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Mom calls out teacher who gave her son a 'zero' grade for not providing class with supplies

Her viral video sparked a debate as to whether or not providing school supplies should be mandatory for parents.

@shanittanicole/TikTok

A zero grade for not providing school supplies?

The debate as to whether or not parents should supply classroom supplies is not new. But as prices continue to rise, parents are growing more baffled as to how they can be expected by teachers to provide all the various glue sticks, colored pencils, rulers and other various items the incoming students might need.

What’s even more perplexing, however, is penalizing the children of parents who won’t (or can’t) provide them.

This was the case for Shanitta Nicole, who discovered her son received a zero grade in his new school for not bringing school supplies for the entire classroom.

Nicole was especially surprised by this reaction since she had already gone through the effort of making sure her son had every supply he needed from the school’s list, which was slightly different than the one they previously had.

And yet, the 7th grade teacher informed her son that he was still expected to provide for the classroom, not just himself. And, thus, a zero grade, for failing the assignment, so to speak.


Even though Nicole thought the rule was “weird,” she went out and bought the bulk items, which included tissues, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, pencils, Expo markers, and red pens.

And yet, the next week—her son still has a zero. Concerned, Nicole emailed her son’s teacher.

“I’m like, ‘hey…my student has a 83 in the class and everything else in the class is 100s and 98s and he still has a zero for something called ‘classroom supplies.’” she said in a video.

“‘We bought the supplies anyways, but I don't feel like it's the parents' responsibility to supply your classroom. And I definitely don't think it's appropriate to assign a grade to students based off of whether or not they've supplied your class with supplies. That doesn't make any sense.’”

@shanittanicole Am I doing too much? #fyp #school ♬ original sound - Shanitta Nicolee 💖

And while Nicole’s email did get the teacher to reconcile the grade, there was no mention to her other concern regarding the responsibility for parents to provide the entire class with supplies.

“So, I emailed the principal because I just, I might be extra, but I just want to see what's going on. Why do I have to buy supplies for the classroom?” the frustrated mom concluded.

Nicole’s video quickly went viral on TikTok, and several weighed in to agree that the teacher’s actions were misguided.

“That is so unfair!! Especially for the kids whose parents CANT afford groceries let alone classroom supplies,” one user wrote.

Another added, “You are not wrong. It is 100% ok for [the teacher] to ask for supplies, but mandate it for a grade? Absolutely not.”

And this point is truly what Nicole took umbrage with, as she noted several times in the comments. It has less to do with being asked to help and more to do with her son’s grade depending on it.

In a follow-up video, Nicole shared that the school principal did end up reaching out, notifying her that while, yes, teachers are allowed to ask for donations, it should never be mandated.

@shanittanicole Replying to @yafavv._.dancer😍😘💞😍😍💞 Graded Supplies Update #fyp #school ♬ original sound - Shanitta Nicolee 💖

“What the teacher was trying to accomplish, but it definitely wasn't appropriate,” the principal told Nicole.

While the teacher might have not handled this situation in the best way, it goes without saying that this is a larger systemic issue—one that isn’t exactly fair to parents, teachers and students alike.

Most public school teachers spend a significant amount of their own money on classroom supplies, to an average of $673 per year, according to a recent survey of more than 1,100 educators by the Association of American Educators (AAE). That number only goes up for teachers in high poverty schools.

At the same time, according to a 2022 survey with Savings.com, the typical parent also spends nearly $600 on school supplies. Plus things like clothes, backpacks, haircuts etc.

In the grand scheme of things, there’s no use placing full responsibility or blame onto teachers or parents. Because either way, students get caught in the crossfire. This is clearly a universal burden that needs attention.


This article originally appeared on 10.5.23

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Joy

A teacher ran to a classroom to break up a fight, but what she found was the complete opposite

Her students were all in on the sweet surprise.

@lilythern/TikTok

Teacher runs toward what she thought was a fight in her classroom.

It's been said countless times, but teachers really are the best and bravest of us all. Anyone who has spent time surrounded by kids, trying to help them learn while managing the countless crises that can occur when hundreds of immature humans are put together in one place, knows that teaching encompasses so much more than just academic instruction. Teachers serve as mentors, counselors, nurses, mediators and sometimes even security guards.

That's why a middle school teacher who thought there was a fight happening in her classroom ran full speed toward it—in a dress and heels, no less.

