No school! Well…Not really. On January 17th and 18th, students across Gwinnett came together and crowded every laptop, phone, and computer to experience a new way to conquer snow days. As anyone who’s familiar with the GCPS system knows, our “designated” inclement weather days had been used up by Hurricane Irma and its aftermath. To avoid what happened a few years ago (where 30 minutes were added to the school day), GCPS leaders decided to implement the prior planned “digital learning day” to make up for the information that students would have originally missed out on. Any student at GSMST is far too familiar with this concept. GSMST has dubbed these digital learning days, “eClass days,” when teachers post assignments online for students to complete at various times throughout the day. At GSMST, these eClass days are used for what other schools know as parent-teacher conference half-days and with the lack of our own bus system, GSMST lets their students stay home and complete what is necessary. This time, all of Gwinnett county tried digital learning day ut. When the GCPS twitter released the school closing, students everywhere rejoiced! No school? Not really. Although the day may not be much like a traditional school day, students still have to complete their homework for a school grade and also check into their teachers’ eClass pages to be marked present. But really…who wouldn’t like to do their work from the comfort of their own home, in their pajamas, after sleeping in? Despite the bumpiness of the first countywide implementation of the plan, students and faculty must not forget that this is only the beginning, and it will only improve from here through suggestions and feedback! Â
