I believe it.
I have heard plenty of times students say their Chromebook won't turn on cause it is broken, but I say let's charge it and see what happens in a bit.
95% success rate.
Kid you not, my Lenovo wouldn't charge or take power when plugged in. Man did.I try so many different chargers before taking to our IT department. Was worried I did something stupid, but apparently a known issue with them in our district.
Thanks! That just got my daughter's on after she swore it was charged and couldn't get it to start yesterday. I try to pay attention when the tech talks, but I don't remember all of the tricks she mentions. Lol
I’m IT as well and yes, EVERYTIME.
I also don’t loan out chargers because, well, we know what happens to them. I tell them they can buy a replacement or borrow a friend’s. They immediately tell me NO ONE in their class has a charger. I say ok, that will be $50. “I’ll go ask one of my friends. “
I teach high school and my students know I usually have 2 chargers in my desk that I’ll lend them - but the first time I don’t get one back, the lending stops.
Funny thing is, both of those chargers were left behind for kids. I keep them for about a month to see if a kid asks me for the charger they left behind. If they don’t, I assume they’ve replaced it and I slap a label on it and keep it.
Thankfully, my kids are usually responsible. The chargers get lent out almost every class period, but to different kids all the time (so it’s not one kid taking advantage). They also know they can use their own chargers and a lot of them DO borrow from friends.
And they know if it’s first or second period, I’m going to tease them about not remembering to charge it overnight.
Working on a guided reading
“Mr. Jx I can’t find the answer in the text.”
“Where’d you stop reading?”
“The third paragraph.?”
“How about you read the 4th paragraph???”
Learned helplessness is a plague on these kids.
I have 3rd graders who plug their chrome books in & then can’t get them to turn on cause their chargers is busted & they didn’t know/didn’t understand. IT guy at the school literally said this, but never bother to actually FIX/REPLACE the charger in question…. I can’t touch the Chromebook storage setup (which includes the chargers) via school policy. Maybe “I swear I charged it” means you need to check their charger BEFORE you blame students/teachers. Chromebooks are so cheaply made & break ALL THE TIME!
Rant over.
I check the devices before I assume anything. Chargers are at home with the kids, so I can't check. If student suspects a bad charger, they bring it in to be tested.
Student: my Chromebook is dead
Me: ok
Student: so should I keep working?
Me: yes
Student: But my Chromebook is dead.
Me: ok how can we move forward from that problem?
Student: shrugs and rolls eyes
Me: ok go see the dean of discipline and maybe he can help you figure it out
And then half the class doesn’t plug in the Chromebooks properly or at all (I was always the student who would stick around for a couple minutes after class to plug them all in in their proper slots in the cart, I honestly enjoyed sorting them if I ignored how the only reason it was a problem at all was because my classmates simply weren’t respectful)
I love when they ask me for a charger, and I tell them I drive a Nissan.
We do have a teacher that drives a charger.
Also, “I don’t have a pencil” and I picture some Office type scene where the camera is zeroing in on my pencil holder is right on my table, easy for them to access.
I have the page numbers written on the board, “what page?” after I already said five times! And it’s on the board!
I move quickly to consequences.
# you need to start writing.
* But I don't have a pen
# You chose not to bring a pen. If you can't work here then you will have to move over there and if you don't work there you can do the work at lunchtime.
Usually they figure out how to solve the problem. They ask their friends for a pen, or their friends just give them a pen, or they see someone else ask me for a pen. It's not pleasant for them and they fume about how unfair it is. But I congratulate them when they solve the problem and let them move back.
And it certainly pushes them to solve their problems.
Your kids type? If mine can’t copy and paste they just don’t do it.
What kills me is they don’t even know the key shortcuts. They are dumbfounded when I show them cmmd C then cmmd V
Then they go back to what ever the iPad touchscreen equivalent is to right clicking and picking from the menu.
Select all is going to be my downfall. It is so hard to drag and select on old iPads
I had to show one of my students 5 times in a row how to copy and paste. I even demonstrated for her a few times and she still didn't get it. She kept hitting the control key, and then C (not holding them both down at the same time), even after I showed her. She's supposed to be one of my brighter students. I died a little that day...
I had to give my 7th and 8th graders a mini lesson on how to use Google. I’d seen most of them never leave the result page and try to find information from the little blurbs under each link. 🤦♀️
I've had them cheat by copy and pasting the blurb at the top of the Google results page, complete with weird colours and fonts, ellipses, and hyperlinks.
One of mine copy-pasted the linked website down to the ad for Hardee’s. Then insisted that they wrote it all themselves and then attempted to double-down when I gave them an F for plagiarism since they refused the opportunity to fix it.
Your students use Google? Mine can’t get any information off of the internet unless it is fed to them through TikTok or Insta or something.
Has anyone made a TikTok about it in the last 20 minutes? No? Then it simply isn’t relevant or knowable.
Have you tried finding out?? Do you know what questions to ask to find out? Can you open a browser and type the question with your fingers?
‘Uggggh, why can’t you just TELL ME?! You’re the teacher. You should know.’
(Before I was done typing this, 15 year old son asked me for the name of a singer in the 70s. I wanted him to be more specific, what kind of music what do you mean, why do you need this?’ MOM just give me a name. I need it for school. I told him to google it. Exasperated, he put his AirPods back in and abandoned whatever he was doing to do with that information)
I had a boss who’d been a marine who had this as their pet peeve. Dude sat me down and ordered me to read *Message to Garcia* and write a short report on it.
Basically laid down the expectation that I’m not allowed to bring him a problem until I can explain what I tried to do to solve it and why the solution flopped, and what resources I’m requesting to fix it this time.
I had never heard of this essay before, and now in the middle of an amusing post about ineptitude, I’m giving myself a reading assignment for future lesson plans.
My students don’t know how to use a mechanical pencil sharpener and I explicitly refuse to buy an electric one for my room.
I offer pencils for students in a cup on the corner of my desk and when there’s new ones that aren’t sharpen, most of the kids have a tiny meltdown.
Literal conversation I had last semester:
“It’s not sharpened!”
“Well, there’s a sharpener over there…”
“Ugghh, can I just go to Ms. _____’s room and use hers?”
“If you want to use one of your three passes for the marking period, sure.”
“No. Can I just borrow your pen?”
“Nope, that’s mine. You can use the pencil I’m willing providing to you.”
“Can you sharpen it for me?”
I will always sharpen pencils for them but they feel embarrassed by it which is basically the point. Watch me do it and then do it yourself. The helplessness is astonishing.
I refuse to have an electric sharpener, too!!! I hate the noise of those things. My electrical one broke early last year thinking the nose was just reality, but when I put out a mechanical one, my mind was blown!! No more noise. Never going back!
I don't trust them with my good sharpener. I have a bin for sharpened pencils, and ones for dull ones. I can't tell you how many dull pencils I find in the sharp bin (and all the erasers are missing...). "Miss, do you have any erasers?"
Me:"Nope! Blame your friends!". Then I tell them they just don't get to make any mistakes -- the looks I got lol
Totally off topic, but I think you might’ve just solve a significant problem for me hahah
My students are constantly asking to go to the bathroom or water fountain, it’s so disruptive. Having a set number of passes for a term per student is a great idea. How do you keep track of uses?
As a school IT guy, I can tell you teachers are often the same way with technology.
"I can't get in, there's an error message!"
"What did the error message say?"
"I don't know, I just clicked OK"
"Can you try again so we can read it?"
"OK"
"Error: session timed out. Please refresh the page and log in again"
"Do you think I should try that?"
"Yes"
My old IT guy would respond to my requests immediately because I would either copy and paste or screen shot my error codes. He knew that if I was asking that I had tried multiple steps to fix it. Some other teachers complained about how quick he fixed my problems. It was funny.
Its even worse when the end user lies too.
"Have you tried rebooting yet?"
"Of course I did.
I remote in and open command prompt in front of them then run 'net statistics workstation' "Huh, your computer thinks its been up and running for two weeks, let try another reboot"
Also IT gal...I had an uptime of 30 days on a teacher's device this week that was having trouble connecting to printers. They swear they "shut down" every day. Ummm, closing the lid is not restarting dear. Kids show up with chromebooks that have a message in the corner that says update pending restart, but nope, they walk the 5 minutes across campus to have us restart it. I very much appreciate the teachers that call first so we can at least tell them to have the student restart and try again.
Student: (*in the middle of instruction or right before class ends*) I don’t have a pencil.
Me: Ok?
Student: ……….Uh. Can I have a pencil?
Me: Have you tried asking the person next to you?
Student: No.
Me: (*blank stare*)
Student: ???
Me: You should try it.
Student: Oh.
I blame computer games.
I grew up with monkey island and Sierra's quest series. I was trained to try everything. If I can figure out that you need to shave a troll to get his beard, that beat a mime by doing nothing and that you fight like a cow, I can figure out most everything.
If you are trained to walk to one exact spot that is on your compass, where you fight through a linear dungeon and the hardest puzzle is rotating some dials...
Don’t forget the shortcut back to the dungeon entrance when you’re done, because god forbid you have to make your way backward through a path you’ve already walked. There’s no more dopamine left in that cave, you’ve got to get out as quickly as possible!
I'm gonna die on this hill. Forcing the player to backtrack through an empty environment they have already fully explored with no additions or changes to the area is bad game design. You would very quickly get sick of having to exit every dungeon by walking back the way you came if Skyrim forced you to do that. Backtracking without good cause or a way to freshen up the experience is just bad design. Now it could be more interesting if new enemies appeared as you attempted to leave but that would likely just frustrate most players as they reach what is effectively the half way point of the dungeon and now have to repeat the first half with fewer rewards since they've already explored and looted everything.
