Virtual school has been taken seriously with the dreadful presence of COVID-19, and we have to make fair use of the time when it comes to school. I shall share my viewpoint of virtual learning. There are many vital things to consider, like communication and academic performance. I will talk about three advantages and three disadvantages of virtual school to represent the overall viewpoint. Advantage #1: Efficiency of doing virtual assignmentsVirtual school has a special freedom in doing academic tasks, which is absent in regular school. In virtual school, I can do homework early and can easily work on major projects because of this freedom. The freedom is that virtual students can access assignments with ease at almost anytime because of the assignments being almost entirely digital. This freedom results in more efficiency and comfort in doing tasks, giving you an advantage in school. Advantage #2: Flexibility of virtual school Flexibility is very high in virtual school for me, of course. I have an X-Period (Extra Period) at my school that is usually very restricted in regular school. However, virtual students like me do not have to attend anything during these 40 minutes, and it, therefore, can be considered as free time. Although virtual students can catch up on academic assignments at this time, this is not really an “advantage” of virtual learning. The reason is that regular students have the same ability to do so in X-Period. To explain more about this useful flexibility, I can also leave classes early sometimes when I finish my classwork before the end of them. Being able to do this results in more free time that I can use. Overall, flexibility can really help in many things. Advantage #3: More opportunities outside virtual school I can save a lot of time as a virtual student, leading to more opportunities outside of school. Regular students would have to get home after school, which can take increased time due to things like transportation. On the other hand, I can just jump out of my chair and move on with the day with tremendous ease as a virtual student. I have time saved for things like music class preparation, sports, and hobbies. Overall, virtual learning is comfortable and time-saving. Disadvantage #1: Being “school-sick” as a virtual learner If you are a virtual student, you eventually will be “school-sick” as time goes. Let me explain what being school-sick basically means. If you were a regular student before being a virtual one, you would have no problem at the start of virtual school as you are adapting to it leisurely. As time grows, within 3-4 weeks, you will suddenly miss regular school and its fun qualities like talking to friends at lunch. This is normal, as traditional or regular school has been the only type of school decades before. Nonetheless, you will not be motivated to be the same person you were in regular school as a virtual student because of this “school-sick” feeling that lingers for a long time. Disadvantage #2: An unpredictable workload of virtual tasks I explained the comfort and efficiency of doing virtual assignments earlier. Still, there is, of course, a bad side to it. It is the actual work you do to maintain that efficiency and advantage. Regular students have unique guidance when doing assignments, but virtual students don’t have that guidance. This virtual workload is “unpredictable” because of the projects, homework, and other things piling up at unexpected times. Virtual work can increase stress for you and can even affect your academic performance and grades if you don’t keep up with it. Disadvantage #3: Virtual school’s effects on your health Virtual school can also impact your health negatively. Screen time is one of these negative factors that come in when you are learning virtually. You have to look at a screen almost all the time as school passes each day. If you think of the duration of school, which is nearly 6 hours and 30 minutes for me, the bad things of screen time will almost certainly come to virtual learners. One of these things is that excessive screen time will stress your mind and negatively influence you. Another significant negative factor is that your physical health will be degraded while being a virtual student. As regular students walk around the halls to their classes and carry materials, you would not do this as a virtual learner. My Physical Education class alone has only video workouts instead of engaging sports, instructed exercises, and group interaction that is usually there in regular school. This lack is due to the technical difficulties of having a Physical Education class virtually. All of this makes you less motivated to do physical things, and your physical skills will drop as time goes by when being a virtual learner. Your overall health can be hugely impacted by being a virtual learner, which is really bad, especially for children. My viewpoint on virtual school overall is pretty balanced in terms of advantages and disadvantages. The ultimate thing to advise to virtual students is that virtual learning can be hard or easy for you depending on how you figure it out and use it in your academic and daily lives. I do things like setting up my room and changing it in different ways to make virtual school more enjoyable. You can do far more things to power through virtual school, like having a journal to write in or exercising for your better health during the current pandemic. Hopefully, this article can help you in this current situation.
