This pandemic has affected us all in various ways. We have all experienced a sense of isolation as we have missed out on a lot of social interactions and have been forced to change our lifestyles in major ways. 

One major change was students having to take online classes, and a trend is beginning to form that shows students participating less in class. From my personal experience, I have witnessed a lot of teachers become frustrated when faced with this challenge as they are unaware of what they can do to encourage class participation. After speaking with L-S Junior Victoria JeanJacques, I was able to get a second opinion on why this happens.

“The pandemic has taken a huge emotional toll on all of us and online classes can sometimes be draining,” she explains. “That being said, a lot of pressure is put on students when speaking in a remote class as everyone can see and hear you speaking…it makes an already awkward situation worse. Everything just feels impersonal and it makes it difficult for people to want to connect.” 

This perspective makes a lot of sense to me. As a fully remote student, I too have experienced classes being impersonal. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that can be easily fixed. At this point, the best we can do is work hard to make classes as inclusive and interactive as possible, while still giving students the space to feel comfortable to speak at their own pace.