- 5 months ago
Math teacher Lesley Fox joins WIRED to answer the internet's burning questions about life as a teacher. Is this the worst time to become a teacher? Do teachers secretly play favorites? Why is bullying such a problem? Should we ban phones from schools? Why don't high schools teach classes on how to cook, clean, and do taxes? Can't teachers just not give homework? Answers to these questions and plenty more await on Teacher Support.
Director: Lauren Zeitoun
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Matthew Colby
Expert: Lesley Fox
Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen
Associate Producer: Brandon White; Paul Guylas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Casting Producer: Nicole Ford
Camera Operator: Shay Eberle-Gunst
Sound Mixer: Gray Thomas-Sowers
Production Assistant: Abigayle Devine
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo; Erica DeLeo
Additional Editor: Samantha DiVito
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Director: Lauren Zeitoun
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Matthew Colby
Expert: Lesley Fox
Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen
Associate Producer: Brandon White; Paul Guylas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Casting Producer: Nicole Ford
Camera Operator: Shay Eberle-Gunst
Sound Mixer: Gray Thomas-Sowers
Production Assistant: Abigayle Devine
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo; Erica DeLeo
Additional Editor: Samantha DiVito
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00I'm sitting in front of a room full of people and I'm going to ask them to give me their
00:03cell phones.
00:04So if you would please come up, trick or treat, give me your cell phones.
00:08This is going to be hard for them.
00:09I'm Paul, I think I don't have your cell phone.
00:13Hi everybody, I'm Leslie Fox.
00:15I'm a math teacher.
00:16I'm here to answer your questions.
00:18This is teacher support.
00:20First question.
00:25This is from Jacob and 0808.
00:29Do teachers secretly have favorites?
00:32Am I allowed to answer that?
00:34The answer is yes.
00:35Here's the thing.
00:37Our favorites are the ones that come to us.
00:39It's not like I'm going to look around the room and say, oh my god, you're my favorite.
00:42It's the ones that come in and ask the questions and then they start sharing stuff with you.
00:47Yes, those are my favorites.
00:48Okay, I have favorites.
00:49Are people going to watch this?
00:51Okay, because I don't know that I want my students to know.
00:54From HopperLover40, should we ban phones from schools?
00:59Obviously, yes, we should ban phones from schools.
01:02Where I work, they banned phones for the first time this year.
01:06You cannot have a cell phone on your body.
01:09For the first four to six weeks, kids were hiding it.
01:12We had to remove them.
01:13So if we saw a kid hiding in the bathroom, I'm not kidding you, behind a door, scrolling
01:17through their phone, I had to take it.
01:19If they were in their back pocket, I had to confiscate it.
01:22If it was on their desk, I had to take it.
01:24And they would get it back at the end of the year, at the end of the day.
01:27To them, it felt like the end of the year.
01:28Let me tell you what happened.
01:30Kids started doing crossword puzzles.
01:33Kids started asking for board games.
01:35Kids started talking to each other.
01:37They even forgot that they had cell phones and it was like going to school in the 80s.
01:41The next question is from Old Wooden Sweater.
01:44Why can't teachers just not assign homework?
01:48I agree with that.
01:50You know, I do think there are some teachers that like to assign homework just kind of for
01:55the sake of assigning it for busy work.
01:58I'm not really sure why.
01:59I don't know that it actually helps them because then they get into the mind frame of let's
02:03just get it done.
02:04Let's just get it done.
02:04Especially if you're a teacher that's grading homework, the kid is not really learning it
02:09like as we nerds like to say, like really internalizing it.
02:12I think assign class work.
02:14And then before the kid leaves class, you're checking that.
02:17That is what is going to get a kid to do their work.
02:20When they go home, they can just use AI.
02:23I'm a no homework teacher, but you're going to be working in my class.
02:27Don't worry.
02:28Totally agree with you, Old Wooden Sweater from Reddit Teachers.
02:33Are most teachers nerds?
02:35Yes, we are all nerds.
02:37We like talking about math all day, every day.
02:40So nerdy, even our tattoos show what we do.
02:43So here's my pie tattoo and my dog's name is Pie.
02:46Everything in my life has to do with math and things that don't have to do with math
02:50aren't really that important in my life.
02:52Yes, we are nerds.
02:53This one comes from Herp Derby Doo.
02:56Okay, teacher of Reddit, what really goes on in the teacher's lounge?
03:00Oh, I wish I could say it's all sexy and fun.
03:02But what goes on in the teacher's lounge is we are prepping for our classes.
03:07It's a little bit boring if I'm being honest.
03:08We're doing Xeroxes.
03:10We are stuffing our faces with FUBA every once in a while.
03:14We will talk about our own high school experiences and all the things that we don't want you to
03:20do.
03:21We talk about the stuff that we do that we don't want our students to know.
03:25The truth is teachers are just big kids dressed up like adults.
03:30Adults stuck in high school.
03:31Sometimes we gossip about students.
03:33Sometimes we gossip about other teachers.
03:35Sometimes we gossip about administrators.
03:38And then we gossip about our families.
03:40Yes, we gossip.
03:41Are you kidding me?
03:42Of course we gossip.
03:43Do all the things that you guys do.
03:44Okay, next question is from Alex the Sage.
