The Achievement Gaps in Education- Tips From Real Teachers Like You (Part 1) [episode 31]

Hey, hey, good morning, or afternoon or evening, whenever you are listening to this episode, I have been looking forward to recording this segment for you for quite some time now. I know that over the past what three years and you know, technically even more, but more so since COVID, we have been seeing educational gaps and social emotional learning gaps in the classroom with our students. And especially when there are so many kids in a classroom and you’re trying to meet all these children, it can be kind of challenging, especially as these gaps are widening now more than ever. And just like in the theme song you hear every time we listen to this podcast, we talk about bridging the gap. And this is really what this two episodes segment is going to be all about is finding ways to bridge that gap. And what to do in the meantime, the gaps are there. They’re not going anywhere, anytime soon. So how do we navigate this? And how do we listen to some of that anxiety and the feelings we are feeling around it. We’re going to talk all about that and see what other teachers are doing about it, too. So today, we’ll be talking about the educational gaps. And next week, so for my Tuesday episodes right now, next week, we’re going to talk about the social emotional learning gap. So it won’t be the next episode, we’re going to have the guest interview in between. And then next week, when it’s back to me, we will have our second episode about the social emotional learning gap. So I’m looking forward to this, I hope that you can learn a lot from it.

So first, before I dive in to what everybody else has to share, and they have so much so I’m not going to take very long. But as you know, I love sharing my own insight with you. And also putting a mindset piece into it. Because I feel like that is just so important. But I also want to make sure we have time to share with others in the community and what they are seeing. So I have three quick tips for you. So my first one, and again, we’re talking about the educational gaps right now. So it is accepting the current circumstances as they are. So it doesn’t help us to look at how things are and be like, Oh, I just wish they were different. They should be able to do this, they should be able to do that. But the thing is, even if the standard is for, let’s say you teach second grade, even if the standards say they should be able to do this, or whatever the fact is they don’t, right. If they don’t, they don’t. So accept that. And then just set realistic expectations for yourself for yourself with teaching and for your students. It’s not going to change overnight. So just give yourself grace and give your students grace all along the way. So just you know, being like, Yeah, this is how it is it is a circumstance like we talked about in coaching with Wife Teacher Mommy club, circumstances are neutral. So just thinking about it, okay, these kids are at a lower level, what do I need to make that mean? What am I making it mean? So just think about that, and just, you know, make it mean that you are going to do your best to help these students and you’re going to have so much growth this year.

And that leads me into the next one. So don’t look at students compared to where the standard says they should be, per se. I mean, we should we do need to obviously, we are teachers, we do need to look at the standards and try to help them meet those. But don’t judge the students so harshly is more what I mean against those standards. Look at where they started, and where they’re going how far they’ve grown. During the time you’ve had them, so you’re starting at one point, you know, if you’re listening to this, when this episode comes out, it’s the beginning of the school year. So look at where they’re starting out. And then when they end up and celebrate that growth, even if it doesn’t quite hit the standard, they’re going to grow this school year. So make sure to celebrate along the way. And that will make your students feel motivated, and you feel motivated to continue that growth and closing that gap. Like it’ll get smaller and smaller, over the next few years, these gaps, but you know, they’re, they’re going to be there. So we just need to celebrate along the way, except the circumstances, those really kind of go together.

And then my third tip for you, is to find resources that will help make differentiation easier for you and for your students. So you can support them with resources that meet them at their level, instead of trying to like give them a resource that doesn’t help them that doesn’t help bridge those gaps. If it’s too hard, they’re not going to make their way up there. We got to work with where we’re at. And it might be different for every student. So if you can find resources that will help you do that. Set yourself and your students up for success. So you’re not having to do all the work yourself. And there are lots of ways you can get these resources. But I would just love to have you join us in Wife Teacher Mommy club too because we have so many differentiated resources. And one thing I really feel like makes us unique is a lot of stores, they focus on just a couple grade levels, but we do pre K through sixth grades. And then we tried to differentiate those resources. So you could actually pull them for different levels, and have different students doing the same activity, but at their level, it’s a very unique experience. And when you join the club, you don’t have to pay for each level, that would get very, very expensive. If you had to do that for each resource, you’re actually saving a ton of money by joining us in the club, because you get every resource at every level, it is a great deal. But also, I just created a new code only for podcast listeners. So if you join us and you use the code, podcast 10, you’ll save 10% off your first payment. And that is because as a podcast listener, you have been giving me your time listening to this podcast. And I hope obviously it’s been worth it for you. I don’t think you would continue listening if it wasn’t. But I just want to get back to you. I appreciate you listening. And being here, it makes it so it can continue recording this podcast. So use code podcast10 to save 10% On your first payment at the club. And one thing a member recently told me is I feel like a kid in a candy store because she can just grab something here and grab something there and it’s all there just waiting for her. And here are what a few other members of the club said specifically about how the club helps them differentiate. So Kimberly G says, “I originally planned to participate in the Educate and Rejuvenate after seeing posts about it on Facebook. Before the event even started I decided club membership will be monumental for me and my fourth through sixth grade students. I teach a self contained class and the abilities and interests of my students range K to six. The resources I have been able to access to the club will make differentiating, accommodating and modifying is so much less time consuming.” Now Leshawna R says, “Wife Teacher Mommy has created a simple way for me to differentiate my lessons for review and small group work. I’ve utilized most if not all of the studies with my students, the students find it very easy to navigate through their independent work. I love this subscription and it is well worth every penny.” Now I’m Patricia LaRue says. “I have been a member for a few months and it is amazing how much money I’m saving. Plus it is so much more easy to download documents. You don’t need to go through the purchase process. Just click download and wallah unlimited best deal you can get.” So that is how the club can help you differentiate. I would love to have you join us again that code is podcast10 to save 10% off, and you can always just go to wifeteachermommyclub.com.

