The first snow of the year has finally arrived and more is yet to come. With snow on the way that means potential snow days or used to be snow days. Since Covid has struck, schools have resorted to virtual learning so the students do not miss school for Covid, but it has now affected the snow days. Instead of having a day off because of snow school’s have had virtual school days. There has been a lot of debate whether students found virtual days beneficial or not.
Virtual days start at 8:10 and last until 1:10, but flex is till 2:25 for any kids who need help, which means students get to sleep longer in the morning. Although they get to sleep longer, there are still restrictions on clothes and actions. The first rule is that the dress code still applies. The students must be fully clothed and cannot be on their bed during Zoom calls. They cannot be eating during class and must follow all classroom rules. Most of the teachers require their camera to be on and that they say they are present. Some teachers have even said to not show any pets or allow the students’ pets to distract their learning process. They would like to optimize the time they have to give them the best learning possible. Whether they follow the rules or not is up to the student, but it will affect their grade, attendance, and overall learning experience.
The majority of students’ opinion on virtual learning is that they would prefer a normal snow day. Brielle, a freshman at Hamburg Area High School said “Virtual learning is hard for me to stay focused, and it would be better to just miss a day and return back in person for a better understanding of the lesson,” A lot of students said that with wifi cutting out and the glitchy voices and screens it is hard to learn anything from it. Although it would make their summer shorter they would rather enjoy their snow day then be stuck inside staring at a screen. Depending on what day the snow day falls on can affect a teacher’s schedule. So instead of having teachers change their schedule just push the day back instead of cramming it in.