03:48Teachers and principals of Reddit, why do schools not teach things like how to cook, clean or
03:53do taxes?
03:54Yes.
03:55Yes, Alex the Sage.
03:57I totally agree.
03:58We do not teach our kids life skills.
04:00Why?
04:01I have no idea.
04:02You need to learn how to do taxes.
04:04You need to learn.
04:05This is a really kind of a morbid one.
04:06But when one of your parents dies, you need to learn how to deal with all that stuff.
04:10You do need to learn how to cook.
04:11You do need to learn how to clean.
04:13How to keep a house.
04:14How to pay your bills.
04:15I mean, there are all these things we don't teach you.
04:17But instead, let me teach you the calculus.
04:19I don't know why we don't.
04:21But yes, we should have a class like that.
04:22I'm really sorry we have failed you.
04:24Okay, the next question is from Sweatshirt Cigarette.
04:28If I can pass your class with AI, the problem isn't AI, it's your class.
04:33I totally agree, yes.
04:35If you can pass my class with AI exclusively, then I haven't made the assignments AI appropriate.
04:42I use AI in my classroom and I recommend all teachers use AI.
04:46So just let me give you an example.
04:48So if I make a bunch of questions up for my kids and I say, okay, answer these questions
04:52and then they answer them and they're like, oh, can we have some more questions?
04:55And I say, I want you to write them, have AI answer them and find the mistakes that AI
05:00makes.
05:01Ask AI for questions, see if you can answer it and check it.
05:04So yes, AI is a helpful tool.
05:06It's going to be everywhere.
05:08And as teachers, we expect that you know how to use it and that you do use it.
05:12So I hope you can pass my class with AI.
05:15To check to see if kids use AI to cheat.
05:18First of all, kids don't have computers in the class anymore.
05:21There's not really a way to cheat with AI in class because you are doing your work with
05:26a piece of paper and a pencil from the olden days.
05:29So if a kid is using AI at home, like to complete their homework, that's fine.
05:34That's on you.
05:35I don't even grade your homework.
05:36So if you're going to have AI complete all your homework, that's fine.
05:39When it comes time for the test, you might not be able to answer the questions.
05:42I don't even collect homework.
05:44It's obsolete.
05:46The next question is from TheCouchPotato.
05:48How much do high school grades really matter?
05:51Oh my God.
05:52Okay.
05:53High school grades depends on what you want to do.
05:55If you want to go to college and you want to get into a competitive college, that's what
05:59they look at.
06:00They look at your grades.
06:01I'm curious though, how much do you learn if you get good grades?
06:05I think that high school grades are a reflection of how much someone wanted to do well rather
06:12than how intellectual you are and how much you're learning.
06:15I think that kids that get good grades are all about looking at their future of like
06:19what, where am I going to go to college?
06:21And then what?
06:22You go to graduate school?
06:23I mean, the real thing is, what do you want to do with your life?
06:25In the end, high school grades don't actually matter all that much.
06:28But what might matter is doing something you love, finding a hobby that you love because
06:33that's going to be what your life is.
06:34I'm sitting in a room with probably eight people here that are all doing what they love.
06:39And if I ask them a question, what was your GPA, they probably wouldn't even remember.
06:42I don't even care what college they go to, but look at what they're doing now.
06:45That's what I want kids to do in high school.
06:47Find what your passion is.
06:48It actually has nothing to do with your grades.
06:50From JJ5TheHuman, what's the most creative way you've seen someone cheat in an exam or
06:56test?
06:57Okay, this is actually a really good one.
06:58It's funny.
06:59So a kid had a cup, like one of these cups, imagine it empty.
07:04And it was a Styrofoam cup.
07:06They had it filled with all these formulas.
07:10And so the kid is pretending to drink, taking their test, like this.
07:14And I looked over and I said, what's happening over there?
07:18So I had to take this cup away.
07:21This is from Murphy's Mom08.
07:24Teaching is the best or worst job ever.
07:26And either way, you're not wrong.
07:28100% agree.
07:30It is the best job because you get June, July, and August off.
07:34No, it is the best job because you get to be with kids.
07:38It is the worst job because you're paid peanuts for your work.
07:41And there are 100 things in between, but it really is a lovely career.
07:45This is from Reddit, SAT.
07:47Would you say the SAT is an intelligence test?
07:50SAT is supposed to test how well you're going to achieve in the future in a college.
07:56Completely disagree with that.
07:57But if you have the funds, you can study for that test, spend a lot of money, and figure
08:03out what kind of questions and do really well on it.
08:06If you have a calculator, these are over $100 and you can buy this.
08:10That will help you immensely on the test.
08:13However, it is not an intelligence test.
08:15Let's remember that there are all different types of intelligence.
08:18There's creative intelligence.
08:20There's emotional intelligence.
08:21There's artistic.
08:23It just tests how well you can learn to take a test.
08:27And depending on the content that's on it, I can write an SAT test that has nothing
08:31to do with math and English.
08:33And then somebody will pass it with flying colors.
08:35But the person who studied for the standardized SAT test will do horribly.
08:39So is it a test for intelligence?
08:41No, no.
08:42Not even a little.
08:43I think something that would be better than an SAT test would be how can you have a conversation
08:48with someone in real life?
08:50How can you do what you love in a way that makes you feel happy?