Okay, now let’s get into what some of our awesome community members have to share about differentiating, meeting these educational gaps and what to do about it. And first, I’m going to share some voice recordings with you. Like I’ve mentioned before, podcasting is kind of one way a lot of times you get to hear me talk you can hear my voice but I don’t get to hear you back. And I actually love connecting with you. I think it’s so much fun. It’s one of my favorite things about having this company. So I created an inbox so you can record answers for me to questions or just anything you would like to say or a tip you’d like to share on the podcast for the WTMpodcastinbox.com If you have a tip or strategy you would like to share and I might be able to tie into future episodes. Okay, so I’m going to just play these recordings for you so you can hear these tips in their own voices. And then I also have some from social media comments that I will read aloud as well after that. And remember these are about the educational gaps. We’re talking about how to solve the achievement gap. So like, you know, when kids are all the different levels.

Okay, so our first recording is from Andrea, here’s what she has to say. “My biggest struggle when it comes to the gap that my students are experiencing is that my students are this year going to be second and third graders, however, two of them are pre readers or early kindergarten reading level, just due to COVID, and remote teaching, and then they have some behavioral struggles. And a lot of behaviors are on reading and not wanting to engage with reading tasks. So it’s really hard to give them grade level work in the other areas if they aren’t reading at their current grade level. So we have a classroom rule that staff members can read for the students in math, social studies and science. That way they are working at their grade level in those grades and not falling behind while we work on bringing their reading level up during their reading activities and reading classes.”

Okay, next, we have Chelsey Harper. “I think that one of the things that has helped in my classroom is to utilize accommodations, not just for the lower students, or the ones that need a little bit of extra help, but for just all of them. So you know, those things like audio books, or more visual ways to learn or things like that, I think we often think that those are only able to be used for those kids with IEPs, or 504s or, you know, that just mean that little bit of extra help when really those can be utilized as a whole classroom. And then you’re able to kind of make it more specific or more individualized based on your kiddos. So just allowing, I mean, because you can do the same book at different levels, which would be a great way to just really include everyone, but meet their needs at the same time. And I also think just trying to reach those kiddos that need that extra help. Going to trying to target them just allows you to kind of cover the class as a whole, all students are going to learn better with a little bit of extra, you know, accommodations or just a little bit of extra assistance. So that’s one way that I have figured out that you can kind of you know, utilize those, those extra supports, but just as a whole class.”

Okay, next, let’s hear from Kayla Butterfield. “So I come from a fourth grade background. But I did teach a year, first grade last year, and now I’m back in fourth grade. And I am seeing so much like the same in first grade and fourth grade not just in the education world, but in the neediness of the children. So I’ve reinstituted like a tattle tele a tattle telephone, because it’s driving me insane. But I was trained in Orton Gillingham over the summer. And we used a little bit of it last year before I was trained because most of my coworkers were. And now that I have it, I’m already seeing what it’s doing for my students. So I highly suggest it. I don’t think it really matters what program you use to train for it, because there’s a whole bunch of different places that do Orton Gillingham. But it is a game changer. And they have an intermediate and lower level as well for those kiddos that are just learning how to read. It really goes along with the science of reading, which you know, is a big thing. And I’m a firm believer in it. So yeah, I’d say Orton Gillingham and just trying to develop independence. And I, I need some pointers on that. So I’m really excited to listen to the podcast.”

Now we’re going to hear from Sarah Gates, and Sarah was previously on the podcast. So if you’d love what she has to say, make sure to go listen to my interview with her too. “Hi, Kelsey, when it comes to educational gaps, I find that after COVID, we had more and more of them. So this year in a third grade classroom, I had kids reading at a first grade reading level all the way up to a fifth grade reading level. So I chose to utilize small group instruction to really be able to target my students needs as well as differentiating instruction to meet them at their level. I used a lot of reading passages that I found on my Wife Teacher Mommy resource page, and I was able to use them within the groups to really meet the students where they are and target their instruction. They loved the passages because every group looked like they had the same reading, but it was differentiated to meet them at their needs. So I would say small group instruction is how I helped to really meet that educational gap that we’re seeing more and more.”

