Covid greatly impacted students and teachers alike, how did it impact them before and after?

“COVID happened so fast, the transition was a lot and definitely took some time to get used to,” Logan DeChaine (‘23) said.

        COVID-19 substantially impacted students and teachers alike. For some students it improved their grades, for others it was detrimental.

COVID ruined plans for families and negatively affected mental health due to not being able to go out of the house.

“During online school, my grades were actually better, There were fewer tests and teachers were more lenient,” DeChaine said.

Students had less homework and didn’t have to worry about big tests, leading to improved grades. 

  The exposure to distractions at home proved an issue for students during online classes, although they didn’t have to worry about lots of work there were at-home issues and students may have had to help at home during school hours.

“During online school, it was hard to focus with the constant distractions of my phone and video games without the pressure of being in trouble for it,” DeChaine said.

With the possibility of teachers grading with more lenience, students did not always put forth their best effort.

“Once Covid was over my grades were actually better than before,” DeChaine said.

 Online school was all about independence,  staying on top of work and asking questions ensured that students wouldn’t fall behind.

       Students were not the only ones affected by Covid, teachers also had to improvise their lesson plans and figure out how to use previously foreign technology like Google Classroom.

 “COVID affected my teaching dramatically, it shifted everything from an in-person physical format to a completely digital realm,” AGHS teacher Brandon Sligh said. 

Teachers were forced to completely change their teaching format. In Sligh’s case, using 3D printers and similar in-person machinery, having to figure out how to teach his students differently.

Sligh’s product design class is very hands-on, so as a result, switching to an online format was difficult. 

        Students during COVID had to get used to the online environment and learn how to use new websites and formats, Google Classroom and online meeting services were used throughout distance learning.

“Because of the changes with teaching I got to experiment with a variety of different instruction methods, some I found to be more effective than others and I stuck with what worked, because of that diversity my students got to excel,” Sligh said. Teachers got to learn new ways to teach and bring these methods to their teaching even after COVID.

       “Because Covid allowed me to try new things and branch out some things I still stick with now and students are more independent, it was another change so it wasn’t hard to bounce back after Covid.” 

      Aaron Sue, a teacher at AGHS says “Fortunately many of the things I do in the classroom could be adapted to distance learning,” Sue said. Teachers were prepared and could adapt to distance learning.

      “My main thing is that I wanted to keep the personal interaction with my students so I chose to do all my lectures live.” An important part of school is social communication with other peers and teachers, th

is necessary to grow as a person and educationally as a student.

       “I was impressed that most students were making a conscious effort to learn, I was worried when I asked a question but fortunately most would chime in with a response,” Said Sue.

With online classes obviously came worries like students not participating or caring about class but fortunately in Sue’s case his students were very cooperative. 

       “I feel that students tried their best in a tough situation, it’s not easy to sit and learn in front of a computer all day, there is so much missed in a live classroom setting,” Sue said.

       Learning through a screen at home can be tedious and challenging, especially with the distractions from home. When COVID ended, students had to relearn material because of the amount they missed or didn’t learn during online school.

        “Students did much worse. It’s not the fault of the students or teachers, it was a tough situation for learning. It’s difficult right now because everyone is still trying to adapt to what was missed,” Sue said. The change to distance learning took time to adapt to for students.

Although Covid isn’t as prominent of an issue as it was a few years ago, it still has spread its effects on students. Some were set back due to online learning, but COVID also educated students and teachers alike on how to better use technology for modern learning.