Life in the New way of Learning

Hello everyone!! I am Leslie Anne Tansiongco, grade 12 student. In this blog I will be sharing my experiences, my struggles and challenges, strengths that I have discovered, and the lesson I have learned in two years of online classes.

Pandemic cause many changes in our life, one of the changes is the new way of learning called online class. Last year online classes started and I was currently in grade 11 at that time. Since it was new for us so there’s a lot of adjustments we need to make in order to cope and survive in the new way of learning. Online classes give so much struggles to the students, teachers, and as well as to the parents of students.

The most common problems we encountered during online classes are poor internet connectivity, electricity or power interruption, and gadget malfunction. But aside from it there’s a lot of problems that I’ve experienced from the very beginning of the new way of learning. One of the most common struggle that I experienced is having unstable internet connection. I am having a hard time everytime I join in google meet because there are only selected areas in our barangay where there is a stable internet connection at the same time you will need to spend money for the load since there was no WiFi in our area.

Every student have different learning abilities, some are fast learners, and others are not. Like me I’m not a fast learner and at the same time I’m a transferee student so there’s a lot of adjustments I need to do in order to keep up with the abilities of my classmates.One of the challenges that I have encountered as a transferee student is that sometimes there are teachers who skips some lessons their reason why they don’t teach it anymore is because they said that it already been told to us during our junior highschool then they proceed to the next topic. Everytime teacher do that I was left behind because those lessons weren’t taught to us because I came from public school, both have different curriculums so the lessons that being taught to us were too late compared to private schools.

Also one of the disadvantages of being a transferee student is you don’t know who are your classmates and you don’t have a friend to answer your questions whenever you want to ask something. Since i’m not close to my classmates and for some reason i’m afraid that they might laugh at me, that they might say that it’s so easy not to understood. Instead of asking them, I will message directly my teacher but my teacher will not be able to answer it immediately because I am not the only student and they are also busy. I have to wait a long time for their responses unlike before that they can immediately answer my questions.

Online classes is really different from face to face classes because now in online classes we need to manage our time well, it became difficult for me to balance study and household chores. We don’t have enough time to rest because online classes usually start at 8:00 a.m until 5:00 p.m, we only get one hour of lunch break everyday then in the evening it was our time to do the activities and performance task since it is the only vacant time we have so we always lack of sleep. With so many activities asked to do, we have no choice but to stay awake at night just to pass all the activities given.It is was really hard for me because in not allowed to stay awake for a long period of time because I have a history of aplastic anemia. I get bruises everytime that I’ve been awake in the evening doing all the activities. There’s nothing I can do but sacrifice my own health just to finish all the tasks and activities given. With overload schoolworks, I cannot find a time to do the household chores that’s why I’m always scolded by my mother.

But all these challenges make me more stronger in life. Like the all of the challenges I faced before I know in myself that I can overcome it too. All trials have an associated success in the end so let’s just be positive in life. No matter how hard life is, always believe in yourself because trusting yourself is the best way to overcome every challenges in life. And don’t forget to pray, ask for assistance from God because He always know what is best for us.

Continue achieving your dreams and don’t forget to enjoy the ride of life.

Have a nice day everyone!! Stay safe.

leslieannetansiongco

It’s a Part of life

How did I overcome the problems I was facing? It’s simple, I always pray to God that even if I give up, he will be there to help me. So, those things that are difficult or seem impossible to achieve I always think I can achieve them. And it’s not bad to cry because I passed elementary and high school with tears, yes!Every year I cry, like I want to die. Literally, I’ve experienced doing what I see on social media like slashing or anything else that my family won’t expect that I will do it.Sometimes even if I have a problem I will do things that will make them laugh and show that I don’t have a problem. When it comes to school or online class, even if I don’t know the thing I do my best to overcome it.There are really things we need to get through and there are also things we need to let go of, because we can’t learn something before we don’t make a big mistake because if I didn’t I might not reach those things. Sometimes even when I go to sleep, I think about what will happen tomorrow or what I will do to solve that thing. Or when I’m in trouble and I don’t know what to prioritize, I leave, wander around, go to a friend to talk or go to a place far away from the problem. I often find myself alone in that place and then shed tears, I will think about why I have such a small thing or problem, I will cry right away. When I’m angry or I have a problem, the people at home are my enemies.
Sometimes I can just be told that everything that happens to me is part of a plan by God, when I can’t get over that problem.Ill lose.

