Page 28 - September 2020 Digital Magazine

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My covid-19 School

Experience

Armaan Newaskar

Robinson Middle School in Plano (6th grade)

culture in Social Studies, and odes and memoirs
in Language Arts. The teachers also introduced a
Hi, I am Armaan Newaskar, a sixth grader at form of learning where our schedule alternated
Robinson Middle School in Plano. I would like to between synchronous and asynchronous
tell you about my experience with school in this learning. For the synchronous portion, we receive
age of COVID-19. instruction on Zoom or Google Meet. For the
asynchronous portion, we work independently
When I learned that school was going to be on our assignments. I like this style of working
virtual, I was disappointed to be honest. I had because I can finish my work very quickly and
been looking forward to starting middle school efficiently without any distractions. Whenever the
for over a year, having visions of getting my own second half of my day is asynchronous, I am often
locker, becoming more independent and meeting done before 2pm, around one and a half to two
all sorts of new friends. Robinson had recently hours earlier than normal!
been renovated, and I was eager to walk through
its gleaming new hallways as I shuffled from one Now there are aspects of remote learning that
class to the next. But thanks to COVID, none of I do not love. There are limited opportunities to
this was on the cards anytime soon. interact or socialize with my friends. We only meet
each other on zoom calls, and any conversations
Three weeks into the new school year, the over chat must be related to schoolwork. It is also
experience has actually been better than I expected. very tiring being on the laptop for so long and
Firstly, there is the convenience factor – I get an staring at the screen for 8 hours. Band is not the
extra 20 minutes of sleep since the “classroom” same as we are unable to practice together and
is just downstairs! Secondly, I am closer to my collaborate. And sports that I wanted to try out or
family and get to see them throughout the day improve on in sixth grade are on hold due to the
(including annoying my little sister). Thirdly and health and safety restrictions induced by COVID.
most importantly, my teachers are all nice and are
working hard to ensure a smooth transition and give
us a great education. The first week was focused Overall, the excitement of being a sixth grader
on getting to know each other better and having has still hit me but maybe not as hard as it would
some fun: we made videos about our hobbies in have if I were attending middle school in person. I
Math, we shared jokes and played riddle games feel a sense of accomplishment for making it here
in Band, we designed our own virtual lockers in and learning so much every day despite all the
PE and Social Studies, and we made Google changes. And as I mentioned earlier, virtual school
Slides about things that we enjoy in Language does have its benefits. I am still pining for the day
Arts. The second week was much more serious, when I can step into the halls of Robinson. But
as I had anticipated, with learning in full swing. until then, I will look on the bright side and make
We covered the Periodic Table in Science, rational the most of the situation knowing that we are in
numbers in Math Honors, political systems and the midst of a pandemic and all in this together.

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