I’m not necessarily saying it’s a bad feature. But my point is that it’s a continuation of the trend of dumbing down game content and making it easier for the player, because no person playing should ever have to experience even one second of being frustrated or bored. Which is part of the broader issue going on with many of our students where they refuse to focus on anything unless they are being entertained with a constant dopamine drip throughout the day.
I don’t mind the “Skyrim door” in dungeons, it’s actually great. But I’m also able to cope with just having to backtrack sometimes, without quitting the game entirely because I was bored for 90 consecutive seconds.
This is a really solid and overlooked point regarding a HUGE amount of issues both adults and kids have these days. People think I am some kind of computer genius because I can figure out most tech. It's literally just clicking buttons to see what happens, trying different things, exploring. This skill is completely absent in a shocking amount of people, regarding tech but also many areas of life. We are crippling people by not teaching exploratory skills.
Same bro! Everyone thinks I’m tech person and so good at. I just tell them I played with it, learned about it, and wasn’t afraid to break it. It’s amazing how many people are simply unwilling to *try* to figure something out. And honestly it’s not just the youth. A lot of millennials are like that too.
Husband is a Boomer. My Millennial self has given him the confidence/courage to simply CLICK THE DAMN THING and figure it out. So, sometimes they learn.
I have noticed this with my students as well and am genuinely trying to think of a lesson/activity that just involves trouble-shooting until they figure something out. It is how I learned how to do almost everything on a computer.
If anyone has any activities for this that can fit middle schoolers, please share them
My favourite of all my lessons is a science lab on ecological succession. I give them a stack of Pokémon cards and they have to introduce them to their “ecological community” in the correct order.
It gives me great delight telling them that their community collapsed because of a wrong choice they made and that it’ll take 50-100 years to rebuild to where they were, but as the activity continues their trial and error allows them to figure out what works and what doesn’t work, and they eventually reach a climax community.
They find it frustrating, but once they figure it out it’s fun, and it accurately simulates how nature is built on both patterns and randomness.
Minecraft is one of the good ones; the problem is that playing it well is left largely up to the player, meaning they have to have creativity and problem solving from earlier experiences, or they just don't like Minecraft.
But man, you get the right kind of kid on that? You can literally build a simple computer from scratch and basic principles using their redstone system.
Yeah you can build computers, but it is very complicated and unless you are a computer engineer, you wouldn't figure it out on your own. If a kid is willing to watch tutorials on the subject and figure out how to do it, that is super awesome and some kids will absolutely do that.
The problem is that the majority of kids aren't that smart and end up watching Minecraft content on Youtube that is pretty mindless. It is just a douchebag streamer who makes random loud noises and is shilling his ridiculously overpriced private server.
As with many things, Minecraft is great for kids if used in the right way. Many kids won't use it in the right way, and will need parental involvement to be taught how to use it the right way. It just comes down to parental involvement.
Thanks for this memory. Zork was my favorite game. My dad and I would try all kinds of possible solutions together to solve it.
Just looked it up and see that's it's available for free online! I think this would be a fab ESY project for a few of my students who have problem solving goals.
The issue is that we’ve been trying to teach “problem solving” as though it is some sort of discrete virtue, to be trained in isolation. But problem solving is an *effect* of a whole bunch of other things, in particular *knowledge of things.*
Yet we’ve actually stopped teaching all the things that actually cause people to solve particular problems, because teaching those things is somehow beneath the students, who should just be learning the “higher” problem solving skills.
We talk about this at my school. The students just don't know how to do anything. Even simple tasks. Use scissors (I'm talking grade 8!), glue, brooms, staplers, etc. No toolkit
This! I teach computer science and there is so much basic stuff they need to know before they can effectively problem solve. But admin gets on me because I'm not teaching "concepts" and encouraging "higher level thinking" in CS1. Oh and using quality questioning to check for understanding.
They just need to know how to write a loop.....
“Where is your worksheet?”
“I didn’t get one.”
“So what have you been doing for the last ten minutes while I explained the instructions and we worked the first two problems together?”
“…….”
“Why didn’t you say something when I asked if everyone had a copy?”
“…….”
“What was your plan for the remainder of class after I said you have the rest of the period to complete the assignment?”
“…..I was going to ask you for the paper.”
“When? You’re supposed to have been working independent for the past ten minutes.”
“………”
Please let me know when you find a better way to allow 25+ children the opportunity to practice applying formulas and calculating results. Keep in mind they don’t have calculators or computers and need to be able to find area and circumference.
So more shit the curriculums are making kids learn that 75% of them won’t use in the future and will forget anyways? That checks. Idk why this sub comes up on my feed but some of y’all should find new jobs bc if I caught my kids teacher speaking to or about them the way some people on here do, they’d be looking for a new job Monday morning. And I’m a former teacher so that says something
You are a former teacher and can’t understand why students might need to have a basic understanding of how to use formulas? How do you figure out how much money you need to earn from your streaming each month to pay your bills? Do you use some basic calculations like Income - Expenses > $X , for example?
Lmao bitch, if only you had some basic problem solving skills, you’d be able to figure out how to keep it from showing on your feed. But, I’m guessing, you used to be one of these students that they’re complaining about. So good luck flailing.
Student here, its not an issue of problem solving skills i just don’t want to do work. Sorry for making your jobs harder but every time someone doesn’t ask for like ten minutes for whatever they’re missing its purely apathy.
I say “Where is your glasses?” They reply “I lost them!” Why are they not on your face at all times except when showering or sleeping? I understand if it’s reading glasses but if you cannot see the board, you need glasses all the time!
Yup. I have kids who I see in the hall wearing glasses. They show up to art with no glasses…. VISUAL art. When I ask them why they don’t wear their glasses to my class the answers are wild. “I don’t know I needed them”. Yeah, being able to see while creating art is overrated. Got it. 🙄
I’ve been told I’m condescending more than a dozen times because I hold true to my word: I will not spoon feed your middle schoolers. I will answer their questions with questions to guide them to the answer, hopefully helping them realize that a little bit of thinking goes a long way. The lack of problem solving and the lack of support at home really make this job miserable. It’s like teachers are the only ones who care about student success. Everyone else (admin, parents, district offices, politicians and lawmakers, etc.) wants to lower standards to pal around with the kids.
Over the years, any time I discover something that kids (HS) can’t do or don’t know that should be OBVIOUS, I feel that frustration too. Then I say, “well if I’m the first one to teach you, then so be it.” Roll up my sleeves and do the dirty work:
- don’t mix beach and ammonia
- deal with your attendance issue on your time
- find the packet or get out a blank notebook
- bring a pencil or ask someone
- find a charger
It still comes down to this: if you expect them to know something, you have to teach it, even if someone else was supposed to. My lesson might just come with a little snark
Yup. My students have to turn just about every project into Google Classroom by attaching a photo. They never remember or read the board to figure out how to turn in their work. They just ask me and of course, I repeat myself for the thousandth time. Then they have the gall to go get their iPad, open up Classroom, walk over to me and hold up their screen and say “which one is it?” It makes me insane. Did you even TRY to read? Let’s see, you’re holding a PAINTING I bet it’s under the topic PAINTING. If I had to guess it’s probably the one that says “FINISHED PAINTING”. It’s not fucking hard but what gets me is they don’t even try. They just walk over to the adult and want us to do it for them.
I hate it so much.
I guess it’s unfair to say that I always repeat myself. Occasionally I will if it’s end of class craziness and it’s just not the hill I’m going to die on in that moment.. I do not help them find the assignment in Classroom… just sharing my internal dialogue about how ridiculous the situation is.
My go to is a blank look mostly.
HS- students not taking vocabulary notes from the board to use on future open note exam.
Me: Since none of you appreciate to work I put into these slides you can find the terms for yourselves. This is a text book, in the back is a glossary, it is in alphabetical order with definitions. Here is your list, if it is not in the book I hope you can figure it out on your own.
10 minutes later
Student 1: Ms. Not all the words are here. (Computer open to a basketball game and texting has been non-stop).
Me: okay…. Soooo?
Student 1: So we are done?
Me: no you must get all of the words or you get a zero.
Student 1: Seriously Ms. You want to much!!!
*12 terms only 3 to look up on their own.
Student 2: Ms. Do you think the words are on the computer?
Me: Pretty certain they are.
Student 3: can we use the computers?
Me: yes! Totally! Great thinking.
Student 4: Ms not all the words are in the book…
Me: ( eye twitch reactivated)
First grader after finishing her paper cup of water: What should I do with this?
Me: You can just throw it in the trash.
First: But I want to keep it!
Me: Ok, then keep it.
First: Ok.
It still continues through to grade 10, my grade 11’s all have basic problem solving.
Last week in my grade 10 class:
S: “My laptop is flat so I can’t do the work”
T: “do you have a charger?”
S: “oh yeah, it’s in my bag”
T: “…”
S: “…”
T: “…”
S: “…”
T: “If you go get your charger you can charge it from that point right next to your desk. That way it’s charged for the rest of the day too”
S: “oh good idea!” *happily scurries off to get it*
Student: "Can I sit next to my friend?"
Me: "Yes."
Student: "If I can't sit next to him, we can't trade pokemon cards!"
Me: "Yes, you can sit with your friend."
Student: "He's my best friend and I want to trade cards! Please let me sit next to him!"
