We are finishing up week five — starting on week six — of school. For some, that is hybrid learning; for others, it’s completely remote learning. 

It should be normal — tests, quizzes, notes, study guides and assignments. We all should be used to this as we have been in school for quite some time now. However, at this point in time, it almost seems to be too much. 

When we switched to online mid-second semester (after spring break), it was quite a change. I was definitely thrown off by doing everything online instead of having physical copies of papers. We used Canvas for all of our assignments and quizzes. The workload, however, seemed to be stacking up. I was doing seven classes in one week, each having different content. One class would have an entire note guide to fill out and a weekly reflection of how life was under COVID-19 guidelines, and another would have two assignments and a quiz to take, all to be done that week. Each class had a minimum of three things to do each week and the due dates were not like the ones we have now. They were due on Wednesday or Friday; rarely were any due on Sunday.

Many people talked about how they learned nothing while doing online for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, and it’s understandable why students were overwhelmed when the switch happened due to the pandemic.

Now, it seems as if we have more work online than we did when we were physically in school. 

We were first introduced to learning logs, and many complained about how hard it was to get the six and a half hours that were required by the state. It was simply just about getting the logs filled out. However, that doesn’t mean we really learned the material. Now, with the learning logs out, the lack of understanding the material didn’t truly change.

The material is given to us, and we are to complete all the tasks, and then, for some, take a quiz over it. The deadlines are what throw people off, and it has thrown me off as well. 

In my case, I have a class where we go over two different lessons, and then take a quiz over it. The only practice we have of the material is in the note packet, and it’s typically a page or two at most. In this class specifically, we aren’t assigned homework, so there isn’t much preparation for the quizzes we take. 

There is a lot of work to be done in a single week, and the stress levels are increasing amongst students and teachers alike. It’s not so much about understanding the material and getting time to practice it, but rather taking notes on two different lessons and taking a quiz each week. 

There isn’t enough time to properly comprehend information, especially if we are taking seven different classes to try and focus and balance all of them at once. It doesn’t help that some teachers are throwing in last minute assignments that are created and due on the same day.

Instead of being taught by teachers, we are teaching ourselves. We are being handed assignments and expected to finish it by a certain date. It doesn’t feel like we are learning anymore, we are just simply trying to meet those due dates so we can at least say we turned in the assignment on time.

Some of my close friends have expressed concerns, similar to mine about how they don’t feel they are learning anything, just simply filling out the note guides or sheets and then turning them in when it’s due.

Classes do conflict sometimes, where you need to work on one, but another is of higher priority, and that is affecting the overall quality of the work done.

The state controls many parameters regarding school days and funding. However, the curriculum is up to teachers, and many are pushing to fill each week with an absurd amount of work, with due dates that allow students no time to even understand half of the lesson.

The mental health of students is being affected by all the workload, and it’s going to make their grades suffer.

There needs to ultimately be some change to the week that students see for school. We need to be taught, instead of being given empty content. Distributing assignments better and not having students taking a quiz each week, which does affect our grade substantially, would work for schedules that students have outside of school. 

Contrary to popular belief, some of us aren’t glued to our devices, and we do have a life outside of spending endless hours on getting school work done.

It’s something to think about, especially when a student is taking 10 or more hours to get all of this work that was handed out in a single week done.