kristinejadefernandez

(L-002) The Bumps and Hills

The Bumps and Hills

The next year was a little less bumpy. New years just passed, I was already pre-enrolled due to the aforementioned arrangements, and all that was left for me was to wait for updates about the schedule and when class start. THAT was what I thought was left.

A few weeks before classes some of the teachers in the school got in contact with me. The teachers informed me that there was barely any student that signed up for the TVL track. I was shook. It turns out that there was only 3 of us in our chosen strand. That’s when I remembered the past year where I barely saw any students of the same strand, and about the school arrangement.

That arrangement pretty much makes it VERY hard for me to transfer to a different school and other students of the same level from doing the other way around. We were stuck to 3 ever since last year, that was it, no more, no less.

They told me that we had 2 choices, we either transfer to another strand or persevere and carry the costs of only having 3 students for the same strand. If you think about it, it would’ve been simple. Just transfer or keep going, it’s not like there’s much costs to continuing. That would’ve been the case if TVL didn’t have different strands and if those strands didn’t have many specializations, unfortunately that wasn’t that case and even more unfortunate was that we had different specializations. That wasn’t the only problem, remember, I took TVL as a track, ICT as my strand, and computer hardware/systems servicing as my specialization.

Those conditions pretty much means that we shoulder almost all tools and supplies we need, not to mention that we took different tracks and specializations. This means for me that I will have to shoulder the costs of tools, hardware, and software that I may need for computer servicing, luckily for me, I already had some tools and things like a computer, the problem which is that my mentor wouldn’t be able to personally monitor how I work, which means I am risking those supplies if I do something wrong, and computers aren’t exactly cheap.

After taking it all in, I decided to postpone my decision. It took me a few days, and more unfortunate for me, in the span of deciding, the other 2 students pretty much switched to a different track, one of them taking STEM, which is also one of my options. I was left all alone. I was alone in the track, strand, and specialization that I chose. This prompted me to really make sure that my parents know what I and their money will go to.

After a few days, I decided that I will continue.

I stayed in my track. on the course of the ongoing year I called my father, asked him if there was a spare computer that he stored in the past when our computer cafe closed down he shipped it, I dismantled it. I purchased a crimping tool and added it in my toolsets, some supplies that I was informed to be needed like materials for ethernet cables which I ended up making, got a new flashdrive, and downloaded an installer for windows.

After going through months of those small bumps I’m finally almost finished. I am almost done with this current struggles, a few months away from graduating and also a few months away from the quarantine in the Philippines from being over.

I’m proud to assume that I will have graduated before May 2022.

Leven

The Difficulties of Not Having Everything

Hi I’m Jade, this story is based on what I have experience the struggles and challenges that happened to me this year through online platforms. Due to how I haven’t gotten used to waking up at 4am in the morning to deal with things that I need for studying, although I experienced this in the past it wasn’t usually like this. In the morning I have to wake up early just to go to a nearby elementary school just to connect to their free Wi-Fi.

It wasn’t easy, I didn’t have a proper table or seat that I can lay stuff down on, it was cold, and at the same time, noise was everywhere, there’s people cussing, shouting, and other annoying noises all over the place. I also tried going to nearby places with a good signal, I even tried going to a nearby fishpond, a place where I can open Facebook but it wasn’t enough to properly connect to our online class sessions. I also experienced running because I was getting caught up in the rain while taking a class, funny isn’t it? These things will remain as a memory to me.

