Also i think we don’t usually talk about how much grades are conflated with a kid’s self worth in school culture. There are a lot of kids who feel like if they get bad grades they’re bad kids, and probably a lot of adults have told them that and made them feel that way. It took a very very long time to separate my self esteem from my grades
Me too. My teachers were always disappointed in me and especially in elementary school before I was diagnosed with ADHD, I had multiple teachers who were very frustrated by me turning in assignments late or not turning them in at all. Eventually when I missed a deadline I wouldn't ask to turn it in late and would just stomach the zero so I didn't have to confront the teacher and make them upset about having to grade something late. Even when I had good relationships with my teachers and really admired them at the beginning of the semester, by the end I would have had a few zeros taking my grade down and they wouldn't respond as positively to me sharing something fun that I found related to the class or to a good essay or whatever else. Even when I had an IEP and they knew what was going on and the work I did turn in was high quality. Im a tutor for kids with learning disabilities now and try my best to go out of my way so say it's okay if they missed assignments, and they can always ask me for help on something last minute or that they were supposed to finish weeks or months ago. I also try to praise them for effort and perseverance in a session (not on how much they complete outside of our time together) to try a problem again or for asking questions rather than for how much they finish or only when they get something right/get a good grade. I just want to give people the relief I never got you know?
I have had it engrained in me that if I do not have a high B or preferably above, I'm failing and I'm a failure. When I was younger, the criteria was an A 😟
literally. for me ive always had not the best of grades, specifically in math and ive always really bad procrastination and bad test scores. this was before i realized im autistic but even then i was constantly told i was doing bad and no one tried to help me get better and have an actual support system (especially since i was born a girl so my autism would appear differently than autistic boys so no one thought to give me that support.) over the years i would get so surprised when i actually did good in classes cuz i was so used to getting lower than a 3 (which would be the equivalent of a D or a C in middle school or high school). during online learning it was afwul for me because there was no structure and it was big change and i ended up with no motivation and in turn not only where my parents mad at me but my teachers where frustrated with me not doing hardly any of the work which made me think of my self as a bad kid . it wasnt until then in my freshman year (im a sophomore almost a junior now) i realized im autistic and needed help in school all this time. i finally was able to get an IEP and was put into a support class. and for once i actually felt good about my grades even tho they still are all B's and C's.
I agree. Especially in science, my teacher hands the test oit from highest grade to lowest. Iv already made it to top 3 but its still embarrassing especially if ur the last to receive ur test
I think, especially for high schoolers, “willingness to try” does not always equal completing 100% of assignments all the time. Before I was in high school pre pandemic we were assigned so much homework that pretty much everyone had to let go of one assignment every night and we would rotate classes so that our grades didn’t get too low in any given class. It wasn’t bc we weren’t “trying” or “willing to try” it was that no matter how hard we tried it was impossible to get everything done. That’s how burn-out really happens in students. Especially for kids with learning disabilities. It’s trying for years and years and years and putting in twice the work as everyone else to get half as good grades, doing homework instead of eating lunch, not sleeping enough. There comes a point when you can’t do it anymore. You’ve been working so hard for so long to barely meet expectations and because you’re barely meeting expectations, no one praises you for the huge amounts of work you’re putting in. At a certain point it feels futile and then you just. Give up. Stop going to class, stop doing the assignments, stop even turning in partially completed assignments. Maybe it is that the student doesn’t care but it probably took a lot of caring to get to the point where they just couldn’t care anymore bc it was too hard
And honestly constantly feeling like you’re letting your teachers down can really mess up a kids self esteem. Especially for me I was labelled “gifted” as a child and got great grades until halfway through high school. I had undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia and i was spending three times the amount as everyone else on homework assignments so sometimes I just couldn’t get it done. And there were teachers who clearly cared about me but they didn’t understand and honestly did not believe that I could take 3 AP classes as a freshmen and get into the IB program with undiagnosed learning disabilities. So I received no help and it kept spiralling until I was failing or near failing every class and almost didn’t graduate. And no one could understand how that could be the case, because I had nearly two years of college credit already and I was “gifted.”
And at least I had some adults there saying “look you’ve done x y and z in the past so I know you can do this!” I can’t imagine being a kid who has consistently struggled in school and consistently heard negative feedback, negative career and life projections, and no one believing in you. Cause I saw that happen to so many kids.
Sorry to be fair I do want to point out that my high school experience was probably not the average. I was in AP classes and the IB program plus I did theatre and choir so I’d usually get home around 7-9 pm, usually later when we had shows, and then I had 4-6 hours of homework total each night, plus more on weekends. And every teacher would say “it’s only an 45 mins-hour of work” but then we had 6 teachers who would all give us that much work. College during the pandemic has been a completely different experience and I’ve seen how hard my professors work and I appreciate all of y’all teachers. And I know you guys aren’t the ones giving an hour of homework every night haha keep up the good work guys!
Oh man I totally remember how this feels. Working twice as hard to just be average and have your teachers assume you don't care and never praise you even though I really enjoyed learning the material most of the time. So hard.
At our High School, they have a meeting with kids, parents and the councilor their Junior year. They asked what our daughter wanted to do after high school. She told him she wanted to be a lawyer. The asshole said she couldn’t do it, she should find something else to do. I was so mad. She’s almost done with under grad. She looks forward to the day she can slam her License on his desk and tell him to kiss her ass.
My high school guidance councilor would always look at me with such pity when I told them I want a career in music and that I was awful at English despite my essays proving otherwise. I have an associates degree in creative writing and I am planning to do a business degree so I can get the insight to open up a record label. The high school guidance departments need a remodel because limiting kids is not what is going to create success in this world
I am 14 and I sobbed listening to you read the kids' responses because I was amazed at how people could put the feelings that I have had for the last 2 years into words.
My opinion, as a current sophomore, the reason why kids are apathetic towards school now is because of the absurd amount of stuff high school students have to deal with now. I know you talked about it in your video, but I just wanted to elaborate from my perspective. Currently, I take 2 APs plus 4 honors/Accel classes and 1 highest level Chorus class. Recently, I have been pushed to my limits with school. I had 4 summatives in 2 days and it drained me so badly. It didn’t help that I was prioritizing some classes over others and because of that, some of my grades dropped! And I HATE when people call high schoolers “lazy” or “unmotivated” because most people I know lose sleep and their social lives to get everything done at home. I choose to not lose sleep, but because of that, I don’t get all my assignments done due to outside factors unrelated to school (like volunteering 3 times a week for 2 hours each plus therapy). It’s an extremely demanding schedule and I’m not even dealing with the worst of it because I know kids that work and do school. I’m lucky to not need to work, yet I still feel like my time is fleeting. Also, if the pandemic ruined anything, it was my focus and discipline. I used to be able to sit down and focus to finish assignments in a timely manner, but now, I struggle to work for 30mins! All because of winter break and the pandemic! It sucks. I’ve tried different studying methods yet nothing has worked. It also might be burnout. Speaking of that, I completely get what you’re saying about mental health days, but a majority of the time I need a mental health day, I can’t take one because I know that’ll I’ll get back to school and be more stressed than I was before. Either way, I think we need to start re-evaluating education by de-stigmatizing on level classes (even encourage kids to take them so they aren’t spread so thin) and kicking monopolies out of education (looking at you College Board).
Thank you for sharing. I want you to know that this teacher has seen and heard you and I will keep these things in mind when in class and lesson planning. Great job! You are working so hard and it will play off. You are amazing.
Im thankful I went to school in Canada and also finished before the pandemic. There are AP classes in some schools but in most they are not available so no extra pressure
As a young adult who struggled to concentrate for more than 30 minutes at a time when studying during high school and college and dealt with mental health issues, I see you. I hope your therapy helps and that you continue to take care of your mental health.
I completely agree with you. I am in year 8 and I feel like I am so stressed that most of the time I just kind of hole up in my room all afternoon and night just doing assignments and homework. Also, I don't know what AP classes are but I feel like I know what you mean when you say that you are pushed to your limit by them.
39:10 I was told a similar thing by my SCHOOL COUNSELLOR last year, I was trying so hard to get into university. I had dreamed of being an engineer for absolutely years and I was absolutely pushing myself. I go to a semesterized school so I was taking Chem, Theatre, precalc and calculus in the fall 2020 semester. Things were just not going for me that semester, I had lost my dog over the summer, I was trying to survive in a pandemic as an immunocompromised student, 3 of my friends died over the course of that semester; I was so stressed I was physically ill constantly My counsellor pulled me out of class one day into his office, and I was so relieved. I thought I was finally going to be able to get some sort of support or comfort (I'm too stubborn for my own good- Id never walk into his office to ask for help). He basically told me he "doesn't think university is going to be for me" and basically spent an hour telling me Im not good enough and pulled me from my advanced classes. I sobbed for hours, and I ended up withdrawing all of my university applications and just.. stopped caring. I went from being an honour student to doing just enough to pass, I barely graduated that June (And I believe I got a general diploma instead of an academic diploma) But you know what? I spent that summer working with an amazing tech company as an HS intern, who believed in me and pushed me to learn and be better. And now I've returned to that same high school (with alot of resistance from said counselor) and I'm redoing my academic class. The first thing I did when I got my acceptance letter into my program was walk down to his office and telling them that I got into early admissions. (that story ended up so much longer then I meant- Im sorry XD)
Good for you! I just graduated with my engineering degree in May and have helped hire quite a few interns and co-ops for my current company. That's the kind of story that would make all my coworkers jump for joy to have you on our team. If anyone turns you down or makes you feel bad for it, they don't deserve you.
My high school guidance department thought that I should be a chef despite showing an interest in it as a hobby and nothing more meanwhile I took four years of choir and two years of music theory and they believe that I can't have a career in music. XD
As a counselor, he should have known you were immune compromised and offered help and accommodations given the situation. What he did was totally inappropriate, and could possibly get him in trouble...
Thank you so much for the in sight in how the teachers feel im a freshman in high school and this really helped you guys are seriously the best teachers that have existed so thank you
@@teacheraprilrogers I totally understand you guys were real people but I guess I never understand that you guys would be having a hard time with the Covid crap to and the work you give us and thankyou for your work as a teacher I hope you have a great day
Y’all’s passion for your students makes me smile every time I see any of your videos. I wish every teacher cared as deeply as you all do. Good teachers change lives. Enough good teachers could change the world. Thank you for being caring and continue being awesome!
38:27 "sometimes you just need a minute" Amen! I'm graduated but when I was in high a school 70% of the times I would ask to go to the bathroom during class was bc I just needed to be alone for a sec
My freshman math teacher assigned 2-3 chapters(40-80 q's/chapter) per night and expected it to always be turned in. Also, my narcissist mother didn't teach me anything about adulthood but just expected me to know everything.
being a college student I was not being able to afford my books for class so I would go to the library and photo copy the reading assignments and my teacher found out and allowed me to use her book for the rest of the semester and she also helped me with applying to schools to further my education I will always remember that moment of someone trying to help me out when I was struggling and I appreciate it to this day
As a future teacher who will be working with high schoolers, I first off appreciate and can relate to this podcast! I’ve been student teaching at a high school located in an disadvantaged community. People told me that these kids were going to be terrible students who do not listen or care. After just a month there, I’ve learned so much and have truly recognize my purpose and passion in life- teaching. These kids are smart, funny, and incredible students. Every time I see a light bulb moment they have, I am overjoyed. I feel as though it is my duty to educate these students and to help them build the building blocks necessary to lead a successful life after high school. I feel like a mother to them, a mentor, a therapist, a content expert, a counselor, a teacher, etc. Teachers are expected of so much and should honestly be paid more and held to higher standards when being screened for the position, but in the end it is such a rewarding job. To the teachers today and to future teachers, thank you. Keep striving and reach out to other mentors who you can relate to and learn from. Learning is truly a lifelong process, but we can do it together and help impact the younger generation in a positive way.
