Learning remotely is something that was completely new to me, and most likely to everyone else who may be reading this article. However, now most of us have settled in, including myself, and it has become second nature. To help me adjust to working from home, I have been waking up, eating breakfast and then getting ready when I normally would. I have also been following my school timetable as I would when at school, and have been having my recess and lunch when I normally would.
Learning online does have its benefits. There is no traffic to get to school, unless you count your siblings and parents, and it does give us more freedom than what we normally would have in school. If I have completed the work allocated for a subject, and there’s still something I need to do for another subject, I’ll do it then. If there isn’t anything to do, then I might take a break from my work, until my next class. Although there have been multiple benefits, it’s also had its challenges. Not being in the classroom makes it harder to focus for many people, and when we first started we had minor tech issues that got fixed right away.
I believe that during this time when we are all stuck at home, it is very important to continue speaking to friends and keeping connections with people you would normally talk to while at school or at any other places. Lately during English, I have been working together with some other students from my class, and at the same time as we do our work together, we talk to each other about other things and make jokes. Something else I do while completing my work is listen to music. Music with a high tempo is actually proven to increase concentration and your alertness. If you have younger siblings, it’s also a great way to block out all the noise they may be making while you’re working.
During the school day, it’s also good to eliminate the distractions we wouldn’t have at school. For me this means moving my phone out of the room or at least putting it on silent to reduce the temptation of not doing any work and just surfing the web during class time. While I’m working I also close the doors so I can’t hear anything from outside the room, which helps me focus.
I think that if you worry too much about your schoolwork, it will just make this whole experience worse for yourself. This is why I think that you need to set yourself time to do something relaxing, like play video games or read a book to take your mind off what’s going on. During recess and lunch, I have been going outside or reading a book, to take my mind off school for a bit.
Overall, being a remote learner has had its challenges, but personally I have enjoyed it. But for all the people who are wishing to go back to school, don’t worry because we’ll all be returning soon and we will get back to some form of normality. For the time being, keep a positive mindset and don’t stress too much. Remember, it will all be over soon!
Anthony Saraullo
– Year 8 Tour Guide