Things even got more odd to the point that I had to travel from a city to another just to connect to my parent’s, not to mention that I had to go back home after. I had to travel very early in the morning then travel home at sundown after classes. That was how the world goes round in my point of view during those times.

That’s when my grandaunt taught that we should move in to their home there instead since one of the rooms in there didn’t have any occupants. Eventually me and my older sister moved there.

As time passes, our situation started to go south. My sister always gets the blunt of the criticism, sometimes other occupants would criticize things about her, the course she took, they’d call-out how likely that she’s gonna end up with low paying work, how her body’s condition doesn’t look good, how she looks pale and thin, eventually we decided to move-out.

We thought of moving out since we were the one’s always dealing with the chores to the point that her _______ didn’t even do any anymore, they also started arguing, and the place was filled with guys anyway, so my father also wanted us to move out, eventually making us move inner in to a barrio in the more developed parts of the city.

After moving, that’s when the burdens of studying started to lighten up, although we were financially struggling with our data provider, at least our days were worth it since we were with our second cousins in-law. Of course we can’t keep away troubles forever so my parents are still nervous which led to them getting Wi-fi installed in our home instead.

Of course, as my mother had said, troubles don’t really fully go away. the tensions in the house are still there, my brothers sometimes don’t get along, they would tease each other when together, which sometimes makes me forget about the stuff I have to do. I was already used to it, the only most common probably I have was the black-outs since the signal was still not that great, that’s why when there’s a black-out I’m suually not in class, other than that is myself.

As the famous saying goes, “your biggest enemy is yourself.”.

kristinejadefernandez

Every struggle is a victory

When the pandemic started, and then online class was declared, we students will be studying in our house to prevent the spreading of the virus but it lead me and the other student into many struggles.

Greetings everyone!!

Let me introduce myself, I’m Arnie lovely fabul, and written on this blog are my struggle and challenges while facing online classes.

As a student, I should attend every class, 7 in the morning until 5 afternoons and I went through many things just to attend and learn every lesson, since its online I should be providing devices and a daily internet connection, and I struggle a lot living in a rural area which there is no stable connection, a small rain and cloud will interrupt the connection that made me left the meeting. I don’t have any Wi-Fi or a fast internet cable I just use data through my phone which I have to speed money too.

I don’t have an area which I can study, I only study in any corner of our house that will make me comfortable. Focusing on my teacher’s lesson is also hard because I mostly hear noise coming from the outside or inside the house and that interrupts me from coping with the lesson.

As a daughter and a student, we all have obligations, and both of my obligations are combined, and I struggle to manage them both.

My biggest struggle is the distance between my house to my school, I live in El Nido and my school is in Puerto Princesa City, I travel 6 hours to my school to get books and to enroll. My only connection to all my classmate and teacher are my social media.

Realizing that all of our struggles and challenges are also our stepping stone to succeeding makes me think that all struggle is worth overcoming.

Let’s hope for better days. Keep fighting.

Have a great day!!!

arniefabul0911

Struggle is REAL. Never CONCEAL

The Pure Definition of “Struggle is Real”

Good day, everyone! Blessed be God forever and Mabuhay! My name is Marian, and in this blog, I am about to share my experiences, including my struggles, challenges, some of the strengths I have discovered, and the lessons I have learned. 

STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES

[6:00 am] My usual time to wake up

As soon as I woke up, I always felt the tension of attending the online class nor the pressure of being the youngest in the family. It is because I have to fulfill my duty in the house by helping my mom prepare breakfast and because my older sister was the one who cooked; of course, as the youngest, I should be the one who will wash the dishes after. My mom often tells me to make sure I have eaten before taking up my first subject. Even so, I still faced the struggle of being on time in class without any interruptions. Although my subject teacher thought I was already in the class, the truth is I am doing other things like brushing my teeth, or sometimes I am still not finished with the dishes. Probably I am still in a phase of adjusting. Yes, the class schedule is still the same, but we all know it is different from what we used to. We are obligated to enter the school early. If not, there is always a consequence for being late, and most of us are afraid of being punished as we do not want to be late in the first subject. But now, we are in the new normal, and consideration has become more advantageous to the students. 

