Tips and Tricks for Surviving Virtual Learning
What the experts at CHS have to teach you - By Zabrina Chant
![]() HAVE you been falling behind on your classes online? Do you feel stressed and don’t know where to go for help? I can help you! There’s a few different resources that are still available even virtually!! Here’s some advice from some people in our school.
Mary Peeling is a guidance counsellor at Canterbury has 5 tips for learning virtually. To make learning virtually easier for students they need to:
"If you want to talk to someone other than your guidance counselor you can call helplines or the service bureau," Mrs. Peeling said. "Everything you say is confidential unless it’s harming yourself or others.” But if you are having troubles in a certain subject almost every day the department leaders have a google meet for anyone that needs help between 2-3pm. "Ask your teachers if you don’t have the class code for the google help meets," Mrs. Peeling said. According to Mrs Peeling “all grades are struggling with learning virtually vs in person but it depends on the students themselves. Someone who is normally struggling in a class in person is struggling way more now that it’s virtual. Some students have increased their grades because the students that would miss school before don’t miss school and they are completing work on time.” Christos Pantieras is a visual art teacher at Canterbury. Mr. Pantieras has advice for people who are struggling with classes, the pros and cons of learning virtually in art, and how learning virtually has affected his teaching. His advice to everyone is:
Mr Pantieras elaborated on the subject. “Learning art virtually has made my students pay better attention in class, the pace is good all students are keeping up with their work, students have become a huge reminder for me and they treat me like a person when I forget to record a lesson or miss something, students are more encouraging towards each other and they have all become super supportive." |
"Learning art virtually has many pros and cons and it has become easier for some and harder (for others.)" - Christos Pantieras He explains “teaching art virtually is definitely different than in person teaching. If the school year started online it would’ve been easier because then we could’ve prepared art baskets for students at home. I have to think about how to do lessons online and also think about how to keep the students engaged and interested. Student engagement has become harder and it’s harder to see how people like the work I planned. Preparation is different and I have to think about what materials students have. I embrace social media platforms like google classroom. My skills have increased and I’ve learned more things I can use to make my teaching better for students.”
Guidance counselor Kelly Carlson has some advice for learning virtually. To make school easier for students they need to:
"Not all grades are affected the same," Mrs. Carlson said. "It depends on the type of learner the student is. There is no clear answer to who is affected more when some students have IEPs or learning disabilities and not everyone learns the same way." Amariah Delgado is a grade 10 at Canterbury and she expresses how she feels about learning virtually. “I find virtual learning more difficult than in person because there is no set schedule and I have a harder time waking up in the mornings, in person learning makes me motivated to get up in the mornings and physically go to school,” Amariah explained. “I like how the teachers don’t randomly pick on students to answer questions or to read things out loud, I’ve become comfortable with asking questions on a meet vs in person," she said. "I don’t like learning virtually because there’s less motivation for me to do my work compared to when you’re actually in school.” How do you feel about learning virtually, I asked her. “It’s definitely a lot easier to just wake up and join a call but distractions are the real issues because I have siblings and family that visit often which causes the internet to freeze up” Amariah replied. If you were stressed learning virtually and didn’t know where to go to be able to talk to someone now you’ve learned everyone is here to help you and want to make learning virtually easier for you. Remember all the tips and places you can go to get help so school is successful! |