Items

• 
  2022-05-26

  Relocation in Isolation, Reconnection in Solitude

  When Covid first kicked off, I was in the final months of my undergraduate degree, weeks away from obtaining my B.A. in history from CSU Stanislaus in December 2020. I had made plans to travel and work in Japan, teaching English, doing cultural work, and generally immersing myself into the culture I found so fascinating in my studies. However, the world's shutdown would put an end (or a pause) to this plan. Now working remotely from home, I stayed in my room working on my senior thesis, looking out the window to the often empty street. My family had decided to move, as we had decided years before but loose ends such as my degree were the final threads to be cut. Remote work had given us an unexpected leap in our time-frame, and so in the midst of the Paradise fires, to which I vividly remember the dark orange skies blotting out the sun and the ever present ashy, smoky stench on the air, carried by the warm breeze from the north, we began the process of transitioning our lives to be on the road, and to be resettled in northern Idaho. For the next year and a half or so we settled in to our new home, however the world was still largely in lock-down, and so I spent most of my time inside or in the basement where I had set up a study space to finish my senior thesis and to earn my degree through my last online semester. It was a self reflective and solitary time, in which I would often take many breaks to venture out my backdoor, which quite literally lead into the forest. Not fifty feet from my home, we have a circle of trees where we would eventually put a fire pit and often sit around together around the warmth on cold nights, talking and sharing fun with one another. When alone however, it serves as an incredible spot to simply sit back and become immersed into our natural world, an amenity I often take advantage of to this day while working on my M.A. through ASU's online program. This audio recording is a sample of that, and in it, you can hear the spring time birds chirping away, the low rumble of the highway just over the mountain, feel the breeze through the trees and the valleys from the lake, and imagine the smell of pine and flowers on the forest floor.
• 
  2020-12-08

  Teaching Middle and High School Virtually in the Pandemic

  I taught both middle and high school during the pandemic, which required virtual learning. I lived with a roommate and both of us couldn’t teach at the same time in the same room, so I taught exclusively from the floor of my walk-in closet. I sat on the floor of that 5’x3’ closet every work day for 9 months. The carpet was scratchy and my legs would often fall asleep from sitting in one place too long. I often woke up just before class started at 7:30AM and was groggy. Many of us ate breakfast during first period. The thing that bothered me most however was the silence. The only sound of class was me, talking. My lecture, my out loud readings for accommodated students, and my replies to students typing in the chat were the only things I heard for 5-6 hours of the day. There were none of the usually noises I associate with my job: idle chatter from every corner of the room, tapping of pencils, the pencil sharpener, a student blowing their nose, clicking of pens, hoody zippers, crinkling paper, students moving around in their chairs, chip bags opening, metal water bottles falling on the floor and a student yelling “foul” afterwards, occasional shouting, crying, and groaning. Students very rarely, if ever, turned on their cameras or mics to talk to me. I surely was isolated more than the average remote worker; yes, I talked all day, but it felt like it was talking to no one. I don’t have much tangible evidence to show from the pandemic. Frankly, I didn’t do anything noteworthy of documenting. The three pictures attached are from the beginning of the pandemic, around December 2020. Google Meets hadn’t quite caught up to some of their pitfalls technologically and teachers had to “kick out” each student manually, and when 7-10 of your students are AWOL, it can get tedious. I started to make up dumb games and sing songs to entertain myself, please enjoy my new line to the Oompa Loompa song. You can see that all the students are just icons—no faces, no voices. For reference, I have attached two videos of the end of the school year from before the pandemic. You can hear how loud the classroom is with all the students talking to each other, or playing games and dancing to music. After seeing these small clips, you can understand just how soul-destroying it was to teach to a bunch of digital circles who made no noise.
• 
  2022-05-20

  Online School Problems

  Having such a difficult school year before the pandemic hit, I initially couldn’t be more excited for this break from those all nighters. After getting the opportunity to recharge for a few weeks, finishing the school year was relatively easy. Summer flew by, and I soon realized that my entire junior year would be online as well. I quickly found the homogeneity to be unavoidable; I could sleep and attend school without moving more than a few feet. Each day was the same, a mechanical routine of jumping from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting. Countless students would log into these meetings for roll call, and simply tilt the camera at the ceiling fan as they went out with friends or took a nap. It was easy to think this situation was just an obstacle to get past, another building block for the vision I had put in place for the years after high school. For me, this vision was about college, building knowledge towards my future career, and compiling a worthy resume. However, there was no reason I couldn't give value to this time period, to give meaning to each day such that they didn’t all blend together. From the daily differences in curriculum to the unique interactions of each period, I found these minute contrasts to be more significant. Realizing the importance of being mindful, even when little to no dynamic quality existed, allowed me to continue furthering my studies and interests. Looking back now, during a time when I have gotten accepted to one of the best schools I could’ve ever asked for, I think about how difficult that year and a half was for me, and how much harder the situation was for many other individuals. Again, the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of mindfulness. Whether it be a triumph or a tragedy, these life events should not be skimmed over like a mountain or trough to pass through. They are all lessons in some form, pieces of knowledge that should be taken with thought.
• 
  2022-05-20

