Although a community quarantine for nearly a month may seem fun at first, one tends to get a little stir-crazy after a while–at least we know we are! We’re even starting to miss waking up early, putting on a uniform, and heading to school to see our friends and our teachers (just a little bit, though). And although tasks and homework assigned online by our teachers are great, it isn’t bad to unwind and relax after you’ve completed all of them. So, we’ve documented the first three days of online learning to get a glimpse of what we’re doing from the safety of our own homes!
Monday, Day B – Andie
8:15 AM – Wake up for the first day of online learning. I know classes were supposed to start at 8, but I slept through my alarm… From then on, I decided to make a list of the tasks I wanted to get done that day. Since Math was the “first block” for that day, I started on my Math homework.
9:15 AM – My classmates and I had a Hangouts call with my Math teacher so he could brief us on what the plan for the next three weeks was. Side note: It was really funny to read my classmates panicking in our Maths group chat and to see their “woke up like this” faces on the video call.
9:30 AM – I checked the Hangouts for my other classes to see if we had any other tasks to do and I found out that we had a Chemistry formative I did not study for and a very long Biology task that was due at the end of the day!
9:40 AM – I took a little break to make myself breakfast (a peanut butter sandwich, if anyone was wondering). Then, I got started on making Chemistry notes.
10:40 AM – I finished my Chemistry notes then answered the formative, which only took me about an hour and a half.
12:10 PM – After I finished my Chemistry task, I submitted it then started my Biology homework.
1:00 PM – Had lunch (Which was Chicken Nuggets from McDonald’s, by the way)
1:45 PM – I continued my Biology homework, but also talked to my friends to avoid going crazy.
2:00 PM – Took a loooong break to check my Instagram and Facebook.
3:00 PM – I submitted my homework after completing it (woot!). The other Dragon’s Print members, Mr. Greene and I also decided to have a short meeting on Hangouts to discuss future plans we have for the next few weeks.
3:30 PM – I then went to my room to watch a new show on Netflix (Kingdom— I highly recommend watching it).
5:00 PM – I decided to do a mini spring cleaning session in my room in order to feel a little more productive.
6:00 PM – I decided to take a little nap, which ended up being my night’s sleep until the next morning… Who said remote learning would be easy?
Tuesday, Day C – Sij
6:30 AM – For an early bird, it’s hard to relate to students who heaved sighs of relief when they realized they don’t have to take time to prepare and dress up in uniforms, which is why at barely half-past 6 on the second day of remote learning, my day commenced with breakfast – bagel with cream cheese paired with a fresh glass of orange juice.
7:30 AM – The past hour enabled me to do things I didn’t had the luxury of time for before, one of which was to personally feed my dog, Stella the Frenchie (a task I haven’t attended to in a long while due to the usual morning rush prior to starting off for school).
8:00 AM – My laptop alerted me of the tasks of the day sent out by my teachers. In order to complete the tasks, I decided to follow my “daily class schedule” to at least have a little bit of normalcy in my student life.
8:10 AM – I began with Spanish, wherein a Paper 1 Writing practice was to be done within a span of 90 minutes.
9:45 AM – To keep things interesting, I decided to start preparing lunch early as I wanted to make… (drumroll, please) homemade pasta! The following hour allowed me to start the initial cooking process before leaving the pasta dough in the fridge to rest.
11:15 PM – Knowing that I “technically” have Psychology for the second block, I took 15 minutes to review my notes before diving into the Paper 2 practice the SL kids have to do, which I finished in 57 minutes.
12:40 PM – I took a break to cook the pasta I had originally made and paired it with freshly-squeezed lemonade – voilà, homemade lunch is served.
1:35 PM – Since English was technically scheduled for block 3, I started on the easier task of the 2 given in Google classroom, which was to simply pick classmates for a group activity that will be done in the next session. I took the opportunity to use my phone to communicate in our Messenger group chat to ask who was up for it with me. Of course, it got a little bit off the topic but at least the 1st task was off the list.
2:00 PM – I started the second task which was to answer questions about a short story our class is taking on, entitled “The Birth-Mark” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which is about many things including the obsession of human perfection (highly recommended).
3:40 PM – After making sure I completed all of my tasks for the day, I made extra Biology and Chemistry notes.
4:50 PM – I put on a Studio Ghibli movie, Spirited Away (highly recommended), for the whole household to see while relaxing and enjoying time with the family.
7:30 PM – Dinner did not commence until half-past 7 (dumplings this time!). Not so long after, it was bedtime for me.
Wednesday, Day D – Andie
8:00 AM – Woke up in a daze because I had a dream that classes for the day were cancelled, so, unlike Sij, I slept through my alarms (again…)
8:05 AM – Finally realized that classes, in fact, were not cancelled, so I rushed out of bed to take a shower and get myself ready.
8:20 AM – After a personal record-breaking time of getting ready and changed, I headed to school for a Chemistry HL review session with my fellow HL classmates and Chemistry teacher.
