Schools throughout Saskatchewan have been out since March 20 due to Covid-19.
With school boards across the province shifting to remote learning methods, predominantly online programming, it’s been an adjustment for all involved.
The school boards spent the first few weeks connecting with parents, guardians, and students to see if they would like to take their grades as is or continue with schooling through alternate options. Schools will be closed for in-person learning at least until the end of the current school year, but students are adapting.
Cassidy Griemann
McNaughton High School ( in Moosomin, SK.) student Cassidy Griemann is one of many students continuing with their learning in this new way.
“My mom and dad both got a call to confirm I was staying enrolled in my courses,” said Griemann. “Then from there we started online learning the week before Easter break.”
Students who are staying enrolled are benefiting from technology to stay in touch with their teachers and on track with their learning.
“We check our email constantly, especially at night,” said Griemann. “The teachers will send out virtual messages and then schedule meetings usually through Skype or FaceTime.”
“They give us notes and assignments and since it’s all kind of optional, they’re just happy that we’re doing it,” said Griemann. “I know a couple kids that are just taking their grade.”
The work students have been doing is what they would be doing in class, but more in an extended homework format.
“Lots of the time it’s no different than the stuff they give us in class,” said Griemann. “It’s like notes or practice questions.”
“It’s almost like homework, but what they would give you class time, for you just do throughout the day.”
“It feels lighter just because we don’t have a face-to-face class everyday,” said Griemann. “What they were talking about is having three FaceTime meetings per week.”
“You still have to put time into it, it’s just not as much as normal.”
It’s not just a major change for students, the teachers have had to adjust too and it’s a learning experience for all involved.
“The teachers are definitely trying to figure out what’s going on,” said Griemann. “Some are having luck and some are struggling with it.”
“I think they’re doing a lot of trial and error,” said Griemann. “They’re still trying to figure it out.”
“Obviously they can’t give us the same tests, but they’re going to give us a bunch of online quizzes and open book tests.”
“They always say they’re going to take the work into account for marking, but there’s no specific plan yet I don’t think,” said Griemann. “I think they’re doing the best that they can do, given the situation.’
For the students who didn’t opt to stay on track with their courses, it could be tough when they return.
“I think they’ll take it a bit slower, but I don’t know if they’ll feel bad for you if you didn’t decide to stay with the schooling,” said Griemann. “It’s going to be beneficial to the people who are trying to stay on pace and learn.”
“This is very on you if you want to do it, but lots of kids are working full-time now,” said Griemann.
“It’s going to be tough for the kids who took their grades because they won’t be able to build off the knowledge they would have learned.”
One of the biggest changes is losing the daily interactions with teachers and fellow students at school.
“It’s kind of awkward because your schedule is completely changed without the structure,” said Griemann.
“When you can physically talk to somebody it’s definitely more impactful,” said Griemann. “FaceTime helps with that a lot.”
Despite not being able to interact in person, Griemann says there are options to get extra help or personal time with teachers if needed.
“We have Microsoft Teams where you can text your teachers a question,” said Griemann. “They also said they’re going to send us their hours for when they’re going to be available for questions”
“If we want, we can schedule a FaceTime with them to talk to them there if we have questions we’d prefer with a face-to-face conversation.”
Overall, it’s about making the best efforts in a bad situation that’s having an impact on everybody in the world.
“Lots of the courses I’m in now is notes and questions and it’s different, but it’s something,” said Griemann.
“They’re trying their best with the knowledge they’re giving us through teaching this way.”
Jaedyn Moore
Another McNaughton High School student, Jaedyn Moore, says it’s a strange situation with the adjustments.
“It’s interesting,” said Moore. “Normally for a normal school day, you get up, you get dressed and get ready for the day and now it’s kind of weird because you just wake up and open your laptop.”
The programs the school is using to keep students as communicative with their teachers as possible have been helpful, but it’s still a huge change.
“Microsoft Teams makes it quite easy to stay connected,” said Moore. “We have group calls and the teachers kind of just lecture and we can ask questions.”
“It’s changed the whole dynamic, though, because it’s a different experience when you get to be face-to-face and interact with each other.”
“It’s probably only three or four hours per day this way compared to the normal seven with three hours of homework,” said Moore.
Even with the effectiveness of the online programming, it’s not the same as physically being in school.
“In the high level sciences and maths its kind of difficult when you’re supposed to be doing labs and looking at diagrams to grasp some of the concepts,” said Moore.
“Mainly they post notes and you can copy them down and we go through them on a video chat and then there’s a quiz to check your understanding.”
Despite being able to take grades as is, Moore says it’s all about being prepared for the future when Covid-19 ends.
“In the sciences, there are courses you’ll need to grasp courses for the following year,” said Moore. “And courses are already so jam-packed they won’t have time to go back over them next year.”
“It’s really important that you learn this stuff this year so you can succeed in future years.”
“Even if you’re going into university, there are courses you’re going to need this year as the foundations to understand the university class,” said Moore.
With teachers being thrown into this on the fly, they’ve done a good job of adjusting given the circumstances.
“The teachers are really being optimistic and encouraging us,” said Moore. “It’s good to see that kind of leadership to know we can still make things work.”
“They’re always open to emails and there’s a chat room to keep in touch. They really want us to keep learning. They care about us.”
“They’ve done a really good job motivating us,” said Moore.