  Online School Problems

  Having such a difficult school year before the pandemic hit, I initially couldn’t be more excited for this break from those all nighters. After getting the opportunity to recharge for a few weeks, finishing the school year was relatively easy. Summer flew by, and I soon realized that my entire junior year would be online as well. I quickly found the homogeneity to be unavoidable; I could sleep and attend school without moving more than a few feet. Each day was the same, a mechanical routine of jumping from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting. Countless students would log into these meetings for roll call, and simply tilt the camera at the ceiling fan as they went out with friends or took a nap. It was easy to think this situation was just an obstacle to get past, another building block for the vision I had put in place for the years after high school. For me, this vision was about college, building knowledge towards my future career, and compiling a worthy resume. However, there was no reason I couldn't give value to this time period, to give meaning to each day such that they didn’t all blend together. From the daily differences in curriculum to the unique interactions of each period, I found these minute contrasts to be more significant. Realizing the importance of being mindful, even when little to no dynamic quality existed, allowed me to continue furthering my studies and interests. Looking back now, during a time when I have gotten accepted to one of the best schools I could’ve ever asked for, I think about how difficult that year and a half was for me, and how much harder the situation was for many other individuals. Again, the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of mindfulness. Whether it be a triumph or a tragedy, these life events should not be skimmed over like a mountain or trough to pass through. They are all lessons in some form, pieces of knowledge that should be taken with thought.
• 
  2020-03-10

  How the Covid-19 Pandemic Effected Me

  The Covid-19 pandemic affected me in numerous kinds of ways all trending to be negative. Most specifically the pandemic put a damper on my academic experience. When the pandemic spread to Michigan in March of 2020 and was highly infectious, learning in schools became extremely difficult for my classmates and me. Learning became online synchronous and the whole way of learning changed for everyone. For me, it was extremely difficult to adapt to completely online learning and instruction after being in classrooms for fifteen years of my life. After some time I was able to adapt and continue to be successful but for some of my classmates, the freedoms of online learning took a toll on their academic success. Luckily I stayed focused and put the task at hand to be the best student that I could possibly be. The rest of my high school experience was overwhelming and difficult as well due to the pandemic as the pandemic really never reduced during my time in high school. Regardless of the obstacles that I was faced with, I was able to persevere and place in the top thirty of my graduating class.
• 
  2022-02-01

  How I've dealt with COVID

  My feelings and how I've dealt with COVID and its restrictions
• 
  2021

  High School Yearbook in 2021

  Included is a picture of the page of a yearbook from the school that I work at for the 2021-2022 school year. This school year was very unique in that we started the year online. All classes were held virtually through Zoom from August to the end of September. At the end of September, students returned to school using a phased-in approach where one grade level at a time returned. After Winter Break, the school was held virtually again for two weeks. During the time that we were in-person, teachers were required to teach students in-person and online through Zoom at the same time. Because of that, I would have students in the classroom, and students listening to me and interacting with me through Zoom. Many students with health concerns never came to school in person. For everyone else, masks were required at all times. In addition, teachers were required to move desks in a way that students were at least three feet apart from each other shoulder-to-shoulder. This yearbook page shows different ways that teachers and students were affected during this year. The top left picture showed a Zoom screen with the students attending Zoom class. The large picture underneath shows a masked teacher standing in front of her students while also showing her students on Zoom behind her. Other pictures show teachers with their Zoom classes and empty classrooms. The text on the side was written by students who took the Yearbook class. It shows a student perspective on the pandemic and why classes were made to be held virtually for students. The 2021-2022 yearbook as a whole is an important object to me as this is the first and only school year that was affected by COVID-19 in its entirety in a way that can be seen visually. This year was unlike any other and forced me to have to change and adapt constantly. During this school year, I had to space students apart and had to make a seating chart for every class. If a student needed to move for a few minutes for any reason (like needing to charge their laptop), I would have to update the seating chart with the date to show where that student was and who they were sitting by. If a student tested positive for COVID-19, any students within three feet of them then had to stay home and learn virtually for a set amount of time. This time changed throughout the year but could be six to ten days. Looking back on these memories, I believe that it is so important to see what students and teachers went through during this time, as we are all still trying to catch up and adjust to the way that the pandemic disrupted and changed beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and ways of learning.
• 
  2022-04-29

  My Experience of The COVID-19 Pandemic

  Give a written account of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected my mental health, religious beliefs and personal relationships.
• 
  2022-03-20

  A Day in the Life of the Pandemic

  My daily routine has definitely been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple ways. During the height of the pandemic when most classes at ASU were virtual, I took advantage of the fact that I didn’t have to leave my house and got used to sleeping in late most days I could do so. I also noticed that as a result of being home all the time, I tended to order less food out, and regularly started making my meals on my grill again. Unfortunately, another thing I began to notice is that since began isolating at home, I have been very tempted to procrastinate on the work I have to do for classes. As a result, I sometimes had a hard time getting started on my classwork in a timely manner, so I would end up stressed trying to submit it closer to the deadline than I would have preferred. Additionally, since I have been stuck inside more than I would like, I have been using my bench and dumbbells much more to keep in shape. COVID-19 has also just made me instinctively feel very naked without a mask on, and it has just become a habit to wear one everywhere at this point. On another related note, I also have made it a habit to avoid large groups or crowds of people in general because of COVID-19, so I unfortunately not seen any live music since the start of the pandemic. I have however gotten into the habit of playing more music and video games, which has been a fun way to keep myself occupied when I am not busy with work or school. Although my daily routine definitely has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have gotten used to it in the many months that have passed since it began.
• 
  2022-03-19

  Change can be good? Sometimes.