8:50 AM – I arrived in school and greeted the familiar faces of the teachers and staff that were still there. I also said hi to the one classmate that showed up for the review session.
10:30 AM – We took a short break to talk about what we’d been doing for the past 4 days and to have a little bathroom break.
11:30 AM – Rushed home to finish yet another Biology task for that day, which was a bit shorter than Monday’s task.
12:00 PM – On the way home, I stopped by a McDonald’s drive-thru to order Chicken Nuggets (again) for lunch and an Iced Coffee, which I highly recommend trying.
12:30 PM – Arrived at home, greeted my dogs and my sister, then joined another Math Hangouts call with my class, seeing as it was our Math block.
12:45 PM – I left the call and worked on my Biology homework, which was more difficult than I had originally expected.
1:30 PM – Took a short break for lunch and to check Instagram.
2:00 PM – Continued my Biology homework, but I realized at this point that I was probably not going to be able to submit it on time, so I emailed my teacher and asked her for leniency. Thank goodness she said yes (whew).
3:30 PM – Submitted all that I had completed by the deadline, then took a little break to use my phone on my bed, which then turned into a siesta.
4:30 PM – Since I had nothing else to do, I continued to make Biology and Chemistry notes for the option topics.
5:45 PM – I started to get sleepy and my notes started to look a little weird, so I stopped. I went to my kitchen and made these really cute chocolate truffles, which me and my cousins devoured within minutes
6:30 PM – I found a really interesting Netflix documentary called Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, which I binged for the rest of the evening. (This is just turning into another Dragon Recommends article, isn’t it?)
Thursday, Day A – Sij
6:30 AM – Surprise, surprise. Guess who woke up at the exact same time she usually does in the morning even after 3 days of remote learning? I did. I tried going back to sleep (I truly did) but to no one’s surprise, I got up and took a bath.
7:00 AM – I went straight to prepare breakfast which consisted of Ham and Cheese with Egg Sandwich, a fruit bowl, and water (don’t forget your proteins and vitamins, kids!)
8:00 AM – This time, I tried to “creatively” mix up my daily class schedule by starting with Spanish instead of English for 1st block. Psychology SL kids, I found out, were on release today as the task was focused on Paper 3 for HL.
8:10 AM – I pulled up the “Education Perfect” app needed for the Spanish task that Señora had us set up the night before.
9:55 AM – The past hour was spent on the app where I had to listen to records of brief conversations between two Spanish-speaking people and answer the follow-up questions. It was an exciting learning platform that allowed me to practice my listening skills.
10:00 AM – For my obligatory 1-hour break, I decided to do different things. I decided to bake banana muffins for lunch. When it was finally placed in the oven, I found out I had 40 minutes to spare.
10:25 AM – As I made it my personal mission to do something new everyday, I decided to paint a little bit (if you’re curious, I did a watercolor portrait of a llama).
11:20 AM – My painting turned out fine. That is, if you consider a llama short-necked. The “llama” I painted had too short a neck to be considered one so it leaned more into looking like… well, a lamb (but hey, whoever said art wasn’t subjective, right?).
12:35 PM – Despite the turn of events, I had a hearty meal for lunch – 2 banana muffins and a homemade iced coffee.
1:00 PM – I set up my laptop for the English task to be done with the group I set last Tuesday.
2:45 PM – It was supposed to be a “healthy and interactive” hour-and-a-half discussion in a shared running document with each member assigned separate tasks. Sure, it was interactive and we bore many interesting and relevant ideas but we struggled a little with organization. However, we achieved our goal and submitted ahead of time.
3:40 PM – I went to my room to write this entry for this week’s Dragon Print article.
4:40 PM – I took a nap before studying for the Chemistry summative to be done the following day.
7:30 PM – Woke up in time for dinner, had a little banter with my friends on a video call before signing off to sleep.
Overall, even though the experiences we each had slightly differed, remote learning allowed us to attain a balance of education, enjoyment, and relaxation in the safe confinements of our own homes. However, one conclusion we both share during this week is that there is no better substitute for learning with human interaction but we understand the need to prioritize our health and safety.
Now that you’ve taken a peek at what WE did and how we tried to make it fun during the first week, it’s time for YOU to creatively plan yours! Just remember to be (let’s say it together) responsible, respectful, and prepared. Stay safe everyone, we’ve got this!
Written by Andrea C. and Sij S. (Grade 12); Feature image by Venise T. (Grade 11)
The views expressed in this article represent the personal views of the author and should not be taken to represent the views of Dragon’s Print and Cebu International School.
Mrs. U
Hi Andie, Siij, and Venise!
I really enjoyed hearing your honest voices coming through in this article. I found myself all at once chuckling at, relating to, and impressed by your schedules. The juxtaposition of your two different experiences made it all the more amusing to read, as well.
Switching to a new learning environment is challenging and you are all doing a wonderful job rising to the occasion. Keep up the good work, all the best to the rest of the Dragons Print team. and I look forward to reading the next issue!
– Mrs. U