I can say that learning in the pandemic has been incredibly difficult. I was a junior in high school when the pandemic started and I'm currently a freshman in college. I watched everything get taken away from me during my senior and junior year. I can also say that I had signed up for 6 ap classes for senior year before covid was even in the United States or in the scope of conversation for affecting our lives. Taking ap exams online and having hours worth of school work to do at home was awful. I am a good student but it can be difficult to concentrate in a classroom, let alone in my house with all the distractions. There was no longer that divide between this is school and this is home. I can also say that the pandemic really hurt my declining mental health. I had to come out as LGBTQ over text because we were in lockdown. Everything important to me was being taken away and I didn't have that regular social connections or activities that brought me joy and allowed me to express myself. So sitting on my computer for 7 hours a day to listen to someone talk was just awful. I was stressed and didn't want to do it anymore if I'm honest. I lost my junior prom and my senior year everything was outside instead of following how we normally got to hold these events. I no longer had the chance to have a prom with a dance floor and photos. My graduation was at a baseball park when it was over 100 degrees out and humid. It was just not what anyone was hoping for. Most colleges weren't even doing tours anymore so you had to look online. School just became something of survival and going through the motions. And to makes matters worse, there was no guiding hand, I felt for my teachers, as someone who is majoring in special and elementary education, but they didn't know anything about distance learning, zoom, or Google meets. So, it was messy. Taking an hour and a half long ap statistics course as 7:30 in the morning just felt like a chore. It wasn't fun and I wasn't with friends. My college classes are in person and with vaccinations I feel more safe being in person. It has helped me to focus and work so much better. I think if we were to go in shut down again, then I hope we would have learned how to fix some of the issues that arose within distance learning.
Autumn, as I scrolled through the comments, yours was particularly insightful. Thank you for laying it out with all of those details. As a teacher, going through everything on our end was so difficult that I didn't always have time (or mental capacity) to think about how the students felt. I really wish that I could go back and be more helpful. I appreciated hearing about your experience, I hope that you are finding success in college.
This makes me so sad if the world didnt lie and made covid seem like such a big deal when it wasnt. There wasnt a need for anything to get shut down or for stuff to get canceled never did a healthy teenager get covid and even come close to dying the mental health toll this took on the country is so much worse then anything that could have happened if we just decided to keep life normal. Im sorry that happened to u and hope ur college experience is better🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
So I’m binging yalls episodes. And I’m listening to this one. My daughter is in KINDERGARTEN and she has at LEAST 2 sheets of homework every single night and spelling tests every week and she gets SO stressed out sometimes 😞
I personally felt such a disconnect from my teachers that I didn't care anymore. I was a trans girl in a small town and felt like I didn't have any backup from teachers which burned me out way to much to where i didn't want to work anymore
I've always had such strong connections with my teachers that I can't imagine this bill happening. In sixth grade I openly cried and hugged my teacher after telling her about my mother's miscarriage and when we switched classes (we would do this to prepare us for middle school) my teacher there talked to me about how him and his wife had experienced a miscarriage before so he knew how I felt. Just this year I was having a bad morning and when I looked over to see my math teacher smiling at me I completely broke down and she pulled me into her classroom for the first few minutes of first period so I could calm down (it was her prep period). Teachers are more emotional support than anyone and hearing that they may not be able to connect with students in an emotional way anymore breaks my heart.
I've tried not to get burnt out at school, making sure I have enough sleep and I eat and have me time. But what gets me is being in high school and teachers forgetting that I have 9 other classes that all have assignments due next week and I'm in a leadership position and am learning an instrument. I would say that I have some excellent teachers but the others just load homework on and they have no idea that I have to look after my younger sister and cook dinner that night and prepare for a math test tomorrow. Listening to all of you four teachers really helps me remember that you really do understand and are there for students. You also remind me to look after myself and to tell my teachers when I'm struggling. I'm currently writing a book and it's my teachers that have the most enthusiasm for it and inspire me to keep going. I want to become a teacher myself and I look up to you as role models. When I graduate high school and finish my degrees at university, I want to be just as supportive and caring for my students as you are for yours. You all really help me understand both sides of the classroom. And I would very happily buy a book with all of Bree's funny sayings.
It's rather ironic that schools encourage good mental health while pushing such a burden on their students. I wish you luck for your future as a teacher.
I’m a 13 year old and I’ve got to say thank you guys so much, this episode has opened my eyes a lot with all your different perspectives. I have had a lot going on with school and stuff at home, and after watching this I feel a little more willing to try harder at school.
I’m around the same age. I’m 14 and I feel completely the same way. I never realized how my teachers might feel with the stress of Covid and online school. :)
I am born and raised in Indiana and I’m currently in college in Indiana as well. I have so many friends who are getting their degree in education and are going to be teachers in Indiana. This bill is a very real problem… if anyone is interested in learning more about it or finding out what you can do to help, I recommend going to ACLU of Indiana’s website!
i just found your guys’ podcast and i’m a teachers kid, i really love this one because in my senior year of highschool my father went to rehab, my parents got divorced and i was sexually assaulted, i had three teachers that honestly saved my life because of the support they gave me. i owe my life to Mr. O, Ms. K and Mrs. L. i love them with my whole heart for being my safe places when i was the most mentally unstable and they really saved my life. thank you guys for being amazing people for these kids in school now, just thank you
I would like to see them do a more in-depth video on institutional racism in schools. I am really curious to see what their perspective on it is and also experiences with it.
My junior and senior years of high school were at the start of the pandemic, and being a person who at the age of 16/17 was already struggling with severe mental illnesses being locked in my house was the last thing I needed. Within weeks I went from grades in the 90s to barely passing classes, both of the adults in my house got COVID and couldn't leave their beds for about 3 weeks and I had the responsibilities of keeping them and myself alive and doing school work and classes. To this day in my first semester of college I'm still trying to get myself back into the student I was and I honestly don't think I could've made it out of high school without the support of some of my teachers.
I can't express enough how much I appreciate all of you. I love seeing teachers being real people and showing their struggles. I wish I had more teachers like you when I was in school. Thank you for being so open and honest.
I work at a school on a native American reservation and as an educator I once was told "Children who are not loved at home , come to school to be loved" - Dr. Gale Gorke. .... I love your podcast, please continue the amazing discussions.
@Adam, that quote is so true; I was one of those kids. Being from a large family, I was one of the middles (who was also quiet and compliant) who was overshadowed by my rebellious and outgoing siblings. I got much more individualized attention at school.
When my son was in pre-k, he was mistreated by his teacher every day. He was not diagnosed with autism yet and she hated him because he was not a robot. He wasn't conversationally verbal, so I had to depend on others (children and the aftercare provider) to tell me about her behavior. He was still 3 when the year started. He is now 7 and I am still dealing with the trauma. They didn't fire her because she was in the union, but they took her class away. I know it wasn't just because of my son but she had a track record.
I couldn't imagine not being able to have real conversations with my teachers. One of my teachers was my speech and debate coach in high school. I was very close to her and told her about the fact that I got into arguments basically every night and how I had to sleep on a park bench for a couple hours before I snuck back into my house cause my mom and I would get into some big arguments and she'd kick me out. I usually put up a front do no one could tell that somethin was going on but the moment it just dropped my African American studies teacher pulled me aside and was like "Hey are you ok? You're typically like the highlight of my day and today you just are completely out of it". If I didn't have those conversations with my teachers I would not be here today.
I really wish I could’ve had you guys as teachers. I’m a senior and I would’ve loved to have any of you even in my school system. I feel like a lot of kids could benefit from having teachers as caring as you all
My maths teacher had a really interesting way to do homework. Our homework every night was to copy notes examples off her website and we spent our class time doing what was assigned as homework to the rest of the classes. So she was there to help us with anything we were stuck on and her class was genuinely my favourite
This video has me in tears. I’m in the 8th grade, going into 9th grade as of commenting and I can’t tell you how much it helps to just be told by somebody you look up to, or even just speak with occasionally, how much potential that person thinks you have or how much they care. I think that the world could be so much more peaceful if people had those connections with each other in childhood and adolescences so that they have the right mind set as adults. There’s my little ounce of opinion, do whatever you wish with it, but I want anyone who reads this to realize how much they are worth in the world and that they are here for a reason, and it is not to be seen as a bad person.
I was having a hard time in high school. As soon as I finished my assignments in each class I would go to the library and the librarian would talk with me about life or just spend time with me while all the other students were in class. Weather we were talking about the hard things or we were laughing, she always made my day better and easier. She made living life one day at a time so much easier. She saved my life. She created a safe place to fall. All in one she gave me a place of comfort, someone to talk to and a friend. She is an amazing woman. When I was in my lowest place, just by being there for me, she helped me back onto my path to success.
This entire episode was awesome as always. The last 15-20 minute really got me. I have a few teachers I will never forget. All but one of them was great and I remember the good experiences I had. I had 1 teacher in my college prep English class in my first year of high school. We were in the 2nd quarter I think and we all had just recently turned in an essay/serious writing assignment. She had finished grading them and passed them back to us and said that the writing was so bad with a majority of the papers and that if we really want to go to college we better start rethinking our paths. She asked how many of us wanted to go to college. Several of us raised our hands. She then said the same stuff again and passed back our essays. I got a good grade and the entire time she was talking, all I was thinking is "I know you're not talking about me." I got my assignment back and I got a good grade. I then looked around at other students and saw looks of disappointment, depression, apathy and giving up, and the look of one's soul that had just been crushed. I still consider messaging this teacher from time to time to tell her her harsh and mean words didn't hold me back, but that she definitely affected students and sent their self esteem lower than they already had as a freshman in high school. I'm so thankful to say 95% of the teachers I've had from elementary school through college were and are great educators but there are some and they know who they are that ruin it for the rest. To all of you amazing educators, thank you for all that you do! You are amazing and aren't thanked enough let alone paid enough! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
This was a great conversation. I had a horrible 3rd grade teacher. So bad I almost got held back. Then for 4th grade I had a fabulous teacher who got me to love learning and reading. Now I work at a university in student services.
Hay im 14 years old and im writing a while after the high of the pandemic but I would just like to say that I remember the struggle that we all faced last year. I know personally i struggled with focusing and self accountability because with no one watching me it was so easy to just pick up my phone and start watching RUclips while my teacher was talking on zoom. It was so easy to loose motivation after that because it really did start to feel like nothing only had the students given up but the teachers and school board to. Thank you guys so much for putting out these podcasts because I think as the kids we can sometimes forget how to see it from a teachers point of view and thank you for asking us what’s up because it honestly makes me feel like someone actually cares how the students feel to.
Just curious if you guys will ever do an episode about CTE schools. As a student who took honors classes in middle school, go to my local tech school for IT and has experienced the bullying, and since become a student spokesperson for my local tech school. As a part of this, I have had to do a large amount of Myth Debunking around stereotypes of, "Tech Kids", most propagated school personnel. I would love to hear your take on CTE schools.
I'm an Edu major and have classes with these early college students. I absolutely hate about half of them. Always on phones. Talking (even over the prof), blatantly disrespecting teachers. Not all of them. Like I said. About half. It makes it really hard to like them. And tbh, about a quarter drop out of dual enrollment in my district. So half of half of them don't even have what it takes to be there. It figures for me. Sorry not sorry 😐 🤷
When I was in high school (graduated 2018) I took fashion class all four years. Me and another girl I sat with where the best and most natural at it in the class. At that same table the girl that always tried her hardest but wasn’t very good was sat with us, along with any new students that needed help. Me and the other girl took turns helping the gurl that was struggling. Although her projects weren’t nearly as good as ours she always got the same grade or maybe a few points less because she was always trying and asking for help. By year four she was doing just as good as me and the other girl our first year, but she passed every year and always tried. She never had us do her work for her and she was always receptive to advice and help. Aka just agreeing with if you do your best the teacher will give you a break.
One of my teachers asked my class this and it’s just that with the pandemic, it’s hard to really put in the effort when it feels like everything else is falling apart around us and we don’t having any control
I never really talked to my teachers about the personal stuff going on in my house, for fear it would make it worse. But school was my safe space. The one place I could go to get away from the abuse and mistreatment everyday. I remember going to school on days when I was exempt from taking the test that day. When I would get to school id have to take the test anyway (which to me was WAY better than being at home) and I remember one time I had a 93 in the class overall and when I took the test I ended up with a 89 which brought my grade down just below an A and I remember the teacher telling me that I should have just stayed home. But in my mind that B was 10x better than being at home alone with the person that hurt me
The new laws you spoke about made me emotional. In 5th grade both of my parents abandoned me. The school had a group called banana split. It was for children who were going through their parents having a divorce. We would get pulled from class for about an hour and have a group session with a counselor and peers. It really helped me feel less alone especially with holidays like mother/fathers day. When I was 16 in foster care I ran away and lived homeless. I stopped going to school for awhile because I feared being picked up then taken to a group home. When I finally started going back, I had a teacher who genuinely cared and helped me through that time by talkingto me and understanding my situation. Before becoming homeless I was a straight A honor student. When I didn't show up for my second semester final this teacher still gave me a B even though I never showed up for that exam. Ugh, listening to this brought up so many emotions. It's not a bad thing but I wish there were more teachers like all of you. Its hard to focus on school when you're in survival mode and know once school is over I didn't know where I would sleep and the free breakfast and lunch was the only food I knew I'd eat that day.
