by Tala Kamil | staff writer

This academic year, students had the option to either join Zoom classes, be asynchronous, or go back to learning in-person. 

“When this year started, I never expected any of what was going to happen. I thought that the idea of being on Zoom and learning virtually was quite silly; but honestly, I started the hang of it pretty fast,” senior Ian Cantu said.

However, it hasn’t made the learning process much easier. 

“To be honest, I don’t think that virtual learning has helped extend my knowledge on things any further. Being on Zoom all the time made the whole studying situation so different for me to the point where I never actually learned anything,” senior Evan Atkission said.

Algebra teacher Margot Arnold believes that there are two types of students on zoom.

“There are students who log in to zoom and participate and some who don’t,” Arnold said. “ It is easy to identify these non-participating students as they do not answer questions that I ask them verbally or in the private chat and/or they turn their camera’s off.”

Those who participated this academic year were more successful. 

“For the students who did participate, this year was not ideal but I believe that many of these students were very successful and are ready for their next course,” Arnold said.

According to Cantu, Zoom classes require effort.

“I feel like having the motivation to actually wake up and study virtually is hard. I used to be excited to go meet my friends in class and do work together,” Cantu said. “I am fully aware of the options we have but not everyone feels safe to go back to school just yet,” 

Being on Zoom has also made student-teacher connections harder.

“I think the worst part of this year is having not made a connection with my students. Hopefully we will be teaching only face-to-face in the classroom next year,” Arnold said.