My daughter teaches high school math. She taught summer school this year for kids who failed Algebra I. She noticed that kids had learned to find the answer online without learning the concept and seemed to want the answers fed to them.
I in no way want to minimize the impact Covid has had on our youngsters, but to offer hope it might help to know we’ve had several refugees in my school, some who arrive without even knowing how to say “hello” in English. They’ve usually missed years of schooling in their country and have seen war - the really horrid sides of war. My heart goes out to those students and I can’t help but be really sad when I see the same thing going on in Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere. I wish all people in this world would grow up and learn to live and let live.
Yet by 12th grade (even if they are a year or two older than their peers), the vast majority of the refugee students do well. They go to college if they want to. (Many do.) They do well there too and become successful adults in all sorts of professions.
If we adults are too negative around our kids they may not realize they can handle the pandemic. If we remind them of the many, many students throughout history to now who have endured worse and still done well, they’re more likely to realize they can too.
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I heard a segment on this earlier this week, but discussing college students. Chegg and other online tools are feeding students the answers so they get a passing grade, but they have no mastery of the concepts. They were justifying it by citing the need to just get by during the pandemic. Makes me glad this will be my last year of full-time teaching. I hope your daughter and other younger teachers can find the motivational tools to shift this trend.
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My county’s public school system has always pushed math to the point they put kids in higher level classes when they didn’t belong there.
Years ago, I read an article about a local HS math teacher in our public school system at a competitive magnet school. He said the kids come with in with their fancy calculators and spit out the right answer, but the don’t understand the concepts.
That article stuck with me so this issue has always been a concern of mine for my kids - I am probably the only parent in our hyper-competitive parent county who has said “Are you sure she is ready for that class? Maybe should should be in [lower level] class?” 
I can only image how bad it is now for kids! But I agree with people above who said kids are resilient - they can catch up!
That said, COVID will make the “gap” even wider. While many parents worked from home during COVID and could stay on top of their kids, many could not. Many parents have the resources to get what their kids need to catch up (tutors, books, etc.), but many do not.
Yes, this has been going on for years. I wish calculators were almost banned in math classes, only used once all the basics are down or for those who have serious math issues and need them (not heading to any sort of math career). I’ve seen teachers actually teach topics (fractions, negatives, quadratics) solely with calculators vs concepts. Kids have no idea when they mess up with the buttons because they have no idea what the answer should be (roughly). I’ve seen kids in Alg 2 get stressed when I asked them to do 4x100 without a calculator and had different students argue with me that (-2)^2 is -4 because they forgot parentheses when doing the math via calculator. It’s really frustrating.
Rant over. Back to Post Vax life…
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I don’t blame this guy at all for resigning:
He’s far more at risk than I am and I don’t plan to return to school while the wave is high.
It’s amazing how selfish the student was. I sure wouldn’t be proud of her if she were mine - she didn’t care a hoot about the prof. My kids aren’t perfect, but they definitely care about others. Chances are she’s like her parents though. Apples tend to not fall far.
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More detail from the student newspaper The Red & Black:
The professor is an 88-year-old retiree-rehire.
Another part of the page says:
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Good heavens, what is wrong with people? Being asked to wear a mask is not the end of the world … especially when not wearing a mask might possibly contribute to the end of the professor’s world. Too many seem to have a very messed up moral compass, if they have a moral compass at all. It makes me sick.
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I think this student was mighty selfish…but UGA doesn’t have a mask mandate…and that really is THE problem here.
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@Creekland, my favorite when I was teaching chemistry is the kid who had no idea how to use their calculator, and would give you an answer containing ten to some absurd power, more than there are atoms in the universe! When I asked them if that made sense, their reply was “but that’s what the calculator said!”
I heard a professor from Boston University speak once who taught freshman chemistry with calculators banned. All his problems could be solved either in your head or doing simple math on scrap paper. It was all about kids getting the concepts with him, not about some meaningless answer.
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My sons calculus class in college did not allow calculators
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I still think the bigger problem is the selfishness of the girl. In the world I like there wouldn’t have to be common decency rules. Covid could not exist, the prof could have asked the students to wear a mask due to his health issues, and all students would have willingly complied because they cared about him.
There’s no way I’d hire (or recommend) a gal like her for any job. Some traits I like to see in employees go way beyond “what” they know how to do.
Around here employers sometimes ask me what I think about a student - if I know the student well enough, I’ll answer honestly.
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well this UGA professor succeeded in requiring masks Georgia professor bucks administrators to order masks in classrooms
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At medical lad’s hospital they are getting bigger and bigger protests out front. It’s sad. He said he always goes in/out a different way when they’re there so no one can take a picture of him as a doctor as if he were part of the group. He also said he’s seen at least one person in a short white coat standing there - probably pretending to be a doctor. Doctors have long white coats, but if he hadn’t told me that, I wouldn’t have known.
It’s so wearisome for those who work there.
Lightening the mood, youngest son asked him if he took note of those out there in case he meets them in the hospital later. “Ah sir, I see you’ve met The Conspiracy, well don’t worry, this tank says oxygen, but it’s really Ivermectin inside. I’m sure you knew that all along.”
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Saw the suggestion this morning that anyone who protests outside of a hospital blocking or verbally/physically harassing patients/providers/staff should be banned from ever getting treatment of any sort from that hospital.
I could get on board with that.
It would be similar to anyone causing a ruckus anywhere (store, restaurant, etc) getting banned from that place.
Let them have their protests elsewhere or at least quietly out of the way of those with everyday life going on.
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While it is an interesting idea, once a hospital puts up an emergency room sign I feel fairly certain that would not be legal.
Wow… I decided I finally had time to get some “stuff” in my neck looked into that medical lad said was worth looking into, esp since it’s likely “real” due to the brain tumor radiation a few years ago.
They had two appointment choices available (via phone). Dec 28th and Jan 4th. Due to not knowing what our holiday schedule will be like I chose the 4th. Let’s hope whatever it is, isn’t going to get much worse in the next 2 1/2 months.
Covid certainly has changed a lot. Pre-Covid I would have been seen in a week, or two at most - sometimes even same day if I called early enough.
Sometimes you can be put on a waiting list to be notified if there are cancelations if you want to be seen sooner.
I remember my allergist trying to get me to be seen by her friend, a lung doc in 3/2016. The 1st available was 7/2016! I took it but that seemed like a very long time and I was getting the “early” appt because they were friends. I was seen by a lung doc in SF in 5/2016 and had a complete work up at world renown lung place in Denver including a lung doc in 6/2016 before I was able to see local lung doc!
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We always have super long wait times here. I just made an OB Gyn appointment this morning. Either she cancels on me or I do. It’s usually 6 months before her next available slot. This time I chose the first available anything and it’s a month away. Otherwise my doctor’s first appointment was in April.
And you are never ever out of a doctor’s office within an hour here. Bring a book (or now a phone) and be prepared to wait. I’m so glad my kids are grown. Waiting hours with little overactive cranky little ones was a nightmare.
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One benefit of covid I’ve notice is doctors seem to run on time more. This week I had two appts, and eye appt that was only about 5 minute of waiting and in the pre-covid days it could easily be an hour or more. For regular doctor, right on time and the only reason I was ‘held over’ from the 20 minute appt was that I had to wait for a flu shot and a shingles shot. As I walked out at 4:55, so did everyone else! They stay on time and the last appt are at 4:20 so that everyone is out at 5.
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