To be honest, I find this guy pretty pompous and I was left wondering if he was ever truly in the classroom. I agree that the MAJORITY of students do well if they can. But he mentions that we, as teachers are responsible for finding what is getting in the way. While being a poor reader, not knowing how to study effectively, having trouble with the material is within my scope of practice, there are some mental health issues that are way above my pay grade. Believe me, I work hard to figure out strategies with my students who may have mild anxiety or other mental health struggles. But the number of kids that have severe mental health issues is growing exponentially. Yet, every year the teachers are "trained" on dealing with trauma and feel like we are expected to perform miracles. Yes, I believe that under perfect circumstances, these students would learn if they could, but at what point is someone going to realize that teachers are not trained in dealing with kids who cut, attempt suicide, have extreme social anxiety, or a depressed?
