Term Reflections

Thrown Into The Deep-End Of Online Learning

By Emilie McKenna, The Ridgeway Campus, Year 11

If you had asked me last year if online learning was ever possible, I would have said no, without a doubt. Although it’s not under the best circumstances, this allows us to see how quickly people can adapt and how easy it is to adjust to continually changing conditions. Every day of this pandemic we are learning new things about the technology we are using. I know that sometimes it is just finding the feature that allows us to send emojis to our class or select all of the text on our word document with only one button, but we still get excited every time.

With classes online, I found that teachers were trying different ways of teaching and making class enjoyable for us, particularly as we were looking at our screens all day. In French class, we would often go off into separate meetings with other students to ask each other and answer questions, while speaking in French, which is always a nice way to break up some of the more content-heavy classes. In maths, my teacher had done some short trivia quizzes to start the class, to allow us to have a bit of fun and talk to each other before starting any content. In other classes, I have found that they are more content-heavy, but perhaps this would be the same with classroom learning, being at the start of my journey with the IB it’s all new to me, so sometimes I’m not sure if it would be such a large amount of content regardless of whether I’m in the classroom or at home, at my desk.

Despite not being able to see my friends and interact with them during classes I found that this time at home meant I spent more time with my family and dogs, catching up on some tv shows and movies that I have wanted to watch and try some new things, like baking. I enjoyed having pastoral as this extra time allowed me to take my dogs to the park, get outside and eat lunch. On the other hand, this time at home gave me a greater appreciation for the extra-curricular activities Ivanhoe offers. I was missing things like music ensembles, debating, charities committee and the radio show, those opportunities to do the things I enjoy and to spend time with people outside of my friend group and year level. I also feel like I had a lot more time to myself as I had less activities do to during lunch or after school, which is a positive and a negative as I’ve explored new hobbies and found new things I like to do. But, after about 6 weeks into this “stay at home” directive, I was getting bored quickly and wanted to see my friends face to face as I was missing the social side of life more and more.

Now that we are accustomed to learning from home, we are back at school. However, I am sure we were all so sick of our families that we wanted to go back to school anyway.  Now we can continue to ask our friends what page of the textbook we are reading from when we don’t hear the teacher say it and ask for help answering maths questions. I have to be honest, I am looking forward to the day when Dan Andrews says we can hug our friends!

Illustration by Alessia Wynne, TRC, Year 11

Year 7 With A Side of Pandemic

By Scarlett Morison, The Ridgeway Campus, Year 7

I walked into the gates on the very first day, my brown shoes hardly broken into. I was 1 of 222 people starting a new chapter of their life by beginning high school at Ivanhoe Grammar School. Soon, I became aware of the pandemic but somehow, I pushed it to the very back of my mind because I was more interested in getting to know the people around me and making new friends. Caution started to be taken with phrases such as “I’ll just wash my hands more frequently,” or “I’ll pack hand sanitiser.” But time went on and the virus crept to the very front of my thoughts. Things turned for the worst and suddenly I wasn’t in my chair in my mentor room anymore, I was at my desk in my own home listening to my teacher with headphones on. It felt like my first term of high school had slipped from my fingers.

Although online learning is a challenge, the faculty at Ivanhoe Grammar School have been nothing if not helpful and understanding. Every question has been answered and every class is just as engaging at home as it was at school. I’m grateful that almost every opportunity I would have had at school is still available for me at home, such as playing the saxophone which I could do this term because I got to take an instrument home for practice. Plus, thinking on the bright side, this experience has taught me more about the most important lesson of all, independence.

Currently, I am very excited to head back to school as I’m sure many others are. Hopefully things can go back to the way they were soon, possibly with a few extra rules. I still have hope that my peers and I can get an enriching experience of Year 7 at IGS, despite the obstacles we have had to face as a nation.

To Home-School Or Not To Home-School - That Is The Question

By Luke McAlister, Plenty Campus, Year 10

Thus far, my own experience with online learning has posed both challenges and fruitful rewards. Presumably, many students will have come to conclusions much similar. In succession to any initial keenness, balanced with a generally stoic approach to the situation, I am glad to have embraced the experience and opportunities of digitised education to the utmost of my abilities. I have found myself discovering a great variety of new methods for the educators and the educated, as we have delved into computerised learning and it is this expansion that has afforded a focused, on-point classroom online. By this, students have applied their full effort and knowledge to make lessons both smoother and succinct.

Nevertheless, these happenings have not struck entirely devoid of sorrow. For my part, I have to confess my own perplexion at an online social life. Although it is frequently argued that I am anachronistic - not exactly ‘with the times’- and perhaps am merely unused to it, communication through Teams and Zoom has proved fascinating to behold. With longer pauses and greater technical difficulties than most of my interactions at school (I stress, most), social life may be the worst impacted area as a consequence of quarantine. The distinct lack of interpersonal communication and socialisation has only continued to prove itself misfortunate, but we have been swift in not only adaptation, but also a hopeful resignation. We understand, through taking a communally holistic attitude, that we must undergo these trials for the benefit of all, on a domestic and a broader stratum.

Notwithstanding, however, I am glad to say that I have borne witness and can act as testimony to strengthening friendships, with any luck to last well beyond our arrival back. Curiously, separation and difficulty seems to provide the ultimate stimulant for birthed or renewed comradeship, and grows our appreciation.

We have conjectured that only through the sheer strength and unity of our friends, our families, our society, and ourselves can be overcome the difficulties of this time, and divined that we must work with sympathy and resilience, if not only for our own sake, but for the sake of those who we love. Until our return, we shall, with diligence and respect, work against this challenge, to our absolute capacity.

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." - Albus Dumbledore

Year 4 With A Twist

By Ruby Turner, Buckley House, Year 4

When I first heard that we would be staying home to learn I was really excited because I thought it would be fun to work at home instead of school. I was also looking forward to sleeping in and not having to wear a uniform.  However, while it's been fun at times I definitely struggle without my friends there.  Even though I get to see my friends in zoom meetings it's different to seeing them in reality, and we can’t play with each other during snack and lunch. I really enjoy how I got to learn about different things like this year, I learnt about weathering and erosion during Inquiry. The reasons I loved this topic is because we got to hunt down examples of weathering and erosion in our backyard. I also love to draw so after Art class on zoom I would go on an app and draw all these cute pictures of animals (mainly birds) and I’m looking forward to getting back to school and drawing more cool pictures.  I’m really looking forward to art and choir and I’m really thankful for all the teachers who helped me get through this.