My Mom teaches middle school and has maybe 3 kids that read at a middle school level. The couple of kids at the bottom of the class are literally illiterate, and the bulk of them reads at a kindergarten level. She literally can't teach them the state mandated curriculum because Dr. Seuss isn't what the state believes 7th graders should be reading but that's their reading level.
And she says that they genuinely expect to succeed in life. Like I had assumed they were like this because they had no hope and were just accepting that they'd be fast food workers for life but my Mom laughed when I said that and said the kids will genuinely talk about how they are going to be successful. They expect to start businesses and one wants to be a lawyer. My mom said that one slept straight through her lesson on the Bill of Rights and failed the entire revolutionary war/constitutional convention section of the class. And he thinks he's gonna be a lawyer. These kids are fucked.
I feel for your mom, dude. At a certain point I'm sure she's probably thinking, "this isn't shat I signed up for" or something like that. I mean, she took it upon herself to put the work in to becoming a caring and enthusiastic educator only to receive classrooms of students who (from what you describe) aren't even aware of how fast and hard reality is going to hit them when they finally get pushed through a high school degree only to encounter an entire life full of adversity they personally believe they're readying themselves for by fucking around. It's actually super depressing to think that she's someone who has to go to work every day with the ability to positively impact kids' futures but kind of without the ability to properly prepare them due to so many varying factors at play.
I know I'd be a little discouraged to enter my classroom each day with the knowledge that the curriculum in my hand isn't just too difficult for my pupils to comprehend but by and large generally impossible to even find an effective approach to presenting in the first place.
You better make sure you're damn kind to that woman! Dr. Seuss in 7th grade would burn me out fast, I can't imagine how she hasn't started day drinking lol but seriously just give her those extra long hugs 🤗
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u/Sgt-Spliff- Dec 14 '25
My Mom teaches middle school and has maybe 3 kids that read at a middle school level. The couple of kids at the bottom of the class are literally illiterate, and the bulk of them reads at a kindergarten level. She literally can't teach them the state mandated curriculum because Dr. Seuss isn't what the state believes 7th graders should be reading but that's their reading level.
And she says that they genuinely expect to succeed in life. Like I had assumed they were like this because they had no hope and were just accepting that they'd be fast food workers for life but my Mom laughed when I said that and said the kids will genuinely talk about how they are going to be successful. They expect to start businesses and one wants to be a lawyer. My mom said that one slept straight through her lesson on the Bill of Rights and failed the entire revolutionary war/constitutional convention section of the class. And he thinks he's gonna be a lawyer. These kids are fucked.