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Education

High school teacher quits her job because 'technology is ruining education'

“We’ve got to start getting rid of the technology and bringing back the things that worked.”

A stressed teacher and student looking at her phone.

Last year, the National Center for Education Statistics published a disturbing study that found that the number of Americans with the lowest measured literacy levels increased substantially between 2017 and 2023. In 2017, 19% of U.S. adults ranked at the lowest levels of literacy, and that number increased to 28% in 2023.

“It is larger than what we would normally see in an international assessment, particularly literacy, which is a fairly stable construct,” NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said. She added that low literacy levels don’t mean someone is illiterate, but cannot read and write at a level to handle basic living and workplace tasks. When pressed for an answer to the literacy decline in America, she said, “It is difficult to say.”

Why are teachers leaving education?

Hannah Maria, an outgoing 10th-grade English teacher, went viral recently for a nine-minute video in which she described the reason why she thinks there has been a big decline in literacy in the U.S.: technology. The problem has become so bad that it was a major reason why she decided to leave the profession.

"Technology is directly contributing to the literacy decrease we are seeing in this country right now. A lot of these kids don't know how to read because they have had things read to them, or they can click a button and have something read out loud to them,” Maria said. “Their attention spans are weaning because everything is high-stimulation, and they can just scroll [away from something] in less than a minute. They can’t sit still for very long.”

Her students no longer care about watching movies in class; they just stare at their phones. Maria can count on her hands the number of kids in her three classes who actually pay attention to the film on movie day. This lack of attention span and disinterest in learning literacy skills makes it a chore to ask them to write anything by hand. "It's disheartening because if I ask a child to handwrite something, even just a paragraph, five sentences, a basic paragraph, they roll their eyes, throw tantrums. ...they get really unruly,” she lamented.

smartphone, student, student cellphone, desk, classroom, staring at phoneA child staring at his phone in the classroom.via Canva/Photos

Maria says students' disinterest in literacy skills has led them to stop caring about America's foundational documents. That’s a big problem in a democracy that requires a well-informed electorate.

The former teacher suggests that kids should be cut off from technology until they reach college to reverse this trend. "Call me old-fashioned, but we're at the point where I really don't have a lot of faith in some of these kids that I teach. That doesn't go for all," she says, noting she'd had "several" students who have bright futures and want to succeed.

smartphone, student, young woman, backback, hallwayA distressed student with a smartphone sits in the hallway. via Canva/Photos

However, she doesn’t hold her students 100% accountable for the trend. "The older generations have failed them because they haven't emphasized enough that learning how to read and write and use basic mathematical skills is important. These kids just have these devices in their hands that they think will get them through the rest of their life,” she said. “We’ve got to start getting rid of the technology and bringing back the things that worked.”

Ultimately, her students’ attitudes have led Maria to find a new career. She says the biggest reason she’s leaving education is the pay, but if the experience with the students was better, she could have "toughed it out."

Michelle Maile/Facebook

Talented, dedicated teachers are leaving public schools because the system makes it too hard to truly educate kids.

When I studied to become a teacher in college, I learned what education can and should be. I learned about educational psychology and delved into research about how to reach different learners, and couldn't wait to put that knowledge into practice in the classroom.


But after graduating and starting to teach, I quickly saw how the school system makes it almost impossible to put what we know about real learning into practice. The structure and culture of the system simply isn't designed for it.

The developmental default of childhood is to learn. That's why four-year-olds ask hundreds of questions a day, why kids can spend hours experimenting and exploring in nature, and why kids are so much better at figuring out how to use technology. Children are natural, fearless learners when their curiosity is nurtured and they are given an environment where learning can take place.

Most teachers know this. And many find themselves so frustrated by trying to teach within an outdated, ineffective system that they decide to leave. I only lasted a couple of years before deciding other avenues of education were worth exploring. A viral post written by a celebrated teacher highlights why many teachers are doing the same thing.

Michelle Maile was a first grade teacher before she resigned this month, and her 5-point explanation of why she did it is resonating with thousands.

Maile shared on Facebook why she, a celebrated teacher in a great school district, decided to turn in her classroom keys. Her post has been shared more than 67,000 times and has thousands of comments, mostly in solidarity.

"Why would a teacher of the year nominee, who loves what she does, who has the best team, the best students and parents, and was lucky enough to be at the best elementary school not want to come back?", she wrote. "Let me tell you why….

