Coping up with the ‘New Normal’ Education

A year has passed since the implementation of the ‘New Normal’ education. It is a journey full of setbacks and hindrances especially during these trying times. I am amazed that despite these challenges, we, the students, are still striving to learn and achieve our dreams through education. The road that we have taken is not easy, considering that we needed to adjust to different platforms to continue our education. If you haven’t heard this from someone else, let me say this; Thank you for not giving up and I am proud of you.

Before the start of online classes, I do not know what to expect. I know that it will be online, but I do not know the difficulties that I will experience along the way. Like most of us, I also did not prepare myself with this set up before classes. I remember that I am expecting that this situation will not last long, but I was wrong. I can personally admit that I do not possess a quick-witted intelligence. However, I make sure that I am doing my best in every activity, quiz, and exam.

During the first month of the online classes, it is hard to navigate the learning management system. I experienced trouble with the notifications of my activities since it is not always showing through my email or device. I also have problems with adapting to the schedule of my classes and its set up. During the following months of the online classes, I experimented and researched for different coping mechanisms that I can use to lessen the stress brought by the online classes.

Here are the things that I did in order to cope with the ‘New Normal’ Education:

1. Setting my Vision

If you want to cope with the ‘New Normal’ education, you must first set your vision. You must decide what you want to happen or if you need to achieve something. If we’re going to cope with this situation, we must acknowledge our strengths and our weaknesses. We must evaluate ourselves if we can do this or if we wanted to continue pursuing our degrees amidst the pandemic. Setting your vision will give you a clear view of what you wanted to do.

2. Explore Different Online Platforms

There are a lot of online platforms that you can explore and use to manage your online classes. You can maximize the use of your google accounts. You can use it for your emails to contact your instructors or classmates. You can use google calendar to arrange your schedule and provide notifications that will remind you of your unfinished requirements or class schedules. You can use google drive to store your important documents for easy access. Also, you can use google scholar to research academic papers for your readings and outputs.

3. Do Not Procrastinate

We have this “Mañana Habit,” wherein we tend to delay things to the last minute before doing it, which is a bad practice. We must avoid procrastination because it may lead to stress, anxiety, and frustration that will really affect your health and your performance in online classes. If you have time to do your activities, do not delay and procrastinate at the end. It will be more stressful if the activities will pile up because you are thinking of doing it through procrastination.

4. Try Pomodoro Technique

I learned this from this technique through the internet. Pomodoro is performed by choosing your task, setting up a 25-minute timer, working your task until the time is over, take a 5-minute break, and for every four (4) Pomodoro, you can take a more extended 15-30-minute break. I find this technique effective, and I revised this depending on what task I am doing.

5. Ask for Help and Guidance

Whenever I do not understand a lesson, I always message my instructors through the learning management system or group chat to ask for help or clarifications. Sometimes, I also asked my instructors about my mistakes in the quiz or activities and how I can have a better grade. Also, I am asking my classmates regarding topics that I needed more information on. We must not be afraid to ask for help or guidance from our instructors because online classes will only be effective if the communication between the student and teacher exists, just like during the face-to-face classes. I do not consider asking for clarification or help as a weakness but as an opportunity to grow.

6. Reward Yourself

Whenever I accomplished a task, I always treat myself to simple things such as watching my favorite series, movies, and anime or buying snacks. You can also play your favorite video games or even treat yourself with more time to sleep. It is essential to reward yourself even with the smallest achievement because it is not important how big it is; an achievement is still an achievement. Prioritizing your education does not mean that you will forget to appreciate your achievements or the things that you do.

7. Prioritize and Give Importance to your Health

You should prioritize and give importance to your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health in everything that you do. You can protect your mental and emotional health by expressing yourself, talking to someone you trust, taking a break from things that make you mentally weak, and keeping yourself active. Also, you can prioritize your spiritual health by asking for the guidance of our Almighty God through prayer, attending church services, and reading the Holy Scriptures. Besides that, you can promote your physical health by exercising, workouts, cycling, jogging, and eating the right amount of food and nutrients.

8. Review, Revise, Reflect

These are the most important things that I am doing in order to cope with the ‘New Normal’ education. Every coping mechanism that I am doing right now, I constantly review these things, revise these coping mechanisms, and reflect if these are still effective. You must never forget to check the effects of what you are doing; if these things resulted negatively instead of positive results, you can revise what you did and reflect on these things to improve what you are doing.

We have our own ways that helped us managed the ‘New Normal’ education. The things you do to survive the challenges of these new education platforms are manifestations of your passion and commitment to pursue your dreams despite the hardships that we are facing right now. Never forget the vision that you have set; it is your guide towards success. Continue to acknowledge and appreciate your efforts and sacrifices; you are doing well. Let us continue to uphold our aspirations while promoting our welfare as students.