By: Jan Raven Reodica

A new school year in the new normal had finally begun in JCSGO Christian Academy last August 24, and students of all grade levels are adapting to the new distance learning setup.

Teachers and students ought to get used to video conferencing, attending virtual classrooms and communicating digitally. Everyone has their fair share of adjustments in the new norm brought by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the first week of classes, the school took notice of the struggles and complaints of the students, as they were having a hard time with numerous assessments and tasks whilst adjusting to the new normal.

Inconveniences such as bad internet connection, lack of equipment, and limits among communication, also hindered the students during online classes. “Minsan hassle sa akin lalo na kung phone lang ang gamit,” said by grade 12 student, Lance Soriano.

JCA then implemented the One Activity Policy in its senior high school department to help lighten the load for students, as they are still adjusting to the new normal. The number of activities for the Junior High School and Elementary School departments were also reduced. “Nag-improve naman pagdating sa assignments, di na katulad nung first week,” said by Liana Ortega of 10-Glorious.

Despite the changes after the school year’s first week of online classes, most students still prefer physical classes, according to an interview conducted by Ignite. “Mas prefer ko pa rin ‘yung physical classes dahil mas marami kang matutunan doon at siyempre mas mahaba ‘yung subject hour,” said by one of the students, 9-Great’s Kurt Josiah Reodica.
“May pros naman rin ‘yung online classes kasi pwede mong balik-balikan ‘yung mga lessons”, he adds.

Regardless of the challenges, the teachers remain persistent on helping the JCAians learn in this new setup, as well as maintaining good online etiquette within the classrooms. “Nakakasunod naman ako sa lessons,” said John Dale Legaspi of 2-Goodness.

With three more quarters to take on, the teachers are there to guide the students in the academic year; to learn and to adapt to the new normal.