 1. Class size. Everything in my training, what I know about kids and what I see every day says that early childhood classes should be at 24 or less. (ideally 22 or less) Kids are screaming for attention. There are so many students who have social or emotional disorders. They NEED their teacher to take time to listen to them. They NEED their teacher to see them. They NEED less students in their class. The people making these decisions are NOT looking out for the students' best interests, and have very obviously NEVER taught elementary kids.

 2. Respect. I feel disrespected by the district all year long. They don't trust that I know what I am doing. I have a college degree, go to trainings every year, read books and articles about kids, and most importantly, work with kids every day. I KNOW something about how they learn and what works best for them. Please listen to us.

 3. Testing. Stop testing young kids. It doesn't do anyone any good. Do you know which kids slept poorly last night? Do you know who didn't have breakfast? Do you know whose parents are fighting? Do you know who forgot their glasses and can't see the computer? Do you know who struggles to read, but has come so far, just not on your timeline? You don't, but I do. I know some of my best students score poorly on their tests because of life circumstances. I know some of my lower students guessed their way through and got lucky. Why stress kids out by testing them? How about you ask ME, the professional, how they are doing? Ask ME, the teacher who sees these kids every single day. Ask ME, the teacher who knows the handwriting of all 27 kids. Ask ME, the adult in their life who may be more constant than their own parents. Ask ME, then let me teach.

 4. I felt like I was drowning. So many things beyond teaching are pushed on teachers. Go to this extra meeting, try this new curriculum, watch this video, then implement it in to your next lesson, fill out this survey monkey to let us know how you feel (even though it won't make any difference), make clothes for the school play, you need to pay for that yourself because there's no money from the school for it. There's no music teacher today, so you don't get a planning time. There are weeks I truly felt like I was drowning and couldn't get a breath until Friday at 5:00. (NOT 3:00)

 5. Pay. I knew becoming a teacher would never make me rich. That has never been my goal. I wanted to work with kids. I wanted to help kids. I wanted to make enough money to take care of my own kids. Sadly this isn't the case for so many teachers who have to work two jobs to support their own families. This isn't right."

Maile says the system may be broken beyond repair, which is why she's tapping into a growing educational movement.

"The school system is broken," Maile continued. "It may be broken beyond repair. Why are counselors being taken away when we need them more than ever? Why are art and music classes disappearing when these forms of expression have been proven to release stress in an overstressed world. Why are librarians being cut when we should be encouraging kids to pick up an actual book instead of being behind a screen? Do you know how many elementary students are on anti-anxiety and anti-depression medications? Look. The number will astound you.

So where am I going? Because I still love kids and want to help them with their education, I will be an online charter school teacher. I will be helping families who have chosen to homeschool their kids. They also see that the school system is broken. When I told my school I was leaving, I had multiple veteran teachers say, 'I would do the same if I was younger.' 'I am so glad you are getting out now.' 'It is only going to get worse.' 'I don't see it ever getting better.'

It makes me sad. I have three kids that are still part of this public school system. If you are a public school parent, fight. Fight for your kids. Fight for smaller class sizes and pay raises for overworked teachers. Fight to keep art and music in the schools. Please support teachers whenever and wherever you can. I have been so lucky to have so many amazing parents. I couldn't have done what I have without them. I am sad to leave, but happy to go."

What do you do when an enormous system has so many inherent flaws it feels impossible to change it?

What to do about public education a hard question. Many former teachers like myself strongly believe in public schooling as a foundational element of civilized society, but simply can't see how to make it work well without dismantling the whole thing and starting over.

When I chose to educate my own kids, I was surprised by how many former teachers end up in the homeschooling community. Many of the most well-known proponents of homeschooling were or are public school teachers who advocate for more effective models of education than what we see in the system. There's a lot that could be debated here, but alternative models may be the best places to look for answers to the question of how to fix the system.

At the very least, until we start moving away from copious amounts of testing and toward trusting educators (and paying them well) to do what they've been trained to do, we're going to keep losing great teachers—making an already problematic system even worse.


This article originally appeared on 6.17.19

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Joy

Pre-K teacher stays in character while pretending someone is robbing his home and it's perfect

"Honey, I don't see your getaway car, are you sure they're coming to pick you up?"

