The 2020-2021 school year is in the books!
On the final day of class, I introduced my students the concept of the six-word story (also known as a six-word memoir). We reviewed Masterclass’s brief overview blog post and I went over a few tips of my own, including how to use punctuation, hyphens, and abbreviations. Then I asked students to share their six-word story of the 2020-2021 school year on a Google Form. This writing exercise was intended to be a meaningful yet succinct form of reflection.
The following stories are from high school students and are in the order they were collected on the Google Form. Students have granted me permission to share their story in this public collection knowing that their information would be deidentified. I think having each story stand on its own without any context other than a high school student thinking about their 2020-2021 school year is powerful enough.
- When will I get a break?
- Dystopian reality? Surelier than you think.
- Ruining my eyes for my education.
- I am gripped with everlasting boredom.
- I fell asleep in a class.
- This year was amazing and confusing.
- Video games. Online school. COVID19 vaccine.
- Red, green, blue to rainbow hue.
- I worked and I tried hard.
- Mix of fun, fast, and fantastic.
- Had a great year! Keep going!
- It began quickly, but ended quicker.
- COVID, quarantine, and a new school.
- School. Fun with friends. Plus masks.
- This year was long and awful.
- Online or in-person, stressful school year.
- Soaking up knowledge through a screen.
- Sophomore year’s over. Halfway through HS!
- Online info perfectly paced comfortable space.
- I stayed safe, but felt sick.
- COVID-19 hurts but we still stand.
- Cameras off, anxiety high, online school.
- Online school. Something to remember forever.
- Two paths – both sides were hell.
- I will not miss Zoom school.
- This year flew by my eyes.
- My computer won’t load: it’s broken.
- It was like a quiet storm.
- I am so tired of computers.
- COVID sucks. Still got through it.
- New kind of school, learning curve.
- I went to school in bed.
- Started late, yet longest year ever.
- It was interesting but also fun.
- School started. Online classes for months.
- Masks, for when breathing becomes unsafe.
- Survived online school through a pandemic.
- High school, unique, difficult, and fun.
- Twice the pride, double the fall.
- Funny how things change … a lot.
- “You wanna Zoom for hw?” “Sure!”
- It was fiery pits of brimstone.
- Stuck a home. Lost in thought.
- High school was challenging, eye opening.
- This year was hard but easy.
- It was September, schools were empty.
- Working better making better, meeting summer.
- Well it’s over, so that’s great.
- Very chaotic, but it still worked.
- Sophomore year was a memorable one.
- Shorter day. Longest year. I’m tired.
Cue Alice Cooper’s hit song “Schools Out!”