A TikTok video shared by @lilythern shows a teacher sprinting down a school hallway with an overlay of text that reads, "This middle school teacher thought she was running to break up a fight." As she runs into the classroom, she sees a couple of dozen students gathered in a tight circle and shouting. The teacher immediately starts pushing her way through the outside of the circle, yelling, "Hey! Break it up! Break it up!"

But there is no breaking up to be had. In fact, what she finds is the exact opposite.

As the students part to let her through, we see some of them holding up signs and smiling. Then we see a man down on one knee.

Watch:

@lilythern

#fyp #touchingmoment #middleschoolersbelike #loveit

How fast was that adrenaline switch from fight-or-flight to genuine joy? Seriously, the fearlessness with which she ran into that room is as heartening as the proposal itself.

People in the comments loved it:

"She is so strong. She was running towards the chaos to stop it with her bare hands. What a fighter. This is the best proposal ever."

"That was the 'Not in my school!' run! 😂😂😂😂"

"Fearless teachers are the ones that deserve the most respect."

"Don’t marry her, she has to join the Avengers."

The students were clearly thrilled to be a part of the sweet proposal, and the teacher's immediate and enthusiastic "yes" made it all that much sweeter.

Definitely a moment none of these students—or their teacher—will ever forget.


This article originally appeared on 4.12.23

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teachers
Education

Teacher says it makes kids 'entitled' to let them go to the restroom whenever they like

"Some parents really are setting their kids up for failure."

via Canva

A child raises her hand in a bathroom.

A teacher on TikTok has created a debate over whether it’s appropriate to let elementary-age kids go to the restroom whenever they say they have to go. Jade Barrow, an elementary school-age substitute teacher in London, says she uses “discernment” when deciding whether a child can go to the bathroom and has no problem making them wait.

Barrow made the video to push back against parents who say their children should be able to go to the bathroom whenever they like. “If you want your child to receive special treatment, mainstream state school probably isn’t the place to be sending them,” Barrow captioned the video. “Some parents really are setting their kids up for failure in real life with all this pampering and entitlement.”

“Today, I had about four examples of a time where I did not let the children go to the toilet,” Barrow said in her video. “So I just want to give you a bit of insight into our world so you can make a better judgment when you say, ‘Well, my child is allowed to go to the toilet whenever they want.’”


@homelearninghaven

If you want your child to receieve special treatment, mainstream state school probably isn’t the place to be sending them 😩 some parents really are setting their kids up for failure in real life with all this pampering and entitlement 🙄

“Today, we had an activity where, for three minutes, you listen to your partner read and then you swap over because you’re going to give them feedback on how they read ... I start the timer — one kid starts reading. The partner comes up to me and is like, ‘Ms., can I go to the toilet?’ But right now, you’re supposed to be listening to your partner read for three minutes,” she continued.

Barrow said it wasn’t fair for the child to take a bathroom break while working on an assignment with another student.

She added that it’s inappropriate for a child to ask to go while she is giving instructions. “No, because if you now go to the toilet, when you come back, I’m going to have to explain the activity again to you.” She also believes they should wait once recess has ended and the kids have returned to class. “You literally just had playtime ... you’re going to have to hold onto it for a minute,” she said.

The teacher clarified that she’d only make a child hold their bladder for a few minutes. “At max, it’ll be like, four minutes,” Barrow said. “If I can see that they’re really ... desperate, then fair enough, I’ll let them go.”



The video didn’t sit well with many parents on TikTok who think their children should never be denied access to the bathroom. “I've told my daughter, if she needs to use the toilet, just ask to be excused once, if the teacher says no - walk out,” Zeduk wrote. “If you need the toilet, that's all you will concentrate on.. so the child won't actually be taking in the information and it's likely it will need repeating anyway?” SunshineLvoes assed.

A teacher said she takes the opposite approach, which works fine for her. “I’m a primary school teacher. Children in my class use the toilet as and when they need to go. It’s their right. If I have to catch a child up, I do. I’ve never had an issue—they love the freedom,” BubblesWHU wrote.

Some commenters thought Barrow was right to expect children to wait until an appropriate time to leave the classroom.