  I am submitting my Day in the Life of COVID. This document shows how the aspects of my life have or have not changed. My life has changed a lot when we were put into lockdown, but it also changed again when I returned to working in person. Yet, work is not the only thing that has changed. I would like to think some of the changes I have discussed will inspire some positivity in my life and others' lives. I think that it would be good to add some more positive stories to the archive.
• 
  2020-03-31

  Ending the School Year in COVID-19

  I described how ending the school year during COVID-19 was. I am a high school teacher, and we went on Spring Break and never came back. I include an e-mail I sent to my students.
• 
  2021-10-13

  Zoom University

  While my life has changed significantly due to the covid-19 pandemic, I would say that the biggest adjustment for me was adapting to the different methods of instruction at my university. As a college student, I was used to and grew comfortable with in person instruction. This was the method of learning that I partook my entire life; the sudden change to strictly online had significant effects on my academic performance and overall retention of material. For me, it was remarkedly more difficult to grasp concepts that I would have comprehended under normal study conditions. Taking science heavy courses such as organic chemistry, instrumental analysis, physics, and molecular biology were all much more difficult than they would have been normally. It is also prudent to note the inconsistencies of professors during this time period, as they had to adjust just as much (or even more) than students. Old-school professors that did not have experience with the newest technology were forced to orient their lecture material in a format completely foreign. Needless to say, professors who were very effective instructors in person often struggled in the zoom format. Specifically, issues related to zoom that affected the quality of teaching included connection issues and students having incentives to not pay attention. For example, I took biostatistics 1 completely online, where the professor was older and not technologically adept. Every class the professor would write notes on a paper and and show it to the class. This strategy for teaching proved to be ineffective because the quality of video was not definitive, the lighting was poor, and the handwriting was small. All of these combined factors led to an entire class who had no idea what was being taught to them. While this is unfortunate, I adapted by reading more of the textbook than I would under normal circumstances, and met with the professor during office hours to work out material that I did not understand.
• 
  2022-02-06

  Covid: College Edition

  In March of 2020, all SUNY schools were sent home because of the Covid pandemic. It was unknown how long I was going to be home for, little did I know it would be over 11 months and a year and a half to go to in person classes. Almost half of my college experience was spent virtual. This is a time that you will never get to live again and it was cut short by almost half. I am very grateful to be in person again and seeing my friend's even thought things aren't 100% back to normal, I am very happy to be back. I am praying that this never happens again for future college students or any students in that matter. Enjoy the time you have because you never know what the future holds.
• 
  2022-02-06

  Graduation in 2020

  After everything closed down in March of 2020, I thought for sure that I would not step foot in my high school ever again. I finished out the rest if my classes online, and decided that I would be going to Duquesne University starting in the fall. I was a little upset on how my high school days ended, but I accepted the fact that there was nothing I could do about it, and that that was just the way it went. As the summer came I began to think less and less about my high school. Until one day I check my school email and got a message from my form dean. She said that the school wanted to have an in person graduation for us just like all the other classes before us. I was pretty surprised to hear this because I know other schools in my area were not going to do this and just told the graduating seniors "Sorry, but there is nothing we can do". The school set the date for graduation in July, and said we all had to be spaced out and wear masks for the whole time. I didn't think much of this email after I first read it. I thought it was a nice gesture but it wasn't really going to happen. But as the date came closer and closer, I realized it actually was going to happen. Honestly, I wasn't too excited about having to go to my graduation. I was contempt with how my high school career ended and was ready to move on. I wasn't the type of person that was so in love with my school. I still was in contact with my friends so I didn't really see a need to go sit through a two hour long graduation outside in the July summer heat. But I thought about my mom and how she would like to go see it and how much it would mean to her. So I decided to go, even though I really did not have much choice. After the graduation was over, my opinions about it changed. I was really happy that we got to have a graduation and I realize what a kind gesture that was for my high school to put one together for us.
• 
  2020-03-12

  Class of 2020

  On March 12th, 2020, the Community College of Allegheny County emailed out a letter in response to the COVID - 19 global pandemic. The college had suspended credited classes for five days until faculty and administration had figured out how to stop the spread of COVID – 19 by having a smooth transition from in-person learning to online learning. I was aware that COVID - 19 was starting to become a large problem in the U.S. and other countries, but I did not think that we were at the magnitude that we would need to go online learning. Nonetheless, I was fine with it. I would rather be safe than sorry because I wasn’t sure of the seriousness of the virus and the online learning period was only supposed to last from March 18th to April 19th. And then on April 1st, 2020, the whole state of Pennsylvania had gone on lockdown for COVID – 19, I had then selfishly started to become worried about what the future would hold for me. I was in the last year of my two-year degree program and extremely excited that I was finally eligible to graduate and walk across the stage and graduate with my family cheering for me like every other graduating class before me. I figured there would have to be some type of celebration for the graduating class because, before the year 2020, I and many other students had never even imagined what alternate graduation would look like or how it would even work. I think I and any other student who was a part of the graduating class of 2020 in hindsight are glad that we didn’t have the traditional graduation because we did celebrate our achievements and kept our family and friends safe while doing it.
• 
  2021-06-20