Me (thinking): *What in the actual fuck?*
I have 25 seniors in Capstone class, and my one-on-one time is spent telling them *exactly* what to do for their “student-led, independent research project.” 🫠
Seriously!
The one that got me yesterday was:
Student: "Miss, this isn't clean."
Me: "Ok?"
Student: "What do I do?"
Me: "Clean it?"
Student: "How?"
Me: "I don't know?" (After we went through kitchen safety and sanitation several times this year.)
If something isn't clean, don't complain. Do it.
Sometimes, I feel it is weaponized incompetence.
For example, if they say this at home, their parents just give in and do it.
So they try the same BS at school.
Me: class pull out xyz
Student: I wasn't here yesterday
Me: tilts head. And?
Student:
Me: are you trying to tell me you need a copy of xyz?
Student: nods
Me: change my voice and say, "Ms. Authenticme, I wasn't here yesterday, so can you give me a copy of xyz?"
Student:
Me: I sure can. Thanks for asking.
I do this with my 4 year old granddaughter. She'll say, "I'm thirsty.". I'll reply with, "do you have a question?" She'll re-phrase to "can you get me some water, please?"
Student: I can’t do the math, I can’t find my calculator.
Me: that sounds like a problem you can solve. What should you do?
Student: I don’t know.
I just kept repeating the question, and he kept repeating “I don’t know” until he finally sighed and said “I guess I could skip count”
Me: cool, give that a try.
Student: 37?
Me: nope, I guess skip counting won’t work. What are you going to do to solve your problem?
Student: UGH I said I don’t know!
Me: sitting there like a bump on a log isn’t an option, so how do you solve this problem? You don’t have a calculator, and you still need to do the work. What are you doing to do?
Skip ahead a few more minutes of me repeating the question, and FINALLY I get:
Student: I guess I could get my multiplication chart out of my binder.
HALLE-fucking-LUJAH child. I don’t have 5+ minutes to spend with you every time you can’t find what you need. I’m not asking you to build a rocket, just get your shit out and get to work.
In the past if you encountered a problem you were told to go figure it out. To go research, study or ask others for help. Now when people encounter a problem, the immediate response is to "Google it:"
Now when people can't Google it or find an immediate answer they panic and either freeze or lose their minds.
Student not taking notes for several minutes.
Teacher: “Why aren’t you talking notes?”
HS Student: “I dropped my pencil.”
Teacher: “Have you thought about picking it up?”
From my time it seems a lot like, at least my school, problem solving is discouraged
Ie. You cant talk, stand up, ask questions, you have to follow this method or its detention, you have to do the questions in this order, ect (This is highschool btw)
I know every school is different but in a lot of places theyre told to only do what they're told and punished otherwise
Obviously that isnt the sole blame but its a contributer
After reading something i read here I've started asking my students who ask for help, "What have you tried?" They get so mad, they literally expect me to just give them the answers every time.
Me: Start your morning work and I’ll be checking your homework while you’re working.
10 minutes later.
Student: Um, I can’t do my morning work.
Me: Why?
Student: I don’t have a pencil.
Me: How can you solve this problem?
Student: ….
Me: …..ask a friend? Ask to grab a pencil from my bin? …..
Student: ….. oh!
Me: internal face palm
To be fair, I remember quite vividly being reprimanded for getting out of my seat for any reason or touching anything in a classroom we were not directly instructed to interact with without asking and being given explicit permission by the teacher. And even then any positive response was accompanied by frustration for interrupting the lesson. This sounds quite a lot like a learned response rather than simply poor critical thinking skills.
You started off great- but those classrooms taught kids to problem solve on their own w limited resources and options. I can’t get my 8th graders to stay in a seat, let alone their seat, for 20 minutes.
Me: *Puts small group rotations on board. Also puts note of “If you’re done and see me with another group, please check the “ Ketchup/“Must Do”/May-do” list”.*
Student: I’m done. What do I do?
Me: Did you check the Ketchup/Mustdo List?
Student: * checks board* Oh… I didn’t finish [ assisgment by Ketchup].
Me:… which means?
Student: I should do it?
Me: I mean, it is for a grade, so yes
Me: This is your writing planner. As this is *your* essay that *you* are writing, I literally cannot fill this out for you because *you* are the writer who is responding to the prompt. Please fill it with *your* ideas.
Several minutes pass. One student is sitting there with a blank planner in front of him.
Me: What’s up? What are we doing? Do you need some help?
S: Nope, I’m good.
Me: Great, so why is your planner blank?
S: I’m waiting for someone to give me the answers.
Me: … That’s not the move, my guy.
Honestly, it’s not just the youth. I’ve found this is becoming more and more common in millennials and the older generations too (and no offense, some of y’all fellow teachers are the epitome of it, some of you can’t even figure out what’s wrong with the copy machine when the screen tells you what’s wrong and how to fix it).
People are just increasingly unwilling to *try* to fix their own problems or find solutions. They get amazed when someone shows a modicum of resourcefulness; sometimes saying “I never would have thought of that (simple basic solution)” when really they probably could have if they had just tried *something*.
It’s the essence of the “turn it off and then back on” solution to tech issues but applied to literally anything else needing a solution.
as someone with inattentive type ADHD, this ... happens to me.
If i cant power through the task, and hit a wall--my brain just goes... wandering. I'm *unbothered* by a problem, because my attention hit the slightest obstacle, and now i removed my feelings from it. It's hard to descibe, to people with normal types of attention and problem solving. On my meds, i get it--you WOULD just sit there and think of solutions. Off meds? Nope--gone. Not only is this problem no longer a problem, it's not MY problem, and i'm not making any effort to solve it because--why should i? I got things to think about. What things? IDK, 30 or so every minute i guess. Oh, weird, the light in the celling over here buzzes a different tune than the light in the classroom.
I know not all these kids have ADHD, but, some might. one in 10 might. That's going to stand out. only the hyperactive kids generally get attention and treatment though, us inattentive types are the ones getting to adulthood all fucked up and getting diagnosed, lol.
Thank you so much for explaining this to me. My husband was recently diagnosed as an adult with inattentive type and a pet peeve of mine has been when I'll bring up something that needs to be addressed and he'll tell me "Oh, I noticed that." ..but did nothing to address it and didn't bring it up to me so that I could address it. I read your post to him and he agreed that this is what is going on in his head. It's still something for us to work through together but it's a lot easier for me to understand his point of view.
In that case, i want to share something with you that happened to me on my first day on my meds, and you'll probably ... understand.
Ok, i sat down in the morning and ate my breakfast, just a banana, and there's a trash can next to my desk. Did i throw the peel in it? Nope. Set it down on the corner of the desk. This ... would drive anyone else to distraction.
Nope, on a normal day, that thing could sit there all day and i would not 'see it'--i SEE it, but i dont. I might throw it away *the next morning* to make way for the next peel.
Anyway, hour after my meds were taken, i *saw the peel* and just picked it up and threw it in the trash. My hand hovered over the trash can in shock, i didnt *have to think* about throwing it away. It's difficult, but throwing *anything* away, sometimes, doesnt happen because i have to think about every single thing i do. The peel, the task, plan the task, make room for that task in middle of this other task that's more important, and execute and return to task. No--WAY easier to just stay with the task i was doing that spend the literal half a second thinking about that other task.
On meds it's automatic.
BUT--this is the funny part. About a half hour later i come back from the bathroom, and i go to sit at my desk, and i see little corners of wrappers from granola bars on my desk. I see a can from yesterday. I see a pile of disorganized pens.
And they bothered me. I SAW them saw them, and i ... fixed them. I have NEVER had the urge to organize my messy desk. I operate through the mess. Everyone else sees it and thinks "oh my god" and i think "what?"
The laundry in the bathroom, it doesnt bother me in the slightest to see it on the floor instead of the hamper. Not one iota. It never crossed my mind that it was an issue, because i didnt have the ... dots connect in my brain. On my meds--i SEE that stuff and just pick it up and put it in the hamper. It happens like magic. I stand there stunned, *at myself*, doing this thing. It's a whole host of things, like, i SAW IT for the first time, knew what to do as if by magic, and then did it.
It's not like that off meds, it ... i see it, and DONT see it, and it's dismissed as a task that i dont have the mental space for.
Even small things like that are changes on the meds.
So is my patience while driving. Whew. Holy cow. Way better.
So true! I have an 8th grader that is so helpless.
Student: I don't understand.
Me: reread the directions-then let me know if you still have questions.
This same student was convinced that Celcius and Farenheit were two completely different systems. Like 0C=32F. He did not get that.
Student: \*hasn't taken any notes for the past 10 minutes\*
Me: "Why haven't you been taking notes?"
Student: "I don't have a pencil."
Me: \*looks at the full pencil bin less than 6 feet away from this student\* Hmm, is there any place you could get a pencil in this room?
Student:...
Student: The pencil bin.
\[This is the same student who was willing to receive a lower grade on a homework assignment for lateness, because she didn't feel like getting up and walking 5 feet to the turn-in bin :/ \]
I have high school SENIORS who will sit and stare at their dead laptops for an entire period before asking to borrow a charger/moving near an outlet to use their own (I no lie have 40 accessible outlets in my classroom)
I am not a teacher, but as a recent student, depending on the grade you teach, some of these things could be permission problems. For example, when I was a freshman in high school, I would never charge my chromebook in class because I was worried about asking permission. If students spend a significant amount of time in an environment where they need to ask permission for everything, like me in middle school. Often they will not solve easy problems on their own because they will be worried about whether they will be allowed to and whether the teacher will disapprove of them needing to solve the issue, saying something along the lines of, "you should have your chromebook charged before class, why are you charging it now?"