Okay, next, let’s hear from Samantha. “What I’ve noticed is that the students that attended their zoom sessions that were held during the class sessions during COVID, regularly are the ones that are performing at or above grade level currently. But the students that did not attend regularly are the ones that are performing below grade level. And that’s the gap that we’re noticing now.”

Now, we’re going to hear from Tori M. “Hi, Kelsey. So I actually teach middle school, I teach eighth grade special education and general education. And I still love your resources, you are fabulous. And there’s always something I find that I can either use the way it is, or tweak it to fit the needs of my students. And so I just wanted to share my experience with the educational gaps that we’ve seen in the last couple of years, following the COVID pandemic. So prior to COVID, working in special education, there have always been deficits. We have fifth graders reading at a first grade level, or I’ve had seventh and eighth graders reading at a first to third grade level. And most recently, most of my students were eighth graders who read it at third to fifth grade level. And the struggle that I found is they are in inclusion classes, which is wonderful. However, there is a lack of understanding for some educators I feel in how to bridge that gap. So they expect an IEP, or 504 to magically fix the problem. But what we really need to do is modify our curriculum to meet them where they are, and build them up to where we need them to be. Or at least, that’s my opinion. And that’s what I’ve been doing. And it’s been working for my students who are in special education. And I think it would be super helpful for other students as well.”

Okay, next, we’re going to hear from Amanda. “I worked in preschool and pre K. And we’ve noticed a lot of kids that have just scaffold their socialization skills. At that age, we expect them to, you know, interact with peers, however, due to COVID, we feel as though kids are not getting out in around other children or peers their age, therefore, that we have noticed some some gaps there. And we find that just allowing kids the time to be in the classroom and exposing them to peers, as much as possible, seems to help close that gap as well as just not putting any pressure on them. And just understanding that this is where we kind of are as a society, right. And when we need to accept that, just because two years ago, we were expecting this child to be able to maybe hold since there’s a correct way or be able to share their toys or something along those lines doesn’t mean that day those those kids of that age and and be doing those things, they just haven’t had the exposure that other kids have pre COVID.”

Now we’re going to hear from Nicole. “Hi, Kelsey, I think some of the educational gaps that I see are Fact Fluency when it comes to math, as well as lower reading comprehension, especially with my fourth graders.”

Okay, one thing I do want to mention really quick after this short message with Nicola. Nicola is one of our Wife Teach Mommy club members. And she also uses our reading passages and math fluency. So she’s able to very easily differentiate to meet her students with those things she just mentioned with those resources. And here’s what she’s previously had to say about Wife Teacher Mommy club. “I love everything about Wife Teacher Mommy. I enjoy listening to the podcast, I enjoy being part of the club and I especially like the coaching calls those those get really raw and real and to the heart of teaching as well as just how it affects our whole life. Also, like the the Facebook group, and I really love the products, they make it easy to use in class.”

Okay, next, we’re going to hear from Rosemary. “Hey there, my name is Rosemary. I’ve taught sixth grade for about 13 years. And when I see these kids coming up from fifth grade, I teach sixth. I see so many gaps. And I know we’ve had Hurricane Florence, we’re in North Carolina, COVID. All of the online learning is a hot mess. But we’ve got all these challenges against us. And the only thing we can do is help them fill those gaps. One way that I got stronger as a teacher is leaving my comfort zone of middle school. And I went down to an elementary school and I taught one year, third grade and one year fourth grade to see what the curriculum looked like, and what the issues were with the math gaps that they were having when they got to middle school. And going down really made me feel a part of what they’re doing with a stronger connection, because I lived it with them for those two years. So after those two years, I went back to sixth grade math middle school, and I was able to do more filling of the gaps per se, with small group and just pull out and meeting their individual needs, because I saw what they had to do in elementary school. So I felt like I was able to zone in more and help them on a different level, since I knew what they were low in and what their area of need was. So with the gaps of learning, I really feel like if we live it with them, we know what they went through and what they need. I also have looped up three times in my teaching career with a same group of kids, and they were inclusion. And it is the best experience that I have had with teaching.”

Okay, so I love how these teachers shared what they’re seeing, I feel like so many of you probably can relate to some of what was said here, but I think they also have some great solutions for what to do. And that is what I love about this when we come together, and we share what we’re seeing so we don’t feel alone. But then we also share what we’re doing about it. And when we come together and we share we are so much better. So I love that thank you to all of you, Rosemary, Nicole, Amanda, Tori, Samantha, Sarah, Kayla, Chelsea, and Andrea.

