Gold Star Student

I've been struggling with some problems that are similar in nature to what Andrew my friend described in class the other day. His was a problem of learning as a child. These that I'm dealing with involve my ten year old son, and I'm sure it's common at the moment for most young learners struggling through a "pandemic learning experience." 

In my son's case he had been a "gold star student" when class was in session, live at the school. He helped classmates, worked in class, participated and was eager to join in to activities. Once the pandemic hit however and he had to work from home he failed in many ways. We struggled to not only help him keep involved in class, but also to keep his spirits up. I found it amazing how not only were his grades suffering, but so was his enthusiasm for school. It was easy to see how one aspect of life (his ability to do well in class) so greatly influence another aspect of his school life, his verve and enthusiasm for class. 

I believe the biggest culprit in this drama was the nature of the Zoom classes. Hours and hours of sitting in his study alone, trying to focus on the tasks his teacher gave him, not actively engaging, never being a part of the class, he holed himself away. I was reminded of this when I read in Sousa, "once again the brain area that is most sensitive to this activity is the hippocampus. Studies show that increased physical activity in school leads to improved student attention and academic performance. Yet students still sit too much in school, especially high school," (p. 36).

Prior to the pandemic shutting off so many activities this was a four sport child. My other son struggles with sports and team activities, but the ten year old revels in outdoor play and sports. With the pandemic stopping that, and without the outlet of actually going to school and participating with others, I was surprised by how quickly the spiral of depression kicked in with him. I believe that he went from a "curious" thinking to a very "anxious" learner who felt dismayed about his prospects. Although I know that schools were reacting to the world they were thrust into as best they could, schools would do well to learn from the experience and to keep Sousa's quote in mind in the future. 

References

Sousa, D.A. (2016). How the brain learns, (5th Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.