As of the 2023-2024 school year, many Spanish 2 students are transitioning from learning with a teacher to learning online. Because of the lack of Spanish teachers, students enrolled in Spanish 2 have started using APEX. APEX is an online learning platform with videos and activities to help students learn Spanish. It gives students lessons and then practice problems to review.
The San Marin community has mixed feelings about this change.
Principal Jennifer Larson discussed this change and why San Marin has transferred some students to online learning.
“We have a Spanish teacher who resigned at the end of summer and we didn’t have a replacement,” Larson said. “Ideally we would have in-person classes for all of our students, but unfortunately we had a gap this year. As a team we came together to discuss all the solutions that could be in the best interest of the students.”
Students were given options as to how they wanted to complete the year, working on APEX in the classroom, taking Spanish 2 through a community college, or pushing back taking the course until a later year. Sophomore Reese Cordero is taking Spanish 2 through APEX and spoke on her experience with it so far.
“I used APEX last year when my Spanish teacher quit. I don’t like it very much. It’s kind of rough and difficult,” Cordero said.
Students have supervising teacher Marisa Remak, who speaks a bit of Spanish, and offers them help and support in the classroom when needed.
“One of the things I’m really happy about and have heard good things about is that Ms. Remak has done a great job of supporting the online curriculum,” Larson said. “She has done this by giving students opportunities to practice and doing actual in-person lessons to review the units. I’m happy we have a really strong teacher supporting the students to give them a little bit of an in-person experience.”
“It doesn’t teach me anything. I haven’t learned at all this year.”
– Reese Cordero
Sophomore
Some students, like freshman Hailey Komorowski, feel APEX is helpful, as it allows students to work on their own, and bond with classmates.
“I like how there is no rush to do it. You can communicate with your friends and if you need help, you can go to someone even if there is no teacher,” Komorowski said. “Everyone has such a tight bond because we are all going through the same thing.”
Other students, such as Cordero, felt like APEX was not as beneficial as in-person Spanish classes.
“It doesn’t teach me anything. I haven’t learned at all this year,” Cordero said.
Some students also find it harder when there is no teacher to turn to for help in understanding the material.
“It can be hard when you have questions because you don’t have a teacher immediately there. Sometimes the teacher supervising doesn’t understand either, and so it can be hard to get help,” sophomore Eliza Stickle said.
Most students expressed that they feel unprepared for Spanish 3.
“Learning this way will definitely be a huge setback when I go into Spanish 3 because I haven’t had much conversational Spanish,” Komorowski said. “I feel like we are missing out on the talking aspect of learning Spanish.”
Some students wanted to do their best and finish the year. They felt that they could successfully complete the year. “I think I’m gonna finish the year. I feel like I can complete the year well because of going through school during COVID. I know I work really well like this. I wanna prove to myself that I can complete this course without a teacher,” Komorowski said.
Others said they were unsure about staying in APEX, but think that this path is the right one for them.
“This is the path I have chosen, but I think that in the long term, it will not make me successful in Spanish 3. I think that it will just make it harder,” Stickle said.
Students also talked about whether they would return if these were the learning conditions for next year’s Spanish 3 class.
“Even if it has the same end goal, we are still missing out on that in-class learning experience… It’s definitely going to be a setback in the future.”
– Hailey Komorowski
Freshman
“I would take Spanish 3 on APEX, but that’s just because it’s the same level of learning,” Stickle said. “I feel like APEX is easier, and once I move onto Spanish 3 it’s going to be so much harder having an in-person teacher.”
Overall, students think that online learning is not as beneficial as in person, even if there are pros.
“I think it is definitely worse but not in a bad way,” Komorowski said. “Even if it has the same end goal, we are still missing out on that in-class learning experience. It has really isolated the kids who don’t understand the work because you can only take it online. It’s definitely going to be a setback in the future.”
