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A Look At The First Day Of School In The Coronavirus Era

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Monday was the first day of school for the daughters of KDKA anchor Kristine Sorensen. One of her daughters is going into eighth grade and the other 10th grade.

The Mt. Lebanon School District is doing only-only school for the first nine weeks, something KDKA anchor Kristine Sorensen's kids were disappointed by but understood. It's an unprecedented experience, but how will it work?

On Monday, we learned how the students will spend time online for each class, where the teacher takes attendance and students are considered tardy if they are not there.

The students also go from class period to class period like they would on a regular school day. They have four to six minutes between each class.

The instruction is both synchronous — which is when the instruction is live with the teacher teaching online — and asynchronous, which means the teacher gives the students an assignment and they do it alone or in a group.

So how did the first day of school go? KDKA anchor Kristine Sorensen's kids ran into some technical issues. Both of the Chromebooks borrowed from the school were not working well, so they had to use a personal computer and a computer borrowing from work.

"It's kind of boring, sitting on the computer all day," one daughter said.

But there are positives, like playing with our puppy, Rosie, in between classes; FaceTiming with friends; and being able to sit in your room with a blanket while you do school. It's an experience that one day, they will tell their own children about it.

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