend Harris, freshman

“Students are encouraged to reach out to their guidance counselors through [e-mail] in order to schedule live conferences through Hangouts and Zoom if they need support at this time or for any other reason. Attendance is taken through a Google Form. Teachers have asked students to communicate with them freely regarding any difficulties they are having during this time whether it be internet access or familial obligations.” —Nikki Ng, Townsend Harris, junior

“Some teachers choose to meet on Zoom for 90 minutes, which is helpful but 90 minutes a week is not the same as 200 minutes per week. I also feel that I have more work now compared to when I was at school because I literally sit at my desk from 9:30a.m. to 7-8p.m. doing work.” —Christy Han, Townsend Harris, junior

“My school has made it so that the school day lasts from 9a.m. to 12pm and periods are 20 minutes long. We use the 20-minute periods to catch up and/or discuss schoolwork. Actual classwork and homework is done on our own time.” —Daphne Luzong, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, sophomore

“Online school has made me very productive, and I’m happy we have it.” —Kabilayan Rudrakumaran, Eleanor Roosevelt, junior

“A lot of students complained that there was too much work assigned outside of class. I don’t really agree, just because our school day is so much shorter—it makes sense to have more work outside of class. A few teachers tend to go over the allotted 20 minutes though.” —Scarlett Galvin, Eleanor Roosevelt, junior

“It is a little harder to focus on only one task because there are distractions such as my phone ringing from friends or wanting to stay updated on the outside world instead of doing homework. I have to work at least [eight] hours now because teachers do assign more work than they would in a regular 45-minute setting.” —Jennifer Tran, Midwood, freshman

“I kind of have mixed feelings with online learning because sure it's a great alternative to learn online and keep up with education, but at the same time, it's added-on stress. I feel like I'm doing more work through online learning compared to actually being in school. Added on stress won't help me.” —Amanda Zhou, Midwood, junior

“It is annoying at times because I sometimes forget to do the work. I am not used to online classes, so it gets confusing at times, especially since it overloads my [e-mail], and I don't check my [e-mail] often enough.” —Zachary Chan, James Madison High School, junior

I enjoy it better than actual school because I don't have to physically get out of my house. I learn a lot more since I have more time to do schoolwork and a lot more time for myself.” —Yang Guan, James Madison High School, junior

Remote learning has been making me feel very lazy. Attendance is taken on Google Forms everyday, and none of my teachers are doing video calls. I am a senior, and I only have about three to four classes.” —Sonam Tsekyi, Bayside, senior

“Not many teachers are doing online calls; they’re either sporadic or just optional. Most of our work comes through Google Classroom where every morning, each teacher posts a participation assignment along with another ‘classwork’ type assignment for us to hand in through Google Classroom.” —Junying Tong, Queens High School for Sciences at York College, sophomore

“[Teachers] roughly attempted to ease the process but were confused themselves as well. They did their best to communicate until the first day of classes. Students were often confused about the assignments and how to do them. Learning new material is quite difficult without an instructor.” —Jasmine Mendoza, Urban Assembly Harbor School, junior

Private/Catholic Schools

“We’re doing Zoom classes, so we have first period, second period, BCT [similar to homeroom], our long block [90-minute class], which is third period, fourth period, and then we skip fifth period for an extended lunch. But because we’re missing that fifth period block, they’ve substituted class meeting […] and dance for languages, so you take an additional language class during that time, so you can have more language classes. Everything’s kind of working smoothly.” —Sophia Trapani, Chapin, freshman

“We have a completely new schedule [in which] we have each class twice a week, in 55-minute periods. We also are continuing to have advisory, assembly, and club meetings online. I feel like I am getting really bored just sitting around at home, and so online school is a nice way for me to not only fill my time and feel productive, but [also add] a large element of stability and having a schedule into my life that helps this time to feel a bit more normal.” —Molly Bordoff, Trinity, freshman

“Regular classes meet twice a week. Half-credit classes meet once a week, or Guidance. [With guidance, we discuss] graduation requirements. We have to create a form with all of our college decisions and scholarship amounts, and ultimately, where you’re going to go. They probably will have graduation [though] they will push it back, even to August.” —Camille Dell’Olio, Dominican Academy, senior

“Most of the teachers just talk and expect us to take notes. Others can embed a PowerPoint for us to see, and sometimes we don’t have class. It’s kind of a problem because due to the lack of a real class, teachers feel like we are falling behind, and so they give us more homework that we would usually have in normal school. This means I’m sitting in the same spot doing work on my computer all day. [Online learning is] not the best, but I think it’s necessary to keep everyone and everyone’s families safe.” —Josephine FitzGerald, UNIS, freshman

“So far, everything is unaffected, [t]hough one of our main graduation requirements, which is 72 hours of senior service, has been put on hold. [To manage my workload,] I’m doing a lot of conference calls with my classmates, [in which] we just talk it out.” —Joseph Dell’Olio, Xavier High School, senior