08:55That's the real intelligence test.
08:58Edward Bliss says, do teachers still roll out that TV on wheels if they don't feel like teaching
09:04for an hour?
09:05So for those of you that don't remember, if teachers didn't feel like teaching, they would
09:09literally roll out a TV set and put it in front of the class and say, okay, class, we're
09:13going to watch a movie today.
09:15And all the kids would fall asleep.
09:16No, we don't even have TVs in the classrooms anymore.
09:19But we do have calculators that project.
09:21And the answer is yes.
09:22When we don't feel like teaching, we will show a movie.
09:25Yes, there are times when we don't get to do our homework or prepare a class.
09:28So yes, we do roll out the TV, so to speak.
09:32However, it's a little bit different now.
09:34We often take a vote by the class of what show do you want to watch?
09:39Let's see.
09:40What did I do last?
09:41I think we did Love on the Spectrum.
09:43Yes, my kids watched Love on the Spectrum one day.
09:45We all didn't want to do work and we watched it and then we discussed it.
09:49So it was actually a fun day, yeah.
09:52So the next question is from Ball Swinging Maniac.
09:56How much of an expert are you really within the subject you teach?
10:01That's the only thing I'm an expert in, only in high school math.
10:04If you ask me to do history, I will look at you and say, I have no clue.
10:10If you want to ask me about elementary school math, I won't even be able to help you.
10:13If you want to ask me even about college math, I won't even be able to help you.
10:17High school math?
10:18I'm your gal.
10:19And I do have kids challenge me and I love when they do because you have kids that will
10:23ask you questions beyond it.
10:25And so I have to look at them and say, I don't know the answer to that, but I will get back
10:29to you.
10:30And then I have to go to my gurus and ask them, I had this kid ask me this great question
10:34and I don't know the answer.
10:35So I am always learning.
10:37That is a true thing.
10:38You are always learning.
10:39Because the kids will challenge you and ask you stuff outside of my little slight field
10:43of knowledge that I know.
10:45This is from BlobbyTheBlobfish2.
10:46Teachers of Reddit, what is the funniest excuse for being late?
10:51Not doing homework, etc. you've ever heard from a student.
10:54Okay, by the way, this does happen and the stories that the kids make up, the ones that
10:59are so good, I think are actually true.
11:02I'm not kidding you.
11:03I have had kids say, my dog has eaten my homework and I actually believe them because I have
11:06a dog.
11:07The dogs do eat your homework.
11:08Particularly the kids who have two homes, some of them from divorce, some of them because
11:13of they have two homes that's left in one home and then their car broke down and then
11:18they couldn't get to the home to get the homework, but then they're going to have someone deliver
11:22it for them.
11:23I don't even care about the homework.
11:25I don't even grade the homework.
11:26You don't even have to turn the homework in.
11:28But then I'll have kids that are constantly late and it becomes a class joke.
11:34It's no longer like, oh my gosh, Susie's late again.
11:37It's like, wait, Susie, you're on time.
11:39What are you doing here?
11:40You're supposed to be late.
11:41There's often no reason and they're like, oh yeah, I was at my locker.
11:45And then I'll often see Susie in the hallway, like kind of staring into space.
11:49I'm like, Susie, don't you have class?
11:51Oh yeah, I think I do have class.
11:53They just forget.
11:54Some of them that are late are always going to be late.
11:56But it doesn't matter in the end because there are these people that are doing wonderful
12:00things in life.
12:01So if you're late, you're late.
12:02Like it's okay.
12:03It's not going to, it's not going to, whatever.
12:05Okay.
12:06This is from the homeschooling subreddit.
12:07How do you create a curriculum?
12:09Oh, it's a good question.
12:10Okay.
12:11I think what the question means, because you don't create curriculum.
12:14You are mandated by the state to cover certain curriculum.
12:18Algebra is algebra.
12:19You have to get through, you know, quadratic equations and factoring and line with slope
12:24and y-intercept.
12:25I think maybe what the question is asking is, how do you create pedagogy or how you teach
12:31the curriculum?
12:32This is the fun part about teaching.
12:34So I take professional development classes and you learn all different modalities because
12:38everybody learns in a different way.
12:40Some kids are visual and they're like, want to learn and see the graph on their calculator.
12:45Some kids are auditory and so you have to talk it out with them.
12:49Some kids are kinesthetic so they have to actually do it.
12:52You just keep practicing and you go and visit other teachers and you take professional development
12:56and you try something and you fail and you try something again and it works.
13:00And something that works with one kid will fail with another kid.
13:03So it's continually trying and trying and doing different iterations.
13:07Okay.
13:08This one is from Jellyfish5729.
13:10The question is, where is all the money going?
13:14It is not going in the teachers' pockets.
13:16The money is going to the administrators who are earning and earning and earning while we
13:21are in the trenches trying to do all the hard work.
13:24The money is not going to the supplies because we, the teachers, are buying the kids the supplies.
13:30I don't know where the money is going but it is not going in our pockets.
13:34Aziz Arimsakov18 asks, how long does it take you all to grade assignments?
13:39I have been teaching for many, many years.
13:41In the beginning, it took me so long because I had to learn to assign points to each thing
13:46and then I would get nervous that I graded it wrong.