  My Story of How COVID-19 Changed My Life

  When the pandemic first hit, I was one of those people who believed it was just like the flu and that it wasn't going to be as bad as people said it was going to be. Over time I came to realize that this was no ordinary illness and that the world had changed drastically. Streets were empty, school was online, and it had felt like a zombie apocalypse had gripped the world. One thing the pandemic taught me was to appreciate the time you have because you never know when it may come to an end. Spending time with friends and family helped me realize the joys they bring to my life and how important they really are to me.
• 
  2021-12-20

  How Covid Affected me

  Due to the unexpected virus “Covid”, my life has been impacted in many various ways. My life has changed in many different perspectives both good and bad. My life feels pretty good at the moment however it's a little bit stressful. It's been very hard to do online schooling rather than going in person. The homework didn't seem as mandatory as it does when you go to school. However I can say I'm getting used to and trying my best to do the best I can. I can say that this virus has made me experience a new perspective on life. It has taught me that it's very important to appreciate the smallest moments and not take anything for granted. As well, it had an impact on my social life because I'm not able to go out with my friends like I used to. I haven't traveled either because it's very easy to become infected with this virus. Everything has been going back to normal slowly, but I'm adapting to all the new regulations that are rising.
• 2020-03-09

  Online School

  During the pandemic, I had to participate in an online school. This is one of the zoom links I used to do my online classes. I did not like participating in online school, it was very difficult to learn.
• 
  2020-08-01

  Schooling during covid

  At the time of August 2020 I was a new student going back to college as a 30 year old. Now this was during the pandemic so there were many challenges. Firstly we had to wear mask in class and this made it very difficult to understand the teacher at times. Not to mention we had to be socially distant so we were spaced out throughout the classroom which made things more difficult to hear. And this is all if you were lucky enough to get into a hands on class that would be held in person. As most classes had moved to a virtual classroom (zoom) at this time. The classes that I had on Zoom presented their own challenges as you didn’t have that personal touch as if you were in person. There was also lots of time where students were talking over each other. As these obstacles presented challenges I’m very fortunate to have at least been given the opportunity to go ahead with my education instead of it being put on hold.
• 
  2020-03-17

  Senior Year of High School

  Back in March of 2020 when Covid first hit, I will never forget when my school was on an extended 2 week spring break because of Covid scares. At the time, I was a senior and we were getting ready for all of the end of the year fun things going on. Unfortunately, that got cut short. During this 2 week time off- it continued to get extended and eventually we got officially put online until the rest of the year. It was very sad for us seniors as we had no idea that day back in March would be our last day of high school. I cried as well did many of my friends as we did not get a proper end or proper goodbyes to our high school experience. Never did I think walking into school would I not be able to have a real graduation because of a virus. Graduation ceremony was online as they put photos of each graduate. It was all very depressing and a sad way to end the year. No one saw this coming and I as well all high school or college seniors around the world will never forget it. I cannot wait till tell my children about this in hope everything is back to normal in the way future and that they can properly graduate.
• 
  2021-12-10

  Graduation

  Right when the pandemic was peeking in March me being a senior, thinking we had two extra weeks of spring break, and then realizing that everything went hybrid online and we were going to have a graduation and prom or nothing. This is important to me and my peers because we never really got to see each other for one last time properly.
• 
  04/07/2021

  Abby Sobolewski Oral History, 2021/07/04

  [Curator's Note] Abby Sobolewski talks about her family, education, and work. She then answers questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her job as a teacher, her everyday life, and her family.
• 
  05/06/2021

  Bekah Henn Orak History, 2021/05/06

  C19OH
• 
  2020-08-11

  Ipads and Chromebooks: The New Notebooks

  Following the reopening of schools through the virtual world a number of students across the country were faced with a new problem. They lacked the technology needed to attend their online class. Schools who fell under the title 1 classification , which is where children from low-income families make up at least 40 percent of the enrollment, were disproportionately affected by this problem. These families which often consisted of more than one child simply couldn't afford multiple computers. As a result many kids were still unable to attend their classes or do any work at all. This lack of technology was a problem that not only younger kids faced. Students ranging from all ages had to adapt and make due with whatever technology they had or were forced to go out to buy another computer.So in order to help fix the problem for younger students schools began to hand out chromebooks and ipads. By providing them with the technology to access their new classroom setting they could begin attending school again. While there were still other problems such as the lack of internet, handing out chromebooks and ipads definitely had a positive impact by providing a number of students with these new school supplies.
• 
  2020-04-17

  “Can You Teach Art Online?”