“We have Zoom classes. So basically, we have 45 minutes of Zoom classes, but then we don’t have classes back-to-back. So we have a 15-minute break in between. And then most extra classes like P.E. and art and stuff—we don’t have those, so we have frees during those times. My study halls are also now frees. [Teachers] are required to do at least two Zoom sessions per [six day] cycle. It’s just different, I guess.” —Mao Nozaki, Chapin, freshman

“As we embark on this evolution from a very traditional learning style to online school, I know very little, and it seems that the Horace Mann Administration is in the same boat. Most of the [e-mails] I have received include a multitude of ‘we expect’ or ‘it seems.’ While I understand why this is the case, it is a nerve-wracking situation regardless, which seems to increase in magnitude because I am a junior.” —Alexis Fry, Horace Mann, junior

Elementary/Middle School

“This process has forced teachers to put a lot of trust in their students. For example, our gym teacher expects that over the course of the week, we have completed exercises such as Russian twists, push-ups, and mountain climbers. I had my first time taking an online test for school. The whole process goes back to the idea of trust between students and teachers. My math teacher had to trust that we weren’t looking up answers or asking our friends for help.” —Elizabeth Lee, New Explorations into Science Technology + Math, eighth grade

“Online learning has been a moderately decent experience for me. Waking up early has allowed me to go beyond my comfort zone and try something new while staying home. I feel motivated to wake up bright and early and complete my work, so I can try something new or practice healthy habits such as going on a run, later on in the day. Through this system, I’m seeing a lot of changes in my lifestyle, which is very beneficial and allows me to spend more family time together.” —Salwa Chowdhury, P.S. 122Q Mamie Fay, eighth grade

“My schedule is not at all packed to be honest. It has a lot of periods for us to just independently work, more than there was at school. At school, we did group lessons a lot more. And independent time was only half of it. Currently, I like groups to be honest; I miss group work. I want to make people go back to school.” —Morgan Mairaj, Lower Lab, fifth grade

“I spend the normal amount of time I would during a normal school day doing video conferences with my teachers and peers. We use our normal schedule of 40-minute periods. I like that my schedule is more flexible in that I can wake up later and not have to commute to school; however I miss seeing my friends at school and going outside in general.” —Teddy Sansone, Hunter College High School, seventh grade

“In my opinion, I don’t really like remote learning because I feel overwhelmed with all the work. There are some teachers that give three assignments due on the same day. Sometimes I have to ask a question, and a teacher can’t respond back to me […] when there is too much work, I might sleep later than usual.” —Jane Lee, Marie Curie Middle School 158, seventh grade

“I have been able to do some of my extracurriculars online, but others I can’t do. I am able to use Zoom to do some of my extracurriculars, but others require [to] physically [be] there, so I can’t do them. For example, I can’t do baseball, but I am able to do martial arts. How to manage my time so I can be efficient is my main takeaway from online school.” —Logan Tom, New Explorations into Science Technology + Math, 8th grade

“They are making me wake up early to be online around 8:00 a.m. All of the teachers usually give me assignments to finish by the end of the day on slides. But they also give tests/quizzes, labs, and we have group discussions. I try to keep my schedule as a normal school day or 45 minutes for each period.The teachers do not do video calling.” —Kristin Lau, J.H.S 185 Edward Bleeker, seventh grade

College

“My professors have been very accommodating to this recent change in lecture. Not only were they very tech-savvy from the beginning, setting up our online classes with modified curriculums to adjust for the new teaching style, but they [also] have since made it a point to be more entertaining in order to hold the attention of students better. It certainly helps to be able to keep the virtual classroom in ‘full screen,’ effectively keeping my attention away from any distractions on the computer. I prefer being in a traditional classroom setting for school. I am also more productive when I’m not at a desk that’s close to a fridge full of tasty food, my television, or my comfy bed. It is hard to find a physical location free of distractions in the same way that a classroom or library provides, which is the one setback to my learning ability.” —Matthew Choy, New York University, senior

“A lot of my classes are livestream[ed], but they’re not all mandatory. For classes that are heavily presentation-based, of course attending the livestream classes are mandatory to participate in discussions. However, for lecture-based classes, they are not mandatory because the lectures are recorded since there is a record option on Zoom. The schedules are the same, but some people cannot attend certain classes because of time zone differences since there are international kids. But I've still seen some people disregard the time zone difference and still attend the class.” —Irene Ok, Northeastern University, senior

“I believe that Columbia is being as effective as they can be when it comes to adapting to online classes. It really comes down to the professor’s discretion on how they handle the transition, so there are both good and bad examples of the adaptation. One of my professors is going as far as having multiple sessions of the same class every day in order for all of his students in different time zones to be able to receive a quality education. Another professor fought back against his department’s policy on not recording lectures (their reasoning was liability of students who participate during that lecture) and decided to have a separate class without any students and record that session instead. However, on the other side, there are some professors that are now curving students down and making it more difficult to receive a ‘P’ due to new university policy.” —Mark Shafran, Columbia University, sophomore