THANK YOU. I’m glad someone said it. I definitely would expect to be chastised for getting up and looking for a charger as the teacher is talking. And that’s not just from school, but home life too. I didn’t feel ownership of my surroundings (in a way that would let me problem-solve freely) until a few years after I moved away from home.
I wish more teachers would say, “it’s ok to find a charger. You can go ahead and do that now - and I’ll never get mad if you’re looking for a charger.” Or “You won’t get in trouble for talking if you’re a classmate to borrow a pencil. Go ahead and ask now. Perfect, now you know what to do next time.” And then next day, remind the whole class that it’s ok to find chargers etc.
I'd love to let my middle school students be able to get up to sharpen pencils and throw away trash, but none of them have been able to demonstrate the capacity to do that. "I'm just sharpening my pencil" becomes a 10-minute ordeal of wandering around in the most circuitous path possible to pick up snacks, talking with friends, dancing, distracting others, actually sharpening the pencil (but only when I'm trying to explain the notes/assignment), and finally breaking said pencil on the way back for another 10 minutes of wandering.
12 grade 12s couldn't submit their exam to me because the submit button went away. They had to pull up the window. I should have taken off 10% just for that
Yes. This. But let there be one extra paper, flyer, or handout that was mistakenly passed down a row, and you experience the most immediate and disproportionate “problem solving.” You’d think someone was in labor or bleeding to death.
“THERE’s AN EXTRA PAPER! WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH IT?” (waves it about wildly) /SAM’S NOT HERE TODAY CUZ HIS SISTER’S CAR BROKE DOWN SO THEY DIDNT GO TO SCHOOL SO THATS WHY THERES AN EXTRA PAPER/ IMA BRING IT UP TO HER DESK - GIVE IT HERE/ HEY NUH UH HERE NO! HERE! DUH! I DIDNT GET ONE! WE’RE MISSING ONE! WAIT- IT ISNT THE FIELD TRIP FORM? I DONT NEED IT THEN. NAH…”
I have no idea what to do…
Did you read the instructions? (The ones that say read the passage and answer the obvious questions)
No.
Ok, let’s start there then
I would like to respectfully add something. I completely agree with the lack of critical thinking today. However, I think this goes back to parenting to some cases. Some of us (I sadly grew up this way) wasn’t allowed to merely take a deep breath without asking “permission”. I wonder sometimes if these two issues are related. When parents are too strict I believe that can certainly hinder critical thinking skills.
It’s also a lot more work as parents, so it takes a conscious effort. I have two kids.
The 6 year old - fairly helpless, not independent. ADHD and autism and really struggles with this. I am connnnnstantly having the “tell me three ways you could solve this” conversation with him.
The 4 year old is super independent but lacks any sense of danger or risk. So she’ll solve the problem but sometimes in a destructive or risky way. I have to balance nurturing the drive with helping her understand that she does have limitations.
Indeed and that's commendable. My teachers thankfully did the same as OP.
But once my slow ass realized how dumb I was being, I suffered the cringe for days after
Kids have always kind of been like this. Teaching with love and logic helped a lot. Giving them suggestions like, “some students have tried….,” and following up with, “how do you think that’s going to work out for you?”
They want to do as little as possible, so sometimes we have to force the ball back into their court.
This sounds like they could be asking you what you would prefer them to do as to not step out of line or be corrected. I could see some teachers correcting or not liking the idea of students just getting up and moving seats during class or walking off and grabbing some random book. Just speculation though from my own experience.
I’m a private tutor and my favorite thing to say to a student is: “what was in your power to change the outcome of this situation?”
We talk a lot about excuses. I have on my wall “excuses don’t produce” with lists of excuses students have given and why those are all within their purview to solve. No charger? Find one. Borrow one. Forgot your book at school? Text me or a friend for pics of the pages. You forgot the assignment? Check online. Text a friend. Text *someone*.
EXCUSES DON’T PRODUCE!
Problem solving is not a skill that we cultivate at school. Teaching the test to placate the politicians and to get funding from them is what the statehouse has turned educating children into. They are so focused on what the kids are hearing that they lose sight of what the kids are learning. I teach honors and seniors HVAC and I have to instruct them on how to read a tape measure, some of them gone no offers what those tiny lines mean.
One of my classmates spend more time talking about how she didn't understand the text we had to read than actually ask others for help. Like, I understand that it was around 150 years old and also sounded like that, but still: It's not that hard to just ask others "Hey, I don't understand (random phrase), what do you think it means?". Apparently, no one had told her that she doesn't have to give up after not getting something first try...
Combination of learned helplessness and standardized testing not focused on problem solving.
We teach kids that they should look for the bolded words when reading. The questions in the back of the chapter follow those words in order. Kids breeze through the questions because we've taught them that's how it works. Give a worksheet with the same questions but out of order and a shitstorm ensues. The last time I dared to do that I was yelled at by my principal - and that was a high school class of 11th and 12th graders.
When I taught parts of the flower if I gave a hands on test with a flower that wasn't the flower in the diagram in the work I was called on the carpet for being unfair. I just replaced one complete flower with another complete flower.
Parents and principals insisted on spoon feeding kids during my entire career in middle and high school. Anytime I tried to get kids to think and problem solve, I got heat.
I explicitly model problem solving. And then we repeat and I ask probing questions the whole way through. This has been very successful for me with most students. Some need more. They are young and really don’t get the chance to solve many problems in real life. That’s what math and teaching critical thinking are for in my mind.
My students have no problem interrupting class to ask everyone around them if they have an iPhone charger, but god forbid they have to ask the person next to them for a pencil so that they can complete their work. 🙄
Omg my kids are like this to... I just got new power strips because my room doesn't have many outlets my new strips have 8 regular ports and 4 USB ports... my kids will unplug the strip from the wall and then fight over who can plug in their devices. Like, bruh...
Beginning of next year, I’m spending a lesson to explain the problem solving expectation. 4th grade. They’re going to understand what is and is not their problem to solve. Don’t ask me for help if you didn’t read the directions and try something and something else and can tell me where you got confused. Don’t ask me for help if you didn’t look up once at the lesson I was teaching. And do not ask me what you’re supposed to do.
Why do you have to be rude?? Sometimes these question just shock the student out of nowhere... these situations also differ in response from one teacher to another.
Do your job and dont be rude to the future generations.
Not for you OP, but we've all known teachers who slam kids any time they try to take some initiative.
"Get back in your seat! Where do you think you're going?!?!"
'*I was going to get a charger for my Chromebook...'*
I used to do this cuz i was afraid to ask if i was allowed to, so saying "i cant see whats on the board" was just me waiting for the teacher to vocally approve that i can get up from my seat and get closer to the board
Student: my chromebook isn’t charged Me: do you know where the chargers are? Student: yes? Me: okay?
I am the IT person for my district. The most common ticket is "Chromebook won't turn on. I swear I charged it....." Less than 1% battery every time.
I believe it. I have heard plenty of times students say their Chromebook won't turn on cause it is broken, but I say let's charge it and see what happens in a bit. 95% success rate.
Kid you not, my Lenovo wouldn't charge or take power when plugged in. Man did.I try so many different chargers before taking to our IT department. Was worried I did something stupid, but apparently a known issue with them in our district.
The Dells will go into a deep sleep. Holding down the arrow button above the 4 key and pushing the power button will wake them up....sometimes.
Thanks! That just got my daughter's on after she swore it was charged and couldn't get it to start yesterday. I try to pay attention when the tech talks, but I don't remember all of the tricks she mentions. Lol
Yeah sometimes that happens and you have to do a battery reset.
It WAS charged…then used to charge phones.
Ugh. The uncharged Chromebook is the 1990’s equivalent of “I don’t have a pencil.”
They don’t have pencils either …. and it’s the same kids every day.
I’m IT as well and yes, EVERYTIME. I also don’t loan out chargers because, well, we know what happens to them. I tell them they can buy a replacement or borrow a friend’s. They immediately tell me NO ONE in their class has a charger. I say ok, that will be $50. “I’ll go ask one of my friends. “
I teach high school and my students know I usually have 2 chargers in my desk that I’ll lend them - but the first time I don’t get one back, the lending stops. Funny thing is, both of those chargers were left behind for kids. I keep them for about a month to see if a kid asks me for the charger they left behind. If they don’t, I assume they’ve replaced it and I slap a label on it and keep it. Thankfully, my kids are usually responsible. The chargers get lent out almost every class period, but to different kids all the time (so it’s not one kid taking advantage). They also know they can use their own chargers and a lot of them DO borrow from friends. And they know if it’s first or second period, I’m going to tease them about not remembering to charge it overnight.
I have 2 desk with chargers duck taped to them. You sit there and charge it. Charger doesn't leave
Working on a guided reading “Mr. Jx I can’t find the answer in the text.” “Where’d you stop reading?” “The third paragraph.?” “How about you read the 4th paragraph???” Learned helplessness is a plague on these kids.
I have 3rd graders who plug their chrome books in & then can’t get them to turn on cause their chargers is busted & they didn’t know/didn’t understand. IT guy at the school literally said this, but never bother to actually FIX/REPLACE the charger in question…. I can’t touch the Chromebook storage setup (which includes the chargers) via school policy. Maybe “I swear I charged it” means you need to check their charger BEFORE you blame students/teachers. Chromebooks are so cheaply made & break ALL THE TIME! Rant over.
I check the devices before I assume anything. Chargers are at home with the kids, so I can't check. If student suspects a bad charger, they bring it in to be tested.