I am the kind of person who has poor concentration. That is why every time I hear noises coming from the people in the house, loud cars on the street, and most of the time, the roaring sound of the family pets, I always lose my focus and begin to decide not to listen attentively to my teacher. It keeps bothering me every during class or even by the time I am doing my homework. For that reason, I could not follow the lesson properly. 

Aside from home distractions, one of the common problems students and even teachers are suffering from is having a poor internet connection (Another “poor” for me). Especially for me, being a student living in a rural place, this sort of problem was nothing new to me. I have been experiencing this since when I was in elementary, but back then, it was way more unstable. Hence, I had to work on my projects manually. I think until now, I still prefer engaging efforts by my own hands despite knowing that it’s way more challenging. I don’t know; perhaps I am quite a perfectionist in that way. 

Palaweños humorously named Palawan as the “Brownout Capital of the Philippines.” From the phrase itself, I think you already know what I’m about to insinuate. Power outages occur almost every day for hours and sometimes half a day. Since I study online, I use mobile data in exchange for wifi and eventually consume the battery of the gadgets I use. Electric power interruption certainly adds to my burden of trying to comply with my requirements on time. Also, it was tough for me to cope with the new lesson from having been absent due to this problem.

What’s more frustrating is that there is some instance when there is a power outage the loss of signal also takes place. Lately, I realized that there is no week without facing complications affecting each students’ online learning. Nonetheless, I am still hoping for better days ahead, surviving and thriving with online learning and growing healthy mindsets. 

mariannngabooo

(L-001) Not-so-Smooth Sailing

Not-so-Smooth Sailing.

According to the 18th Congress – Senate Bill No. 1190 of the Philippines, the average class size of elementary public schools in the Philippines is 43.9, a few tens above our neighboring countries hence, affecting the effectiveness of teachers educating said classes. According to the same bill, the implementation of such bill is to help alleviate aforementioned problems.

Now, that is not exactly the case for me. I wasn’t packed in a classroom with more than 50 students, well, not anymore since I’m not in a public school anymore I suppose. My first problem on the other hand are still regarding class size.

When I first enrolled in my current school, I couldn’t remember as to why, but I was mixed into a single class. Now, for context, I was Grade 11, Covid-19 was just declared as a pandemic by WHO a few months ago, all of us was as prepared as we can be for online classes, a all of us (hopefully) has picked and enrolled according to our chosen strand. Now for me, that was Technical-Vocational-Livelihood, computer hardware servicing. Handsy.

A few days later, I was confirmed to be enrolled to my selected school and was added to the class group chat. Now, I wasn’t exactly mad or surprised, but when test piloting the classes, I learned that the whole class wasn’t exactly people of the same strands. We were oriented about how the school is gonna approach the quarantine, the pandemic, and online learning, kind of like how things would’ve went in the our usual Filipino first day past normal classes, except online, through the computer.

According to the teacher that oriented us back then, we were to be taught the non “handsy” stuff this year, with the following year being the time where it will be mostly hands on and where we’ll finally be sorted according to our strand. It was all nice and fun, I did noticed that there were only so little amount of people that took the TVL strand, not that I care. Unlucky for me, that turned out to be a premonition, a harbinger of what was about to happen the year after.

Anyway, that year didn’t really flow smoothly which is to be expected since online learning was very alien to us since Philippines internet capabilities isn’t that great even if you look at it in a good light. That year wasn’t easy. Deadlines were broken, extended, and bended, Students would disconnect midway or even end up not attending classes for plethora of reasons, and we’d constantly try to appeal to our teachers to maybe lengthen or extend deadlines, sometimes even trying to ask for allowance for us to pass very, VERY due activities.

Well, that was the first year done. Not exactly smooth, but we passed the trials. some deadlines were missed completely, and our grades weren’t exactly shining, but we got through.

On to the second year.

#001

Leven