Many students and teachers alike have struggled with the constant change in environment and adjustments this year. While most things have become easier, the one challenge that has many nervous is final exams. There are many factors that are harder to control over the computer, such as cheating, plagiarism, and incompletion. Gavin Winkel, junior, said “Being all online has helped me to figure out a system of what works and what doesn’t, but online finals will definitely be a new challenge for me.”
With the semester coming to an end and with school moving fully online, final exams will look a little different this year. Starting the week of Dec. 14, students will have two finals a day, except Thursday, beginning at the start of the school day. They will be half days starting at 7:35 and ending at 10:45.
With the elimination of in person finals due to Covid-19 exposure risks, all finals are being taken online through various ways. The way finals look will depend on the teacher themselves. They were not given any special way to go about them, though some have assigned alternate finals or projects. Donald Hoaglin, English teacher, said “Fortunately, the final looks like my regular final. Students have to read a piece, answer a few questions, and then write an essay/response on the piece.”
In addition to the online finals, the grading scale has been adjusted to a 12 point scale to accommodate the unfairness of being in school only 60% of the time. As stated by Corey Wise, interim superintendent, in an email to the community on Dec. 3, “Many of our high school principals have raised concerns about what they refer to as the ‘COVID slide’. Therefore, DCSD has decided to adjust its high school grading scale for the first semester 2020-2021 for high school level.”
Understanding that the shift has been difficult for many, the counseling office has produced a guide with many resources and tools to navigate the challenges that may arise. “We are more concerned with this pandemic and school going remote for everyone to have a handle on their mental health,” Yana Bourdelais, school counselor, said. “We want to make sure that parents have a quick easy resource guide for whatever their needs may be.”
Click here for the remote learning and mental health guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XPBI6ycBxJoM8FkWWMyOZSk2uYF04Rvdr2-GiSp3AC0/edit
Addison Rohr, Staff Reporter