13:49You know, now what I do is I grade all of page one and all of page two and all of page
13:53three so that I'm grading everybody evenly.
13:56So it took me a long time in the beginning but now I have it down.
13:59So it doesn't take me a long time.
14:01I think it will always take English and history teachers a long time because they are reading
14:05lots of papers.
14:06I'm just looking through and finding what I need.
14:09KindlySir6050 asks, armed security thoughts?
14:13Can you believe we have to think about that?
14:15And actually, it's so real.
14:17Yes, armed security thoughts.
14:18I have a lot of thoughts on it.
14:20The fact that we're having drills for active shooters for somebody on campus with a weapon.
14:27We actually have armed security on campus.
14:29Yes, we have that.
14:31Kids do not have to walk through a metal detector coming on campus.
14:34I think it's coming though at the school where I work.
14:37As much as I hate to say this, and I'm not somebody who's all about weapons, but I think
14:42armed security makes me as a teacher feel better.
14:44I didn't know as a teacher I was going to have to become a policeman.
14:48So yeah, armed security, if it's not there, it's coming.
14:51The next question is from Whisk Orangey.
14:54Oh, I love this question.
14:56If you could give one piece of advice to a high school student, what would it be?
14:59I guess what I would like to say is be your free self.
15:03Just be yourself.
15:04Have confidence.
15:05I'd like to give you confidence to be free, be you, and do what you love and try to block
15:10out the noise of what you worry that other people are going to think of you.
15:14Just be your beautiful self.
15:16All those societal norms of, oh, go and be a professor, go and be a doctor, go and be
15:22a lawyer.
15:23No, go and be what you love.
15:25If you want to be a photographer, work hard at it.
15:28Go and be a photographer.
15:29If you want to be an aesthetician, go and be an aesthetician and work hard at it.
15:34And all that societal noise that comes from your teachers, that comes from your parents,
15:38that comes from your siblings, block that out and be your true self and have confidence
15:43being your own self.
15:45That's what I would say.
15:46If I could give that advice to every single student, that's what I would say.
15:50Go be you.
15:51At a moral mistake, how would you react when a student corrects you in class on something?
15:57Oh, I love when a kid corrects me.
15:59First of all, they're paying attention.
16:02Thank you all for paying attention.
16:03Second of all, they're engaged and they want to challenge you.
16:06Yes, correct me because I am not the be-all, end-all, please.
16:09You know that idea of the more you learn, the less you know?
16:12That's what we teachers are.
16:13So yes, please correct us.
16:15We love it.
16:16Most of mine are like clerical errors.
16:17So for example, if I forget to carry the negative down, you know, a kid will say, oh,
16:23Ms. Fox, you forgot the negative.
16:24Or if I'm graphing and I look at the slope and I'm doing a positive slope versus a negative
16:28slope and they're like, wait, shouldn't that go the other way?
16:31And they're often so cute, the kids are like, they don't want to step all over your toes.
16:36But I tell them, step all over my toes.
16:38Yes, come in and tell me what I did wrong.
16:40Sometimes we have a good wheel hunting situation.
16:43All I can do is guide that kid where to go because that kid knows way more than I'll ever
16:49know.
16:50And so you just have to show them where to go, go to the next step to, you know, try this,
16:54try that.
16:55Because they are.
16:56They know all their stuff.
16:57Those are fun kids to have and intimidating.
17:00This one is from Abel Maggetto, what's the hardest part of teaching that no one warns
17:05you about?
17:06Oh my gosh, how much time do we have here?
17:09The hardest part about teaching is you actually wear 400 hats.
17:14Not only are you trying to convey information, oftentimes to people that don't really want
17:17to learn it.
17:18And it's oftentimes a really difficult topic.
17:20That's the part you signed up for.
17:21The part you didn't sign up for is all the emotions of adolescence that a kid comes in
17:27and so-and-so is mad at them because they looked at them the wrong way or they talked
17:30to so-and-so's boyfriend, sister, and you have to kind of breeze this over.
17:34Or somebody vomits in your class and you're like, okay, let me get you out of the classroom.
17:38Or somebody is in the middle of trying to finish a paper and they're flying off the
17:44hand.
17:45I mean, there's so many things.
17:46Or they don't have their supplies.
17:48Or they are having a fight with their mom and so they were unable to complete their work.
17:52Or you're making, seriously, 30 decisions in one minute.
17:56My god.
17:57There are all these little things that by the time you leave as a teacher and you get
18:01in your car, you're comatose and you can't even talk.
18:04I get home and I say, please, nobody talk to me.
18:06Nobody look at me.
18:07You just have to decompress.
18:09Oh my gosh.
18:10You don't get to go to the bathroom.
18:11That's the other thing.
18:12Or the prep way into the night.
18:14Or the grading.
18:15I guess that's to be expected.
18:16But yeah, I love the job and it's a hard job.
18:20This is from Kala.
18:23High schools should offer a career explorations class.
18:26Oh my gosh, wouldn't that be fabulous?
18:29I think it's a great idea to offer a career explorations class.
18:33And I think a way to do it is to have the parents come in and talk about their careers.
18:38And even set it up almost like a festival so that kids can just walk around from anybody
18:44who wants to talk about their career and talk about it in a sense of the everyday, you know?
18:49Not just the fun part, but the parts that get hard and so that the kids can see exactly
18:53what it is.