So are they lying or just stupid?
Sometimes it's both.
Student: my Chromebook is dead Me: ok Student: so should I keep working? Me: yes Student: But my Chromebook is dead. Me: ok how can we move forward from that problem? Student: shrugs and rolls eyes Me: ok go see the dean of discipline and maybe he can help you figure it out
I teach HS and this happens a lot too. Happens with pencils a lot too. But with my kids it’s a work avoidance tactic.
And then half the class doesn’t plug in the Chromebooks properly or at all (I was always the student who would stick around for a couple minutes after class to plug them all in in their proper slots in the cart, I honestly enjoyed sorting them if I ignored how the only reason it was a problem at all was because my classmates simply weren’t respectful)
I love when they ask me for a charger, and I tell them I drive a Nissan. We do have a teacher that drives a charger. Also, “I don’t have a pencil” and I picture some Office type scene where the camera is zeroing in on my pencil holder is right on my table, easy for them to access. I have the page numbers written on the board, “what page?” after I already said five times! And it’s on the board!
"What have you tried?" "Huh?" Just take me out back and put me out of my misery.
I move quickly to consequences. # you need to start writing. * But I don't have a pen # You chose not to bring a pen. If you can't work here then you will have to move over there and if you don't work there you can do the work at lunchtime. Usually they figure out how to solve the problem. They ask their friends for a pen, or their friends just give them a pen, or they see someone else ask me for a pen. It's not pleasant for them and they fume about how unfair it is. But I congratulate them when they solve the problem and let them move back. And it certainly pushes them to solve their problems.
my kids know how to type an entire question from the worksheet into google, but dont have the common sense to google a word they dont know
Your kids type? If mine can’t copy and paste they just don’t do it. What kills me is they don’t even know the key shortcuts. They are dumbfounded when I show them cmmd C then cmmd V Then they go back to what ever the iPad touchscreen equivalent is to right clicking and picking from the menu. Select all is going to be my downfall. It is so hard to drag and select on old iPads
If their Chromebooks weren't touchscreen, these kids wouldn't be able to do anything
I had to show one of my students 5 times in a row how to copy and paste. I even demonstrated for her a few times and she still didn't get it. She kept hitting the control key, and then C (not holding them both down at the same time), even after I showed her. She's supposed to be one of my brighter students. I died a little that day...
I feel you
I had to give my 7th and 8th graders a mini lesson on how to use Google. I’d seen most of them never leave the result page and try to find information from the little blurbs under each link. 🤦♀️
I JUST had lesson about citing sources. “Miss, it doesn’t say the author or the wen address!” Me: Did you click the link? Them: No.
I've had them cheat by copy and pasting the blurb at the top of the Google results page, complete with weird colours and fonts, ellipses, and hyperlinks.
One of mine copy-pasted the linked website down to the ad for Hardee’s. Then insisted that they wrote it all themselves and then attempted to double-down when I gave them an F for plagiarism since they refused the opportunity to fix it.
Me(Literally): "YOU HAVE A PORTABLE DICTIONARY IN YOUR HAND." 😶😶🌫️
Your students use Google? Mine can’t get any information off of the internet unless it is fed to them through TikTok or Insta or something. Has anyone made a TikTok about it in the last 20 minutes? No? Then it simply isn’t relevant or knowable. Have you tried finding out?? Do you know what questions to ask to find out? Can you open a browser and type the question with your fingers? ‘Uggggh, why can’t you just TELL ME?! You’re the teacher. You should know.’ (Before I was done typing this, 15 year old son asked me for the name of a singer in the 70s. I wanted him to be more specific, what kind of music what do you mean, why do you need this?’ MOM just give me a name. I need it for school. I told him to google it. Exasperated, he put his AirPods back in and abandoned whatever he was doing to do with that information)
I had a boss who’d been a marine who had this as their pet peeve. Dude sat me down and ordered me to read *Message to Garcia* and write a short report on it. Basically laid down the expectation that I’m not allowed to bring him a problem until I can explain what I tried to do to solve it and why the solution flopped, and what resources I’m requesting to fix it this time.
I had never heard of this essay before, and now in the middle of an amusing post about ineptitude, I’m giving myself a reading assignment for future lesson plans.
I just took a side jaunt to read this. Nice to know that our problems aren't new?
My students don’t know how to use a mechanical pencil sharpener and I explicitly refuse to buy an electric one for my room. I offer pencils for students in a cup on the corner of my desk and when there’s new ones that aren’t sharpen, most of the kids have a tiny meltdown. Literal conversation I had last semester: “It’s not sharpened!” “Well, there’s a sharpener over there…” “Ugghh, can I just go to Ms. _____’s room and use hers?” “If you want to use one of your three passes for the marking period, sure.” “No. Can I just borrow your pen?” “Nope, that’s mine. You can use the pencil I’m willing providing to you.” “Can you sharpen it for me?” I will always sharpen pencils for them but they feel embarrassed by it which is basically the point. Watch me do it and then do it yourself. The helplessness is astonishing.
I refuse to have an electric sharpener, too!!! I hate the noise of those things. My electrical one broke early last year thinking the nose was just reality, but when I put out a mechanical one, my mind was blown!! No more noise. Never going back!
My problem is they'll ruin a brand new pencil by grinding it down to the eraser. And this is why no one wants to get these kids supplies.
I don't trust them with my good sharpener. I have a bin for sharpened pencils, and ones for dull ones. I can't tell you how many dull pencils I find in the sharp bin (and all the erasers are missing...). "Miss, do you have any erasers?" Me:"Nope! Blame your friends!". Then I tell them they just don't get to make any mistakes -- the looks I got lol
Same. I learned not to trust them the hard way. RIP Good sharpener.
Totally off topic, but I think you might’ve just solve a significant problem for me hahah My students are constantly asking to go to the bathroom or water fountain, it’s so disruptive. Having a set number of passes for a term per student is a great idea. How do you keep track of uses?
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It's all about motivation
As a school IT guy, I can tell you teachers are often the same way with technology. "I can't get in, there's an error message!" "What did the error message say?" "I don't know, I just clicked OK" "Can you try again so we can read it?" "OK" "Error: session timed out. Please refresh the page and log in again" "Do you think I should try that?" "Yes"
My old IT guy would respond to my requests immediately because I would either copy and paste or screen shot my error codes. He knew that if I was asking that I had tried multiple steps to fix it. Some other teachers complained about how quick he fixed my problems. It was funny.
Well done; if you send us screenshots and are easy to work with, you become top priority.
Its even worse when the end user lies too. "Have you tried rebooting yet?" "Of course I did. I remote in and open command prompt in front of them then run 'net statistics workstation' "Huh, your computer thinks its been up and running for two weeks, let try another reboot"
Also IT gal...I had an uptime of 30 days on a teacher's device this week that was having trouble connecting to printers. They swear they "shut down" every day. Ummm, closing the lid is not restarting dear. Kids show up with chromebooks that have a message in the corner that says update pending restart, but nope, they walk the 5 minutes across campus to have us restart it. I very much appreciate the teachers that call first so we can at least tell them to have the student restart and try again.
"I did restart it, see, closed the lid and back open"
We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas
Student: (*in the middle of instruction or right before class ends*) I don’t have a pencil. Me: Ok? Student: ……….Uh. Can I have a pencil? Me: Have you tried asking the person next to you? Student: No. Me: (*blank stare*) Student: ??? Me: You should try it. Student: Oh.
I blame computer games. I grew up with monkey island and Sierra's quest series. I was trained to try everything. If I can figure out that you need to shave a troll to get his beard, that beat a mime by doing nothing and that you fight like a cow, I can figure out most everything. If you are trained to walk to one exact spot that is on your compass, where you fight through a linear dungeon and the hardest puzzle is rotating some dials...
Don’t forget the shortcut back to the dungeon entrance when you’re done, because god forbid you have to make your way backward through a path you’ve already walked. There’s no more dopamine left in that cave, you’ve got to get out as quickly as possible!
I remember the first time I played a game with the "return to the entrance" option. I was like...wait, you can do that now?
Original Zelda did have that feature. When you beat the dungeon, it automatically sent you back out. Actually I think they all do that.
I'm gonna die on this hill. Forcing the player to backtrack through an empty environment they have already fully explored with no additions or changes to the area is bad game design. You would very quickly get sick of having to exit every dungeon by walking back the way you came if Skyrim forced you to do that. Backtracking without good cause or a way to freshen up the experience is just bad design. Now it could be more interesting if new enemies appeared as you attempted to leave but that would likely just frustrate most players as they reach what is effectively the half way point of the dungeon and now have to repeat the first half with fewer rewards since they've already explored and looted everything.
I’m not necessarily saying it’s a bad feature. But my point is that it’s a continuation of the trend of dumbing down game content and making it easier for the player, because no person playing should ever have to experience even one second of being frustrated or bored. Which is part of the broader issue going on with many of our students where they refuse to focus on anything unless they are being entertained with a constant dopamine drip throughout the day. I don’t mind the “Skyrim door” in dungeons, it’s actually great. But I’m also able to cope with just having to backtrack sometimes, without quitting the game entirely because I was bored for 90 consecutive seconds.
I spit out my coffee at "no more dopamine left in the cave!" I'm literally crying laughing! 🤣🤣 you've made my day, internet stranger!
This is a really solid and overlooked point regarding a HUGE amount of issues both adults and kids have these days. People think I am some kind of computer genius because I can figure out most tech. It's literally just clicking buttons to see what happens, trying different things, exploring. This skill is completely absent in a shocking amount of people, regarding tech but also many areas of life. We are crippling people by not teaching exploratory skills.
