There was a teacher who went viral on TikTok when he stated that his 12-13 year old students do not know their shapes. It's horrifying but it does not surprise me.
I teach high school. Age range 15-18 years old. I have seen students who can't do the following:
Read at grade level. Some come into my classroom at a 3rd/4th grade reading level. There are some students who cannot sound out words.
Write a complete sentence. They don't capitalize the first letter of the sentence or the I's. They also don't add punctuation. I have seen a student write one whole page essay without a period.
Spell simple words.
Add or subtract double-digits. For example, they can't solve 27-13 in their head. They also cannot do it on paper. They need a calculator.
Know their multiplication tables.
Round
Graph
Understand the concept of negative.
Understand percentages.
Solve one-step variable equations. For example, if I tell them "2x = 8. Solve for x," they can't solve it. They would subtract by 2 on both sides instead of dividing by 2.
Take notes.
Follow an example. They have a hard time transferring the patterns that they see in an example to a new problem.
No research skills. The phrases they use to google are too vague when they search for information. For example, if I ask them to research the 5 types of chemical reactions, they only type in "reactions" in Google. When I explain that Google cannot read minds and they have to be very specific with their wording, they just stare at me confused. But even if their search phrases are good, they do not click on the links. They just read the excerpt Google provided them. If the answer is not in the excerpts, they give up.
Just because they know how to use their phones does not mean they know how to use a computer. They are not familiar with common keyboard shortcuts. They also cannot type properly. Some students type using their index fingers.
These are just some things I can name at the top of my head. I'm sure there are a few that I missed here.
Now, as a teacher, I try my best to fill in the gaps. But I want the general public to understand that when the gap list is this big, it is nearly impossible to teach my curriculum efficiently. This is part of the reason why teachers are quitting in droves. You ask teachers to do the impossible and then vilify them for not achieving it. You cannot expect us to teach our curriculum efficiently when students are grade levels behind. Without a good foundation, students cannot learn more complex concepts. I thought this was common sense, but I guess it is not (based on admin's expectations and school policies).
I want to add that there are high-performing students out there. However, from my experience, the gap between the "gifted/honors" population and the "general" population has widened significantly. Either you have students that perform exceptionally well or you have students coming into class grade levels behind. There are rarely students who are in between.
Are other teachers in the same boat?
This was posted on Reddit, here are a few other posts.
As a former teacher, I took on the after school arts program in our small rural community when the arts curriculum got axed—we meet at the library and do crafts, paint etc twice a week. Kids 7-12 or so. They needed to be taught how to hold scissors, cut. Can’t fold paper so the edges lay flat and even. Even the older kids couldn’t tell what colors mix to make what. They’re all great, perfectly smart kids who had ZERO exposure to basic experiences… It startled me for sure.
My wife teaches art and says her first- and second-graders have next to no fine motor skills. It's been a problem for a long time and is even worse after COVID.
I have seen many comments talking about this; do kids not have like, coloring books and play dough?
Even if they do, the ever-present screens are more enticing.
I think that this is a huge issue! So many more families are mobile now. Not to say, this didn't exist previously, but every few years it just becomes more and more students.
I have more than half students who this week live 1 hour south from school, last month it was 10min west, the 3 months before that it was 30min north, etc. the address the school has was invalid within a month of school collecting it. Phone numbers change yearly. Emails seem to just be made up on the spot, and not actually personal email. Another school in my district has 1 out of 3 students homeless and more than 90% are housing insecure.
If you lived at the same address for more than 3 years, that's a sign of privilege at this point in my school population (I'm in a much better $ state and haven't had the 3 yrs at the same address since I was 19
You would be surprised how many times people change their phone. Don’t pay their bill it gets shut off, get a new phone, repeat. We had parents do new contact forms every 6 months, and their numbers would often change. Very few had a constant number.
Yep my 7th graders can’t spell, don’t know punctuation, don’t know multiplication, don’t know months of the year or how seasons work, it’s so sad. Basic words are too difficult for them and they don’t even try! They immediately give up the second they have to use critical thinking. They refuse to read basic instructions .
I don’t know. My best theory could be lack of family time. A lot of my students said for dinner they’ll eat in their room and watch TV. You can’t hear parents converse if you’re not sitting at the dinner table with them. Whenever I see kids out and about they are zoomed in on their iPad completely lacking awareness of their surroundings. Also, single parents.
Mom and Dad aren't teachers at all anymore. That's the problem. They don't even think it's their jobs to help their kids with homework.
It's a cultural problem, so there won't be a solution without a real cultural shift. We don't value education in America and it's gotten to the point where many are openly hostile towards teachers and educated people. Nothing will change until that changes.
To further your point, Mom and Dad are barely Mom and Dad anymore...
They try to be friends more than parents and don't want to cause even momentary discomfort for their kids, instead making every little thing easier for them. They don't allow the children to experience consequences for negative actions, so children are losing out on the learning and problem solving experiences that come from dealing with those consequences.
We're creating young adults who can't deal with criticism at their jobs, get frustrated and quit when life is not easy, and don't know how to take care of themselves because they're used to someone else taking care of everything for them.