I am appreciative of this podcast, especially this one in particular. I am a mentor, currently, on a high school campus and the issues the online schooling has caused in the area I work in is hard. The emotional and social issues along with the academic, is heartbreaking. Thank you for giving the student and teacher perspective! I wish there were more teachers like you all in the world. The system would not be as broken
I have a 4 yr old and already stressing about my son's educations. Growing up most of the teachers I had did not like their job and were open about it or just did not care for their student's future. But watching yalls videos and going over the simple things that teachers should be doing but are not aware of is amazing. Love yall's podcast!!!!
Mr. Rogers literally would do episodes on tough topics that parents personally can’t or won’t talk about with their kids, like divorce, 911, racism, etc. And he was a teacher for millions of kids, as are lots of the tv characters we watch in those first few years of our lives but at a certain point, the vast majority of shows we watch don’t have those same topics but matured more for the age groups it’s aim for, instead they get ignored and we forget those shows we watch when we were 3-6 years old so it’s up to teachers to reinforce those ideas that such hard topics need to be talked about so we can process them. Traumatic stuff happens throughout our lives, and during the years we are in school, our brains still in developmental stages, we need a guide to understand and show us how to talk about those things at a base level without judgement that our parents more often than not, don’t want to talk about with us or we don’t know how to talk to them about because we are scared of upsetting them or blatantly being ignored. I didn’t know so much about just basic life or pop culture due to my parents until I went to school, I didn’t know who the hell The Beatles were till 10th grade in drama class, a class where every Friday we would all just lay on the floor with nice music playing with most the lights off for 15 minutes to destress from the week and recharge for the class and we would call it “nap time fridays”. Some would literally sleep and it was the best thing cause we had a teacher who got it and understood us and let us have what we needed to continue on with the day.
I'm a freshman in high school and am currently being homeschooled. While I enjoy the freedom homeschooling gives me, I think me, and a lot of other kids, failed to appreciate the things we are taught. Teachers and schools aren't teaching us random math problems for the sake of knowing them. More often than not, we're being taught how to think. However, I think it's especially hard for the kids my age and younger to fully get engaged in these lessons because, like you all said, our attention spans are so incredibly short. I, myself, struggle a lot with paying attention and absorbing information because my brain is running a mile a minute. I think me and my peers all agree that we have no clue how to fix this. It almost feels like due to social media our brains have rotted and we have no clue where to even begin when it comes to fixing that. A lot of us feel like we are incapable of doing the work, so we feel it's better to just give up. Besides, education isn't deemed as important as it once was; a lot of jobs now don't require a good education. While there are still a huge amount of jobs that do, I think most kids think that they can make it without trying regardless. A lot of kids, however, fear that we may not *want* to be around for the future. There's so much negativity going on in the world all the time, and with social media and the internet amplifying that, a lot gen Z think that our futures are going to be bleak, and therefore it wouldn't even be worth it to try. I have to fight very hard to keep myself from thinking the same.
Kids have trouble talking to kids about this stuff as well, including their parents. We don’t know how and who to talk to because at the end of the day we don’t want to seem boring or over dramatic to kids and others and it feels messy all the time. We don’t have anyone so it’s really devastating to deal with that. So, it’s good to see that teachers care. Kids also put pressure on other kids with grades and how they are. Me personally, I am a pretty good student and have good grades but other kids tell me that I’m dumb and stupid and they don’t allow me to do things I can do because they act like I’m dumb. If you don’t have all a’s you’re automatically dumb to other kids. It’s hard.
I love all of these so much as a student I agree with you guys most of the time, and I love how you show us your perspectives. This has really helped me understand my teachers more. These podcast motivate me so much especially when y'all talk about all you have to do is try. It is so awesome how you guys try to understand your students.
I am a student in 8th grade and I love with two teachers so I understand what happens in the teachers mind and I really appreciate what you guys do for all of us
I was an A student with occasional b’s had never gotten a c in my life till the pandemic. During the panorama i was happy to get a 45 because it was better than my previous 12. I had never realized how much i needed the school structure till it was ripped out from under me. I’m not properly diagnosed yet but i have almost all symptoms of adhd, so the complete lack of structure just broke me. This is the first year completely back and i’m still trying to get back into the groove, my procrastination is still really bad and im still in “as long as i turn it in before the end of the semester” mode. I’m not trying to make excuses, my bad grades are still my bad grades.
Being someone who is struggling right now with motivation with school, having a brother who has had developmental problems (ADHD) so I needed to help him, and just so much more I felt heard even though I didn’t interact with this before the filming and stuff and I’m so happy, thank you. 💛🖤💛🖤
I’ve been considering being a teacher for years and watching this and seeing how much kids need a teacher that love them … I enrolled last week so wish me luck 😊
As a second year teacher I never new about the pipe line issue. I’m so glad I watched this because now I can understand some of the things I’m seeing at my school.
I wish I had teachers like you guys. You guys are so open minded, and can see from a bunch of different views. I feel my teachers are not as open minded as you. Your students are so lucky to have such amazing teachers.
When the pandemic hit I still didn’t realize I had adhd - thankfully (for me) I was at the end of my senior year so at that point the grades didn’t matter But I realized just how much I needed that I person learning-that space used specifically for learning that can keep me focused on what’s happening before me I tried hard but my executive dysfunction hit so hard by the end of it I don’t think I did anything. It was only later after school ended that I put the pieces together and I realized what was going on-but it was because I had the more internalized type of adhd that first started out as an obsession with books and then writing that I generally got really good grades and (thankfully) had good teachers that kept me engaged (most of the time) that the problem was never obvious. It was only until I was taking my first year of Spanish, where the teacher started out really engaging and I was absorbing all of it and doing really well… and then he just.. stopped? It all switched to paper or online work and he never did those interactive things again. Later on when the finals were coming and he tried to get us to do listening and verbal lessons that only those who had prior knowledge of the language or worked their absolute ass off knew what the hell he was saying. There were days where my anxiety would go so bad because I wasn’t doing well that I would have to force myself to not break down into tears. I barely survived Spanish II but I felt like a baby who barely knew how to move amongst those who could already walk. It didn’t help that I was one of the girls that could have been considered in the ‘gifted’ program when I was growing up (if my school had-had it) so I was always getting straight A’s until junior high because back then I didn’t need to study so I didn’t know how to. But that was because my super squirrel brain was running at a hundred miles per hour and what was being taught to me couldn’t keep up with my comprehension. It took so long to accept that always having A’s isn’t everything and it was okay if I wasn’t good in something. Anxiety is no joke especially if you don’t have an outlet for it. Your own mind is really your own worst enemy because you can’t run away from the things it comes up with-even if you want to.
(TW) For me, during quarantine and the pandemic, and even before/after, I really tried my best every single day. I didn't even realize I was burned out until I looked back on it just recently. Then covid happened and my mental health took an even more massive blow. I'm talking intrusive thoughts, SH, S*icidal thoughts, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and more. I felt numb and so scatterbrained, and I just couldn't push myself anymore. I was so burnt out that I spent most of my time in bed. I wouldn't shower for days on end. Sometimes even a week. I barely ate, didn't hydrate, and none of my "friends" talked to me. I felt so disconnected from my family, and I couldn't talk to them about anything. It was literally the lowest I'd ever been, as far as I remember. Then, in 2020/2021, I was diagnosed with ADHD and PCOS. And none of my teachers knew. Except for two of them. Who I will forever be greatful for. My US history teacher, and my Spanish 1 teacher. They accepted me. Let me talk with them. Especially my Spanish 1 teacher. He let me stay after class a lot to talk. And he even shared some stuff with me, letting me know that he had gone through a lot too. And it gave me hope that I can get better. And both teachers accepted me when I was figuring out my gender identity. I'm greatful for their understanding. I'm glad I met them when I did, and I hope that they are proud of me.
I completely agree with the "I do, we do, you do" model, especially as a math teacher. However, if my administration observed a class when I did that, I would have gotten an ineffective rating. It was infuriating.
wow thats insane, you guys most likely not see this but that story of needing your teacher to believe in you and went from 40 to 80 actually killed me. ima freshman and im trying to do my best but everything around me is going not the best and my grades arent the best either and hearing that story and then i belive in you just instantly started making me cry. thank you so much 💖
That thing about HeadStart at the end really got me. I was a kid in that program, and the reason my mom thought to put me in it was because I wouldn't talk to anyone else (besides my siblings). When I was finally able to go to university, I was able to get a psychological education assessment and found out that I have complex ptsd because of what I went through as a toddler and child. Now, I've graduated university and have a fulltime career in education.
I can’t begin to imagine if my head of year couldn’t talk to me about home life or personal issues. The amount of time my head of year has scraped a lesson to just talk is insane. I am still in school but I am still so grateful for that teacher ❤️
When I was in school, and I was struggling I always had a teacher that I knew I could go to, and I remember crying in my coaches office so many times but he always knew how to help. My junior year was a rough year for me (covid hit that second semester) one of my teachers noticed something was going on with me mentally and was able to help me. These are the reasons I want to become a teacher.
Look I just want to say how much I love y’all. I am in college right now and I’m working on my degree to be a teacher. I love that I have teacher role models❤️
I have never been great in math and failed one class but when I signed up for the class again with a different teacher, he was very involved and had us solve problems on the board so we were all engaged and I passed with an A.
In my sophomore English class we had two textbooks, two mandatory binders, three journals and at least 4 assignments per day. We had a weekly quiz and some days we had pop quizzes out of the blue. And we had to read through 10 novels through the year on our own time and only had discussions along the way through the year about the novels and the novels were part of the tests. It was a ridiculous amount of work and that was just that one class.
I graduated Highschool in 2001, my guidance counselor told me that I wouldn't do good in college. I still to this day have anxiety about not being good enough for a job or do very bad in interviews. I was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder as a child and I think she just figured I wouldn't amount to anything. I always make sure to tell my children they are good enough and smart enough to do anything.
From a junior who literally never saw their teachers as humans until last year, please show your kids you're "casual" side. I went through my entire elementary and middle school life thinking that teachers are high and mighty. I cried for the first time in my English teacher's class last year because I had just the worst morning. She literally sat with me outside the door rubbed my back and told me "it's okay to not be okay". She let me sleep in the back of her room and checked in on me later. I have NEVER had anyone care so deeply for me at school like that. That was a life changing moment because I realized that teachers have low moments too. Recognition of being purely human goes such a long way in a teaching/learning environment. ❤️❤️
At the end of your video you were talking about just say that you are proud of the kid or you love them, and as a student, even though im older, that really does help. At my house most people only talk about my failures so when someone says that they care it really does mean a lot to a lot of us.
I love this conversation. I remember being in high school and really struggling and I just wish I had a teacher that cared a little. To this day I don’t know how a teacher can look at a student and be like: this is damaged goods without taking the time to ask: are you ok? Loved this conversation.
Had a geometry class like that also!!! Passed out worksheets, expected us to know it.. did homework on the same lesson that night then the next morning would grade it and if we had questions we could ask but I'd need her to go over the entire worksheet because I had no idea what any of it was and she would blow us off like I should know
It is so nice to hear teachers talking about helping queer students. Teachers are often better parents than the kids' parents are. Thank you guys for all you do ❤️ Also that teacher saying that the senior kid shouldn't try because he's black is so messed up.
Omg I'm loving this episode. My oldest child has some mental health issues that we are working on. His old school from kinder to the first half of 5th grade would call me all the time out of work. I am a super involved parent so I was up at the school and talking to teachers at least weekly if not more. My kiddo also has an IEP but I feel like he was looking at each school day as this big cloud of doom just waiting for him to step remotely out of line to snatch him up. I moved us into a new district and this last semester has changed him significantly. He is excited to go to school now, has started reading for pleasure and is doing much better communicating to teachers and admin what he needs or feels. We do have other state provided services in place to help him as well. But ultimately I think that last district was just not doing anyone any favors. I also have a 1st grader who in January this year was at a pre k reading level couldn't read sight words or anything. The new teacher gave me a list of sight words and I made flash cards, we got reading level appropriate books from the teacher as well. Within 7 weeks this child read 2 whole books to me because the teacher and I worked together to help catch up. We celebrated by going to the public library and getting their first library card and we now sit and read every night to each other! The progress made by changing things up and having teachers who actually work with me and help me to help my kids is amazing and exciting! And the perspectives you guys shared in this episode really touched home for me and this situation.