  “Can You Teach Art Online?”, published on Art in America online, examines the questions artists-instructors are asking amidst a transfer to online learning. Different instructors who teach in various mediums are interviewed and expose difficulties of teaching art virtually as well as the positives and new innovations that have come out of necessity. I found the argument by Carissa Rodriguez, a Harvard professor in the arts, very interesting. She discussed the limitations of platforms like Zoom and how it is difficult to engage others in an artistic subject behind a screen. Rodriguez teaches a screen-based artistic medium and she explains that for her subject matter “the platform seems a notch too self-reflexive, collapsing screenings, critiques, and discussions onto the equalizing plane of her students’ monitors, the same site where they browse social media and binge-watch TV shows”. The article highlights how instructors are using lockdown to explore ways to make art and complete projects without institutional resources. Therefore, questions of shifting models in academia arise.
• 
  2021-08-17

  Last Minute Changes in Teaching

  For Fall 2021, some teachers gave the option to zoom into class for students who were not comfortable being present in person. Out of my five classes, only two had this option specifically stated. I planned to attend all classes in person but the day before class was due to start one teacher switched to remote only. Initially, I was okay with it. It was the first class of the day so maybe I wouldn't have to get up so early. Then I realized I would have to wake up early anyway. The class after the remote one was ten minutes after. I would of had to rush even if the class was on campus. Situations like these showed that things were even unexpectedly changing for teachers. While the situation may have slightly inconvenienced me, I'm sure it wasn't ideal for the teacher either.
• 
  2021-10-21

  HIST30060 Back to School

  This is an image of my younger siblings on their first day back at school! My sister started her first year of school last year, so her entire schooling experience has been broken up into periods of online learning. Everyone in her grade 1 class is struggling a bit as they haven’t had a proper experience of going to school. It is not mandatory for grades prep to 2 to be wearing face masks in class; however, my brother has been admitted to the hospital a couple of times when he has a bad asthma attack so we’re trying to be as careful as we can. As you can see there are mixed feelings attached to going back to class, both were excited to see their friends and teachers, but will miss spending the whole day at home with dad and me.
• 
  2020-11-01

  Concrete Engineering at Home

  In 2020, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Melbourne posted a tiny bag of cement to each second-year engineering student to create a miniature concrete column for their final assessment. In ordinary times, these students would have visited one of the city’s megaprojects to watch a concrete pour, but with construction barely operating and site visits banned, this was how the theory of the concrete mix was put into practice. There was a “slump test” to gauge the pliability of the mix and then the finished product could be assessed for its strength. My slump was good; my column, I suspect, would have failed at its base due to an overabundance of aggregate. For me, it was the highlight of a year of online study, and perhaps even more rewarding than it might have been in ordinary times. Now, I have a treasured (and very heavy) paperweight by which to remember my experience. Submitted for University of Melbourne HIST30060, Semester 2 2021.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Home Study for Secondary Students

  During the lockdowns, my younger brother had to study at home, as such he asked for mum to buy him a desk that he could use to study on. He ended up using this desk for the entire 5th and 6th lockdown in Melbourne. Often times his desk was filled with sheets of paper and open books, pictured here is the desk in a far more cleanly state.
• 
  2020-08-11

  Learning through a Pandemic

  From my senior year in high school to my Freshman year in college, the way I would attend class had drastically changed. However I wasn't alone in this change. Students, teachers, and professors all around the world found themselves having to adapt to a new form of teaching. A tool that we all had to learn to use was zoom. Unable to attend in person class led to the development of this so-called new “classroom”. Across the world we would now find ourselves logging in to zoom on our computers to attend class. For many of us, me included, the college experience had simply become waking up in my room.
• 
  2020-03-19

  Pandemic Smells and Silence

  When the pandemic became widespread enough for schools to start shutting down, it seems that’s when life really changed. I remember - it was March 2020 - and my school district had just gone on spring break. It was still uncertain whether teachers and students would be returning to their classroom after break’s end. We were asked to come into our classrooms to gather any teaching supplies we might be able to use to teach virtually in the event that we would be told to remain at home. When I arrived at school, it was so quiet. There were a few cars parked in the parking lot, but no people to be seen. The usual student chatter, catching fragments of conversation as they walked by, the bustle of cars parking was gone. As I entered my building, a wave of chemically cleaned and sanitized air blasted my nostrils. The smells of bleach and whatever other industrial cleaners schools use wafted through the halls. They had recently been cleaned - I had never seen them so pristine. A few custodian cleaning carts were scattered nearby, but still no one to be seen. Every footfall seemed louder against the backdrop of silence. The deserted hallway and the chemical smell assaulting my olfactory system had turned my second home into something sterile and unwelcoming. Entering my classroom, I noticed it, too, had been sanitized with heavy chemicals and a jug of hand sanitizer had unceremoniously been plopped on my desk. I surveyed my classroom, nostrils burning from the bleach again, grabbed what I needed and went home. It would be the last time I would see my classroom for a long time. The memory of that shining, white hallway and the burning air of “purification” has stayed with me.
• 
  2021-10-11

  HIST30060: A Secondary Teacher's Chronicle

  This is an image of a week from my mother's chronicle. She is a secondary teacher in regional Victoria who primarily teaches Theatre Studies, Drama and English. During the time that the photograph was taken (October 2021), the school she is working at decided to stagger teaching different year levels to reduce the threat of a Covid-19 outbreak in the lead up to VCE exams. As highlighted in the chronicle in different colours, some classes would be taught in-person and others online in one day. As my family does not live in the same town that my mother teaches in, she would often have to stay at school the entire day regardless. Due to the nature of rapid changes in health information and additional directions from the school itself, every week in the chronicle looks very different to the next. The image shows an element of the chaos that is present in the everyday lives of individuals during covid and the ability for plans to rapidly change from day to day.
• 
  2020-10-02

