“I actually like home-schooling more than in-person.”
I heard this exact sentiment, if not the exact words, from students in at least four different classes this week. All of them were the oldest students, equivalent to our high school seniors who are often called Maturanten because in the final year they are preparing to take the Matura, the university entrance exam. We learned on Wednesday that many of the lockdown rules and regulations of the past month will stay in place for December—the 8 p.m. curfew will continue; bars, cafes, and restaurants will be open for take-out only; museums and other cultural venues will stay closed; and most detrimentally, in my opinion, Christmas markets will not be allowed to open, eliminating one of the only things to look forward to during the months of 4 p.m. sunsets—but I guess the government thought students, especially the university-bound students, were falling behind because of remote learning and threatening their graduation prospects. and that they would get more out of in-person classes. They are slated to return to in-person classes next week.
It seems my students, however, would strongly disagree with the government’s assessment. There seemed to be near unanimous agreement in the classes I asked this week that, contrary to (what I perceived to be) popular opinion, online class wasn’t so bad. Or, at least, they liked it more than in-person school. Which may just be an indictment of school in general: some students complained that in school they just have to sit there for hours, not doing anything, and at least with online school, they have fewer hours of class each week, and they get to do it from the comfort of their bedrooms, maybe without even having to interact with anyone else if their teacher doesn’t force them to turn on their cameras. Similarly, others liked that their schedule was more flexible; with fewer hours spent in class, they had more time to do their assignments, which teachers have made longer and more numerous, according to the students. Yet others lamented the fact that they would have to go back to their pre-lockdown routines, some waking up before 6 a.m. in order to drive an hour to get to school by 8 a.m. Others are questioning the logic of bringing some students back for only about two-and-a-half weeks until the Christmas break. Yes, they are stressed about their grades, but don’t think going back to in-person will help because, really, who can be expected to anything their best as we come up on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic. Their reasons for being annoyed about the news are multiple, and I feel bad for them.
I was really surprised, and a bit sad, to hear so many of my students be so bummed to be going back to in-person classes. I personally hit a bit of a lockdown wall this week, fully appreciating for the first time the mind-numbingness of not leaving one’s room for hours on end simply because there is nowhere else to go. I, for one, am looking forward to leaving my room with a greater purpose than going to the grocery store.
But in solidarity with my students, I’m going to try to make it my mission for these next two and a half weeks to make those in-person classes less horrible for them. Of course I’ll still try to teach something, but the lesson format of PowerPoint-YouTube video-vocabulary activity-discussion questions doesn’t work so well after a while. Plus it does just get boring, for them and for me, too. As long as I get them to talk, I’ll consider it a successful lesson, and there are other ways to get them to talk. Maybe I’ll just play games or let them debate something. I’d love to do a Hanukkah lesson, since I’m not sure any of them have ever met a Jewish person before me, and thought it would be so fun to play dreidel with them, COVID-classroom guidelines permitting. (If they won’t permit it/if I can’t find a dreidel, anyone know of an online dreidel game?)
So, clearly, while the content of my classes this week didn’t necessarily spark any insights into American culture in the way I’ve come to expect and then relate to you all in this newsletter as I have in weeks past, the tangential discussions about the return to in-person classes did prompt some reflection on my role as a teaching assistant and how best I can help these students, burned out and tired by simply existing in this world right now.
My Week, otherwise
My Week, otherwise, was pretty uneventful. Probably the most exciting thing that happened was that it snowed on Thursday! And I do actually get so excited, like a child, when the first snow falls. I went for a long walk in the park with some friends to enjoy it.
If this week’s newsletter seems fairly short, that’s because, especially compared to last week, I don’t have much to report. I didn’t even cook that much, still recovering, I guess, from last week’s marathon. One thing that I am slightly ashamed to share how many times I made it this week because I liked it so much is this smoothie, which I saw on Instagram and then I immediately went out to buy a squash. To roast, for a smoothie that I would eat the following morning.
Here’s to next week offering us something more than a squash smoothie.
Bis dann (Until then),
Emily