Thank you guys you made me see stuff from a different perspective and I’m really grateful for that so thank you 🙏🏻 BEST TEACHERS EVER ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
Me learning about context clues listening very carefully... I love this podcast very much being 13 years old.. Being in class listening to this on free time..that only I had today.... Which is rare when one of my teachers will give us free time and only one student will get the free time while all the rest of kids in my class do work.. Also when we were on online learning in primary school cause I was in the middle of standard 5 when our country locked down for Covid and boy did we have like about 18 homework for 14 subjects a day that was due like for the next day... Then now when I came into high school in the begging I was having 12 homeworks a day out of 8 subjects that was due the next day.... But now that we are hybrid learning it is really less stressful because they give us less work now.. Two of my aunts are teachers and they say that for the first time teaching is very stressful.... One of them teach standard one and the other teaches like infants... But these teachers look very chill
So I’m a queer sophomore currently and this year for my US History class I had the opportunity to do a presentation to the class for bonus points. I had to do it on one of the riots that happened during the 60s. And I stupidly chose to do it on Stonewall. I felt so bad because I put my teacher under a lot of stress by checking if I am even allowed to present this to the class (I’m in Louisiana and the majority of parents are extremely homophobic and transphobic). It took a whole month for me to even begin presenting and I only got through the first four slides when she called time. I also was doing this freshly after Don’f Say Gay was being talked about. I had horrible timing.
I know this is a late comment and I know it probably won’t be read, since it’s kinda long, but teachers really do make an impact on their students that leaves a lasting impression. As a student who is now in college (and close to finishing with a BS in Medical Laboratory Science). I had a very traumatic childhood, I never experienced preschool and I was in multiple foster homes by the time I was in kindergarten. I was fortunate enough to get adopted while in kindergarten and both my kindergarten and first grade teachers were so understanding and encouraging to me (between kindergarten and first grade I changed schools). I have definitely had my fair share of teachers whom I did not agree with, but I was raised to be opened minded and to know that that is how life is. On the reverse side of things, I had teachers who went above and beyond for me weather or not it was pulling me aside to talk or just handing me a note saying that their door was always open (my adoptive father passed away during my senior year of high school). Even with everything I went through I know that there are others who had experiences worse than mine and they should know things can and will get better, that it only takes one person believing in them to make a life changing difference.
As a senior in my last semester, last quarter even, I've just lost my motivation. It's not that my teachers aren't trying or that the assignments are hard. It's just that it feels like other parts of my life, things like college and work take up more energy and since I'm in the last leg of school it just feels like adding a pointless amount of stress onto my workload.
Omg it’s so nice to seen people putting light on how the kids felt during the pandemic like for me when it started my grandma had been living with me and my family and she was very sick and the meds she had to take made her behavior often a bit violent but she was in bed all the time so she couldn’t do much however both my parents worked full time still my dad worked from home in the basement and my mom in a hospital so I had to watch her and still do school so it was tough
I am a 10th grader and I go to a public school in the biggest county NC and one thing that my world history teacher did last year while we were learning online is talked to us about the work she was giving us. At the beginning of the year she was very adamant on making sure we understood that she never gave busy work, and that every assignment had a purpose to it. Which everyone in my class loved because it gave us some form of motivation to do the work. Another thing was once every two weeks she would give us catch up days, and on those day she would make us pull up power schools and she would tell us what assignments to prioritize that day. She was so invested on making sure every kid passed that class to the best of their ability that she doesn’t do late grades, her mindset was no matter what i have to go back no matter what. Late grades just discourage the kids to not turn in the work. She was the type if teacher that made me realize that don’t put off work, just do it as soon as it’s assigned. It make life so much easier. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t turn work in late sometimes, but if parents and teachers don’t help kids understand time management they only learn how to pile the stress. The school I go to most of the kids are white and privileged, and I’m a minority. But when I see teachers that are so invested in making sure each student does well, and goes out of there way to even just say “good job” to every single student it makes me happy. Reaching out to students to make sure their grades are good, and doing well makes such a difference in a student’s life.
Teachers are a safe place. My father was famous in my school, he was handicap so he'd hang around all the time to check up on me and my sister. All the teacher got to know him so when he got cancer e everyone was aware. My 5th grade teacher was the strictest and had the most stern face, when I told her my dad passed she turned into the most sweat and gentle teacher. She sat me on her lap, gave me a long hug, had the whole class pray for my family, took me to counselor and social worker, on the day of his funeral she took her lunch break to show up to support me. That's when my whole perception of her changed, she wasn't mad, she cared. I saw her as an adult in the airport once, she was retired and going on a trio to Japan. I was so happy that she is enjoying her retirement.
As someone who's oldest is 16, he was suspended from school several times from kinder to second multiple times. He now hates school, refuses to even apply in basic courses while being brilliant. Because his schools taught him that he was the "monster" at school. He has ADHD and recently found Autism at the start of the pandemic (14 years old for him). I have pages of documentation from kinder to 8th grade of his behaviors. While I worked my hardest with his teachers. My son was sent home almost daily from school from kinder until 8th grade, this caused me to not work since I have to be on call in case of anything happening at school.
I still remember my freshman biology teacher, I tried so hard but could not get it and could not pass the tests no matter how hard I tried. I knew I was failing throughout each quarter but ultimately ended with a D because she was not going to let me fail the year because it wasn't clicking for me, even with coming after school for extra time.
I am so glad you are bringing up these points About teachers having an education to teach. A school in my state wants to hire anybody off the street to be a teacher. And the staff at that school is college educated are not really happy about it.
Through watching this podcast, it has given me a different perspective on k-12 teachers. I was always a good student, I never gave teachers a headache but I wish I knew then that teachers are people too. I viewed my k-12 teachers as authority, untouchable, all business no relationship people. I was always a little scared of my teachers and I wish I knew that I was able to talk to my teachers and share my struggles about school and life to them. I guess I always assumed there was a strong boundary between teacher and student.
I had this same issue, I was always told that teachers, (or adults for that matter), were above me and I could only give them the utmost respect. If I shared something about my life, then I was treating them like a human being which for some reason wasn't okay.
I do my best to show all my students love. I came from a difficult home life myself. I know I cannot change the world - but I can help out a few and hopefully they will go on and help a few… possibly it could reach the whole world.
I was able to graduate high school because my teacher saw I was trying. I got all straight As except for chemistry. Failed it three times. I just couldn’t understand the concept. In my senior year I got a 65% even though I stayed after school every day for tutorials for it. She bumped me up to a 70% so I could graduate. Idk where I would be now if she hadn’t done that.
Just recently came across this podcast eventhough I've been watching Rebecca for a while now, and I have to say it's teaching me alot as a parent of a child who is starting school next year
I was diagnosed with ADD when I started college in 2019. So I was always that student who left everything to the last minute if it was something that I did not like/ have a passion for. As you guys were talking about making time to listen to the students.. that really means a lot to the students I know this sounds weird or obvious but, when the kid changes schools every other year (like me until about grade 5-6) it means the world. The kids who are often the, excuse the language, problem dumpster/ the person who you tell your problems to, is really the one who needs someone to talk to (don't take it as me saying you don't matter) it's just if everyone tells you their problems then who is that person supposed to unload to. I have never really had someone say you can do anything you want to, but I had always wanted to join the military but at the end of my 11th grade in high school I broke my leg (2016). And because of the type of break and how long it took for them to operate I now have a section of my leg that is nerve damaged and another section that sends pain up my leg. Needless to say I was not in a good frame of mind at that time, I had always wanted to be in the military, that was what I wanted to do. So when I was told that I would not be able to join because of this break, I felt ... numb? empty?. Not sure if that word is right but I can't think of a different word to describe that feeling. There was one point when I was at camp as staff (I was in cadets at this time (no you do not have to join the military) working at a Summer camp. We got paid to be there about 3K for 7 weeks starting pay.) I was so sick of everything and (I am not proud of this) I thought about just ending it. I had always been bullied as a kid, but that day I had just about had it. But then one of the other staff who had become a friend said that we should go off base for a while, I said "maybe later", and she was like, "Nope. Now". She could tell that something wasn't right. Y'all don't know how much it means to someone if you just take the time to listen or be there for them. I apologize for this long rant. P.S. I am Canadian. My parents are both retired military so we moved a lot (13 schools in 11-ish years). I always kept people at a distance. Like I had friends, but none I can really say apart from a finite amount, that I would call Friends (that person you call at 3am when you need someone to talk to and they drop everything and go to you (if they are physically able)). P.S.S. Just to clarify cause I know some people are going to say "it's just a break", my bone didn't just break. It had broke then twisted so the ends didn't meet and then I dislocated my ankle... 10-point-something mm. So ya.
I genuinely work in tech, am 30, have 2 masters, & make 6 figures - and I ALSO need 5 minutes away to fidget to control my ADHD. I even think back to the bathtub full of pillows we had in my class when I was young, & the teachers that let us just walk around the room for a minute or take a bathroom trip to splash water on our face, etc. Growing up in that supportive environment with my teachers (& parents) helped so much - it also TAUGHT ME what to do to deal with those impulses so that I can be successful. If I need that sometimes, imagine how much we needed it when we were younger & how much some of these kids need help.
In Highschool I had some amazing teachers that would go above and beyond for us with specialized assignments to help us and using google classroom to put the lesson plan for the day with the days assignments and note slides or a digital textbook and then I had some teachers that just didn’t care or seemed like they didn’t care they refused to help us when we where confused nor would they go over the lesson plan and just give out the homework that they expect to be handed in by the end of class. Those teachers that went above and beyond are the only reason I graduated that school and those same teachers are the ones that taught me to not be afraid to ask for help or speak up for myself.
children ask for love in some of the most unloving ways. my daughter befriended a girl in her kindergarten who had big outbursts in the beginning of the year. i was her aide in 1st grade and had to deeply love on her, remind her that she's loved and able to do so much. she now calls me her 2nd mom and is always giving me hugs. I've told others that they need to remind her she can do things and emotions WILL be high, but just keep loving on her. i saw a girl in kindergarten and i was praying she would be in our 1st grade. God answered prayers and we got her. she's a tough cookie and likes to use "i don't know, i can't remember, this is too much, this is too hard, i can't do this" and I've been calling her bluff on it. i took her in a small walk in the school and walked goofy with her. marching, walking sideways like a crab, hopping over carpet lines, all of it. she fought her smile and asked me why i was doing that. i told her she needed to join me because i can't be the only goofball. she bargained with me that she would run half a lap in the gym for me if i stopped being so silly. you got a deal, kid. now she's trying to hide her smiles, but knows she can do so much more. she knows I'll call her on the "i can't" and will level with her, asking why she won't/ believes she can't. we are going into week 3 and i actively look forward to her each day. she makes us very creative on how to reach her and get her engaged. there are kids that have it really hard and parent(s) aren't able to/ won't connect with them. it's hard, but they need love and redirection. it's a massive reason why i love 1st grade and my teacher, who I've come to find is SpEd licensed, so we get to brainstorm even more for these kids. my class last year, they are 1 of 2 classes that have my heart and i miss them dearly. keep loving on these kids, teachers. if there's 1 lesson above all they need, someone deeply loves them. if they feel loved, they'll move mountains.
I am physically disabled, and i was an education major in college, and my education 101 professor asked me if i was in the right class (just based on looking at me being in a wheelchair). I couldn't go to the head of the department, because she was the head of the department.
I was just like that sophomore you were talking bout as a senior. I’ve always been an honours student but my mental health went bad and I started sleeping in class and my grades dropped and my social teacher squats down at my desk and says to me let’s go talk in the hallway and I just broke down to him and he truly saved my life that day
Also i think we don’t usually talk about how much grades are conflated with a kid’s self worth in school culture. There are a lot of kids who feel like if they get bad grades they’re bad kids, and probably a lot of adults have told them that and made them feel that way. It took a very very long time to separate my self esteem from my grades
Me too. My teachers were always disappointed in me and especially in elementary school before I was diagnosed with ADHD, I had multiple teachers who were very frustrated by me turning in assignments late or not turning them in at all. Eventually when I missed a deadline I wouldn't ask to turn it in late and would just stomach the zero so I didn't have to confront the teacher and make them upset about having to grade something late. Even when I had good relationships with my teachers and really admired them at the beginning of the semester, by the end I would have had a few zeros taking my grade down and they wouldn't respond as positively to me sharing something fun that I found related to the class or to a good essay or whatever else. Even when I had an IEP and they knew what was going on and the work I did turn in was high quality. Im a tutor for kids with learning disabilities now and try my best to go out of my way so say it's okay if they missed assignments, and they can always ask me for help on something last minute or that they were supposed to finish weeks or months ago. I also try to praise them for effort and perseverance in a session (not on how much they complete outside of our time together) to try a problem again or for asking questions rather than for how much they finish or only when they get something right/get a good grade. I just want to give people the relief I never got you know?
