Now that two weeks of in-person schooling have gone by, the students who are back in person at Edison now have a good idea of how things work. As a result, I decided to ask a few students about how the last two weeks have been for them, and how things could be for the better. The following are the questions that were asked, and the responses by the students. The students that were asked questions were all juniors. 

Question 1: After two weeks of experience with in-person hybrid classes, do you prefer hybrid classes or online school?  

Student 1: “I prefer hybrid classes except for AP US History.” The student said that they prefer how interactive in-person classes are, but AP US History has largely remained the same and the student finds the class to be boring or repetitive.  On the plus side, “the good things are being able to see other students and getting to talk and joke around with them.”  

Student 2: “I don’t have a preference, but it feels good to be at school for two days a week. It allows me to get out of the house.”  

Student 3: “I prefer hybrid classes because I am allowed a quiet and peaceful environment at school to do all my work with minimal distractions, something not available at home. And along with the environment, I get the opportunity to interact with teachers and students alike. It also offers little bit of a return to normality for us students.” 

Question 2: What things would you change about in-person hybrid school, if you could? 

Student 1: This person said that they would like to see changes to the bus schedule, as the bus drops them off to school at 7:10 AM, even though school starts at 9:00 AM. They also say that the afternoon bus gets to school very late on Fridays, with the buses getting to school at around 3:30 PM, even though school ends at 2:00 PM. 

Student 2: This person said that they would like more students in the classrooms, because some classes only have 3-4 students at a time, and this can get awkward in class sometimes. 

Student 3: This student thinks that hybrid learning is fine as of right now, and they wouldn’t change anything. 

Question 3: Now that you have experienced in-person school, what is one thing online school can improve on? 

Student 1: “Teachers should make the class more fun, so students won’t get distracted as there is a big problem of students joining class but then not paying attention.” 

Student 2: “They should improve their learning platform and make things a little more engaging” By improving the learning platform, the student means that there should be better alternatives to Teams that have more student engagement. 

Student 3: “As for my experience, all my teachers have done a good job at involving their online students along with their in-person students in their classroom activities. I don’t have any improvement recommendations for online classes.” 

Question 4: Do you find in-person classes to be more difficult or easier than online classes? 

Student 1: “In–person schooling is easier and more fun because the teachers make sure you get the subject and can use your reactions to see if they are teaching well.” 

Student 2: “In-person classes are easier because if I have a question, the teacher is right there to answer it and they interact with you more if you are in-person in comparison to online class.” 

Student 3: “No, my classes are equally difficult as they are easy. It doesn’t depend on whether the class is in-person or online, rather it depends on the amount of effort that I put in.” 

As you can see, the answers may vary from student to student, but they have common ground in some areas. For example, two of the students say that in-person schooling is easier, while the other sees no difference in difficulty. Likewise, two of the students prefer in-person schooling over online schooling, while one student has no preference. Other answers might vary due to the circumstances of the student. For example, the issue with the bus schedule is probably not a concern for the other two students because they don’t take the bus.