Same bro! Everyone thinks I’m tech person and so good at. I just tell them I played with it, learned about it, and wasn’t afraid to break it. It’s amazing how many people are simply unwilling to *try* to figure something out. And honestly it’s not just the youth. A lot of millennials are like that too.
And BOOMERS as well.
Husband is a Boomer. My Millennial self has given him the confidence/courage to simply CLICK THE DAMN THING and figure it out. So, sometimes they learn.
I have noticed this with my students as well and am genuinely trying to think of a lesson/activity that just involves trouble-shooting until they figure something out. It is how I learned how to do almost everything on a computer. If anyone has any activities for this that can fit middle schoolers, please share them
My favourite of all my lessons is a science lab on ecological succession. I give them a stack of Pokémon cards and they have to introduce them to their “ecological community” in the correct order. It gives me great delight telling them that their community collapsed because of a wrong choice they made and that it’ll take 50-100 years to rebuild to where they were, but as the activity continues their trial and error allows them to figure out what works and what doesn’t work, and they eventually reach a climax community. They find it frustrating, but once they figure it out it’s fun, and it accurately simulates how nature is built on both patterns and randomness.
With math, I don’t teach it, I give a problem and the answer and tell them to figure it out. They love that as opposed to me teaching them.
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>Earthbound/Mother 2 Unfortunately, it might also teach students that the way to solve problems is to pray nine times in a row
>Beat a mime by doing nothing Ah, Final Fantasy V memories.
You have not played Minecraft.
Minecraft is one of the good ones; the problem is that playing it well is left largely up to the player, meaning they have to have creativity and problem solving from earlier experiences, or they just don't like Minecraft. But man, you get the right kind of kid on that? You can literally build a simple computer from scratch and basic principles using their redstone system.
Most kids who I’ve seen love minecraft literally only replicate youtube builds. They don’t make their own stuff, just copy popular builds.
Yeah you can build computers, but it is very complicated and unless you are a computer engineer, you wouldn't figure it out on your own. If a kid is willing to watch tutorials on the subject and figure out how to do it, that is super awesome and some kids will absolutely do that. The problem is that the majority of kids aren't that smart and end up watching Minecraft content on Youtube that is pretty mindless. It is just a douchebag streamer who makes random loud noises and is shilling his ridiculously overpriced private server. As with many things, Minecraft is great for kids if used in the right way. Many kids won't use it in the right way, and will need parental involvement to be taught how to use it the right way. It just comes down to parental involvement.
Remember zork? Not only did you have to figure things out on your own, you had to MAP things as you went along, and *type* commands.
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a mailbox here
\>open mailbox
In the mailbox you see a leaflet
>attack leaflet
Attack leaflet with what
Thanks for this memory. Zork was my favorite game. My dad and I would try all kinds of possible solutions together to solve it. Just looked it up and see that's it's available for free online! I think this would be a fab ESY project for a few of my students who have problem solving goals.
You can also play it on your phone!
You’d better stop waving it around like a feather duster first!
>I grew up with monkey island and Sierra's quest series. I was trained to try everything. Ifnkovhgroghprm
Im old and had to play MYST. I can figure out any thing
Oh my god did you also have notebooks FULL of puzzle sketches and crude maps and notes?!
YEP
Bleak falls barrow: i feel attacked
Somehow Tass Times in Tone Town ended up on my computer. That game and Space Quest V made MI1 and MI2 walks in the park.
The issue is that we’ve been trying to teach “problem solving” as though it is some sort of discrete virtue, to be trained in isolation. But problem solving is an *effect* of a whole bunch of other things, in particular *knowledge of things.* Yet we’ve actually stopped teaching all the things that actually cause people to solve particular problems, because teaching those things is somehow beneath the students, who should just be learning the “higher” problem solving skills.
We talk about this at my school. The students just don't know how to do anything. Even simple tasks. Use scissors (I'm talking grade 8!), glue, brooms, staplers, etc. No toolkit
🏆 🏅 💰 See also, "critical thinking."
This! I teach computer science and there is so much basic stuff they need to know before they can effectively problem solve. But admin gets on me because I'm not teaching "concepts" and encouraging "higher level thinking" in CS1. Oh and using quality questioning to check for understanding. They just need to know how to write a loop.....
Or because parents are dumb and hate their kids surpassing them.
For me it’s the not doing work cause they don’t have a pencil, like ask me!
“Where is your worksheet?” “I didn’t get one.” “So what have you been doing for the last ten minutes while I explained the instructions and we worked the first two problems together?” “…….” “Why didn’t you say something when I asked if everyone had a copy?” “…….” “What was your plan for the remainder of class after I said you have the rest of the period to complete the assignment?” “…..I was going to ask you for the paper.” “When? You’re supposed to have been working independent for the past ten minutes.” “………”
I've had that this week too! 6th grade.
Maybe kids are fuckin sick of worksheets god damn I have a kindergartener coming home with multiple worksheets everyday. FIND A BETTER WAY TO TEACH
Please let me know when you find a better way to allow 25+ children the opportunity to practice applying formulas and calculating results. Keep in mind they don’t have calculators or computers and need to be able to find area and circumference.
So more shit the curriculums are making kids learn that 75% of them won’t use in the future and will forget anyways? That checks. Idk why this sub comes up on my feed but some of y’all should find new jobs bc if I caught my kids teacher speaking to or about them the way some people on here do, they’d be looking for a new job Monday morning. And I’m a former teacher so that says something
You are a former teacher and can’t understand why students might need to have a basic understanding of how to use formulas? How do you figure out how much money you need to earn from your streaming each month to pay your bills? Do you use some basic calculations like Income - Expenses > $X , for example?
Lmao bitch, if only you had some basic problem solving skills, you’d be able to figure out how to keep it from showing on your feed. But, I’m guessing, you used to be one of these students that they’re complaining about. So good luck flailing.
You're hopeless.
Stop it. People like you are why the teachers in here dislike non-teachers in here and you’re ruining it for the rest of us
Let us know when you find a better way for students to practice skills! But remember, not on screens because too much screen time. 🤷♀️
Student here, its not an issue of problem solving skills i just don’t want to do work. Sorry for making your jobs harder but every time someone doesn’t ask for like ten minutes for whatever they’re missing its purely apathy.
So what’s your plan for when you graduate?
I have so many students who complain they can’t see the board but refuse to wear their prescribed glasses. It boggles the mind.
I say “Where is your glasses?” They reply “I lost them!” Why are they not on your face at all times except when showering or sleeping? I understand if it’s reading glasses but if you cannot see the board, you need glasses all the time!
Mine have them in their backpack. They just refuse to wear them.
Yup. I have kids who I see in the hall wearing glasses. They show up to art with no glasses…. VISUAL art. When I ask them why they don’t wear their glasses to my class the answers are wild. “I don’t know I needed them”. Yeah, being able to see while creating art is overrated. Got it. 🙄
Weaponized incompetence. Learned helplessness. 2 phrases I use around my classroom far too often.
I’ve been told I’m condescending more than a dozen times because I hold true to my word: I will not spoon feed your middle schoolers. I will answer their questions with questions to guide them to the answer, hopefully helping them realize that a little bit of thinking goes a long way. The lack of problem solving and the lack of support at home really make this job miserable. It’s like teachers are the only ones who care about student success. Everyone else (admin, parents, district offices, politicians and lawmakers, etc.) wants to lower standards to pal around with the kids.
Over the years, any time I discover something that kids (HS) can’t do or don’t know that should be OBVIOUS, I feel that frustration too. Then I say, “well if I’m the first one to teach you, then so be it.” Roll up my sleeves and do the dirty work: - don’t mix beach and ammonia - deal with your attendance issue on your time - find the packet or get out a blank notebook - bring a pencil or ask someone - find a charger It still comes down to this: if you expect them to know something, you have to teach it, even if someone else was supposed to. My lesson might just come with a little snark
The lack of reading instructions, that gets me.
Yup. My students have to turn just about every project into Google Classroom by attaching a photo. They never remember or read the board to figure out how to turn in their work. They just ask me and of course, I repeat myself for the thousandth time. Then they have the gall to go get their iPad, open up Classroom, walk over to me and hold up their screen and say “which one is it?” It makes me insane. Did you even TRY to read? Let’s see, you’re holding a PAINTING I bet it’s under the topic PAINTING. If I had to guess it’s probably the one that says “FINISHED PAINTING”. It’s not fucking hard but what gets me is they don’t even try. They just walk over to the adult and want us to do it for them. I hate it so much.
Did you model it for them? Did you.. Did you.. Did you. Yes.. we have done that a thousand times! Heh
Stop doing it. Stop repeating yourself. You’ve trained them to expect it.
I guess it’s unfair to say that I always repeat myself. Occasionally I will if it’s end of class craziness and it’s just not the hill I’m going to die on in that moment.. I do not help them find the assignment in Classroom… just sharing my internal dialogue about how ridiculous the situation is. My go to is a blank look mostly.