I have had it engrained in me that if I do not have a high B or preferably above, I'm failing and I'm a failure. When I was younger, the criteria was an A 😟
literally.
for me ive always had not the best of grades, specifically in math and ive always really bad procrastination and bad test scores. this was before i realized im autistic but even then i was constantly told i was doing bad and no one tried to help me get better and have an actual support system (especially since i was born a girl so my autism would appear differently than autistic boys so no one thought to give me that support.) over the years i would get so surprised when i actually did good in classes cuz i was so used to getting lower than a 3 (which would be the equivalent of a D or a C in middle school or high school). during online learning it was afwul for me because there was no structure and it was big change and i ended up with no motivation and in turn not only where my parents mad at me but my teachers where frustrated with me not doing hardly any of the work which made me think of my self as a bad kid . it wasnt until then in my freshman year (im a sophomore almost a junior now) i realized im autistic and needed help in school all this time. i finally was able to get an IEP and was put into a support class. and for once i actually felt good about my grades even tho they still are all B's and C's.
@@khtiderem7112 i had trouble turning stuff in too but didnt have a problem turning em in
I agree. Especially in science, my teacher hands the test oit from highest grade to lowest. Iv already made it to top 3 but its still embarrassing especially if ur the last to receive ur test
I think, especially for high schoolers, “willingness to try” does not always equal completing 100% of assignments all the time. Before I was in high school pre pandemic we were assigned so much homework that pretty much everyone had to let go of one assignment every night and we would rotate classes so that our grades didn’t get too low in any given class. It wasn’t bc we weren’t “trying” or “willing to try” it was that no matter how hard we tried it was impossible to get everything done. That’s how burn-out really happens in students. Especially for kids with learning disabilities. It’s trying for years and years and years and putting in twice the work as everyone else to get half as good grades, doing homework instead of eating lunch, not sleeping enough. There comes a point when you can’t do it anymore. You’ve been working so hard for so long to barely meet expectations and because you’re barely meeting expectations, no one praises you for the huge amounts of work you’re putting in. At a certain point it feels futile and then you just. Give up. Stop going to class, stop doing the assignments, stop even turning in partially completed assignments. Maybe it is that the student doesn’t care but it probably took a lot of caring to get to the point where they just couldn’t care anymore bc it was too hard
And honestly constantly feeling like you’re letting your teachers down can really mess up a kids self esteem. Especially for me I was labelled “gifted” as a child and got great grades until halfway through high school. I had undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia and i was spending three times the amount as everyone else on homework assignments so sometimes I just couldn’t get it done. And there were teachers who clearly cared about me but they didn’t understand and honestly did not believe that I could take 3 AP classes as a freshmen and get into the IB program with undiagnosed learning disabilities. So I received no help and it kept spiralling until I was failing or near failing every class and almost didn’t graduate. And no one could understand how that could be the case, because I had nearly two years of college credit already and I was “gifted.”
And at least I had some adults there saying “look you’ve done x y and z in the past so I know you can do this!” I can’t imagine being a kid who has consistently struggled in school and consistently heard negative feedback, negative career and life projections, and no one believing in you. Cause I saw that happen to so many kids.
Sorry to be fair I do want to point out that my high school experience was probably not the average. I was in AP classes and the IB program plus I did theatre and choir so I’d usually get home around 7-9 pm, usually later when we had shows, and then I had 4-6 hours of homework total each night, plus more on weekends. And every teacher would say “it’s only an 45 mins-hour of work” but then we had 6 teachers who would all give us that much work. College during the pandemic has been a completely different experience and I’ve seen how hard my professors work and I appreciate all of y’all teachers. And I know you guys aren’t the ones giving an hour of homework every night haha keep up the good work guys!
Oh man I totally remember how this feels. Working twice as hard to just be average and have your teachers assume you don't care and never praise you even though I really enjoyed learning the material most of the time. So hard.
@@abbigailcarr2725 me too!!!! All of this exactly the same except I have ADHD and a math specific learning disability.
At our High School, they have a meeting with kids, parents and the councilor their Junior year. They asked what our daughter wanted to do after high school. She told him she wanted to be a lawyer. The asshole said she couldn’t do it, she should find something else to do. I was so mad. She’s almost done with under grad. She looks forward to the day she can slam her License on his desk and tell him to kiss her ass.
Periodt
Whenever I was a kid I wanted to be a lawyer. A stepfather at the time told me that I couldn’t be a lawyer because I stuttered.
Please, I hope she is able to do it!
My high school guidance councilor would always look at me with such pity when I told them I want a career in music and that I was awful at English despite my essays proving otherwise. I have an associates degree in creative writing and I am planning to do a business degree so I can get the insight to open up a record label. The high school guidance departments need a remodel because limiting kids is not what is going to create success in this world
I look for ward to that day to, she deserves it.
I am 14 and I sobbed listening to you read the kids' responses because I was amazed at how people could put the feelings that I have had for the last 2 years into words.
You are seen and heard. Sending hugs
I’m also 14 and I feel the same way. It’s easy to forget other kids are feeling the same way as us.
My opinion, as a current sophomore, the reason why kids are apathetic towards school now is because of the absurd amount of stuff high school students have to deal with now. I know you talked about it in your video, but I just wanted to elaborate from my perspective. Currently, I take 2 APs plus 4 honors/Accel classes and 1 highest level Chorus class. Recently, I have been pushed to my limits with school. I had 4 summatives in 2 days and it drained me so badly. It didn’t help that I was prioritizing some classes over others and because of that, some of my grades dropped! And I HATE when people call high schoolers “lazy” or “unmotivated” because most people I know lose sleep and their social lives to get everything done at home. I choose to not lose sleep, but because of that, I don’t get all my assignments done due to outside factors unrelated to school (like volunteering 3 times a week for 2 hours each plus therapy). It’s an extremely demanding schedule and I’m not even dealing with the worst of it because I know kids that work and do school. I’m lucky to not need to work, yet I still feel like my time is fleeting. Also, if the pandemic ruined anything, it was my focus and discipline. I used to be able to sit down and focus to finish assignments in a timely manner, but now, I struggle to work for 30mins! All because of winter break and the pandemic! It sucks. I’ve tried different studying methods yet nothing has worked. It also might be burnout. Speaking of that, I completely get what you’re saying about mental health days, but a majority of the time I need a mental health day, I can’t take one because I know that’ll I’ll get back to school and be more stressed than I was before. Either way, I think we need to start re-evaluating education by de-stigmatizing on level classes (even encourage kids to take them so they aren’t spread so thin) and kicking monopolies out of education (looking at you College Board).
Thank you for sharing. I want you to know that this teacher has seen and heard you and I will keep these things in mind when in class and lesson planning.
Great job! You are working so hard and it will play off. You are amazing.
Im thankful I went to school in Canada and also finished before the pandemic. There are AP classes in some schools but in most they are not available so no extra pressure
As a young adult who struggled to concentrate for more than 30 minutes at a time when studying during high school and college and dealt with mental health issues, I see you. I hope your therapy helps and that you continue to take care of your mental health.
i could not have put this better
I completely agree with you. I am in year 8 and I feel like I am so stressed that most of the time I just kind of hole up in my room all afternoon and night just doing assignments and homework. Also, I don't know what AP classes are but I feel like I know what you mean when you say that you are pushed to your limit by them.
39:10 I was told a similar thing by my SCHOOL COUNSELLOR last year, I was trying so hard to get into university. I had dreamed of being an engineer for absolutely years and I was absolutely pushing myself.
I go to a semesterized school so I was taking Chem, Theatre, precalc and calculus in the fall 2020 semester. Things were just not going for me that semester, I had lost my dog over the summer, I was trying to survive in a pandemic as an immunocompromised student, 3 of my friends died over the course of that semester; I was so stressed I was physically ill constantly
My counsellor pulled me out of class one day into his office, and I was so relieved. I thought I was finally going to be able to get some sort of support or comfort (I'm too stubborn for my own good- Id never walk into his office to ask for help). He basically told me he "doesn't think university is going to be for me" and basically spent an hour telling me Im not good enough and pulled me from my advanced classes. I sobbed for hours, and I ended up withdrawing all of my university applications and just.. stopped caring. I went from being an honour student to doing just enough to pass, I barely graduated that June (And I believe I got a general diploma instead of an academic diploma)
But you know what? I spent that summer working with an amazing tech company as an HS intern, who believed in me and pushed me to learn and be better. And now I've returned to that same high school (with alot of resistance from said counselor) and I'm redoing my academic class. The first thing I did when I got my acceptance letter into my program was walk down to his office and telling them that I got into early admissions.
(that story ended up so much longer then I meant- Im sorry XD)
Good for you! I just graduated with my engineering degree in May and have helped hire quite a few interns and co-ops for my current company. That's the kind of story that would make all my coworkers jump for joy to have you on our team. If anyone turns you down or makes you feel bad for it, they don't deserve you.
My high school guidance department thought that I should be a chef despite showing an interest in it as a hobby and nothing more meanwhile I took four years of choir and two years of music theory and they believe that I can't have a career in music. XD
As a counselor, he should have known you were immune compromised and offered help and accommodations given the situation. What he did was totally inappropriate, and could possibly get him in trouble...
Thank you so much for the in sight in how the teachers feel im a freshman in high school and this really helped you guys are seriously the best teachers that have existed so thank you
As a teacher myself I love seeing students listening and seeing that we are real people too.
@@teacheraprilrogers I totally understand you guys were real people but I guess I never understand that you guys would be having a hard time with the Covid crap to and the work you give us and thankyou for your work as a teacher I hope you have a great day
Y’all’s passion for your students makes me smile every time I see any of your videos. I wish every teacher cared as deeply as you all do. Good teachers change lives. Enough good teachers could change the world. Thank you for being caring and continue being awesome!
38:27 "sometimes you just need a minute" Amen! I'm graduated but when I was in high a school 70% of the times I would ask to go to the bathroom during class was bc I just needed to be alone for a sec
As a student wanting to be a teacher these podcast really help me with planning the future teacher I want to be
You can do it! All the best for you future Alivia
My freshman math teacher assigned 2-3 chapters(40-80 q's/chapter) per night and expected it to always be turned in.
Also, my narcissist mother didn't teach me anything about adulthood but just expected me to know everything.
being a college student I was not being able to afford my books for class so I would go to the library and photo copy the reading assignments and my teacher found out and allowed me to use her book for the rest of the semester and she also helped me with applying to schools to further my education I will always remember that moment of someone trying to help me out when I was struggling and I appreciate it to this day
As a future teacher who will be working with high schoolers, I first off appreciate and can relate to this podcast!
I’ve been student teaching at a high school located in an disadvantaged community. People told me that these kids were going to be terrible students who do not listen or care.
After just a month there, I’ve learned so much and have truly recognize my purpose and passion in life- teaching.
These kids are smart, funny, and incredible students. Every time I see a light bulb moment they have, I am overjoyed. I feel as though it is my duty to educate these students and to help them build the building blocks necessary to lead a successful life after high school.
I feel like a mother to them, a mentor, a therapist, a content expert, a counselor, a teacher, etc. Teachers are expected of so much and should honestly be paid more and held to higher standards when being screened for the position, but in the end it is such a rewarding job.
To the teachers today and to future teachers, thank you. Keep striving and reach out to other mentors who you can relate to and learn from.
Learning is truly a lifelong process, but we can do it together and help impact the younger generation in a positive way.
I can say that learning in the pandemic has been incredibly difficult. I was a junior in high school when the pandemic started and I'm currently a freshman in college. I watched everything get taken away from me during my senior and junior year. I can also say that I had signed up for 6 ap classes for senior year before covid was even in the United States or in the scope of conversation for affecting our lives. Taking ap exams online and having hours worth of school work to do at home was awful. I am a good student but it can be difficult to concentrate in a classroom, let alone in my house with all the distractions. There was no longer that divide between this is school and this is home. I can also say that the pandemic really hurt my declining mental health. I had to come out as LGBTQ over text because we were in lockdown. Everything important to me was being taken away and I didn't have that regular social connections or activities that brought me joy and allowed me to express myself. So sitting on my computer for 7 hours a day to listen to someone talk was just awful. I was stressed and didn't want to do it anymore if I'm honest. I lost my junior prom and my senior year everything was outside instead of following how we normally got to hold these events. I no longer had the chance to have a prom with a dance floor and photos. My graduation was at a baseball park when it was over 100 degrees out and humid. It was just not what anyone was hoping for. Most colleges weren't even doing tours anymore so you had to look online. School just became something of survival and going through the motions. And to makes matters worse, there was no guiding hand, I felt for my teachers, as someone who is majoring in special and elementary education, but they didn't know anything about distance learning, zoom, or Google meets. So, it was messy. Taking an hour and a half long ap statistics course as 7:30 in the morning just felt like a chore. It wasn't fun and I wasn't with friends. My college classes are in person and with vaccinations I feel more safe being in person. It has helped me to focus and work so much better. I think if we were to go in shut down again, then I hope we would have learned how to fix some of the issues that arose within distance learning.