  Back to School (post-quarantine): Teacher Edition

  Back to school is always a scary day for kids, but it can be for teachers too--especially after getting used to remote learning for so long. 2020 was my first year as a teacher. I started teaching online, and we eventually transitioned back into the classroom. For me, it was my first time in the classroom. I was super nervous about teaching and about all of the risks involved with school reopening. Thankfully, my school administration helped make everyone feel comfortable, and we had a lot of fun celebrating the start of school! This is a picture with a coworker of mine, my "classroom neighbor."
• 
  2020-03-12

  Quarantine Life

  I am submitting a small glimpse of what life was life for me during Covid 19 and quarantine
• 
  2021-09-06

  Empty Classrooms: An Uncertain Future

  When COVID hit and schools were forced to shut down, education had to transform in many ways. Students began remote learning through video conferences and online tools like Google Classroom. Moving online not only took away a lot of the personal interaction and connection between students, but it made learning the content even more difficult. Students were less motivated, it was more difficult for them to ask questions and get their questions answered, and many students began to fall behind. Transitioning back into the classrooms has helped students begin to pick back up from where they left off with their class content, but there are still so many absences daily in classrooms all across the country. This article discusses the issue of how future generations will be impacted by the COVID education crisis.
• 
  2021-01-25

  Returning to school in a pandemic

  Teachers all over the world had their entire profession change when Covid-19 struck. They had to take on more roles and wear new hats. This article shares the story of three teachers and their experience with remote learning and thoughts on returning to school.
• 2021-10-09

  Final Semester as an undergrad student

  When the pandemic started a year ago, I was a residential student at my college. The news that we had to move out of the dorms was hard since we would have to pack everything up. The second half of the semester was all virtual with zoom meetings and not having that in person experience for the classes. Having to do that means not being able to see the friends that we have made on campus daily or being able to have study sessions together in small groups.
• 
  2021-10-08

  My Pandemic Life

  My name is Ella Bowman and I’m 12 years old, I currently reside in Nampa, Idaho. I like to ride horses, be adventurous, read, and I like cooking and baking with my grandma. I currently go to Lone Star middle school, my elementary school I went to when Covid hit was Willow Creek Elementary. And I’ve lived through history. I like to think that my experience with Covid was a lot better than most people but like everyone, I had challenges. When Covid hit, I was in the fifth grade. I was sick before my school went to online completely. However, I just had the cold, not coronavirus. I believe it was a Friday, everyone was given the option to return to school. I went to school and half the school wasn’t there. To this day, I remember that day. The day before that Friday I never saw my childhood best friend, Shelby, again. She moved schools and wasn’t there on Friday. I had class at the kitchen table, on the floor of my room, on my bed, at my desk, or outside. I didn’t begin middle school like a normal year. My first day was online, and I didn’t get to do any of the fun things my brother would talk about. Last year, we had 5 first days of school: back and forth: online, in-person, half days, and 4 days a week. We had to wear masks all day, and they were strict about it. We had one-way hallways, which made sure we got our steps in. Everyone living through this pandemic always knows that whenever someone is gone for two weeks, they either have Covid or something related like that. Something that we also know very clearly is that we all must keep 6 feet distance. The beginning of this school year is a lot better, Covid wise. Masks are optional, we get lockers, and we’re less strict with rules like last year. We don’t have one-way hallways, and we get 10 to a table. Last year it was only 3 to a table. This year is truly like my first year of middle school but altered. I would agree that from 4th grade to 7th grade, things have changed. When I was in fourth grade, I had no caring concern in the world. I had so many fun memories in elementary school and when the pandemic struck, I was worried all that would go away. I had a “Fortnite” phase in the 5th grade, so during the mandatory two-week quarantine, I played video games. Then again, I’m sure every kid played Fortnite at one point. I remember when my family was stocking up for food, I kid you not, the shelves were empty. Some would totally believe me and others it would be harder for people to wrap their heads around. A lot of perishables were stripped off the shelves. My parents like to playthings safe. They wouldn’t let me touch anything in the stores, and I couldn’t hang out with my friends, unless if we wear masks. My friends came over with masks and we hung out outside. In the rain. Yes, it was raining that day, but we wanted to hang out outside. We had a campfire, we put an umbrella over it but stopped because the umbrella was getting hot. So, my friends and I went to great lengths to have fun during the pandemic. Also, I was pen pals with one of my friends, and our group of friends held Zoom meetings so we could chat. My grandpa also took this situation very seriously. For a whole year, I couldn’t get more within 6 feet of them and couldn’t go into their house. When they finally got the vaccine, I was able to see them. However, just because I didn’t have a super hard time doesn’t mean other people didn’t. The suicide rates came up, more people were dying than being born, and people legitimately became animals. I had a friend who wanted to commit suicide, myself. The world has changed: some in good, some in bad. Something that truly did help me process a lot of this was just simply writing it down. Journaling helps a lot, and I tried to document a lot of the experience. My dad likes to make sure that his family has a good experience and life, so he took us on drives and fishing. Things that you can do without being in a crowd. I had it a lot better than most people, but I still had an experience with the pandemic. All in all, I’m glad I had this experience. I’m glad I lived through history and I’m glad that I have a story to tell.
• 
  2021-10-08

