--By Melanie Schwartz
A Pandemic. Something we have never seen before. Covid-19 is changing the present, and life may never be the same again.
Remote learning is just one of the ways students across the country are dealing with this virus. There are people who are loving it, as well as people who refuse to open their backpacks. When school was first cancelled, White Plains High School was not sure how to approach online learning. Not everyone had a computer, and therefore, they could not do the assignments. Administrators managed to give people laptops and iPads to anyone in need.
Once everyone had computer access, here was the questions many of us had: are quarter 3 grades counting? Students found out, towards the end of the quarter, around a month already into the school closure, that students had an option for quarter 3 grades. 1. They could keep their quarter 3 grade from when before school ended or 2. "No mark", which means it just will not count. As a result, students who opt for the "no mark" may find that each quarter will worth be 32% of your final average, rather than 20%. The midterm would still count as 4% of student’s final average, no matter what option they choose. Although this hasn't been finalized, it makes sense mathematically.
I have talked to various students and some were happy and some were extremely upset. Some felt that they worked hard for those grades, and it is not fair that people have the option to just forget about it. On the other hand, some people loved it because it gave them an opportunity to raise their final average. For some, this is a tough decision as they worked hard, but their quarter 3 grade may bring down their final average.
For Quarter Four, there will be grades put into the portal. Students will have between 8 and 12 graded assignments per class. Many students think this is the right thing to do because many people are putting in the work, and want to see results. This way, people are motivated to do school work, just like they were when we physically had school.
Overall, this virus has changed the system of schooling forever. Hopefully, students do not have to experience this ever again!
