D'Angelo Duarte, Reporter

Israel Cortez, Reporter

Ashley Calix Espinal, News Section Editor 

January 8, 2021

Virtual learning is very different from in-person learning in many ways; some people like those differences, and others don’t. We wanted to figure out teachers’ and students’ perspectives, opinions, and overall feelings for the whole situation. We interviewed one teacher and two students for this story: Mrs. Kelly Wu (6th grade Science teacher), D’Angelo Duarte (7th grade student), and Gabriela Romero (7th grade student).

​

Here is our interview with Mrs. Wu 

 

How has the pandemic affected your work environment, teaching, and lifestyle?

Wu: The pandemic has affected my work environment because I only enter the MPMS school building once or twice a month.  There are no students in my classroom physically and I don’t get to see my colleagues on a daily basis.  Therefore, all of my teaching is conducted in a 100% virtual learning environment.  This was an adjustment for me since I had to recreate a learning environment that consists of only distance learning.  I have been teaching for many years and my teaching has always been designed for in-person instruction not distance learning.  

​

The pandemic has affected my lifestyle in many ways.  For example, my family has developed new healthy habits.  We used to eat out at a restaurant but because of the pandemic restrictions, we usually get take-out or eat our meals at home.  If you are eating home cooked meals and eating out less then you save money and have improved body weight.  Another way it has impacted my lifestyle is it has forced me to have a more virtual existence, both personally and professionally.  For my birthday, we had a celebration with friends through Zoom instead of having them over to our home in-person.  

 

What are your thoughts on the whole matter?
Wu: I feel there are positives and negatives about the pandemic.  Some of the positives are that I value my relationships more now since I have to social distance.  Also, it has made me take a closer look at how I spend my time each day and reevaluate my goals in life.  Some of the negatives are that I had two relatives contract COVID.  I don’t want to lose any of my relatives to the pandemic, so that was scary for me but luckily my relatives will recover.  Another con from the pandemic is that a lot of people in the United States have lost their jobs.  Some of these jobs will take years to be available again or may never come back after the pandemic is over.  We are currently going through an economic recession because of the pandemic.  

 

How has your family taken the whole situation?
Wu: My family has been pretty positive about the whole situation and when you adopt that approach to it then you have a better chance of surviving a pandemic.  

​

Which do you prefer: real or online teaching and why?
Wu: There are pros and cons to both.  For me, I prefer real teaching.  It is how I was trained in my student teaching internship and I feel more comfortable with it.  I love seeing the smiling faces of my students each day.   However, I do like that I had to force myself to improve my technology skills through implementation of my virtual learning environment.  

 

What do you think are some of the good things about virtual learning?
Wu: Some good things about virtual learning include: saving money by not having to commute to work, starting school at 8:30 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m., flexibility where students can learn on their own schedule, it makes it easier to learn about the world, it helps to improve skills like technology skills and it eliminates the boundaries of the traditional classroom.  

 

What are some things you don’t like about virtual learning?
Wu: It is difficult to always provide the one-to-one support a student might need.  I don’t like that not all students have working wifi.  I don’t like the lack of in-person communication.  Students need to be able to socialize with their peers and with teachers to have meaningful connections.  The lack of in-person communication could hurt the mental health of students and the staff of MPMS.  

 

Here is our interview with D’Angelo Duarte and Gabriela Romero

 

How has the pandemic affected your lifestyle and work environment?
Duarte: It really hasn’t affected my lifestyle. My work environment did get harder while I was staying home and not moving a lot.

 

Romero: Not much; I still do the same things I did before the pandemic. 

 

What are your thoughts on the whole matter?
Duarte: We just need to go back to school as soon as possible so I can interact with people.

 

Romero: Some people need to take it a bit more seriously. 

 

How has your family taken the whole situation?
Duarte: They don’t think it’s really serious except my mom but I met people face-to-face without a mask and I haven’t got covid yet even at the gym people don’t wear a mask and they don’t have it.

 

Romero: My mom has taken it very seriously. 

Which do you prefer: real or online school and why?
Duarte: Real school, face-to-face. The reason why is because I get tired easily and more bored while I’m just sitting at my house not talking to anyone and not moving as much like I would at school.

 

Romero: In my opinion, online school because I feel like you have more time for other stuff as well.

 

 What do you think are some of the good things about virtual learning?
Duarte: The teachers don’t see what we are doing in our house, and they can’t say anything about us going to the bathroom or even having to ask to use it.

 

Romero:  It's like a new experience to do school from your house.

 

What are some things you don’t like about virtual learning?
Duarte: We don’t have anyone to really talk to or interact with.

 

Romero: Um I feel like I don’t learn as much.