He managed to get in ton of teacher-isms and also make it clear how little money he has.

Teachers deserve lots of kudos, but teachers who teach little kids deserve an extra measure of admiration.

I know this first hand, having been a middle and high school teacher who substitute taught a first-grade class once for two days. By noon on the first day, I found myself slumped over the teacher's desk in a daze while the kids were at lunch. Teaching tweens and teens isn't easy, but teaching little ones with their relentless needs and squirrel-like attention requires a whole other level of energy.

Pre-K? Can't even imagine. Give those teachers alllll the money. They deserve it.

Of course, preschool teachers do not get all the money, which is why a video from a Pre-K teacher pretending his house is getting robbed keeps going viral.


Mr. Williams, a teacher and therapist who goes by @mrwilliamsprek on Tiktok, created the video from the POV of a thief trying to rob his home. Williams leads the thief to his "valuables," and from the "You can use your words, I'll wait," to the "We're passing the potty, do you need to go?" to "Honey, I don't see your getaway car, are you sure they're coming to pick you up?" it's a non-stop parody of what Pre-K teachers actually say all day long.

The fact that he managed to get so many classic teacher-isms in while also making it clear how little he had to steal was brilliant, and his delivery is just delightful.

Watch:

@mrwilliamsprek

#teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #tiktokteachers #teachercomedy #HausLabsFoundation

People loved the skit, but it especially hit home for fellow teachers.

"My corporate coworkers forget that my masters is in education until I throw in an 'I'll wait' at them when I'm getting no participation in the team meeting," wrote one person.

"I was in K for 20 years and then did a career change. I work at a law firm now [and] when our clients from jail call with attitude, I go into teacher mode," wrote another.

"One of my old teacher coworkers actually made the two young men robbing her house sit on the couch and wait for the police," wrote another commenter.

"Another teacher I worked with came home to find men robbing her house and scolded them so hard they just apologized and left," shared another.

Don't try to rob teachers, man. They have no money AND they know how to get just about anybody to fall in line.

Find more of Mr. Williams' hilarity on Tiktok @mrwilliamsprek.

Photo by Adam Singer / Flickr

The easiest way to learn a person's true priorities is to find out how they spend their money. Does it go to worthwhile things such as investments or charity or does half of their annual income go to paying for a luxury car?

The same could be said for countries.

In the United States, the highest paid public employee in just about every state is a college football coach. Currently, the highest paid public employee is University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban who makes $11.1 million dollars a year.



Alabama ranks 40th in the United States in teacher pay with the average teacher earning $50,000 a year.

New York state pays its teachers best, an average of $86,000 a year. The highest paid state employee in the state of New York is Dr. Gary Green, a Clinical Associate Professor of Health Science at SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse who makes around $750,000 a year.

It's safe to assume most taxpayers would prefer their state's highest paid employee be a doctor rather than a football coach.

The people of Bhutan, a tiny country with a population of about 750,000 between India and China, have put their priorities straight by announcing its highest paid civil servants will now be teachers and medical staff.

The pay raise will affect a huge percentage of the population. "The numbers of teachers involved in the hike are huge as there are 8,679 teachers, followed by the medical staff who number around 4,000," India Express reports.


Taktsang MonasteryPhoto by plb06 / Flickr

The move isn't surprising for the majority-Buddhist kingdom. In 1972, the 4th King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wang declared, "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product."

The isolated country rejected radio until 1973 and didn't receive the internet until 1999.

Teachers will see a very significant raise after the new law goes into effect. Those with zero to 10 years of experience have been given a 35% raise. Teachers with 10 to 20 years of experience has been given a 45% increase in pay, and those with 20-plus year of experience will see a raise of 55%.

Further raises will also be distributed based on professional performance.

Tshering (L) with India's Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi (R) in 2018.via Wikimedia Commons

"If the pay revision comes through as proposed by the government, teaching becomes the highest paid profession in the country," a press release issued by the Bhutanese Prime Minister's Office stated.

The decision for the big raise was pushed by prime minister Lotay Tshering. Tshering was elected prime minster in 2018 and has developed the reputation of being a reformer and a man of many talents. During the week he helps run his country and on weekends he works as a surgeon.

"Some people play golf, some do archery, and I like to operate," Tshering said according to The Guardian, calling it a "de-stresser."

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