With Glenbard South’s hybrid schedule being moved to September 8th, students and teachers have been preparing to begin remote e-learning on Monday, August 17th. Periods 1-4 will take place on Mondays and Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m., and periods 5-8 on Thursdays and Friday at the same time. Wednesdays will be an almost regular day with all periods from 7:30 am-2:00 pm. Students will be using Zoom or Google Meet to live stream with classes and teachers, who have the choice of teaching from their home or from their classrooms in the school. 

Principal Sandra Coughlin believes the biggest challenge students will face starting off in remote learning will be computer fatigue and eye strain from devices. Each class period has gone from 48 minutes during a regular school day to 70 minutes for e-learning. Students will be sitting in front of their screen for even more time while completing homework and doing other activities. Teachers will compensate for this by having ‘brain breaks’, mini-lessons with activities to comprehend them and work time for homework. Coughlin also believes that it will be challenging for students to efficiently time manage while being in their own environment with distractions. Coughlin speculates that the hardest challenge for the Glenbard teachers and staff will be learning how to teach for 70 minutes, structuring the curriculum and class time to make sure kids are engaged. 

Coughlin envisions the best part of starting off in remote learning for students and teachers alike is being in their own environment. Being in the comfort of one’s own home changes everything- you can get up, grab a snack, and take a break. With class live-streams, students can also alleviate the feeling of isolation. Will this remote/hybrid schedule be the most effective for Glenbard South? We will have to wait and see.