  covid in 2021

  I’m Brayden O’Connor I go to lone star middle school, I’m from Pocatello Idaho, I was born in 2009. What I like about school is probably getting to see all my friends and meeting a bunch of new teachers each year. My hobbies are baseball, hockey, hunting, camping, being outside, and playing with my dogs. I would describe the start of this school year as, very stressful, difficult, and boring. It’s not similar at all. And what’s different, is probably almost everything we don’t have to wear masks anymore and we don’t have to wipe our desks down after the period, we go back full time now no more a day b day, no more hybrid, no more Wednesdays off. A lot has changed but it is still manageable, like we must use hand sanitizer and we must be careful of everything we do. Its very different than what it used to be when it was the 4th quarter of 5th grade. During then we had to go full online because there was the covid outbreak. Then in 6th grade we were pretty much all online for most of the year but then at the very end we went back to school with masks mandatory. But then this year, (7th grade), we are back to school full time with masks optional.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star Covid Archive

  My name is Cardin Madera I go to Lone Star Middle School, and I enjoy school. I would describe the start of this school year weird because it has been a long time when I last went to a full year of school and I am not into the routine yet, so it makes it weird. Last year is similar because we still must sanitize our hands to keep us safe. Also, the staff are still not messing around about Covid-19. If you were to tell a joke about Covid, “saying this kid has Covid” and it is a lie you would get in trouble. It is different than last year because we do not have to sanitize our hands as much. Then we get to have our masks off the entire day if you want and it is not like we have half of the school students at school and the other half at home. There are somethings that changed between 4th and 7th grade because during 5th grade we were almost done with the school year but then covid hit and we had to do online for the rest of the school year. Then in 6th grade at the beginning of the school year we were doing online for a long time, and it was not helping a lot because I really could not ask questions about the assignment we are doing and about the lesson.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Covid-19 experience

  My name is Annabelle Leal, and I go to Lone Star middle school. I’m currently in 7th grade. I enjoy shopping and eating out with family. The start of the school year has been mostly normal. At this point everyone either has covid or has already had it. Numbers of positive covid tests were low in the summer but when school started the numbers quickly began to rise again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to go back into lock down by December. Last year I was doing online learning because of the virus, but I guess it's like this year because I could talk to people online, and most of my schoolwork is online. It's different from last year because I have been able to go back in person. I was completely isolated last year. No friends, no social life. A lot has changed from 4th to 7th grade. Like my personality, being home with my brothers and parents has helped me learn to be more patient with people. Another example would be that I'm in middle school now. I have opened up more to people because I have a lot of classes around a lot of them. Lastly, I wanted to say that using computers has become a big part of our education.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star Covid Archive

  This text is important to me because it tells me how hard life was during the pandemic. Everything was just restricted and I was not able to do the things I wanted to do. I signed up for flag and it was my first ever time playing football but when Covid hit or submission got canceled. Looking back at this moment in time helps me think that life is better than it has seemed before.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star WIN Journal Assignment

  The story says what has been the same, different and has changed since 4th grade.
• 
  2020-07-13

  Voices from Quarantine: Kids Share Their Experiences During the Pandemic

  Scholastic’s SuperScience magazine asked kids to share their insights and experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. Hear how their lives have changed, how they’ve coped with school closures and being away from friends and family, and what they’ve learned about themselves.
• 
  2021-06-15

  The impact of COVID-19 on young people

  This global pandemic is poised to deepen a learning crisis that already existed, with millions of young people not developing the skills that will enable them to get a good job, start a business, and engage in their community.
• 
  2021-10-04

  Not what was Expected...

  I found this while searching online for pandemic memes and it gave me a chuckle!
• 
  2021-10-03

  Ending High School at the Beginning of a Pandemic

  All of the fun memories that are normally reminisced upon later were replaced with stories of disappointment. My last two months of high school were basically stolen from me. COVID-19 stole the fun events that I deserved and worked twelve hard years for. A time that should have been filled with excitement and fun-filled memories with friends turned into memories of disappointment and separation. Everything that I was looking forward to at the end of high school was canceled. There was no in-person school, all sporting events, senior trips, prom, and graduation were canceled. The world turned virtual. I spent my days attending classes through Zoom not being able to truly interact with my classmates. I missed going out to get lunch with my friends and walking down the hallways talking about how much homework we got. I could not leave my house until the day came where we had to wear masks and social distance. My “prom” consisted of taking pictures with my friend and eating dinner at home rather than dancing the night away. My final goodbye to my teachers consisted of a drive-by car parade where we decorated our cars and were cheered on from afar. My graduation turned into a silent, empty auditorium allowing one parent or guardian to record me walking across the stage and receiving my diploma. I was extremely jealous that my Class of 2019 friends, just the year before, got the opportunity to experience all of the things that I didn’t. As a junior, I assisted the senior dessert and I remember how excited I was to be able to participate in it for my senior year. The disillusionment hit me when my senior dessert was driving to Crumbl Cookies, grabbing my cookie, and going home. All of these activities should have happened in-person surrounded by the smiling faces I’ve spent four years seeing, but instead I got a pandemic.
• 2020

