-What's the most frustrating thing about online school?
-My parents hovering over me.
[chuckles]
I'm Nicole Ellis, and this is "The New Normal."
I'm quarantining with my 15-year-old cousin.
He's in ninth grade
and has a lot to say about online learning.
I feel like my algebra teacher and my history teacher,
they both think that they're giving less work,
when they're really both giving us more and more work
as the day goes on.
-So we thought we'd do an episode on it,
and we asked you, our subscribers,
what you all had to say,
and y'all had a lot to say about it, too.
-You go from seeing your friends and your teachers
five times a week
to only seeing them virtually for 45 minutes two times a week.
-What are strategies you recommend for dealing
with added domestic stress?
-How can I find a semblance of structure
and kind of create a schedule for myself.
-There's always, like, those awkward, like,
lulls in our video.
-There is more responsibility on me,
making sure I'm not procrastinating.
-You kind of feel like you need to say something
so that the teacher doesn't feel awkward
and the students don't feel awkward.
-I've been told multiple times,
"Just cut the TV off, get your homework done."
-How can I stay motivated not only to do my classwork
but to stay healthy physically and mentally?
-We talked to two experts that are uniquely equipped
to help answer some of these questions,
or at least give you some things to consider as you plan
for the possibility of another semester like this in the fall.
-I am dealing with this on a professional level, obviously,
with patients, but also on a personal level.
My kids are eighth grade, 10th grade, 12th grade,
and sophomore in college.
Dr. Beurkens is a developmental
psychologist and mom,
so she works with teens both in her practice and at home.
-I remember the first time we went back,
my students just looked at me,
and there wasn't really much to say
other than, "I am here for you."
-Brittany Sinitch is a survivor of the deadly shooting
at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland, Florida.
She taught drama and English.
And not long before becoming
a teacher there, she was a student.
-I was only 22 when we went through the tragedy,
so, for me, it was learning how to be strong for my students.
It's definitely a hard feeling
not knowing when you get to go back,
when you get to see your students again.
For me, my classroom is still there.
It's still a boarded-up crime scene.
And the date does say February 14th.
-I'm wondering what your advice would be for students
as they try to manage
that kind of existential stress with academic stress.
-The first thing is just to recognize
that there is a lot going on and that having an expectation
that you're going to have it all figured out,
not have any stress about it, be perfect at all of this,
that's an unreasonable expectation.
-A huge thing that I remember discussing
was curriculum and grades.
I didn't want them to put that pressure on themselves.
Same thing during a time like this.
Like, I don't think students should put pressure
on themselves to make the best grade.
-You know, a lot of people assume that teachers
or administrators at schools have it all figured out,
but this is a situation
where nobody's ever had to deal with this before.
-We are going through something together.
At this point, it's not like the teacher is up here,
the students down here learning.
We are both right here, and we are learning together.
For a lot of the students we've spoken to,
one of their big issues has been time management.
how can students take a step back
and be a little bit more accepting of their habits
and their own workflow?
-So, there's a couple benchmarks here that we can look at.
"Is how I'm structuring my time or how I'm managing this --
is it allowing me to get done what I need to get done?"
If it is, then, okay, maybe it's not a problem.
Another benchmark is to look at,
"Is what I'm doing working for me in terms of my stress,
anxiety, overwhelmed level?"
If the answer to both of those things is yes,
then there's really no need
to change how you're managing your time.
-What would be some advice for figuring out how to speak up?
-E-mail is a really nice option because e-mail
allows us to compose something but then pause, edit it,
maybe have a parent or somebody read through it,
and then hit send.
-The truth is, is if you can't be able to help yourself
and advocate for yourself and come to us as teachers,
we really can't help you.
And I do think that takes a lot of courage
for a student to do that.
And I know it's not always easy.
-The reality is that life is full of ups and downs
and times of less stress and times of greater stress,
and so this is really an opportunity
to learn some new strategies
and some new ways of coping with that.
So that's the silver lining.
-We're going to keep telling stories like this,
so stay tuned.
For more stories like this one, find us on thelily.
com or washingtonpost. com.