18:54And even go so far as to maybe intern over the summer for a couple weeks in each different
19:00career so you can get an idea.
19:01Even if it turns out that you thought you wanted to do something and now you don't want
19:05to do it, that's also just as powerful.
19:07So yes, we should definitely have a career explorations class or day or couple of weeks.
19:13Okay, the next question is from Kath TB.
19:18Is this the worst time to become a teacher?
19:20God, it is a really hard time to become a teacher, yes.
19:24I think the hardest time to be a first year teacher was 2020.
19:28That would have been a really hard time.
19:30Imagine starting out your career on a camera.
19:33When you're tutoring with your students, you cannot sit next to them anymore.
19:38And if you're alone with a kid in the classroom, the door has to be open.
19:40It is a very hard time to be a teacher.
19:43Last year we had a bomb threat.
19:46For real.
19:47I'm not kidding you.
19:48We had to evacuate the building and get as far away from where we thought the threat was.
19:52And then we had the bomb squad coming on campus and searching the entire campus.
19:57And then there was an active shooter or somebody with a gun at a school down the street.
20:01So again, we had to evacuate.
20:02This happened three times last year.
20:04And I'm just talking about it like it's normal.
20:06We have drills for this.
20:07In that sense, it is a very hard time.
20:09Yes, AI has infiltrated.
20:11Cell phones have infiltrated.
20:13So if I were to become a teacher today, I wouldn't have lasted 30 years.
20:16When I started teaching, we didn't have these.
20:19We did not have graphing calculators.
20:20So if I wanted to teach my kids about a graph, we had to draw it.
20:23We had to do everything by hand.
20:24I used the computer to project something on the board that everybody can see.
20:29Before I'd have to write that all out, that is a lot of work for a teacher.
20:32I know that I'm saying I want the computers out.
20:36It is hard to find that balance.
20:38There are a lot of things we've acquired.
20:40But we, in my opinion, have gone over.
20:42We've gone overboard.
20:43And we need to go back.
20:45Back a little bit.
20:46I don't think it's the worst time.
20:47I think it's a hard time to become a teacher.
20:50From UnknownNerd6207, if schools and colleges have zero tolerance, why is bullying so common?
20:56By the way, it is.
20:57It is common.
20:58It happens.
20:59It's because the teachers, the administrators, we don't see it.
21:02It occurs online.
21:04It occurs through their text messages.
21:06If it were occurring person to person, we would see it.
21:09That's not how it's occurring now.
21:10It's so underneath.
21:12Yet another reason.
21:13Get rid of those cell phones.
21:15Don't be on social media.
21:16I mean, really.
21:17If I could give any advice to students, I would say, get rid of your cell phones, smash
21:22it, and get off of social media.
21:24And I'm not kidding.
21:25Like, I actually would say that.
21:26The only way you can see it, you can see it in a kid's body language.
21:30And when you see a kid who's behaving a little bit differently, you cannot say to them, hey,
21:35Jimmy, I noticed you're really down.
21:37That is the worst thing you can do to a kid.
21:40Adolescents do not want the light shone, shined on them, whatever the proper grammar is.
21:45Because it is very hard for a kid to be bullied, and they feel like it's their fault.
21:49That's one of the issues.
21:51What you can do is you can take a little note, write a note saying, hey, is everything okay?
21:55Do you want to talk?
21:56Fold it up.
21:57Just walking around the classroom, talking to kids, and then, you know, you just kind
22:01of put the note on their desk and walk away.
22:03And then Jimmy looks at it and is like, oh, I can go and talk about it with her.
22:06It's not usually that same day.
22:07They'll slowly come in and talk to you and be like, hey, so can I talk to you?
22:11Of course, come in, sit down, talk to me.
22:13And so that's the only way that we can find out about it is by directly asking them.
22:18They will not come to you and tell it.
22:19So that's the sad truth.
22:23I had a student that was so awful that was bullied in a very uncomfortable way through
22:30a group text message.
22:32The kid was on a group text and was being bullied and targeted on the group text.
22:37And so I had to report that.
22:40And then it gets a little messy.
22:42And the kid never wants to be involved in that.
22:45So it was reported to the grade level dean.
22:47The grade level dean just does an initial to the entire class, like if it's 10th grade,
22:55and says, you know, it's come to our attention that there's some bullying going on.
22:58And we want to remind you this is not how we like to present.
23:02And if this continues, and we have ways of knowing that it's going to continue, there
23:08are going to be consequences put into place.
23:11And if it continues, then we do have to call in the perpetrator.
23:15And they have to be suspended.
23:18It is really ugly.
23:19It's not pretty.
23:20And so that happens.
23:21And that's the only way to find it, though.
23:22It's really hard to deal with.
23:23So yeah, that's a, that's, yeah, that's a hard question.
23:27So this is from Brown Pikachu.
23:31Why do we associate apples with teachers?
23:35Let me just tell you, the apples with the teachers.
23:38Part of it is history.
23:40Part of it is because apples are available everywhere.
23:42And part of it is a form of payment.
23:45So kids get apples to teachers as a form of thanks, as a form of payment.
23:49It has a historic component.
23:52I'm not entirely sure, but I can tell you during the school year, I eat an apple every
23:56single day during nutrition.