“She is explaining that it’s only 4 mins max, let’s be honest, most times 4 mins is fine. My son tells me he needs the toilet when we’re on our way home, literally a few mins away, he’s fine,” Caits wrote. “Outside of education, children also have to wait to use the [bathroom]. Are these parents seriously saying they've never had to walk 5 minutes through a shopping center, or walking home, or in the car,” Helen added.

Ultimately, the debate is about balancing a child’s immediate needs with healthy classroom management. The key is for Barrow and other teachers to let their students know when they can go to the bathroom and when they’ll need to wait a few minutes. That way, the students can be conscious of their needs and develop a good habit of planning to use the restroom before it’s too late.

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teachers
Education

Teacher of the year explains why he's leaving district in unforgettable 3-minute speech

"I'm leaving in hopes that I can regain the ability to do the job that I love."

Lee Allen

For all of our disagreements in modern American life, there are at least a few things most of us can agree on. One of those is the need for reform in public education. We don't all agree on the solutions but many of the challenges are undeniable: retaining great teachers, reducing classroom size and updating the focus of student curriculums to reflect the ever-changing needs of a globalized workforce.

And while parents, politicians and activists debate those remedies, one voice is all-too-often ignored: that of teachers themselves.

This is why a short video testimony from a teacher in the Atlanta suburb of Gwinnett County went viral. After all, it's hard to deny the points made by someone who was just named teacher of the year and used the occasion to announce why he will be leaving the very school district that just honored him with that distinction.

In a video carried by Fox5 Atlanta, 2022 Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year Lee Allen breaks down what he sees as the overriding problems in the county's school system. While his comments are specific to that of Gwinnett County, it's virtually impossible to not see the overlap across all of America and how the problems have become exponentially more challenging as students have migrated back to in-person learning.

"At the end of this year, I will be leaving Gwinnett County Schools, leaving behind the opportunity to submit for state teacher of the year, roughly $10,000 in salary, and most importantly, the students and colleagues I've built strong relationships with," Allen, a math teacher at Lawrenceville's Archer High School, says at the beginning of his remarks. "I'm leaving in hopes that I can regain the ability to do the job that I love."

Normally, one might assume teacher pay is the overriding issue for educators like Allen. But he makes it clear that he is, in fact, leaving money on the table to avoid what he deems as unacceptable changes to the student body and how the district manages its teachers and the learning environment. Here are his main grievances, in order:

  • "First issue at hand is student apathy and disrespect for school rules and norms. … We have an alarming number of students that simply do not care about learning and refuse to even try."
  • "We are also experiencing incredible disrespect and refusal to follow basic school rules. There is little to no accountability or expectation for grades or behavior placed on students or parents. Rather than being asked what the student can do to improve their understanding, teachers are expected to somehow do more with less student effort."
  • Cell phone use. Teachers simply cannot compete with the billions of dollars tech companies pour into addicting people to their devices. Phones allow constant communication, often being the spark that fuels fights, drug use and other inappropriate meetups throughout the day. We need a comprehensive district plan with support behind it in order to combat this epidemic and protect the learning environment."
  • "Lastly, there is a huge disconnect between administrators and teachers. The classroom in 2022 is drastically different from just three years ago. Most administrators have not been in a classroom full-time in years or even decades. Many teachers do not feel understood, valued or trusted as professionals from administrators and the decisions that they make."

While Allen points fingers at administrators and student behavior, he also says that the pressures put on both students and teachers alike by COVID-19 had a catastrophic impact on learning. "The pandemic has acted as a catalyst and turned a slow negative trend into an exponential crisis," he says.

But he also offers some solutions, stating, "I won't list complaints without offering ideas for improvement."

  • All administrators should spend at least one week in a high needs classroom, "without a suit, without people knowing your title and in the same room, all day, for an entire week."
  • Prioritizing smaller class sizes.
  • Greater transparency from the district in terms of needs and expectations and goals.

"We all want the same thing and we cannot accomplish this without supporting one another," he says near the end of his remarks.

With more than 400,000 views already, it's clear his remarks resonated with people not just inside his school district.

There's almost nothing more important than how we educate our children. And while the national political debate centers on areas of far less importance generated to gin up controversy and campaign fundraising, it's families and local leaders who will need to do the heavy lifting of reprioritizing the fundamental principles of learning and leadership if we want an American educational system that can compete on the global stage in 2022 and beyond. After all, when literal award-winning educators like Allen are walking away, it's clear something more needs to be done.


This article originally appeared on 6.28.22

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