Andrea Xu ‘24
After a year and half of remote learning, the comeback to normal school in September feels unprecedented and fresh. In retrospect, I still gasp at how much the world and our social behaviors have changed. In previous articles, the staff writers discussed the pros and cons of online learning. On the positive side, remote learning opened us to explore new hobbies and interests. On the other hand, it divested us of social interactions, and, is however unfavorable to our wellness. Understandably, adapting in normal school could be overwhelming. Time inches steadily toward the afar. In the blink of an eye, eight weeks passed. In this page, I want to consider the academic prospect of in-person learning.
The end of Window One is November 5th. Arguably, the date induces widespread discontent. Seniors had to meet the college application deadline in early November, and teachers had to write insane amounts of recommendations while grading final assessments or projects. In addition, under-formers felt stressed from piled-on work in the following week. Some teachers alleviated the stress for freshmen by giving them delayed due dates.
Faculty interpreted this situation from their unique perspectives. Mr. Palmer, the Science Department Head, shared that Window Two feels the shortest, “first of all, Window Two is broken up into breaks- the Thanksgiving and Christmas. And from the end of Window One to Christmas, people want to accomplish something.”
Ms. Killeen, a History and Social Science faculty, expressed that the transition to St. Mark’s takes time, “I see Window One as a warmup, especially for freshmen. Figuring out St. Mark’s is a lot, sometimes too much.” Furthermore, she unfolded her outlook for Window Two: “Another thing is the winter practice schedule. In the fall, all the athletic teams have their own fields, whereas in the winter, there are not enough facilities to accommodate all the teams all at once.” As a result, the athletic department made decisions to stagger the practice times. Interestingly, some Junior Varsity and Thirds teams even have practice that runs into study hall and beyond. Occasionally, some days are harnessed under special schedules for events like evening chapel. Ms. Killeen opined that this lack of rhythm was chaotic.
Biologically speaking, dullness sweeps through the winter because we have less exposure to sunlight. In our bodies, higher quantities of melatonins are activated, resulting in lethargy and symptoms of depression.
Ms. Matthews, who teaches Writing Workshop and Literature on Trial, a senior English elective, metaphorically set out her teaching during the pandemic as a “beautiful censorship.” Jokingly stated, she had her first Thanksgiving in fourteen years without grading papers. “It was difficult,” she remarked. “I understand that kids missed a year and half of school. I only got to see them twice a week for 45 minutes!” Also, she gave varied weights to different windows, “I weigh Window One lower because everyone is learning how to become a student at St. Mark’s. The workload in Window One is low stakes. My students have a haphazard span of knowledge on grammar. I gave them diagnostics to do.”
She continued, “I weigh Window Two higher. Everything is real work. High expectations. This feels like a heavy lift to freshmen.”
While it seems, some propose a shift to a trimester schedule so that the first grading period ends on the start of the Thanksgiving break.
Dr. Harwood, the head of the Classics Department, believed learning is a natural procedure, “the learning process is organic. The student’s learning doesn’t necessarily fit into arbitrary units of time. If we want to create a holistic education, we should adopt the trimester system. For example, language learning takes place over a period of years, and it doesn't always fit into smaller time frames.”
During my interview with Dr. Harwood, she digressed from the trimester system to the assessment week. The assessment week is also known as the midterm. It happens in the last week before Christmas. Dr. Harwood highlighted that students need time to rest in order to synthesize and integrate information. “Deeper learning happens this way,” she added. This made me think about my own learning differently. Should I only seek results or make a report that displays my solidification for everything I have learned so far?
Jacob Cifuenttes’ 24, a sophomore, alleged a preference over the quarters system. He generally feels stressful turning in assignments on time. Jacob finds frequently overseeing comments and applying them into the next term an effective approach to improve his learning.
Diana Oh’ 24, another sophomore, agreed with Jacob, “The quarters offer a closer level of my learning progress. As opposed to a half year at the end, I like the conciseness of quarters. For me, trimesters are too long.” On the whole, Diana deemed that people tend to become demotivated from longer periods. Recurring motivations are important.