23:58And I just eat it like this.
23:59I just, I don't even cut it.
24:00I eat the whole thing down to the core.
24:03And I don't know why I am a teacher and I do love an apple.
24:06This is from the teacher's subreddit, private or public pros and cons.
24:11Okay, from the teacher's perspective, private schools, small size classes, kids who are excited
24:17to learn.
24:18Anytime you need something, all you do is go to your administration, they'll buy it for you.
24:22Public school teaching environment.
24:24Public schools, you get paid when you retire.
24:30You get great benefits.
24:32You have bigger classes.
24:34You are paying for all your supplies.
24:36Private school.
24:37Parents are all over you.
24:38You are meeting with them constantly.
24:41Public school, I don't even know if the kids have parents.
24:45So that's it from the teacher's side.
24:47So this is from Reunite Ottoman Empire.
24:51And the question reads, why did No Child Left Behind fail?
24:55So the act, No Child Left Behind, was put into place in 2002 by President Bush.
25:01And then in 2015, it was replaced by Every Student Succeeds.
25:05Yeah, that's a tricky one because if every child succeeds or no child is left behind, that means
25:14we are actually pulling along kids that aren't really ready to go ahead.
25:18Our society expects every kid of the same age to be at the same place.
25:23Really?
25:24That's ridiculous.
25:25Every kid is at the place where they are supposed to be, what is right for them.
25:28If it takes one kid two years to learn rather than one year, let them take the two years.
25:33If it takes one kid half a year to learn, let them learn.
25:36Because every kid's brain is made differently, this is why it has failed.
25:40I know there were good intentions behind it, but it doesn't really work.
25:42This is from ValuableProgrammer6.
25:46Why are kids so misbehaved in school?
25:49Oh my gosh, there's so many facets to this.
25:53Okay.
25:53Number one, they could be bored.
25:56So they need to be active.
25:57And our education system is a very antiquated system where kids are rewarded for sitting
26:02still and just taking notes.
26:05So that's one issue.
26:06I also think that there are issues with kids that have just different chemistries in their
26:11body, different brain chemistry, and they are misbehaved because that's not what their
26:15body is meant to do.
26:17They are meant to move around and they need activities to keep them busy.
26:20They need teachers to be educated in how to help them.
26:24I don't even want to call them misbehaved.
26:25The kids are just being them.
26:27And the teachers might not like that because it's not what they were trained to do.
26:31The scrolling on the phone is just, that does make me a little crazy.
26:35I do think that the cell phone has contributed because kids are so used to the constant entertainment,
26:41entertainment of switching so rapidly.
26:45I do think that overall kids' brains have changed.
26:47I'm not saying it's a bad thing.
26:48I'm just saying kids' brains have changed and they like to see things quickly, quickly,
26:51quickly.
26:52I think we just have to, as teachers, if we change around what they're doing quickly,
26:57they're not as misbehaved.
26:58I would love to see kids be able to focus on something for longer.
27:02I do think that with time they will because they'll get more accustomed to it.
27:06So if we keep the cell phones out of the kids' hands, then we will have a little bit better
27:11of an outcome with that as far as behavior.
27:14The next question is from Spank Your Copita.
27:16As a teacher, do you really have less off hours and down time compared to other jobs?
27:22You don't.
27:238 o'clock in the morning, you're in front of a classroom full of kids and you are trying
27:26to impart knowledge until 2.30 or 3 o'clock.
27:30When am I preparing my classes?
27:32When am I grading my lessons?
27:34When am I learning more?
27:35All of that is during your off hours when you're not working.
27:39If you have a doctor's appointment, too bad.
27:41You cannot really leave easily.
27:43You can't be sick because if you're sick, it's twice as much work to prepare.
27:46A lesson for a substitute so that you can go and be sick.
27:50We get summers off, we get Christmas breaks off, spring breaks, so we have those.
27:54I think of the summers as recovery time, but my battery is so depleted that I feel like
27:58I need the summers to get back on track.
28:01Next question.
28:02Dish Soap Box asks, how is dismantling the Department of Education going to affect teachers?
28:07Oh my gosh, I have no idea.
28:09All I can guess is we'll get paid even less.
28:12Obviously you all know we are not in it for the outcome of money.
28:17We're in it for the outcome of the students.
28:20So dismantling the Department of Education, I'm not sure how it's going to actually affect
28:24the teachers.
28:25I can't imagine it would be anything positive.
28:28What I'm fearing, teachers are going to lose their jobs, classes are going to become
28:32larger, there are going to be less resources for teachers.
28:36Nothing good will come of that, let me be very clear.
28:39And it's actually kind of sad because I do think teachers do a lot of work and there's
28:44so much behind the scenes work that we're doing that it's just going to become greater and
28:48greater.
28:49The volume is going to increase and I think that it's not just going to affect the teachers,
28:53I think it's going to affect the teaching and then the students' ability to absorb.
28:58It's not good.
28:59This is not a good outcome.
29:01Community number 6511, chaperone for prom, what to wear.
29:06Okay, so chaperone for prom, I would wear a dress, like a gown, yeah.
29:10Chaperoning for prom for teachers was really fun.
29:12Gentlemen wear tux, women wear dresses, non-binary, something appropriate, but you're dressed up.
29:20It is a black tie affair.
