Remote learning is definitely different from being in school (I’m talking about both before the pandemic and during it.). I know because I am a fully remote student. There are many pluses to being remote, but there are also some not so good attributes to go with it.

One of those not so good attributes is I get really tired of staring at the computer screen all day. I’m pretty sure my eyes have gotten worse. Since most of the homework assignments and activities are on the computer, it’s added to my screen time. So is typing up this. Sometimes, when nearing the eighth period, I get headaches, and when I ask my friends, they sometimes do too. 

A plus to remote learning is being able to wake up late. Unlike the in-school students, I don’t have to worry about getting on the bus or walking to school on time, getting my chromebook charged for class, since I can keep it charging while learning, and a few extra minutes of beauty sleep.

There are more negative parts to remote learning. It sometimes gets really boring. There are some activities only the students in school can do and trying them out at home isn’t the same. Since teachers can’t send everything home, and there are sometimes internet problems, it just isn’t the same experience.

A positive, since I seem to be alternating between them, is fully remote students get more free time. Remote students have five minutes of instead of transitioning to classes, the remote students get five minutes of free time because clicking a link only takes a few seconds. If a person is fully remote, they get the five minutes everyday! There is also the activity period/lunch time. If the student is not required to attend the activity period, it means more time to spread out lunch and take the time to do things.

Since I seem to have more positives than negatives - and I think that’s a good thing, for me at least - I’m going to break my positive-negative chain. I don’t have to wear a mask all day! I don’t really know what it's like to wear a mask all day, but I do know what it’s like to wear a mask for about thirty minutes. The insides get stuffy, sometimes, depending on the mask, the straps on the ears start aching, maybe it might get itchy. I know there’s mask breaks, but some kids like to play sports and that requires masks. So, even with the mask breaks, the in-school students are wearing the masks for a while. Since I’m fully remote, I don’t have to wear one! 

Even though learning remotely is great at times, if I could choose to go back to before the pandemic and start middle school without covid-19 floating around, I would choose that. There are so many complications and things we can’t do since everyone has to social distance or stay at home.

I am going to conclude this here because if I keep thinking, there will be more negatives than positives or there will be too many things to count. So, if you are a fully in-school student or an alternating one, and you were wondering how it’s like to be fully remote, you got your answer.