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Crossroads of Education: Ronan Bailey

by Margaret Daley | October 9, 2020

Crossroads of Education

Ronan Bailey 7th grader at Sacred Heart School

What is your favorite subject at school?

Probably Math.It’s the least boring subject.

Do you remember when you first found out about the pandemic?

I think it was late February/early March.

And when did you realize that there was a chance that they might close school?

I think it was probably when I heard about how quickly it was spreading in Italy and then I thought maybe we would close but I didn’t think it would really happen. Then on the final day, everybody was talking about it on the bus and they told us to bring all of her books home in case we didn’t go back. 

If you had to choose items that remind you of what schooling was like during the pandemic what would you choose?

A Chromebook and a pencil.

Is there anything you liked more about your life during the shutdown?

I had an excuse for like 6 months to just stay inside all the time and I didn’t mind not seeing people.

What are the two most annoying things about how life has changed with the pandemic?

 At school now if you’re close to each other, like 2 or 3 feet you get yelled at to move apart even if it’s not your fault. The masks are kind of annoying, it’s not nice to wear a mask but it’s not too bad.

Did you enjoy remote learning?

Not too much. The entire time I found no motivation to do stuff until a day or two before it was due. So I’d just sit around for the entire week and then on Thursday or Friday I’d do most of the work. The Zoom classes were okay, not many people were talking during them. I didn’t like Zoom at the start, it took me a few weeks to get used to it.

Did any of your sports or activities get affected by the pandemic?

The day before the shutdown I got 3rd in the Spelling Bee, it would have been nice to get to the next stage.

I do rugby but we haven’t been able to practice at all. And I play piano and I had to stop taking lessons then it was hard to find the motivation to play it all so I’m I do think I’m kind of a bit behind.

What has been the most helpful thing or source of support from your school or teachers during the time?

The teachers are all trying their best to help us and they just want to keep us safe even if it can be annoying to be yelled at sometimes.

When you were remote learning did you have any internet issues?

Every once in a while I did. Mostly I didn’t have any but a few times I did have internet issues and once I even got kicked out, I joined the back and then I got kicked out, so I joined back and that kept on happening.

How many people in your family were remote learning or working from home?

My two brothers, they were studying from home. I’m pretty sure they had a few online classes.

And did any of your parents work from home?

Yeah my mom did. 

And were they all using the internet at the same time?  

2 or more people would be using the internet at the same time.

And did that cause problems?

Yes, sometimes it would.

Did you notice if other kids got kicked off of Zoom while you were watching? Did they have internet problems?

They didn’t get kicked off but they wouldn’t be able to hear or they would be frozen. A few times classes got canceled because the teacher had internet problems.