yes it’s complicated and yes, our teachers are in the same boat as the rest of us — many with children of their own.

I will say however, that sending my 11-year old a bunch of Kahn Academy links and saying you’ll check in a few weeks from now is not doing anyone any good. Especially since this teacher expects the work to be done and even sent out an email stating that if they didn’t start taking this seriously that they would end up working minimum wage jobs for the rest of their lives.

She sent this to a bunch of 6-graders.

If anything I think what’s being highlighted is that kids learn in very different and wondrous ways, and our 19th-century-train-’em-to-work-in-the-factories approach to education really, really needs to change. A side benefit: Most of the parents can now see this firsthand.