Are Students Getting LAZIER? (One possible solution...) 

I definitely feel like I have unconsciously been moving towards this mindset so hearing how you consciously did it would be great. A lot of my recent conversations with students who are bored, overscheduled, lethargic, etc. has always ended up in the realm of grades. I say to them “well, maybe since you are in three other AP classes and you are a varsity athlete it might not be possible for you to ALWAYS HAVE AN A”. That response is so unacceptable now to students (and parents). Grade inflation across the board is also a big problem I think.

I'm a student, and a TA for two physics classes. I think another cause is that some students simply don't know how to do the work and ergo don't want to try. Many, if not all of the kids in these classes did Algebra 1 over COVID, and are missing vital skills to succeed in a physics class, but they're required to take it, so they come. So far I've been trying to individually help every student who clearly needs it, but I do hope there's some sort of way to help teach the kids who missed vital skills over COVID en masse, because not knowing those skills can mess them up for the rest of their school career.

Yes, specifics PLEASE! Have been feeling this acutely recently. Would love to know how you do this on a practical, day-to-day level.

I like this. We, as teachers need to hear this. However....................we have to also acknowledge that we are swimming against the current in larger society in regards to a love of learning being valuable, exciting and worth while. Education is no longer seen as a way to improve oneself. I've heard a lot of seminars/PD ect that say we have to be more entertaining to meet that dopamine tolerance. I don't think that's the answer either. So yes, we'd love to hear the details on how you are approaching this in your classroom.

I am currently a junior in high school and I can say that many of the points you brought up are true. Covid year definitely drove many of us students who already were on the edge of burn out into the ground. As I reflect I can attest that my performance my freshman year compared to my sophomore year were very different. For starters mental health problems skyrocketed while issues which were already present in the educational system were more visible than ever before. Even when I returned to in person classes things did not magically change. There was a clear divide between virtual and in person students in terms of basic knowledge. As we moved into harder courses fewer of the people who were in my classes could understand the lessons given and although some worked hard they still failed to see the results they wished. This could be caused for several reasons of course, but it mostly could be avoided if students felt less pressure in what is now a competitive educational environment. Where only the ones with the highest GPA, test scores, most AP classes taken, and extracurriculars can be accepted into their school of choice. Education has lately become less about learning what it means to be successful to the individual and more about what it means to be successful to others. If I am to be completely honest it seems recently the standard of success means perfection.

I really appreciate this mindset shift. I would love to see specifics and examples of what this would look like.

Can you expand on what your practical "mission" message in the classroom has become?

Very good video. I can say that as someone whos now 2 years past HS I was not watching this as a captive audience but as someone interested in both what you had to say and the highly polished way you presented it. super cool

oh wow, didn't expect this to be a video of such a small youtuber. Very high quality

Most definitely agree and I see the exhaustion from my AP students already. I also see a lot of resiliency. One other idea that may work is to build and sustain a culture of self-advocacy for students…a clear procedure for how to advocate for their needs and accountability and intrinsic rewards in place to support that. However, the effects of the human handling of the pandemic on the school front is exactly as you say, including the smart phone addiction which I believe is of pandemic levels in terms of Impact on learning and sustaining mental energy.

If i was a ultra authoritarian dictator of a totalitarian state...I would give so much more to teachers, the most unappreciated part of society.

facts frr.. - 4th year psychology student

there used to be a guarantee that if you study you will get a job. with gpt chat it will take a lot of work . I do not think so

This is basically a very subtle way of saying this problem is the teacher's fault and we should take on the mountain of stress to fix it. I'm being asked to give students exponentially more work for one class than I ever had for any college history class, including 400 level seminars with sources in Greek and Latin. When they understandably rebel against this, you're basically saying I need to work even harder than I already do to brainwash them into thinking differently. I also have to do this in an American culture that is finally rebelling against the corporate abuse of employees with "quiet quitting" and a resurgence of unions. Sorry, this isn't a solution an unsolvable problem. The problem lies with the College Board's blind fanaticism to an unrealistic ideal and their singular focus in exploiting children to make money. If my students "quiet quit" and reject ridiculous levels of productivity being forced on them, they're in the right and I'm not stopping them.

Or they just tired of the system and fed up with it. Evereyone has a breaking point.