The COVID-19 pandemic brought in many unforeseen challenges for students, parents, and teachers. In the United States, when most schools and colleges shut down and transitioned into completely online pedagogy, a lot of students have faced various big and small challenges due to the online learning model adopted by most schools during the pandemic. While there are a lot of stories about the problems faced, there are some student success stories that are sure to inspire you.
One such story is of Kairan Quazi, an 11-year-old sophomore in college studying Computer Engineering. Kairan is a student who enjoys working on math problems, coding challenges, reading, and playing video games. The new online teaching system however landed him in a tough spot like it did many other students of his age. But Kairan decided to not give up and combated challenges effectively to come out victorious.
Here is a brief outline of how Kairan combated not one but many big and small challenges that arose during online learning:
1. Get a tutor to help streamline learning
This is the need of the hour! While teachers may not be accessible all the time, you can still count on a tutor’s guidance to help you sail through a subject you are facing difficulty with. Here is what you can do today:
- Make a list of your top concerns in a subject
- Reach out to tutors in the subjects you need help with
- Speak to potential tutors and see whose teaching style works best for you, work out timings, frequency of lessons, etc to best suit your convenience (all from the comfort of your home)
- Track your progress online and share your concerns on the go with a tutor dedicated to your learning journey
Read in Kairan’s own words how Talentnook helped him achieve his grade in Math despite the professor refusing to give live/recorded lectures and leaving students pretty much on their own:
“I reached out to Talentnook when Covid forced all classes to go virtual in my final semester and when 1 particular math professor decided he wouldn’t give live or recorded lectures and wouldn’t hold office hours. We would have to learn the material independently for homework and exams that were far advanced beyond the curriculum.”
This is when Talentnook’s qualified math tutor stepped in for the absentee math professor to walk Kairan through concepts in more detail and review homework assignments. And what happened? No points for guessing – Kairan achieved his desired grade and with much more confidence in himself! He graduated with an Associate Degree in Math at the age of 11 with a 4.0 GPA!
In his words, this is what he liked the most about the tutor he chose from Talentnook:
“What I enjoyed most about my tutor was his relatability, intelligence, and great personality. He was a college student at a prestigious university, really fun to work with, and somehow knew how my brain worked.”
Also Read: The Parent’s Guide to De-Stress Remote Learning for Your Child
2. Strike a balance between work and play
It is important to stay upbeat during these times when most of us have limited access to friends and teachers. Rekindle your hobbies – this is the best time to hone an extra-curricular skill and discover some long lost fun. Look out for virtual meetups with friends and explore virtual modes of learning. You can always bounce back to your rhythm in studies once you spend some time honing your creativity or simply being involved in practices like concentration exercises or meditation.
When the lockdown came into effect, this is what Kairan did apart from focussing on studies and working diligently on the curriculum: “I trained for my Kajukenbo martial arts black belt, served as a keynote speaker at a global AI conference, wrote a blog for the Frederick Douglass Foundation, started my ethical hacking certification course, and scheduled lots of online video gaming time with friends.”
3. Be your own mentor
While a tutor can help you with discipline and motivation for doing better in a subject, there are things you can do to be your own manager! Start with the following:
- Be organized – use post its, journals, timetables to keep your daily routine in place even while you stay at home all day long
- Read – be it science fiction or nonfiction, you can read anything to keep yourself intelligently relaxed
- Step up – work on your hobbies and take them to the next level. Think of it like this – all the time saved in commute and other chatter at school can now be devoted to your hobby! Love piano? Get certified. Love writing? Participate in at least 3 essay writing competitions online!
- Pay attention to health – it is important to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day to keep your mind in its best functioning state. From aerobics and Pilates to yoga, you can choose any form of exercise that you like!
In Kairan‘s own words, his advice to all students struggling with scheduling a productive day during online learning:
“Our education system is 80% time management. So, create a simple weekly task list, knock them out of the way, and then you might be surprised how much time is left in the week when we don’t have to commute. I think this is a great opportunity to try fun things that you normally wouldn’t have time for. Try a free MOOC course. Get certification in something you’ve been passionate about. Do daily pilates or kickboxing through YouTube. Visit trails and beaches.”
Also Read: How to Overcome the Challenges of Online Classes During Covid-19
4. Speak more often than you ever did!
This is one offbeat piece of advice that we want to leave you with!
While we are all safe inside our homes and have worked out ways to study and work from our cloisters, it is all the more important to stay connected with your friends, extended family, teachers, etc. Use virtual tools like WhatsApp, Zoom, Google Talk, etc to speak to people of your age, it will not only widen your perspective about the issues they are facing with online learning but will also help you gather a lot of best practices. The very feeling of being connected and being together in this will help you solve problems rather than feel sorry about them!
Having said all of it, let us once again remind you that if you need help with any subject – be it math, Spanish, or even drawing, help is around the corner! With only a click away, connect with hundreds of expert tutors in virtually every field. Visit Talennook and start exploring tutor profiles.
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Let Kairan’s story inspire you to build a successful self-paced learning system for your child and help nurture their talent
Happy learning to you!