Michaela Da Silva / Staff reporter
Come Thanksgiving, Gleneagle students will have been in school for one month, adjusting to an alternative schedule. Kathryn Matheson and Grace Tognotti, grade 11, were interviewed to gather their thoughts on the new system and any changes they would make.
For secondary students, the learning model follows two main blocks, and X and Y blocks throughout a yearly quarter system, broken up with two to three classes per quarter. Every 20-22 days following a hybrid system, students switch their learning cohorts between morning and afternoon to a new, larger group of students while maintaining the same quarterly subjects.
The purpose of these interviews was to formulate questions that would provide personal, informative information about how students feel about the new normal. It was interesting to see the varying answers from both Matheson and Tognotti, as well as the passion they both showed on the topic of student wellbeing and juggling schedules with the new system.
“I think the quarterly system is working well and is good temporarily based on the spontaneous adjustments made by teachers and admin. However, I strongly dislike how long the classes are and I feel as though students our age aren’t necessarily adjusted to college-length classes.” Says Matheson, when asked how the quarterly schedule was working with her learning styles.
When asked the same question, Tognotti said she is quite fond of this system because it allows her to “focus on less classes and understand concepts better when [she] has only two or three on the go”
They were asked a few more questions related to how they are dealing with issues and obstacles related to juggling and focusing on classes. Lastly, the questions narrowed in on the future and what either student thought about where learning will lead in the light of pandemic learning.
“The interesting thing with the pandemic is that no one really knows what’s going to happen next. I hope we can go back to in-class learning, but I understand that to stay safe we may not have that option,” says Tognotti.
“I see us doing this for the rest of the year. There has already been some other exposures at other schools and it is just a matter of time before we might have to quarantine due to too many exposures.” Says Matheson.