  Finding Time

  Over the last five or so years, I've been dreaming about some event that would stir up some excitement in New York City, preferably some good event, but an event nonetheless. Never did I dream that it would actually come true, unfortunately in the form of a worldwide pandemic. Why couldn't it be something more fun, like aliens (although it seems like we might be getting there)? While the pandemic didn't bring anything exciting per se, it brought some change with it. When it began to be taken more seriously last year (2020), when all the shutdowns began to occur, I saw a major change in my day to day life. From being laid off of work, not being able to go to classes in-person anymore, and not being able to see any friends in person either, the normal, repetitive life that I had gotten so used to had disintegrated within just a couple weeks, if not shorter. It forced me to look at things in a different light, and as I was forced to be by myself for most of it, as we all were, I felt as if I needed to find some positivity and motivation in the few things I could do and had control over. I finally had time to focus on myself and made sure things like my physical/mental health and education were a priority. I took up cycling, as it was one way for me to be active and remain safe because it's not really something you need to do with others, and that opened the world up to me, especially with how empty the city was. Even my quiet pocket of Queens got quieter as barely anyone was outside, so while it did feel a bit post-apocalyptic out sometimes, it also gave me a sense of peace and freedom. Also, with having so much more time at home and not having to commute, I took advantage of online-learning to really give myself as much time as I needed, instead of the previous sense of rush and urgency I used to feel when it came to assignments, and actually turned my grades around pretty drastically. While the pandemic has been horrific on most fronts, by working my hardest to make the best of it, I've been able to better myself as it's given me time to enact real self-care. Something I've never taken the time to do before.
• 2020-03-15

  The Pandemic Student

  Being a student during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed easy at first since we were all going to be at home for the rest of the Spring semester of 2020. I thought of it as a time to finally relax and slow down on classes now that we were going to be home. But I didn't expect the amount of change the pandemic actually brought to my life. I didn't realize how much I relied on my everyday school schedule to organize my daily routines. When in-person classes stopped, the first week of classes at home seemed easy. I thought I could do it. But as time passed, I realized how difficult it was to keep up with class demands as well as home demands now that both were in the same environment. Some of my classes became asynchronous, while others became live. Waking up on time became difficult when I was able to stay in the comfort of my bed the whole day. And being on my laptop for all of my classes made it easy to be distracted by other things on the internet. Being at home meant I could fall asleep in class without anyone directly seeing me. With no school schedule, such as common hours, walking to and from classes, meeting up with friends during gaps, the routine in my life seemed non-existent. I was at home all day, and my sense of order seemed to fade as the semester went on. The type of student I used to be was usually a lot more punctual, submitting assignments on time, taking notes during class, finishing homework early. But the type of student the pandemic changed me into was lazy, sleepy, tired, late in submitting assignments, more careless about classwork and homework, skipping a lot of note-taking in class, and delaying work. My orderly life, my daily routine, was now out of order and out of routine. It became very hard to be a good student during the pandemic because my lack of motivation swooped low. By Fall semester of 2020, I was already falling off track within the first two to three weeks. By the end of the semester, I even failed to submit an important final on time. Although I was becoming such a terrible student, many of my professors remained understanding, kind, and caring, giving me extended time on late assignments, and providing support when I needed it. I don't think I would have passed all of my classes if it weren't for the kindness of many of my professors. My worst semester was Spring of 2021. I had to take a writing intensive course. Although I was only taking 4 classes, that one class felt so heavy that it was the main course I was focusing on. The course also had a lab section, which would've been better done in-person. Doing in-person classes online was not the best experience. While in an in-person lab students would be working together and classwork would be done together, online we were just given directions and told to submit the classwork after working on it ourselves. It became so difficult that I ended up dropping the class and taking it again in the summer. Though it was my worst semester ever, my professors were still so kind and understanding, supporting my decision and wishing me well. Although it seemed being a student during the pandemic would be easy at the beginning, I quickly realized how far that was from the truth. The pandemic teared apart my routine, which I didn't realize how heavily I relied on. The order in my life felt close to chaotic at some point and affected so many aspects of my life: as a student, a daughter, a sister, my religion, and my social life. Right now, during the Fall 2021 semester, I'm still working on building up my routine and trying to stick to it, despite being at home. I've regained some of my motivation and try to submit assignments on time, but I don't always succeed. Balance is hard when two different parts of one's life—in my case, my school and home life—become one and the same. I had a hard time allocating appropriate time for school and appropriate time for family, chores, and self-care. Perhaps by now I've gotten a bit used to the pandemic, but still prefer in-person as it would bring back that order in my life: waking up, getting ready, going to class, finishing class, doing work during schedule gaps, going to another class, etc. Now my schedule is more like: wake up, class, eat breakfast during class, be unproductive during class gaps, go to another class, etc. And through all this, I'm also on my phone or watching something else, or talking to a family member, or doing something else distracting. However, since I've been trying to build up my routine and increase my motivation, it's been easier to pay attention and work harder in class. As a senior, I obviously want to graduate on time so that is definitely a motivational factor for me to do well this semester. Because in-person class options are now available, I look forward to bringing back order to my life next Spring semester.
• 
  2021-09-27

  Unexpected

  It's a descriptive story of how covid has affected my life and its important to me because it has a long term affect.