By JAMES BARR
Since the breakout of COVID-19 many schools have shutdown and have been going to school virtually or part-time. For Kooper Nicolai, a 7th grader at Hamburg Elementary School , virtual learning in the age of Covid-19 has him taking his classes in the cafeteria until 12:30 in the afternoon then the students get sent home and finish the day online.
Kooper is among the thousand of New Jersey students who are learning under a hybrid model both in school and remotely at home. Many students struggle with learning from due to problems ranging from internet issues to not being able to sit still in front of their computer.
“It get’s very distracting in the cafeteria with the lunch lady’s banging on everything,” Kooper explained.
According to the US Census Bureau, in August of 2020 about 93 percent of households with children have reported some kind of socially distanced learning. Many children seem to prefer this new method of learning, but for students who learn in a more hands on way, they seem to have more of struggle learning through a webcam.
At the end of their day, the students get a take-home lunch, so while the classes are going the cafeteria employees still have to do their work. Kooper seems to have adapted to this way classes in the cafeteria until 12:30 in the afternoon then the students get sent home and finish the day online.
Although the desks are separated six feet apart, Kooper and his friends still find ways to socialize and have a good time within the cafeteria, and even in their online classroom. The students have been provided laptops by the school, which they now use for just about everything. In and out of the classroom, the students have been taking notes, tests, quizzes, and even completing worksheets on these laptops.
Many students attending the middle school have been allowed to go remote 100 percent. Kiera, a 6th grader at the elementary school started with a full class of 50 students, which is considered large for the school, has dropped to about 16 students in their new make-shift classroom in remote instruction mode.
But, this creates a challenge for the teachers. The children’s mother, Shannon Nicolai, 50, explained that the teachers at Hamburg Elementary have to teach the students in the classroom while simultaneously teaching the remote students.
According to educationassociates.org, hands on learning does increase a students performance and motivation and even retention, in order to help students who need this way of education the school offers an after school tutoring program. But, there is at most only two teachers there to help and they are really only there to help with homework, not teaching the lesson.
Kooper and Kiera’s older brother, Kaiden,14 is a freshman at a Sussex County Technical School studying welding. Kaiden’s day at school is much different than his younger siblings; he attends full days and changes classrooms. His school week is interchanging from two days in the classroom and three online, then the next week he is in classrooms for three days and online for two.
Not only is Kaiden a hands on learner, but welding itself is a skill that involves hours of practice, and without the equipment there is no way for him and his fellow students to really learn the skill that goes into welding.
The high school he attends does offer a way to keep students in the classrooms all day, for which Kaiden is currently on waiting list. They also offer an after school tutoring, but it’s the same as the middle school.
There are still many educational questions about hybrid learning setups. Even though these students are being helped with completing their homework, are they retaining the information? How are teachers who teach math all day, for example, supposed to help a 14 year old understand a welding lesson?
Students and teachers are both struggling in this climate, and no one has an answer to this problem.
Connecting 100,000 CPS children to free internet allows us to help our young people reach their full potential. Tens of thousands of students have already received free high-speed internet through #ChicagoConnected. Check your eligibility: https://t.co/EtMI1BzAO7 pic.twitter.com/hnPEaO14YZ
— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) November 29, 2020
I enjoyed how you focused on one family — there are many different perspectives just within those children. You could definitely use more direct quotes from your sources.
Your anecdotal lead is very nice! If anything, I would allude to the fact that you’re covering one family in that lead. To me, this reads as a great feature on a family dealing with COVID-19 schooling that is supported by statistics and questions about the effects of online learning. It’s a great topic — just needs some classic news editing to tidy it up.
The reporting in this story was very well done. It’s easy to understand what the students’ typical school day looks like, and the quotes from the kids themselves help readers get an idea of how they feel about this new system. Also, the inclusion of data from the Census and the statistic about hands-on learning are relevant and add to the overall storytelling. Great story!
I thought this story brought a very unique perspective to the table with how you interviewed an actual 7th grader to get his perspective on remote learning as a student. Most stories that I see on this subject in the news are only concerned with getting the story from teachers, parents and administrators so this was a fresh take.
Rather than just plainly giving out all the facts/information, I really like the focus of the family dealing with different ways of teaching/learning. There are plenty of families around the country dealing with the the struggles of the current learning ways, whether it be teaching online/in-person or learning online/in-person.
I think the organization of the piece was good. It opened with the main issue and then showed the perspective of the students, so you really got a first-hand look at the issues behind the visual learning. He did a good job proving his claim.