“I’m kind of lucky in the sense that, out of all the years of college to be in, being a senior is probably optimal because by now a lot of students have jobs, especially in tech. I feel really bad for the juniors, because there are juniors who got really good internships. The whole point of an internship is to help you transition into a fulltime job, so the internship between junior and senior year is really critical because if you can go back to that company, then you’re usually set. But the biggest downside [to being a senior] is that we no longer have a graduation. When you pay for college tuition, and you attend a college for four years, you’re really doing it for that degree, for that last memory to wrap up your overall experience. And so when I think about my younger sisters having graduation photos put up in the living room, but not having my photo there, it really bums me out.” —Jennifer Lee, Carnegie Mellon University, senior

“UPenn is making all classes online. It is essentially up to each department as to how they want to structure online learning. For example, the math department has changed both the grade weights and […] how testing is conducted, where final exams are being broken up into multiple parts. But, a higher weight is being placed on exams. I have only two classes in which the professor talks to us live; in most cases, lectures are recorded and posted online, and then it is up to our discretion of whether or not we really want to watch it. But obviously we should.” —Joshua Weiner, University of Pennsylvania, freshman

“I think there’s more work because there’s the added pressure and responsibility of self-learning, self-scheduling and managing your own productivity levels. It’s also hard to do work when it’s a time in which everyone is unmotivated. Online learning is also not happening by choice, but rather by crisis, and now people are beginning to question the value of learning and whether or not it matters in the long run.” —Jessie Chen, Bryn Mawr College, senior

“Online classes are harder to participate in, and [focusing] is very challenging. Taking notes is also not easy because we have to listen to the teachers a lot more as there’s no blackboard. We are doing our best at the moment to attend the classes. The tests are harder to give in because the process takes out an unnecessary amount of time. These are extraordinary circumstances, and I’m glad I don’t have to go to classes during these terrible times.” —Zubayer Miajee, Baruch College, freshman

Out-of-State

“To be honest, I just eat at home and don’t leave, and I just do my homework and try to study. My teacher still gives out videos for us to watch to learn by ourselves. For some kids, it might be okay [since] they’re good at learning at home by themselves. For other kids, they may not be able to get the material as easily, and they might need somebody right there to talk to. I feel like, yes, [though] we have office hours, which are times to ask our teacher for questions, […] that places a time constraint [since] not everybody can be free at that time. I feel that it’s not very efficient.” —Josephine Kim, Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School (Long Island), sophomore

“I honestly enjoy online learning. At first, I was a little stressed about having to learn material by myself and without face to face communication, but after a few days, I realized it wasn’t too bad. I also feel like I’m getting less work than I would when we were actually in school, so I do feel less stressed. My schedule isn’t too busy, and I definitely have a lot more free time to relax.” —Nina Su, Half Hollow Hills High School West (Long Island), sophomore

“My day-to-day basis has changed now that we are pretty much homeschooled. I haven’t been moving around as much. I’m also with my phone constantly, so I can talk with my friends and even teachers. Different to how it was before, I check my [e-mails] and notifications every minute. Surprisingly, work seems harder to complete. My teachers also assign assignments that take longer to complete in one class period which then overlaps with the next class.” —Manaka Ogura, Lynbrook High School (Long Island), sophomore

“I was always excited about becoming a senior ever since freshman year, and I also dreamed about becoming a second term senior chilling, doing no work, and just having fun for the rest of the school year. But because of the coronavirus, all of the things I hoped for just disappeared. It’s really sad how seniors can’t play their sports for the last year, or go to prom, or senior trips, or after prom, [or] walk down the stage for graduation. It would be nice to actually end my senior year at school.” —Joshua Yang, Palisades High School (New Jersey), senior

“Two (out of four) of my teachers created their own website aside from using Google Classroom alone. One of my teachers (my math teacher) uploads videos of herself explaining math concepts onto Google Classroom. All of my tests have been postponed since online evaluations would not be fair due to cheating. One thing I like about e-learning though is the efficiency; the curriculum seems much more straightforward (rather than following the teachers’ instructions and the time it takes for classes to settle, you work at your own pace).” —Tracy Su, Glebe Collegiate (Canada), junior

“Online learning is kind of okay because I can just wake up and finish my work, and then I'll be done. But then again, I don't learn a lot; it’s a lot of reviews, and that’s about it.” —Sky Zhu, Jericho High School (Long Island), sophomore

“I have occasional Zoom meetings for four of my classes. These are usually held once a week, and most are optional. [T]hough most classes do not assign what is usually classwork, homework is more frequently assigned and tends to be bigger assignments. I tend to wake up around nine and do homework until the evening in order to complete the work for all of my classes.” —Leo Guevara, East Meadow High School (Long Island), sophomore