Why is it important to keep balance?
Have you felt that ever since online school has started you’re disconnecting from family and stressing over school work? This is because you don’t have a balance between online school and daily life. Imagine a scale with two sides. One represents online learning, and the other represents daily life. Too much of online learning tips the scale, and too much of daily life tips the scale the other way.
Keeping a balance helps you focus on both your life outside of school and school itself. So how can you do that? The Direct Message interviewed two students and two teachers to find how they keep balance.
Interviews:
How much time do you spend on school work?
Alexa – 7th Grader “I spend about 3-4 hours on school work, but I do it all night.”
McKenzie – 7th Grader “3-4 hours.”
Ms. Naggea – Teacher “7-8 hours a day during the week, 2-3 hours a day during the weekend.”
Ms. Rydburg – Teacher “Usually about 8 – 10 hours a day (never more than 11!)”
2. How much time do you spend with family?
Alexa – 7th Grader “I spend 3-4 hours, sometimes more.”
McKenzie – 7th Grader “I spend all day with my family on the weekends but, on school days, less than an hour.”
Ms. Naggea – Teacher “My family lives abroad so I don’t spend much time with them, but we talk on the phone once a week.
My friends here are like my family, so I can say I spend 3-4 hours a week with them.”
Ms. Rydburg – Teacher “I call my family about once a week for an hour or so.”
3. What do you like to do when you spend time with family?
Alexa – 7th Grade “I like to watch movies with them, play a sport, play a board game.”
McKenzie – 7th Grader “Eat, go to the mall, and play games.”
Ms. Naggea – Teacher “When I’m with my mum, I like to help her cook.
We sometimes take walks or watch a good TV program together.”
Ms. Rydburg – Teacher “We talk about how we are doing and catch up. Sometimes we play games together at HouseParty.”
4. Do you do anything to take care of yourself?
Alexa – 7th Grade “I love to help my parents with things, I love talking to my friends, playing sports, eating, watching movies, and playing with my dog.”
McKenzie – 7th Grader “I dance, stretch, exercise, eat healthy, and drink water.”
Ms. Naggea – Teacher “I like to exercise so I do that at least one hour a day.
I also spend time drawing and playing music.I like cooking and experimenting with new recipes.”
Ms. Rydburg – Teacher “I try to exercise regularly and do things I enjoy like reading or exploring the city, going to parks and cool historical sites, etc.”
5. Do you take time to message or FaceTime friends?
Alexa – 7th Grade “Yes, I like to talk to my friends whenever they are free.”
McKenzie – 7th Grader “Yes, I text my friends daily.”
Ms. Naggea – Teacher “I do, I use FB messenger, Whatsapp and zoom usually.”
Ms. Rydburg – Teacher “I’m always messaging with friends, especially the ones that are far away.”
6. How much time do you spend in front of a screen?
Alexa – 7th Grade “I usually spend 5 hours.”
McKenzie – 7th Grader “6 hours.”
Ms. Naggea – Teacher “In recent times, it has been a lot. I would say 10-11 hours.”
Ms. Rydburg – Teacher “According to the Screen Time app on my phone, I spend about 2-3 hours a day on it. And since almost all my work is basically on my laptop screen, that adds up to about 12 hours of screen time a day! That’s why I really try to do activities on my own time that don’t include a screen!”
In conclusion, it looks like everyone has their own balance and way of trying to keep it.