29:22You get to walk around and look at the kids all dressed up, so that is a, it's a fun activity.
29:28I'll even get makeup done or hair, nails, the full nine, do the whole thing.
29:33It's a very fun activity.
29:35And we go for free.
29:36So this one is from Affelstein, grade curves, yay or nay?
29:41Let me just explain what a curve is.
29:42Okay, so just think of a curve where most of the kids lie in that very middle, that's
29:47your average.
29:48That would be considered a C. And then standard deviations are, I think, 34% above.
29:53So that is where your A's and B's will lie.
29:56And then in the opposite direction, that's where your D's and F's will lie.
30:00So if you want to know how do you lie with your peers, then yes, curve.
30:05There should be curves.
30:06If you just want to make everybody feel good and give them a good grade, then we don't
30:11need curves.
30:12There is so much grade inflation.
30:13It doesn't matter whether we are curving.
30:15But in my personal thought, yes, yes, you should put curves in.
30:19It just helps to distinguish which kids know what percentage of it.
30:23That's all it is.
30:24So I'm kind of behind it.
30:25Yeah, I am.
30:26Do I use it?
30:27No, we're not allowed to.
30:29From SquareDragonFruit76, do you think that the timing and scheduling of school days needs
30:35to be restructured?
30:37Yes, I do.
30:38Studies have shown that adolescents have a much later circadian rhythm than, say, young
30:44children or older adults.
30:46Their natural wake-up time left to their own devices is much later.
30:51So if we have them wake up early, 9 o'clock, and have classes start 9, 30, 10, and go until
30:57later, that would be much better for students.
31:00The kids that I see first thing in the morning are still sleeping.
31:02It is the equivalent of me being up at 4 in the morning.
31:05They're not awake yet.
31:06Their brains aren't working yet.
31:08And so, yes, we do need to restructure that.
31:10I don't know why we haven't.
31:12I think lately, we just made it to, at least in California, the new start time can't be
31:17anything earlier than 8, 30.
31:20That's still too early for kids.
31:21It needs to be at least 9, 30, or 10 start time.
31:24And I think kids would actually be awake at that time.
31:26Okay, next question.
31:27From Mr. No Name is here.
31:30What should schools do to improve the mental health of their students?
31:33Thank you, Mr. No Name is here for asking that.
31:37Because this is a serious question, and I do believe that that is the responsibility
31:42of the entire school.
31:45The faculty, the staff, anybody you come into contact with, the mental health is really,
31:51really, really important.
31:53How can we improve it?
31:54I think if we can focus a little bit less on the academics, a little bit more on the social
32:01and emotional learning, specifically checking in every morning with your students, checking
32:05in with each other, the kids checking in with each other, faculty checking in with each
32:09other, and being honest about it.
32:11If you're having a bad day, name it.
32:12I'm having a bad day.
32:13Say why.
32:14If it becomes normalized where people are not saying, I'm doing terribly, and it becomes
32:20this whole thing, oh, tell me more, instead of, oh, my God, I'm so sorry.
32:24You know, just normalize it so that you can at least talk about it and someone knows,
32:28oh, yeah, he's having a bad day.
32:29She's having a bad day.
32:30They're having a bad day.
32:31Put it out there.
32:32Make it normal is how I recommend it.
32:34I still think there's shame associated with making an appointment, going to a therapist.
32:38Something's wrong with me, and particularly for adolescents.
32:40I think it needs to be woven into the fabric of the school.
32:45So more like, you know, when you have homeroom, you call it homeroom, but it is like a real
32:50check-in of like, how'd you sleep last night?
32:52How do you feel?
32:53You know, what are you looking forward to in the day?
32:55What's going to be your hard part of the day?
32:57Let's open the class with an icebreaker question just so that the kids can get talking to each
33:01other.
33:01So that becomes a normal part.
33:03And this used to be normal.
33:05This wasn't.
33:06And I do think a lot of it has to do with the cell phones of people are not socializing as
33:10much because they're on their phones.
33:11And it's harder for them to just strike up a conversation.
33:14So we need to get back to that.
33:17Next question.
33:17Cactus 319 underscore 1804.
33:20I'm in high school.
33:21How much of life am I supposed to have figured out?
33:24None of it.
33:25You're not supposed to have any of it figured out.
33:27So if you don't know anything, you're doing it right.
33:30You're not supposed to have it figured out.
33:31And it's not linear.
33:33It's all messy and all over the place.
33:35You're going to try something and love it.
33:36And then three months down the line, you're going to hate it.
33:38And then you're going to be embarrassed about your three-month-old self from there.
33:41That is just how it goes.
33:43It takes a while.
33:44I'm 57 and still figuring it out.
33:46You're going to always be figuring it out.
33:48Do what you like and keep going with it until you don't like it and try something new.
33:52Just try to have the confidence to try the new things.
33:55But you should have none of it figured out.
33:57And if you have it figured out, that is a little egregious.
34:00This is from Boast Power.
34:02We are still trapped in a K-12 public education system, which is preparing our youth for jobs that
34:07no longer exist.
34:08Critical thinking, how to prepare students for a rapidly changing world.
34:12So, so true.
34:15Traditional education, where the kids sit in a desk and learn from a textbook, is no longer
34:21useful.
34:22We can't do that anymore.