Autumn, as I scrolled through the comments, yours was particularly insightful. Thank you for laying it out with all of those details. As a teacher, going through everything on our end was so difficult that I didn't always have time (or mental capacity) to think about how the students felt. I really wish that I could go back and be more helpful. I appreciated hearing about your experience, I hope that you are finding success in college.
This makes me so sad if the world didnt lie and made covid seem like such a big deal when it wasnt. There wasnt a need for anything to get shut down or for stuff to get canceled never did a healthy teenager get covid and even come close to dying the mental health toll this took on the country is so much worse then anything that could have happened if we just decided to keep life normal. Im sorry that happened to u and hope ur college experience is better🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I also came out during lockdown.
So I’m binging yalls episodes. And I’m listening to this one. My daughter is in KINDERGARTEN and she has at LEAST 2 sheets of homework every single night and spelling tests every week and she gets SO stressed out sometimes 😞
I dont think i was doing spelling tests in kindergarten yet? I couldn't read i think... I could only read words like CAT DOG BAT in 1st grade.
I personally felt such a disconnect from my teachers that I didn't care anymore. I was a trans girl in a small town and felt like I didn't have any backup from teachers which burned me out way to much to where i didn't want to work anymore
I know this doesn't help much, but I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
❤🧡💛💚💙💜
I've always had such strong connections with my teachers that I can't imagine this bill happening. In sixth grade I openly cried and hugged my teacher after telling her about my mother's miscarriage and when we switched classes (we would do this to prepare us for middle school) my teacher there talked to me about how him and his wife had experienced a miscarriage before so he knew how I felt. Just this year I was having a bad morning and when I looked over to see my math teacher smiling at me I completely broke down and she pulled me into her classroom for the first few minutes of first period so I could calm down (it was her prep period). Teachers are more emotional support than anyone and hearing that they may not be able to connect with students in an emotional way anymore breaks my heart.
I've tried not to get burnt out at school, making sure I have enough sleep and I eat and have me time. But what gets me is being in high school and teachers forgetting that I have 9 other classes that all have assignments due next week and I'm in a leadership position and am learning an instrument. I would say that I have some excellent teachers but the others just load homework on and they have no idea that I have to look after my younger sister and cook dinner that night and prepare for a math test tomorrow.
Listening to all of you four teachers really helps me remember that you really do understand and are there for students. You also remind me to look after myself and to tell my teachers when I'm struggling. I'm currently writing a book and it's my teachers that have the most enthusiasm for it and inspire me to keep going.
I want to become a teacher myself and I look up to you as role models. When I graduate high school and finish my degrees at university, I want to be just as supportive and caring for my students as you are for yours. You all really help me understand both sides of the classroom. And I would very happily buy a book with all of Bree's funny sayings.
It's rather ironic that schools encourage good mental health while pushing such a burden on their students. I wish you luck for your future as a teacher.
I’m a 13 year old and I’ve got to say thank you guys so much, this episode has opened my eyes a lot with all your different perspectives. I have had a lot going on with school and stuff at home, and after watching this I feel a little more willing to try harder at school.
I’m around the same age. I’m 14 and I feel completely the same way. I never realized how my teachers might feel with the stress of Covid and online school. :)
Congratulations!
I am born and raised in Indiana and I’m currently in college in Indiana as well. I have so many friends who are getting their degree in education and are going to be teachers in Indiana. This bill is a very real problem… if anyone is interested in learning more about it or finding out what you can do to help, I recommend going to ACLU of Indiana’s website!
i just found your guys’ podcast and i’m a teachers kid, i really love this one because in my senior year of highschool my father went to rehab, my parents got divorced and i was sexually assaulted, i had three teachers that honestly saved my life because of the support they gave me. i owe my life to Mr. O, Ms. K and Mrs. L. i love them with my whole heart for being my safe places when i was the most mentally unstable and they really saved my life. thank you guys for being amazing people for these kids in school now, just thank you
Thank you Tell for bringing awareness to the school to prison pipeline.
I would like to see them do a more in-depth video on institutional racism in schools. I am really curious to see what their perspective on it is and also experiences with it.
My junior and senior years of high school were at the start of the pandemic, and being a person who at the age of 16/17 was already struggling with severe mental illnesses being locked in my house was the last thing I needed. Within weeks I went from grades in the 90s to barely passing classes, both of the adults in my house got COVID and couldn't leave their beds for about 3 weeks and I had the responsibilities of keeping them and myself alive and doing school work and classes. To this day in my first semester of college I'm still trying to get myself back into the student I was and I honestly don't think I could've made it out of high school without the support of some of my teachers.
I am so sorry you had to deal with that.😢
I can't express enough how much I appreciate all of you. I love seeing teachers being real people and showing their struggles. I wish I had more teachers like you when I was in school. Thank you for being so open and honest.
I work at a school on a native American reservation and as an educator I once was told "Children who are not loved at home , come to school to be loved" - Dr. Gale Gorke. .... I love your podcast, please continue the amazing discussions.
@Adam, that quote is so true; I was one of those kids. Being from a large family, I was one of the middles (who was also quiet and compliant) who was overshadowed by my rebellious and outgoing siblings. I got much more individualized attention at school.
Bree is amazing. Thanks for having the insight to ask students for insight.
When my son was in pre-k, he was mistreated by his teacher every day. He was not diagnosed with autism yet and she hated him because he was not a robot. He wasn't conversationally verbal, so I had to depend on others (children and the aftercare provider) to tell me about her behavior. He was still 3 when the year started. He is now 7 and I am still dealing with the trauma. They didn't fire her because she was in the union, but they took her class away. I know it wasn't just because of my son but she had a track record.
I couldn't imagine not being able to have real conversations with my teachers. One of my teachers was my speech and debate coach in high school. I was very close to her and told her about the fact that I got into arguments basically every night and how I had to sleep on a park bench for a couple hours before I snuck back into my house cause my mom and I would get into some big arguments and she'd kick me out. I usually put up a front do no one could tell that somethin was going on but the moment it just dropped my African American studies teacher pulled me aside and was like "Hey are you ok? You're typically like the highlight of my day and today you just are completely out of it". If I didn't have those conversations with my teachers I would not be here today.
I really wish I could’ve had you guys as teachers. I’m a senior and I would’ve loved to have any of you even in my school system. I feel like a lot of kids could benefit from having teachers as caring as you all
My maths teacher had a really interesting way to do homework. Our homework every night was to copy notes examples off her website and we spent our class time doing what was assigned as homework to the rest of the classes. So she was there to help us with anything we were stuck on and her class was genuinely my favourite
This video has me in tears. I’m in the 8th grade, going into 9th grade as of commenting and I can’t tell you how much it helps to just be told by somebody you look up to, or even just speak with occasionally, how much potential that person thinks you have or how much they care. I think that the world could be so much more peaceful if people had those connections with each other in childhood and adolescences so that they have the right mind set as adults. There’s my little ounce of opinion, do whatever you wish with it, but I want anyone who reads this to realize how much they are worth in the world and that they are here for a reason, and it is not to be seen as a bad person.
I was having a hard time in high school. As soon as I finished my assignments in each class I would go to the library and the librarian would talk with me about life or just spend time with me while all the other students were in class. Weather we were talking about the hard things or we were laughing, she always made my day better and easier. She made living life one day at a time so much easier. She saved my life. She created a safe place to fall. All in one she gave me a place of comfort, someone to talk to and a friend. She is an amazing woman. When I was in my lowest place, just by being there for me, she helped me back onto my path to success.
I’m a senior this year and this meant a lot to me
This entire episode was awesome as always. The last 15-20 minute really got me. I have a few teachers I will never forget. All but one of them was great and I remember the good experiences I had. I had 1 teacher in my college prep English class in my first year of high school. We were in the 2nd quarter I think and we all had just recently turned in an essay/serious writing assignment. She had finished grading them and passed them back to us and said that the writing was so bad with a majority of the papers and that if we really want to go to college we better start rethinking our paths. She asked how many of us wanted to go to college. Several of us raised our hands. She then said the same stuff again and passed back our essays. I got a good grade and the entire time she was talking, all I was thinking is "I know you're not talking about me." I got my assignment back and I got a good grade. I then looked around at other students and saw looks of disappointment, depression, apathy and giving up, and the look of one's soul that had just been crushed. I still consider messaging this teacher from time to time to tell her her harsh and mean words didn't hold me back, but that she definitely affected students and sent their self esteem lower than they already had as a freshman in high school. I'm so thankful to say 95% of the teachers I've had from elementary school through college were and are great educators but there are some and they know who they are that ruin it for the rest. To all of you amazing educators, thank you for all that you do! You are amazing and aren't thanked enough let alone paid enough! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
This was a great conversation. I had a horrible 3rd grade teacher. So bad I almost got held back. Then for 4th grade I had a fabulous teacher who got me to love learning and reading. Now I work at a university in student services.
Hay im 14 years old and im writing a while after the high of the pandemic but I would just like to say that I remember the struggle that we all faced last year. I know personally i struggled with focusing and self accountability because with no one watching me it was so easy to just pick up my phone and start watching RUclips while my teacher was talking on zoom. It was so easy to loose motivation after that because it really did start to feel like nothing only had the students given up but the teachers and school board to.
Thank you guys so much for putting out these podcasts because I think as the kids we can sometimes forget how to see it from a teachers point of view and thank you for asking us what’s up because it honestly makes me feel like someone actually cares how the students feel to.
Just curious if you guys will ever do an episode about CTE schools. As a student who took honors classes in middle school, go to my local tech school for IT and has experienced the bullying, and since become a student spokesperson for my local tech school. As a part of this, I have had to do a large amount of Myth Debunking around stereotypes of, "Tech Kids", most propagated school personnel. I would love to hear your take on CTE schools.
I'm an Edu major and have classes with these early college students. I absolutely hate about half of them. Always on phones. Talking (even over the prof), blatantly disrespecting teachers. Not all of them. Like I said. About half. It makes it really hard to like them. And tbh, about a quarter drop out of dual enrollment in my district. So half of half of them don't even have what it takes to be there. It figures for me. Sorry not sorry 😐 🤷
When I was in high school (graduated 2018) I took fashion class all four years. Me and another girl I sat with where the best and most natural at it in the class. At that same table the girl that always tried her hardest but wasn’t very good was sat with us, along with any new students that needed help. Me and the other girl took turns helping the gurl that was struggling. Although her projects weren’t nearly as good as ours she always got the same grade or maybe a few points less because she was always trying and asking for help. By year four she was doing just as good as me and the other girl our first year, but she passed every year and always tried. She never had us do her work for her and she was always receptive to advice and help. Aka just agreeing with if you do your best the teacher will give you a break.
One of my teachers asked my class this and it’s just that with the pandemic, it’s hard to really put in the effort when it feels like everything else is falling apart around us and we don’t having any control
I never really talked to my teachers about the personal stuff going on in my house, for fear it would make it worse. But school was my safe space. The one place I could go to get away from the abuse and mistreatment everyday. I remember going to school on days when I was exempt from taking the test that day. When I would get to school id have to take the test anyway (which to me was WAY better than being at home) and I remember one time I had a 93 in the class overall and when I took the test I ended up with a 89 which brought my grade down just below an A and I remember the teacher telling me that I should have just stayed home. But in my mind that B was 10x better than being at home alone with the person that hurt me
The new laws you spoke about made me emotional.
In 5th grade both of my parents abandoned me. The school had a group called banana split. It was for children who were going through their parents having a divorce. We would get pulled from class for about an hour and have a group session with a counselor and peers. It really helped me feel less alone especially with holidays like mother/fathers day.
When I was 16 in foster care I ran away and lived homeless. I stopped going to school for awhile because I feared being picked up then taken to a group home.
When I finally started going back, I had a teacher who genuinely cared and helped me through that time by talkingto me and understanding my situation. Before becoming homeless I was a straight A honor student. When I didn't show up for my second semester final this teacher still gave me a B even though I never showed up for that exam.