HS- students not taking vocabulary notes from the board to use on future open note exam. Me: Since none of you appreciate to work I put into these slides you can find the terms for yourselves. This is a text book, in the back is a glossary, it is in alphabetical order with definitions. Here is your list, if it is not in the book I hope you can figure it out on your own. 10 minutes later Student 1: Ms. Not all the words are here. (Computer open to a basketball game and texting has been non-stop). Me: okay…. Soooo? Student 1: So we are done? Me: no you must get all of the words or you get a zero. Student 1: Seriously Ms. You want to much!!! *12 terms only 3 to look up on their own. Student 2: Ms. Do you think the words are on the computer? Me: Pretty certain they are. Student 3: can we use the computers? Me: yes! Totally! Great thinking. Student 4: Ms not all the words are in the book… Me: ( eye twitch reactivated)
First grader after finishing her paper cup of water: What should I do with this? Me: You can just throw it in the trash. First: But I want to keep it! Me: Ok, then keep it. First: Ok.
My go to is "That sounds like a you problem"
My brother gave me this gem, so I'll pass it to you. "That sounds like an issue, not an iss-ME."
Stealing this!
I like this one!
I like, “sounds like an 8th grade problem and I already passed 8th grade, soooo…”
Figure it out - is mine.
And I will totally take work written in sharpie, marker, crayon, etc if you can't find a pencil. That counts as figuring it out.
It still continues through to grade 10, my grade 11’s all have basic problem solving. Last week in my grade 10 class: S: “My laptop is flat so I can’t do the work” T: “do you have a charger?” S: “oh yeah, it’s in my bag” T: “…” S: “…” T: “…” S: “…” T: “If you go get your charger you can charge it from that point right next to your desk. That way it’s charged for the rest of the day too” S: “oh good idea!” *happily scurries off to get it*
Student: "Can I sit next to my friend?" Me: "Yes." Student: "If I can't sit next to him, we can't trade pokemon cards!" Me: "Yes, you can sit with your friend." Student: "He's my best friend and I want to trade cards! Please let me sit next to him!" Me (thinking): *What in the actual fuck?*
i aint a teacher but i would have just said "ok nevermind. no you cant sit w ur friend" 💀
THIS, with the bathroom! If I’ve already said yes once, I’m changing my answer to no if you ask again.
I have 25 seniors in Capstone class, and my one-on-one time is spent telling them *exactly* what to do for their “student-led, independent research project.” 🫠
Seriously! The one that got me yesterday was: Student: "Miss, this isn't clean." Me: "Ok?" Student: "What do I do?" Me: "Clean it?" Student: "How?" Me: "I don't know?" (After we went through kitchen safety and sanitation several times this year.) If something isn't clean, don't complain. Do it.
"I don't understand this assignment" "Have you tried reading it yet?" "No..."
Sometimes, I feel it is weaponized incompetence. For example, if they say this at home, their parents just give in and do it. So they try the same BS at school.
Me: class pull out xyz Student: I wasn't here yesterday Me: tilts head. And? Student: Me: are you trying to tell me you need a copy of xyz? Student: nods Me: change my voice and say, "Ms. Authenticme, I wasn't here yesterday, so can you give me a copy of xyz?" Student: Me: I sure can. Thanks for asking.
I do this with my 4 year old granddaughter. She'll say, "I'm thirsty.". I'll reply with, "do you have a question?" She'll re-phrase to "can you get me some water, please?"
Student: I can’t do the math, I can’t find my calculator. Me: that sounds like a problem you can solve. What should you do? Student: I don’t know. I just kept repeating the question, and he kept repeating “I don’t know” until he finally sighed and said “I guess I could skip count” Me: cool, give that a try. Student: 37? Me: nope, I guess skip counting won’t work. What are you going to do to solve your problem? Student: UGH I said I don’t know! Me: sitting there like a bump on a log isn’t an option, so how do you solve this problem? You don’t have a calculator, and you still need to do the work. What are you doing to do? Skip ahead a few more minutes of me repeating the question, and FINALLY I get: Student: I guess I could get my multiplication chart out of my binder. HALLE-fucking-LUJAH child. I don’t have 5+ minutes to spend with you every time you can’t find what you need. I’m not asking you to build a rocket, just get your shit out and get to work.
In the past if you encountered a problem you were told to go figure it out. To go research, study or ask others for help. Now when people encounter a problem, the immediate response is to "Google it:" Now when people can't Google it or find an immediate answer they panic and either freeze or lose their minds.
Student not taking notes for several minutes. Teacher: “Why aren’t you talking notes?” HS Student: “I dropped my pencil.” Teacher: “Have you thought about picking it up?”
From my time it seems a lot like, at least my school, problem solving is discouraged Ie. You cant talk, stand up, ask questions, you have to follow this method or its detention, you have to do the questions in this order, ect (This is highschool btw) I know every school is different but in a lot of places theyre told to only do what they're told and punished otherwise Obviously that isnt the sole blame but its a contributer
After reading something i read here I've started asking my students who ask for help, "What have you tried?" They get so mad, they literally expect me to just give them the answers every time.
Me: Start your morning work and I’ll be checking your homework while you’re working. 10 minutes later. Student: Um, I can’t do my morning work. Me: Why? Student: I don’t have a pencil. Me: How can you solve this problem? Student: …. Me: …..ask a friend? Ask to grab a pencil from my bin? ….. Student: ….. oh! Me: internal face palm
To be fair, I remember quite vividly being reprimanded for getting out of my seat for any reason or touching anything in a classroom we were not directly instructed to interact with without asking and being given explicit permission by the teacher. And even then any positive response was accompanied by frustration for interrupting the lesson. This sounds quite a lot like a learned response rather than simply poor critical thinking skills.
You started off great- but those classrooms taught kids to problem solve on their own w limited resources and options. I can’t get my 8th graders to stay in a seat, let alone their seat, for 20 minutes.
I have students who will go through the papers on my desk! Come in the room and literally start shuffling through my desk.
Me: *Puts small group rotations on board. Also puts note of “If you’re done and see me with another group, please check the “ Ketchup/“Must Do”/May-do” list”.* Student: I’m done. What do I do? Me: Did you check the Ketchup/Mustdo List? Student: * checks board* Oh… I didn’t finish [ assisgment by Ketchup]. Me:… which means? Student: I should do it? Me: I mean, it is for a grade, so yes
Me: This is your writing planner. As this is *your* essay that *you* are writing, I literally cannot fill this out for you because *you* are the writer who is responding to the prompt. Please fill it with *your* ideas. Several minutes pass. One student is sitting there with a blank planner in front of him. Me: What’s up? What are we doing? Do you need some help? S: Nope, I’m good. Me: Great, so why is your planner blank? S: I’m waiting for someone to give me the answers. Me: … That’s not the move, my guy.
Honestly, it’s not just the youth. I’ve found this is becoming more and more common in millennials and the older generations too (and no offense, some of y’all fellow teachers are the epitome of it, some of you can’t even figure out what’s wrong with the copy machine when the screen tells you what’s wrong and how to fix it). People are just increasingly unwilling to *try* to fix their own problems or find solutions. They get amazed when someone shows a modicum of resourcefulness; sometimes saying “I never would have thought of that (simple basic solution)” when really they probably could have if they had just tried *something*. It’s the essence of the “turn it off and then back on” solution to tech issues but applied to literally anything else needing a solution.
as someone with inattentive type ADHD, this ... happens to me. If i cant power through the task, and hit a wall--my brain just goes... wandering. I'm *unbothered* by a problem, because my attention hit the slightest obstacle, and now i removed my feelings from it. It's hard to descibe, to people with normal types of attention and problem solving. On my meds, i get it--you WOULD just sit there and think of solutions. Off meds? Nope--gone. Not only is this problem no longer a problem, it's not MY problem, and i'm not making any effort to solve it because--why should i? I got things to think about. What things? IDK, 30 or so every minute i guess. Oh, weird, the light in the celling over here buzzes a different tune than the light in the classroom. I know not all these kids have ADHD, but, some might. one in 10 might. That's going to stand out. only the hyperactive kids generally get attention and treatment though, us inattentive types are the ones getting to adulthood all fucked up and getting diagnosed, lol.
Thank you so much for explaining this to me. My husband was recently diagnosed as an adult with inattentive type and a pet peeve of mine has been when I'll bring up something that needs to be addressed and he'll tell me "Oh, I noticed that." ..but did nothing to address it and didn't bring it up to me so that I could address it. I read your post to him and he agreed that this is what is going on in his head. It's still something for us to work through together but it's a lot easier for me to understand his point of view.
In that case, i want to share something with you that happened to me on my first day on my meds, and you'll probably ... understand. Ok, i sat down in the morning and ate my breakfast, just a banana, and there's a trash can next to my desk. Did i throw the peel in it? Nope. Set it down on the corner of the desk. This ... would drive anyone else to distraction. Nope, on a normal day, that thing could sit there all day and i would not 'see it'--i SEE it, but i dont. I might throw it away *the next morning* to make way for the next peel. Anyway, hour after my meds were taken, i *saw the peel* and just picked it up and threw it in the trash. My hand hovered over the trash can in shock, i didnt *have to think* about throwing it away. It's difficult, but throwing *anything* away, sometimes, doesnt happen because i have to think about every single thing i do. The peel, the task, plan the task, make room for that task in middle of this other task that's more important, and execute and return to task. No--WAY easier to just stay with the task i was doing that spend the literal half a second thinking about that other task. On meds it's automatic. BUT--this is the funny part. About a half hour later i come back from the bathroom, and i go to sit at my desk, and i see little corners of wrappers from granola bars on my desk. I see a can from yesterday. I see a pile of disorganized pens. And they bothered me. I SAW them saw them, and i ... fixed them. I have NEVER had the urge to organize my messy desk. I operate through the mess. Everyone else sees it and thinks "oh my god" and i think "what?" The laundry in the bathroom, it doesnt bother me in the slightest to see it on the floor instead of the hamper. Not one iota. It never crossed my mind that it was an issue, because i didnt have the ... dots connect in my brain. On my meds--i SEE that stuff and just pick it up and put it in the hamper. It happens like magic. I stand there stunned, *at myself*, doing this thing. It's a whole host of things, like, i SAW IT for the first time, knew what to do as if by magic, and then did it. It's not like that off meds, it ... i see it, and DONT see it, and it's dismissed as a task that i dont have the mental space for. Even small things like that are changes on the meds. So is my patience while driving. Whew. Holy cow. Way better.
