Sixth Edition: The Student Voice During Covid-19

Distance Learners - Students’ perspectives

Student Voice

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It has been a challenging time for all over the past few months of lockdown. We have all felt the strain but no more so than our students. Uncertainty around state exams, social isolation from peers and distance learning tested their resilience at a whole new level. Many have taken time to reflect on and share their experiences in a variety of creative ways through writing, art, filmmaking, social media etc. In this newsletter, two students outline their lockdown learning experience. We can take great pride in their response.

Our thanks to Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh for submitting an article on Student Voice for inclusion in this week's newsletter

The following is written by teacher Mr. James Blackwell, teacher of Irish, History and Digital Citizenship and students Seoda Ní Chaoimh and Muireann Ní Shé.

The month of May, a time when teachers and students look forward to end of year activities like sports days, graduations and student awards. School life has changed considerably at the end of this year but we have risen to the challenge and come together to fix problems and tackle the difficulties. It gives me great courage when I see my colleagues troubleshooting technical and learning difficulties every day to ensure distance learning happens during this time. Students have also come together in a way I haven't seen myself before as a teacher. Their diligence and hard work is clear to be seen every week as they get used to this unusual life. We will now hear from two girls that are members of our Student Voice Committee. This committee uses their voice to enhance our school academically, personally and socially. The following testimony of two of the students provides us with a window into their lives in the current situation of distant learning.

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Seoda Ní Chaoimh (Bliain 5)

Hi everyone! My name is Seoda Ní Chaoimh and I'm a fifth year student in Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh. I'm going to tell you a little bit about what my 'new normal' is. Firstly, I have to wake up early in the morning for school. Many people don't like this, but to tell you the truth I really enjoy it! It means that I have the whole day ahead of me to do whatever I want to (after all my school work!) From the school side of things, our teachers follow the normal school timetable, to ensure that we have some sort of routine in our day. Often we have live classes on "Google Meet" where our teachers use "screen-sharing" to teach their subjects to us, they also use annotations to write on their screens, like they would usually do on the whiteboard in the classroom. I like the live classes because we are able to ask the teachers questions if we need to. Other times we are sent videos on "Google Classroom".... kind of like live classes except for the fact that they are pre-recorded. In my opinion these are very useful because you can pause the video or go back over something if you didn't understand it. However, to tell the truth, you cant beat the classroom!

Every day I follow the timetable and take a break at lunch time. Realistically, I'm never done my work at 3.45 since we get more work than the average school day, but I try to finish early so that I have time to go for a walk, to play music, or have fun with my family. Some people are complaining about being stuck at home all the time, but as long as we stay healthy, happy and safe, the day will come when we will be able to meet up with our friends and family again. I'm making the most of the free time with my family, a thing that is precious and that I wouldn't have during the normal school year. Despite that, I am looking forward to going back to school, hopefully in September!

Muireann Ní Shé (Bliain 5)

Hi everyone, my name is Muireann Ní Shé! I am a fifth year student in Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh in Limerick. Many changes have happened in the world in the past few months and with that, school life and the way we all learn and continue with our education has also altered. On the 12th of March the Taoiseach announced the closure of schools and that students would be continuing their education and school work from home because of the coronavirus pandemic. As students in Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, we are very used to using technology such as iPads, G-Suite and e-books to learn. As a result of this, it was not a daunting prospect to have to work from home, with technology as the only conduit between students and teachers. However, I truly felt for the students around the country unaccustomed to using technology in their day to day learning.

I have to admit that the first week of lockdown was difficult. It was hard to settle in. My sleep cycle was in chaos, we were all more focused on Tony Holohan and the government’s daily announcements as well as contacting our family through WhatsApp than following the school timetable. However, by the second week, there seemed to be a “new normal” and I got used to this new reality of life.

The teachers had advised us to follow the normal school timetable everyday, so that there would be some degree of structure to our day. Every single day, like clockwork, class work and homework is assigned on Google Classroom in accordance with the school timetable. The teachers create assignments with deadlines for us and it is our responsibility to complete them. We also have live classes on Google Meets at different times during the week. The live classes are a great opportunity to ask the teachers any questions we have and to continue with the course as best we can. On top of that, some teachers put up recorded lessons for us to view. These are video lessons that we can rewatch at a later time if necessary. I benefited from both types of remote learning and I know that every single student in the country is filled with gratitude at the exceptional effort every single teacher has put into teaching us in a time of lockdown and social distancing. While the situation we all find ourselves in is not ideal in any way, shape or form with the loss of life rising all around the world, we must make do and mend and look on the bright side. This time at home for me, personally is an opportunity to focus on self-development. Everything was moving at such a rapid pace in the world up till now and in my opinion this is a valuable opportunity for us all to focus on the most important things in life - our families and the people who surround us. The day will come when we will be able to return to normal life and school, see our friends and be back in the classroom as a united school community once again. Until then we have to look out for one another, adhere to social distancing guidelines and of course complete every assignment on Google Classroom!

We would love to hear from other schools and teachers in relation to any tools, resources, tips you have that would be of use to others with a view to publishing them on this blog. If you would like to be included, please email either Grainne@lcetbdrive.com, Joe@lcetbdrive.com or Gina@lcetbdrive.com.

3. The following resources on NEPs site can support students at this time:

https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/National-Educational-Psychological-Service-NEPS-/NEPS-Home-Page.html

Listening to Children and Young People

https://assets.gov.ie/41319/6979e81cdfe44082a9faa4a11db99d5b.pdf