Ugh, listening to this brought up so many emotions. It's not a bad thing but I wish there were more teachers like all of you. Its hard to focus on school when you're in survival mode and know once school is over I didn't know where I would sleep and the free breakfast and lunch was the only food I knew I'd eat that day.
I am appreciative of this podcast, especially this one in particular. I am a mentor, currently, on a high school campus and the issues the online schooling has caused in the area I work in is hard. The emotional and social issues along with the academic, is heartbreaking. Thank you for giving the student and teacher perspective! I wish there were more teachers like you all in the world. The system would not be as broken
I have a 4 yr old and already stressing about my son's educations. Growing up most of the teachers I had did not like their job and were open about it or just did not care for their student's future. But watching yalls videos and going over the simple things that teachers should be doing but are not aware of is amazing. Love yall's podcast!!!!
Mr. Rogers literally would do episodes on tough topics that parents personally can’t or won’t talk about with their kids, like divorce, 911, racism, etc. And he was a teacher for millions of kids, as are lots of the tv characters we watch in those first few years of our lives but at a certain point, the vast majority of shows we watch don’t have those same topics but matured more for the age groups it’s aim for, instead they get ignored and we forget those shows we watch when we were 3-6 years old so it’s up to teachers to reinforce those ideas that such hard topics need to be talked about so we can process them. Traumatic stuff happens throughout our lives, and during the years we are in school, our brains still in developmental stages, we need a guide to understand and show us how to talk about those things at a base level without judgement that our parents more often than not, don’t want to talk about with us or we don’t know how to talk to them about because we are scared of upsetting them or blatantly being ignored. I didn’t know so much about just basic life or pop culture due to my parents until I went to school, I didn’t know who the hell The Beatles were till 10th grade in drama class, a class where every Friday we would all just lay on the floor with nice music playing with most the lights off for 15 minutes to destress from the week and recharge for the class and we would call it “nap time fridays”. Some would literally sleep and it was the best thing cause we had a teacher who got it and understood us and let us have what we needed to continue on with the day.
I'm a freshman in high school and am currently being homeschooled. While I enjoy the freedom homeschooling gives me, I think me, and a lot of other kids, failed to appreciate the things we are taught. Teachers and schools aren't teaching us random math problems for the sake of knowing them. More often than not, we're being taught how to think. However, I think it's especially hard for the kids my age and younger to fully get engaged in these lessons because, like you all said, our attention spans are so incredibly short. I, myself, struggle a lot with paying attention and absorbing information because my brain is running a mile a minute. I think me and my peers all agree that we have no clue how to fix this. It almost feels like due to social media our brains have rotted and we have no clue where to even begin when it comes to fixing that. A lot of us feel like we are incapable of doing the work, so we feel it's better to just give up. Besides, education isn't deemed as important as it once was; a lot of jobs now don't require a good education. While there are still a huge amount of jobs that do, I think most kids think that they can make it without trying regardless. A lot of kids, however, fear that we may not *want* to be around for the future. There's so much negativity going on in the world all the time, and with social media and the internet amplifying that, a lot gen Z think that our futures are going to be bleak, and therefore it wouldn't even be worth it to try. I have to fight very hard to keep myself from thinking the same.
Kids have trouble talking to kids about this stuff as well, including their parents. We don’t know how and who to talk to because at the end of the day we don’t want to seem boring or over dramatic to kids and others and it feels messy all the time. We don’t have anyone so it’s really devastating to deal with that. So, it’s good to see that teachers care. Kids also put pressure on other kids with grades and how they are. Me personally, I am a pretty good student and have good grades but other kids tell me that I’m dumb and stupid and they don’t allow me to do things I can do because they act like I’m dumb. If you don’t have all a’s you’re automatically dumb to other kids. It’s hard.
I love all of these so much as a student I agree with you guys most of the time, and I love how you show us your perspectives. This has really helped me understand my teachers more. These podcast motivate me so much especially when y'all talk about all you have to do is try. It is so awesome how you guys try to understand your students.
I am a student in 8th grade and I love with two teachers so I understand what happens in the teachers mind and I really appreciate what you guys do for all of us
As a sophomore I would like to thank u for listening to them and asking us. It means a lot that u actually listened. So thank you
I was an A student with occasional b’s had never gotten a c in my life till the pandemic. During the panorama i was happy to get a 45 because it was better than my previous 12. I had never realized how much i needed the school structure till it was ripped out from under me. I’m not properly diagnosed yet but i have almost all symptoms of adhd, so the complete lack of structure just broke me. This is the first year completely back and i’m still trying to get back into the groove, my procrastination is still really bad and im still in “as long as i turn it in before the end of the semester” mode. I’m not trying to make excuses, my bad grades are still my bad grades.
Being someone who is struggling right now with motivation with school, having a brother who has had developmental problems (ADHD) so I needed to help him, and just so much more I felt heard even though I didn’t interact with this before the filming and stuff and I’m so happy, thank you. 💛🖤💛🖤
I’ve been considering being a teacher for years and watching this and seeing how much kids need a teacher that love them … I enrolled last week so wish me luck 😊
As a second year teacher I never new about the pipe line issue. I’m so glad I watched this because now I can understand some of the things I’m seeing at my school.
I wish I had teachers like you guys. You guys are so open minded, and can see from a bunch of different views. I feel my teachers are not as open minded as you. Your students are so lucky to have such amazing teachers.
I can’t imagine not being able to talk to my favorite teacher when something is going on at school or at home 🏠
Being an art teacher during the pandemic was nuts...bless y'all for getting through this tough time
When the pandemic hit I still didn’t realize I had adhd - thankfully (for me) I was at the end of my senior year so at that point the grades didn’t matter
But I realized just how much I needed that I person learning-that space used specifically for learning that can keep me focused on what’s happening before me
I tried hard but my executive dysfunction hit so hard by the end of it I don’t think I did anything.
It was only later after school ended that I put the pieces together and I realized what was going on-but it was because I had the more internalized type of adhd that first started out as an obsession with books and then writing that I generally got really good grades and (thankfully) had good teachers that kept me engaged (most of the time) that the problem was never obvious.
It was only until I was taking my first year of Spanish, where the teacher started out really engaging and I was absorbing all of it and doing really well… and then he just.. stopped? It all switched to paper or online work and he never did those interactive things again. Later on when the finals were coming and he tried to get us to do listening and verbal lessons that only those who had prior knowledge of the language or worked their absolute ass off knew what the hell he was saying.
There were days where my anxiety would go so bad because I wasn’t doing well that I would have to force myself to not break down into tears. I barely survived Spanish II but I felt like a baby who barely knew how to move amongst those who could already walk.
It didn’t help that I was one of the girls that could have been considered in the ‘gifted’ program when I was growing up (if my school had-had it) so I was always getting straight A’s until junior high because back then I didn’t need to study so I didn’t know how to. But that was because my super squirrel brain was running at a hundred miles per hour and what was being taught to me couldn’t keep up with my comprehension. It took so long to accept that always having A’s isn’t everything and it was okay if I wasn’t good in something.
Anxiety is no joke especially if you don’t have an outlet for it. Your own mind is really your own worst enemy because you can’t run away from the things it comes up with-even if you want to.
(TW)
For me, during quarantine and the pandemic, and even before/after, I really tried my best every single day. I didn't even realize I was burned out until I looked back on it just recently. Then covid happened and my mental health took an even more massive blow. I'm talking intrusive thoughts, SH, S*icidal thoughts, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and more. I felt numb and so scatterbrained, and I just couldn't push myself anymore. I was so burnt out that I spent most of my time in bed. I wouldn't shower for days on end. Sometimes even a week. I barely ate, didn't hydrate, and none of my "friends" talked to me. I felt so disconnected from my family, and I couldn't talk to them about anything. It was literally the lowest I'd ever been, as far as I remember. Then, in 2020/2021, I was diagnosed with ADHD and PCOS. And none of my teachers knew. Except for two of them. Who I will forever be greatful for. My US history teacher, and my Spanish 1 teacher. They accepted me. Let me talk with them. Especially my Spanish 1 teacher. He let me stay after class a lot to talk. And he even shared some stuff with me, letting me know that he had gone through a lot too. And it gave me hope that I can get better. And both teachers accepted me when I was figuring out my gender identity. I'm greatful for their understanding. I'm glad I met them when I did, and I hope that they are proud of me.
As a Student i think the reason it felt like so much is looking on your page and see so many assignments for all your classes at once was stressing
I completely agree with the "I do, we do, you do" model, especially as a math teacher. However, if my administration observed a class when I did that, I would have gotten an ineffective rating. It was infuriating.
Oh wow, that would be infuriating.
wow thats insane, you guys most likely not see this but that story of needing your teacher to believe in you and went from 40 to 80 actually killed me. ima freshman and im trying to do my best but everything around me is going not the best and my grades arent the best either and hearing that story and then i belive in you just instantly started making me cry. thank you so much 💖
That thing about HeadStart at the end really got me. I was a kid in that program, and the reason my mom thought to put me in it was because I wouldn't talk to anyone else (besides my siblings). When I was finally able to go to university, I was able to get a psychological education assessment and found out that I have complex ptsd because of what I went through as a toddler and child.
Now, I've graduated university and have a fulltime career in education.
I can’t begin to imagine if my head of year couldn’t talk to me about home life or personal issues. The amount of time my head of year has scraped a lesson to just talk is insane.
I am still in school but I am still so grateful for that teacher ❤️
When I was in school, and I was struggling I always had a teacher that I knew I could go to, and I remember crying in my coaches office so many times but he always knew how to help. My junior year was a rough year for me (covid hit that second semester) one of my teachers noticed something was going on with me mentally and was able to help me. These are the reasons I want to become a teacher.
Look I just want to say how much I love y’all. I am in college right now and I’m working on my degree to be a teacher. I love that I have teacher role models❤️
I have never been great in math and failed one class but when I signed up for the class again with a different teacher, he was very involved and had us solve problems on the board so we were all engaged and I passed with an A.
Something about the intro, and the little mug full of perfect brand new pencils makes me happy inside.
In my sophomore English class we had two textbooks, two mandatory binders, three journals and at least 4 assignments per day. We had a weekly quiz and some days we had pop quizzes out of the blue. And we had to read through 10 novels through the year on our own time and only had discussions along the way through the year about the novels and the novels were part of the tests. It was a ridiculous amount of work and that was just that one class.
I have been sitting here for hours listening to these podcasts and they are AMAZING love you guys ❤
I'm not in school anymore but thank you for caring about those kids. The world needs more teachers like y'all ❤️
I graduated Highschool in 2001, my guidance counselor told me that I wouldn't do good in college. I still to this day have anxiety about not being good enough for a job or do very bad in interviews. I was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder as a child and I think she just figured I wouldn't amount to anything. I always make sure to tell my children they are good enough and smart enough to do anything.
From a junior who literally never saw their teachers as humans until last year, please show your kids you're "casual" side. I went through my entire elementary and middle school life thinking that teachers are high and mighty. I cried for the first time in my English teacher's class last year because I had just the worst morning. She literally sat with me outside the door rubbed my back and told me "it's okay to not be okay". She let me sleep in the back of her room and checked in on me later. I have NEVER had anyone care so deeply for me at school like that. That was a life changing moment because I realized that teachers have low moments too. Recognition of being purely human goes such a long way in a teaching/learning environment. ❤️❤️
At the end of your video you were talking about just say that you are proud of the kid or you love them, and as a student, even though im older, that really does help. At my house most people only talk about my failures so when someone says that they care it really does mean a lot to a lot of us.
I love this conversation. I remember being in high school and really struggling and I just wish I had a teacher that cared a little. To this day I don’t know how a teacher can look at a student and be like: this is damaged goods without taking the time to ask: are you ok?
Loved this conversation.
Had a geometry class like that also!!! Passed out worksheets, expected us to know it.. did homework on the same lesson that night then the next morning would grade it and if we had questions we could ask but I'd need her to go over the entire worksheet because I had no idea what any of it was and she would blow us off like I should know
It is so nice to hear teachers talking about helping queer students. Teachers are often better parents than the kids' parents are. Thank you guys for all you do ❤️
Also that teacher saying that the senior kid shouldn't try because he's black is so messed up.