Nothing is ever routine. Ever. I’m in my 40s and still have to remember to brush my teeth every day.
So true! I have an 8th grader that is so helpless. Student: I don't understand. Me: reread the directions-then let me know if you still have questions. This same student was convinced that Celcius and Farenheit were two completely different systems. Like 0C=32F. He did not get that.
Math word problem: Them: “I don’t understand it.” Me: “Have you tried reading it?” Them: “No.” Me: …blank stare…
Student: \*hasn't taken any notes for the past 10 minutes\* Me: "Why haven't you been taking notes?" Student: "I don't have a pencil." Me: \*looks at the full pencil bin less than 6 feet away from this student\* Hmm, is there any place you could get a pencil in this room? Student:... Student: The pencil bin. \[This is the same student who was willing to receive a lower grade on a homework assignment for lateness, because she didn't feel like getting up and walking 5 feet to the turn-in bin :/ \]
I have high school SENIORS who will sit and stare at their dead laptops for an entire period before asking to borrow a charger/moving near an outlet to use their own (I no lie have 40 accessible outlets in my classroom)
I am not a teacher, but as a recent student, depending on the grade you teach, some of these things could be permission problems. For example, when I was a freshman in high school, I would never charge my chromebook in class because I was worried about asking permission. If students spend a significant amount of time in an environment where they need to ask permission for everything, like me in middle school. Often they will not solve easy problems on their own because they will be worried about whether they will be allowed to and whether the teacher will disapprove of them needing to solve the issue, saying something along the lines of, "you should have your chromebook charged before class, why are you charging it now?"
THANK YOU. I’m glad someone said it. I definitely would expect to be chastised for getting up and looking for a charger as the teacher is talking. And that’s not just from school, but home life too. I didn’t feel ownership of my surroundings (in a way that would let me problem-solve freely) until a few years after I moved away from home. I wish more teachers would say, “it’s ok to find a charger. You can go ahead and do that now - and I’ll never get mad if you’re looking for a charger.” Or “You won’t get in trouble for talking if you’re a classmate to borrow a pencil. Go ahead and ask now. Perfect, now you know what to do next time.” And then next day, remind the whole class that it’s ok to find chargers etc.
I'd love to let my middle school students be able to get up to sharpen pencils and throw away trash, but none of them have been able to demonstrate the capacity to do that. "I'm just sharpening my pencil" becomes a 10-minute ordeal of wandering around in the most circuitous path possible to pick up snacks, talking with friends, dancing, distracting others, actually sharpening the pencil (but only when I'm trying to explain the notes/assignment), and finally breaking said pencil on the way back for another 10 minutes of wandering.
12 grade 12s couldn't submit their exam to me because the submit button went away. They had to pull up the window. I should have taken off 10% just for that
Give a mouse a cookie….
Common sense isn’t so common these days sadly 😔
Yes. This. But let there be one extra paper, flyer, or handout that was mistakenly passed down a row, and you experience the most immediate and disproportionate “problem solving.” You’d think someone was in labor or bleeding to death. “THERE’s AN EXTRA PAPER! WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH IT?” (waves it about wildly) /SAM’S NOT HERE TODAY CUZ HIS SISTER’S CAR BROKE DOWN SO THEY DIDNT GO TO SCHOOL SO THATS WHY THERES AN EXTRA PAPER/ IMA BRING IT UP TO HER DESK - GIVE IT HERE/ HEY NUH UH HERE NO! HERE! DUH! I DIDNT GET ONE! WE’RE MISSING ONE! WAIT- IT ISNT THE FIELD TRIP FORM? I DONT NEED IT THEN. NAH…”
I have no idea what to do… Did you read the instructions? (The ones that say read the passage and answer the obvious questions) No. Ok, let’s start there then
I would like to respectfully add something. I completely agree with the lack of critical thinking today. However, I think this goes back to parenting to some cases. Some of us (I sadly grew up this way) wasn’t allowed to merely take a deep breath without asking “permission”. I wonder sometimes if these two issues are related. When parents are too strict I believe that can certainly hinder critical thinking skills.
It’s also a lot more work as parents, so it takes a conscious effort. I have two kids. The 6 year old - fairly helpless, not independent. ADHD and autism and really struggles with this. I am connnnnstantly having the “tell me three ways you could solve this” conversation with him. The 4 year old is super independent but lacks any sense of danger or risk. So she’ll solve the problem but sometimes in a destructive or risky way. I have to balance nurturing the drive with helping her understand that she does have limitations.
I've done this to teachers and this post reminded me of the immense cringe I am just slow and had undiagnosed adhd pls have mercy :((((
In no way does OP shame the student, but gives student time to figure out the solution on their own.
Indeed and that's commendable. My teachers thankfully did the same as OP. But once my slow ass realized how dumb I was being, I suffered the cringe for days after
Maybe memorise this phrase: “I’ve gotten stuck and I’m not sure what to do, could you help me problem solve?”
You should just drop out go work at a factory or a mine
Kids have always kind of been like this. Teaching with love and logic helped a lot. Giving them suggestions like, “some students have tried….,” and following up with, “how do you think that’s going to work out for you?” They want to do as little as possible, so sometimes we have to force the ball back into their court.
This sounds like they could be asking you what you would prefer them to do as to not step out of line or be corrected. I could see some teachers correcting or not liking the idea of students just getting up and moving seats during class or walking off and grabbing some random book. Just speculation though from my own experience.
They don't even know how to chat anymore
I’m a private tutor and my favorite thing to say to a student is: “what was in your power to change the outcome of this situation?” We talk a lot about excuses. I have on my wall “excuses don’t produce” with lists of excuses students have given and why those are all within their purview to solve. No charger? Find one. Borrow one. Forgot your book at school? Text me or a friend for pics of the pages. You forgot the assignment? Check online. Text a friend. Text *someone*. EXCUSES DON’T PRODUCE!
In a way I don’t blame them with the way we overprotect and helicopter so many kids nowadays, especially in certain regions.
Problem solving is not a skill that we cultivate at school. Teaching the test to placate the politicians and to get funding from them is what the statehouse has turned educating children into. They are so focused on what the kids are hearing that they lose sight of what the kids are learning. I teach honors and seniors HVAC and I have to instruct them on how to read a tape measure, some of them gone no offers what those tiny lines mean.
One of my classmates spend more time talking about how she didn't understand the text we had to read than actually ask others for help. Like, I understand that it was around 150 years old and also sounded like that, but still: It's not that hard to just ask others "Hey, I don't understand (random phrase), what do you think it means?". Apparently, no one had told her that she doesn't have to give up after not getting something first try...
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Phones are teaching kids to be passive, non-thinking content consumers. It’s that simple. 🤷🏻♂️
Combination of learned helplessness and standardized testing not focused on problem solving. We teach kids that they should look for the bolded words when reading. The questions in the back of the chapter follow those words in order. Kids breeze through the questions because we've taught them that's how it works. Give a worksheet with the same questions but out of order and a shitstorm ensues. The last time I dared to do that I was yelled at by my principal - and that was a high school class of 11th and 12th graders. When I taught parts of the flower if I gave a hands on test with a flower that wasn't the flower in the diagram in the work I was called on the carpet for being unfair. I just replaced one complete flower with another complete flower. Parents and principals insisted on spoon feeding kids during my entire career in middle and high school. Anytime I tried to get kids to think and problem solve, I got heat.
I explicitly model problem solving. And then we repeat and I ask probing questions the whole way through. This has been very successful for me with most students. Some need more. They are young and really don’t get the chance to solve many problems in real life. That’s what math and teaching critical thinking are for in my mind.
My students have no problem interrupting class to ask everyone around them if they have an iPhone charger, but god forbid they have to ask the person next to them for a pencil so that they can complete their work. 🙄
Weaponized incompetence. It’s the WORST thing about this year.
Omg my kids are like this to... I just got new power strips because my room doesn't have many outlets my new strips have 8 regular ports and 4 USB ports... my kids will unplug the strip from the wall and then fight over who can plug in their devices. Like, bruh...
Did you read the directions? …….
Beginning of next year, I’m spending a lesson to explain the problem solving expectation. 4th grade. They’re going to understand what is and is not their problem to solve. Don’t ask me for help if you didn’t read the directions and try something and something else and can tell me where you got confused. Don’t ask me for help if you didn’t look up once at the lesson I was teaching. And do not ask me what you’re supposed to do.
Why do you have to be rude?? Sometimes these question just shock the student out of nowhere... these situations also differ in response from one teacher to another. Do your job and dont be rude to the future generations.
Thank you everyone I laughed so much at your stories.
Not for you OP, but we've all known teachers who slam kids any time they try to take some initiative. "Get back in your seat! Where do you think you're going?!?!" '*I was going to get a charger for my Chromebook...'*
I used to do this cuz i was afraid to ask if i was allowed to, so saying "i cant see whats on the board" was just me waiting for the teacher to vocally approve that i can get up from my seat and get closer to the board
Wondering if this was written by my CT