COVID-19
Going Viral, a short story by Ender Ippolito, 9
Ender Ippolito, 9, Portland, OR Going Viral Ender Ippolito, 9 Hello, my name is Sam Flu. You might not know me personally, but I’m pretty sure you know my kind. Right now I am going to school. I am on the school bus (water droplet) with my best friend Eric Coronavirus and his buddy Meg Polio. Eric is very nice and likes to be mischievous. Meg likes to eat protein. She gets 14 extra servings at lunch. She is pretty but not nice. I don’t like her. She also likes Eric, I mean likes. We are buckled up in the middle of the water droplet. Inside the droplet we feel safe and protected by an impeccable force field. The inside of the bus is completely clear and transparent, which is why we can see that we’re heading towards a cut in the human’s belly button to enter the body. Our destination is Third Grade A, Room 9, which is a mucous cell in the small intestine. Once we go through the skin, it becomes very dark. We bounce and bob in the body fluids and head to Room 9. The bus parks right next to our classroom. We climb off and squeeze through small holes in the cell membrane to get inside the cell. We realize immediately something is wrong. “No one is here,” I say to Eric. I look around the room at the teacher’s desk, located at the nucleus, and his chair that’s empty. “Maybe it’s a surprise party,” Eric answers. “Are you sure?” Meg asks. “Nope.” He shrugs. “Oh no!” I exclaim when I see the clock shows 7:00am not 8:00am. We are early, very early. No one else is here. Only the three of us. We sit down on centrosome chairs and look around at the walls that are covered in last year’s paintings. Most of them show circular art – a picture with circles glued on to it. But there’s also a copy of a really, really ancient painting with viruses attacking cells. It always makes me so happy and proud when I see that picture. Next to that picture is a poster of all the class rules: In a matter of seconds, Eric starts to tap noisily on his desk. I give him a look that means “cut it out.” Eric gives me the “do you know what I am thinking?” face. I know what he wants to do; he wants to break rules. The only question is which ones and how many. “Well we cou—,” Eric starts to say. “Don’t even think about it,” I interrupt. “Why not? No one is here,” Eric says. “Just because nobody’s here doesn’t mean we should break the rules!” I sigh. “I agree with Eric,” Meg says. “See, I told you!” Eric says. I ignore Meg. I’ve never liked her and wish Eric felt the same. “Let’s leave out Mr. Goody-Goody. Which rules should we break Eric?” Meg says and grins at him. I groan. “Fine! I’ll do it. Just as long as it doesn’t include making a mess,” I say, not wanting to be left out. “I want to infect cells! Let’s do that!” Meg jumps up and spins around in the cytoplasm. “Ummm, well I guess we could do that, but is it fun enough?” Eric says. “I think it’s too much fun,” I warn. Why couldn’t she have picked an easier rule to break? “Just enough fun,” Meg says. Eric nods. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say. “Stop wasting time. It’s already 7:20!” Meg skips to a doorway. “Two out of three so we are going to infect cells.” Meg smirks at us. “Follow me.” We squeeze out of the mucous cell through the gaps in the membrane and enter a different mucous cell that has not been inhabited or infected by our Virus School District. Immediately after we enter, an alarm sounds. “What is that?” Meg screams and hides behind Eric. “Go back! Go back to the classroom!” I yell and we quickly slide out of the cell into the tissue fluid. An army of white blood cells are waiting for us, blocking our path to our classroom. There are hundreds of white blood cells waiting to attack. They look like a twenty-foot thick crowd of round white jelly blobs. They also look mad and have tanks with ammo. The alarm gets louder. “This is your fault,” I say to Meg. “Me? Why me?” “This human probably had a polio vaccine.” “It could be your fault then. Flu shot,” she huffs. I know that Meg knows she is screwed if she can’t get back into the safety of our classroom. She will not survive if she stays out in the tissue fluid. Eric, on the other hand, is likely safe from the white blood cells. Vaccines for Covid are not common yet. And me? I have a 50% chance depending on if this kid had the Flu shot already. I’m hoping he didn’t. White blood cells march toward Meg, ignoring Eric and me. Alright, lucky for me and Eric the kid only got the polio vaccine. Of course, not so lucky for Meg. She runs away, darting behind other cells. She finally lands on a blood cell and tries to hide on it. But the white blood cells recognize her. They’ve been trained by the vaccine to spot polios. She’s surrounded and Eric and I watch the white blood cells put antibody ammo into guns. Guns raised, they start shooting at her. She’s dodging, but I know Meg can’t dodge the antibodies forever. “Sam, we need to help Meg,” Eric says. He rushes in before I can stop him. I wait because I don’t want to help her. It’s her fault we’re in this mess. But when the white blood cells go after Eric, I know I have to help him. He’s my best friend and he’s in trouble. I see another mucous cell drift by and race inside
2020, a poem by Eden George, 10
Eden George, 10, Brooklyn, NY 2020 Eden George, 10 2020 was supposed to be our year It was the year guaranteed to make us all cheer What’s this we hear? Coronavirus- nothing to fear Kobe’s death, what could be worse? Throughout the world armies did disperse Confirmed alien sightings, we’re not alone in this universe Words of warning from my mother the nurse Rumors of schools closing Many of us are supposing Masks, they are imposing Still no mandate for enclosing Now attending school with a click Getting sick What a trick I really hope this is over quick Birthday parties over Zoom My grandma’s death I thought did loom Prayers to avoid impending doom I wonder will this all end soon Today is the eleventh-twentieth day of Junetober Man, when is this craziness going to be over? I have way too much toilet paper; wait what, now I’m a hoarder? Showing my passport just to cross the New York to New Jersey border Fireworks light up the nighttime sky I thought this was reserved for the 4th of July Is this a celebration, or are we all about to die? What, murder hornets – now I’m really gonna cry If I go on another hike This is the year I really learned to ride a bike Thankfully, the beach I also do like I’m hearing the teachers are about to strike George Floyd and Breonna Taylor Black Lives Matter, votes by mailer It’s time to start thinking about the 2020 movie trailer Worried about not going back to school and whether or not I’ll be a failure Social distancing is still a thing Halloween candy dangled on a string I dressed up this year as a mask wearing King To the virtual costume party, what should I bring? I’m thankful for the essential workers Doctors, nurses, and those who flip burgers Supermarket cashiers and restaurant servers First responders, teachers, and medical researchers 2021 will soon appear Rest in peace to those no longer here Vaccination very near Extremely happy to close this year!