34:24Critical thinking is everything.
34:25You have to expose kids to things they've never seen before.
34:29Have them struggle.
34:30Yes, it's a struggle.
34:31Life is struggling.
34:32You're going to have superfluous information in your questions.
34:35And you're going to be like, oh, I don't need to know this.
34:37No, you don't.
34:37Okay, so throw it out.
34:38You have to figure out what you're going to need, what you're not going to need, and
34:41kind of go from there and work with your friends, work with your peers.
34:45Hey, I can't really figure this out.
34:46What do you think about this?
34:47And collaborating, talking to each other, that's where you're going to get your information.
34:51Yes, you're right.
34:52The traditional classroom setup is completely antiquated.
34:55And it's not helping kids learn what they need to know for the jobs that we don't even
34:59know exist yet.
35:00So this is from the AskReddit subreddit.
35:03Teachers and professors of Reddit, when you assign 7 to 10 page papers, you actually read
35:08the whole thing.
35:09I can't answer that as a math teacher.
35:11I can answer it as a college student when I was in college.
35:14I took a chemistry lab class.
35:16And we were doing this lab on tadpole eggs that turn into tadpoles.
35:22And then we watched them grow.
35:23And we were doing these experiments.
35:24And I was writing this like 7 to 10 page paper.
35:27And I was wondering, does my teacher actually read it?
35:29And so then I said, while I was doing the lab, I got really hungry.
35:33I took some of the eggs, scrambled them up, and put some ketchup on them and ate them.
35:37And they were delicious.
35:38It was like two sentences in the whole paper.
35:40She took her pen, circled it, and put question mark, question mark by it.
35:45So I guess maybe they do read it.
35:47So from the Artificial Intelligence subreddit, what should a high schooler study now?
35:52Oh my gosh, that is such a good question.
35:55Ms. Fox, when are we ever going to use this as a question that every single kid has asked?
36:00And if you haven't asked, you should.
36:02Everything you're learning, guys, you're never going to use again.
36:05I know it's a horrible thing to say.
36:07However, it's actually true.
36:09The reason why I think school is good, like the one thing you do get out of school is learning
36:14how to learn, learning how to be social, learning how to interact with others, learning how to
36:19collaborate.
36:20Those are the most important things that you're going to be learning.
36:22Learning how to ask questions.
36:24If your kids aren't talking in class, you need to change that.
36:27The kids aren't going to change that.
36:28And what you can do to change it is have them sitting together.
36:30Give them questions on cards that say icebreaker questions.
36:35If you're on a stranded island and you only get one food, what are you going to eat?
36:37Get them talking about something that's easy for them to answer.
36:40What's their favorite movie?
36:42Any kind of questions so that they can start to collaborate, talk to each other, get to know
36:45each other.
36:46And then they can do the math and have them disagree on it and argue it and come up with
36:51different ways of solving a problem.
36:53And giving them problem-solving skills and collaborative work.
36:57They need to be able to work with each other and question authority.
37:01Those are the things that they're learning in school.
37:03It's not so much about the actual curriculum of the topics.
37:07What you should be studying now is whatever brings you passion.
37:11And that's going to be different for each person.
37:13If what you love has to do with technology, study technology.
37:17If what you love has to do with art, study art.
37:20And when I say study it, study it.
37:22Get in there.
37:23Be the nerd that you're going to be.
37:25And it's very unlikely that you're going to have a class that is going to be what you're
37:30going to be.
37:31So you find what you love and go deep in it.
37:34This is from Throwaway Use Only.
37:36As a public high school teacher, it shouldn't be my responsibility to care for my students'
37:41social and emotional well-being.
37:42Oh my gosh.
37:44I disagree.
37:45Okay?
37:46I'm going to say for throwaway use only, I have to disagree with you.
37:49It is totally my responsibility.
37:50I'm spending all the time with the kids.
37:52Whose responsibility is it going to be?
37:53I love knowing what's going on with my kids.
37:56I want to hear what's going on.
37:58I'm most honored when a kid comes in during lunchtime or after school and says, I have
38:03this thing on my mind and I want to share it with you.
38:04It has nothing to do with math.
38:06I want them to say, you know, I'm trans and that is a piece of information I'm honored
38:11to hear.
38:12And I'm confused about it.
38:13And I just want to talk to someone who will listen.
38:16It is absolutely our responsibility.
38:18And it is a gift and an honor to have someone share their stuff with you.
38:23So I just agree with you for throwaway use only.
38:26So we can agree to disagree on that one.
38:28Okay.
38:28Can we talk?
38:30Is this okay?
38:31Can we chit chat?
38:32The whole group?
38:33I want to know, where are you guys at?
38:34What did you think of not having your phones?
38:35And be honest.
38:36Was it hell not having your phone?
38:38Just be honest.
38:39I just want to know.
38:40I'm fine.
38:40Who struggled?
38:43Thank you for playing the game.
38:45Thank you, teacher.
38:45You're welcome.
38:46Do you want an apple?
38:48Those are all the questions for today.
38:49Thanks for watching.
38:50Teacher support.
38:51Okay, class, you can have your phones back now.
38:54Here you go.
38:55Thank you for playing along.
38:57That was really fun.
38:59Thank you for letting me do this.
39:00I really enjoyed it.
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