Omg I'm loving this episode. My oldest child has some mental health issues that we are working on. His old school from kinder to the first half of 5th grade would call me all the time out of work. I am a super involved parent so I was up at the school and talking to teachers at least weekly if not more. My kiddo also has an IEP but I feel like he was looking at each school day as this big cloud of doom just waiting for him to step remotely out of line to snatch him up. I moved us into a new district and this last semester has changed him significantly. He is excited to go to school now, has started reading for pleasure and is doing much better communicating to teachers and admin what he needs or feels. We do have other state provided services in place to help him as well. But ultimately I think that last district was just not doing anyone any favors. I also have a 1st grader who in January this year was at a pre k reading level couldn't read sight words or anything. The new teacher gave me a list of sight words and I made flash cards, we got reading level appropriate books from the teacher as well. Within 7 weeks this child read 2 whole books to me because the teacher and I worked together to help catch up. We celebrated by going to the public library and getting their first library card and we now sit and read every night to each other! The progress made by changing things up and having teachers who actually work with me and help me to help my kids is amazing and exciting! And the perspectives you guys shared in this episode really touched home for me and this situation.
Thank you guys you made me see stuff from a different perspective and I’m really grateful for that so thank you 🙏🏻 BEST TEACHERS EVER ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
Me learning about context clues listening very carefully... I love this podcast very much being 13 years old.. Being in class listening to this on free time..that only I had today.... Which is rare when one of my teachers will give us free time and only one student will get the free time while all the rest of kids in my class do work.. Also when we were on online learning in primary school cause I was in the middle of standard 5 when our country locked down for Covid and boy did we have like about 18 homework for 14 subjects a day that was due like for the next day... Then now when I came into high school in the begging I was having 12 homeworks a day out of 8 subjects that was due the next day.... But now that we are hybrid learning it is really less stressful because they give us less work now.. Two of my aunts are teachers and they say that for the first time teaching is very stressful.... One of them teach standard one and the other teaches like infants... But these teachers look very chill
So I’m a queer sophomore currently and this year for my US History class I had the opportunity to do a presentation to the class for bonus points. I had to do it on one of the riots that happened during the 60s. And I stupidly chose to do it on Stonewall. I felt so bad because I put my teacher under a lot of stress by checking if I am even allowed to present this to the class (I’m in Louisiana and the majority of parents are extremely homophobic and transphobic). It took a whole month for me to even begin presenting and I only got through the first four slides when she called time. I also was doing this freshly after Don’f Say Gay was being talked about. I had horrible timing.
I know this is a late comment and I know it probably won’t be read, since it’s kinda long, but teachers really do make an impact on their students that leaves a lasting impression.
As a student who is now in college (and close to finishing with a BS in Medical Laboratory Science). I had a very traumatic childhood, I never experienced preschool and I was in multiple foster homes by the time I was in kindergarten. I was fortunate enough to get adopted while in kindergarten and both my kindergarten and first grade teachers were so understanding and encouraging to me (between kindergarten and first grade I changed schools). I have definitely had my fair share of teachers whom I did not agree with, but I was raised to be opened minded and to know that that is how life is. On the reverse side of things, I had teachers who went above and beyond for me weather or not it was pulling me aside to talk or just handing me a note saying that their door was always open (my adoptive father passed away during my senior year of high school).
Even with everything I went through I know that there are others who had experiences worse than mine and they should know things can and will get better, that it only takes one person believing in them to make a life changing difference.
As a senior in my last semester, last quarter even, I've just lost my motivation. It's not that my teachers aren't trying or that the assignments are hard. It's just that it feels like other parts of my life, things like college and work take up more energy and since I'm in the last leg of school it just feels like adding a pointless amount of stress onto my workload.
Omg it’s so nice to seen people putting light on how the kids felt during the pandemic like for me when it started my grandma had been living with me and my family and she was very sick and the meds she had to take made her behavior often a bit violent but she was in bed all the time so she couldn’t do much however both my parents worked full time still my dad worked from home in the basement and my mom in a hospital so I had to watch her and still do school so it was tough
I am a 10th grader and I go to a public school in the biggest county NC and one thing that my world history teacher did last year while we were learning online is talked to us about the work she was giving us. At the beginning of the year she was very adamant on making sure we understood that she never gave busy work, and that every assignment had a purpose to it. Which everyone in my class loved because it gave us some form of motivation to do the work. Another thing was once every two weeks she would give us catch up days, and on those day she would make us pull up power schools and she would tell us what assignments to prioritize that day. She was so invested on making sure every kid passed that class to the best of their ability that she doesn’t do late grades, her mindset was no matter what i have to go back no matter what. Late grades just discourage the kids to not turn in the work. She was the type if teacher that made me realize that don’t put off work, just do it as soon as it’s assigned. It make life so much easier. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t turn work in late sometimes, but if parents and teachers don’t help kids understand time management they only learn how to pile the stress. The school I go to most of the kids are white and privileged, and I’m a minority. But when I see teachers that are so invested in making sure each student does well, and goes out of there way to even just say “good job” to every single student it makes me happy. Reaching out to students to make sure their grades are good, and doing well makes such a difference in a student’s life.
Teachers are a safe place. My father was famous in my school, he was handicap so he'd hang around all the time to check up on me and my sister. All the teacher got to know him so when he got cancer e everyone was aware. My 5th grade teacher was the strictest and had the most stern face, when I told her my dad passed she turned into the most sweat and gentle teacher. She sat me on her lap, gave me a long hug, had the whole class pray for my family, took me to counselor and social worker, on the day of his funeral she took her lunch break to show up to support me. That's when my whole perception of her changed, she wasn't mad, she cared. I saw her as an adult in the airport once, she was retired and going on a trio to Japan. I was so happy that she is enjoying her retirement.
As someone who's oldest is 16, he was suspended from school several times from kinder to second multiple times. He now hates school, refuses to even apply in basic courses while being brilliant. Because his schools taught him that he was the "monster" at school. He has ADHD and recently found Autism at the start of the pandemic (14 years old for him). I have pages of documentation from kinder to 8th grade of his behaviors. While I worked my hardest with his teachers. My son was sent home almost daily from school from kinder until 8th grade, this caused me to not work since I have to be on call in case of anything happening at school.
I still remember my freshman biology teacher, I tried so hard but could not get it and could not pass the tests no matter how hard I tried. I knew I was failing throughout each quarter but ultimately ended with a D because she was not going to let me fail the year because it wasn't clicking for me, even with coming after school for extra time.
When the person said “we give up before we can be given up on” I PERSONALLY connected
I am so glad you are bringing up these points About teachers having an education to teach. A school in my state wants to hire anybody off the street to be a teacher. And the staff at that school is college educated are not really happy about it.
Through watching this podcast, it has given me a different perspective on k-12 teachers. I was always a good student, I never gave teachers a headache but I wish I knew then that teachers are people too. I viewed my k-12 teachers as authority, untouchable, all business no relationship people. I was always a little scared of my teachers and I wish I knew that I was able to talk to my teachers and share my struggles about school and life to them. I guess I always assumed there was a strong boundary between teacher and student.
I had this same issue, I was always told that teachers, (or adults for that matter), were above me and I could only give them the utmost respect. If I shared something about my life, then I was treating them like a human being which for some reason wasn't okay.
I do my best to show all my students love. I came from a difficult home life myself. I know I cannot change the world - but I can help out a few and hopefully they will go on and help a few… possibly it could reach the whole world.
I was able to graduate high school because my teacher saw I was trying. I got all straight As except for chemistry. Failed it three times. I just couldn’t understand the concept. In my senior year I got a 65% even though I stayed after school every day for tutorials for it. She bumped me up to a 70% so I could graduate. Idk where I would be now if she hadn’t done that.
Just recently came across this podcast eventhough I've been watching Rebecca for a while now, and I have to say it's teaching me alot as a parent of a child who is starting school next year
I wished there were more teachers like y'all.
I was diagnosed with ADD when I started college in 2019. So I was always that student who left everything to the last minute if it was something that I did not like/ have a passion for. As you guys were talking about making time to listen to the students.. that really means a lot to the students I know this sounds weird or obvious but, when the kid changes schools every other year (like me until about grade 5-6) it means the world. The kids who are often the, excuse the language, problem dumpster/ the person who you tell your problems to, is really the one who needs someone to talk to (don't take it as me saying you don't matter) it's just if everyone tells you their problems then who is that person supposed to unload to. I have never really had someone say you can do anything you want to, but I had always wanted to join the military but at the end of my 11th grade in high school I broke my leg (2016). And because of the type of break and how long it took for them to operate I now have a section of my leg that is nerve damaged and another section that sends pain up my leg. Needless to say I was not in a good frame of mind at that time, I had always wanted to be in the military, that was what I wanted to do. So when I was told that I would not be able to join because of this break, I felt ... numb? empty?. Not sure if that word is right but I can't think of a different word to describe that feeling.
There was one point when I was at camp as staff (I was in cadets at this time (no you do not have to join the military) working at a Summer camp. We got paid to be there about 3K for 7 weeks starting pay.) I was so sick of everything and (I am not proud of this) I thought about just ending it. I had always been bullied as a kid, but that day I had just about had it. But then one of the other staff who had become a friend said that we should go off base for a while, I said "maybe later", and she was like, "Nope. Now". She could tell that something wasn't right. Y'all don't know how much it means to someone if you just take the time to listen or be there for them.
I apologize for this long rant.
P.S. I am Canadian. My parents are both retired military so we moved a lot (13 schools in 11-ish years). I always kept people at a distance. Like I had friends, but none I can really say apart from a finite amount, that I would call Friends (that person you call at 3am when you need someone to talk to and they drop everything and go to you (if they are physically able)).
P.S.S. Just to clarify cause I know some people are going to say "it's just a break", my bone didn't just break. It had broke then twisted so the ends didn't meet and then I dislocated my ankle... 10-point-something mm. So ya.
I genuinely work in tech, am 30, have 2 masters, & make 6 figures - and I ALSO need 5 minutes away to fidget to control my ADHD. I even think back to the bathtub full of pillows we had in my class when I was young, & the teachers that let us just walk around the room for a minute or take a bathroom trip to splash water on our face, etc.
Growing up in that supportive environment with my teachers (& parents) helped so much - it also TAUGHT ME what to do to deal with those impulses so that I can be successful.
If I need that sometimes, imagine how much we needed it when we were younger & how much some of these kids need help.
In Highschool I had some amazing teachers that would go above and beyond for us with specialized assignments to help us and using google classroom to put the lesson plan for the day with the days assignments and note slides or a digital textbook and then I had some teachers that just didn’t care or seemed like they didn’t care they refused to help us when we where confused nor would they go over the lesson plan and just give out the homework that they expect to be handed in by the end of class. Those teachers that went above and beyond are the only reason I graduated that school and those same teachers are the ones that taught me to not be afraid to ask for help or speak up for myself.
children ask for love in some of the most unloving ways. my daughter befriended a girl in her kindergarten who had big outbursts in the beginning of the year. i was her aide in 1st grade and had to deeply love on her, remind her that she's loved and able to do so much. she now calls me her 2nd mom and is always giving me hugs. I've told others that they need to remind her she can do things and emotions WILL be high, but just keep loving on her. i saw a girl in kindergarten and i was praying she would be in our 1st grade. God answered prayers and we got her.
she's a tough cookie and likes to use "i don't know, i can't remember, this is too much, this is too hard, i can't do this" and I've been calling her bluff on it.
i took her in a small walk in the school and walked goofy with her. marching, walking sideways like a crab, hopping over carpet lines, all of it. she fought her smile and asked me why i was doing that. i told her she needed to join me because i can't be the only goofball. she bargained with me that she would run half a lap in the gym for me if i stopped being so silly.
you got a deal, kid.
now she's trying to hide her smiles, but knows she can do so much more. she knows I'll call her on the "i can't" and will level with her, asking why she won't/ believes she can't. we are going into week 3 and i actively look forward to her each day. she makes us very creative on how to reach her and get her engaged.
there are kids that have it really hard and parent(s) aren't able to/ won't connect with them. it's hard, but they need love and redirection. it's a massive reason why i love 1st grade and my teacher, who I've come to find is SpEd licensed, so we get to brainstorm even more for these kids.
my class last year, they are 1 of 2 classes that have my heart and i miss them dearly.
keep loving on these kids, teachers. if there's 1 lesson above all they need, someone deeply loves them. if they feel loved, they'll move mountains.
I am physically disabled, and i was an education major in college, and my education 101 professor asked me if i was in the right class (just based on looking at me being in a wheelchair). I couldn't go to the head of the department, because she was the head of the department.
I was just like that sophomore you were talking bout as a senior. I’ve always been an honours student but my mental health went bad and I started sleeping in class and my grades dropped and my social teacher squats down at my desk and says to me let’s go talk in the hallway and I just broke down to him and he truly saved my life that day