students doing homework in classroom.Photo:Getty
Getty
Teachers have been usingTikTokto increase awareness about therealities of the modern classroomfor the last few years. Now, the spotlight is on how fast students are falling behind.
In one viral video, posted Sept. 19, an Atlanta area teacher suggested that many of his seventh grade students are performing at a fourth grade level — and some are performing at level even lower than that.
“I still have kids performing on the K, one, two and third grade levels,” the educator added. “I could probably count on one hand how many kids are actually performing on their grade level.”
“These babies cannot read, they cannot write, and they cannot comprehend," said the creator, who claimed to work at “one of the more affluent schools” in the area.
“I’m not being funny, I’m being dead serious,” the teacher added, sharing that kids are “constantly” asking how to spell words like “window,” “important” and “though.”
In the caption, the educator wrote, “It’s hell out here.”
In June, the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that 13-year-olds’ math and reading performances had hit the lowest level in decades, according toThe New York Times. Additionally, 31% of students surveyed during the test said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun, up 9% from 2012.
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Multiple teachers raised concerns about theimpact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on studentssince it began in March 2020. It’s a gap that teachers claim existed before the pandemic began, but has grown exponentially in wake of the pandemic.
“The education system as a whole, we have not really done anything to really fill that gap effectively,” said a TikTok creator namedK.D.in response to QBskiiii’s post.
Instead of filling the gaps and helping students master material, teachers suggest that the students are being passed along from grade to grade in order to get them through the system.
Now, teachers say they are struggling to balance the gap between what the kids don’t know and what they need to know while at their current grade level.
“It’s as if we are teaching skyscraper classes to students who have only built one story houses,” K.D. explained in a video. “They don’t even know how to add on another story and we talking about building skyscrapers. It’s not going to make sense because there has been no proper transition.”
Motivation among students is another big concern. One teacher said they regularlystruggle to get kids motivatedenough to work on or complete assignments.
“It’s not that the kids don’t have the knowledge, they don’t care to have the knowledge,” the educator explained in a second video. “It would be different if kids were struggling, or had gaps and wanted to know more and wanted to try and wanted to get better. … That’s not the case here.
However, these teachers do not blame the students for the position they are in. “I don’t think it’s their fault,” MycahAngelou said in one video.
Rather than helping students succeed in the classroom however, itushered in a new eraof standardized testing. “COVID just pulled back the curtain and lifted the veil, so everybody else now sees what we’ve been seeing for years,” Mickens toldUSA Today.
As a result of the learning gap, many teachers are now being put in a difficult position. Do they teach their students the important things they missed at a previous grade level? Or do they teach what is expected of their students’ current grade level?
Many teachers on TikTok say they do not feel recognized for the balancing act they do in order to give the kids they teach the best possible education. Educators across the country are facingincreased violenceand outbursts in their classrooms, while their pay has not significantly improved.
“It’s tough and it’s so draining,” K.D. said in one video. “And you’ll want to say, ‘Oh, but at the end it’s rewarding!’ But I mean, I feel like that effort is not recognized, to be honest. Imma still do it, though, because that’s just what I care about. That’s what I want to do. I actually want my babies to know stuff.”
source: people.com