And now I have some more responses from social media that I will read out loud for you as well. So some of these, I tried to put them in order. So first, we’re going to just kind of do the ones where we see each other, like, Oh, I totally understand this. This is really challenging. And then I’m going to read ones like kind of have like kind of what they’re seeing but also what they’re doing about it. So we can also acknowledge how we’re feeling but we can also be like okay, how do we move forward from here?

Okay, so first, let’s start with Missy S. She says I’m seeing the gaps and kids from COVID and districts know this, but our level of teaching hasn’t changed. We’re trying to teach kids that haven’t had the prior learning on subjects. There’s a learning gap not being filled. Teachers are working double time trying to fill in missing subject content while teaching expected content. We are worn out. I think so many of us can relate to that.

And Laurie W says I’m in a title one district and I teach in SLC classroom COVID hurt but in my spec kids, I’ve seen good progress, but it is hard. We only did virtual a short time we’re back in the classroom in 2020 2021. Lots of kids stayed home and did virtual. We had kids out in quarantine a lot. I’ve sent work home but most didn’t have internet or the technology. They were offered technology and internet through the district. But most said no. I only had one student who brought his work back if my district would let me teach with the curriculum I like and I’m good at teaching instead of with using about three or four different ones. It seems like I’m all over the place. I’m too ADHD for that.

Heather K says the class size is so large and the amount of students who are behind have you questioning if they’re just behind, or if there’s an actual learning problem that needs to be addressed. The support to help you make those decisions is low because teachers are exiting the profession in masses, which leaves those who are still there under an even greater amount of stress, wondering where to even start. The students on average are two years behind grade level in my current classroom.

Dara L says I teach kindergarten I see a lot of learning gaps. One I noticed is those kids that don’t attend pre K come in not knowing even how to sit down. I also feel that students should have been five for at least a month before entering school. These four year olds are just not mature enough, especially if they haven’t been through a pre K program. Another issue I have is all these expectations they put on us and not let us just teach what we know works. They hire us but don’t trust us to know our job. In reality, anyone can actually teach what I teach as it is scripted curriculum basically, even in small groups, we are told what to use.

Kathy says honestly, there are those gaps who were talking about. But I would say this year parents are even more removed than before. They’re not pairing, getting chores, getting their backpacks and more. Although this has probably been a problem always it’s felt like more of a problem now because we’re back to school.

And to go along with this I kind of like what Lisa L had to say, More than ever students are lacking in oral language skills and are begging for connection. My own 2020 baby has a speech delay now as a two year old and we’ve been informed by his speech therapist how common this has become for children who went through crucial developmental windows during the pandemic. Not only did children miss out on seeing facial expressions and learn correct malformations for articulating sounds due to masks, but they also weren’t receiving as much conversational turn taking or one on one time with parents who were in survival mode, working extended out was remotely in their own homes. While some kids got more attention, there was a huge population of kids that had to grapple with the fact that even though mom or dad was home, they weren’t home to be with them and home has changed into a place of productivity, something that often hinders children. regardless of their age, our students today have been impacted from the trauma that time in their lives produced has shown up in oral language and social skills as much as phonemic awareness and reading ability. Creating classroom communities where students have ample opportunities to talk and connect with others take turns be heard and feel important is critical. And the thing I love that Lisa said is that I feel like all of us have been in survival mode, the teachers, the parents, the children, it’s just been a really rough time. And like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I think, is we give all of each other grace during these gaps and everything. I think that will just help us to move through it and navigate all of it. So I loved what she had to say.

Now Karen K says, I teach kindergarten. My biggest issue is children who have no idea how to recognize or write their name. And in many cases don’t even know their name. I asked a child What is your name to which he could not answer so it changed the question to what does your dad call you? And his response was bro, many can’t hold a crayon or pencil, use safety scissors or use the bathroom without wanting help. They struggled to open a door or open the stuff in their lunch many struggle with being told, No, or having to wait their turn this year. I have 21 students and 10 to speak little to no English. How do I handle these gaps? I have to take the first month of school explicitly teaching these skills just so they can function in the classroom. And I put Karen’s in this episode because it related both to educational and social, surprisingly, or not. Actually, I think not surprisingly, I had even more responses about the social emotional learning, so there’s even more in next week’s episode. So that was kind of a little sneak peek on what we’re going to be talking about with that too.

Okay, Lisa S says last year especially lower grade level students stamina for learning was lower than I’ve ever seen. Their ability to sit and engage for longer periods was more difficult. We tried to offer more brain breaks and requested extra support from home in the evenings with activities and practice to reinforce what we were supposed to learn during the day.

Marine H says I am in an urban district, there is such a learning loss due to COVID. So many kids didn’t show up for virtual learning. And that lasted for almost two years in my district. However, the expectations of what they want these kids to know and do are still on the fourth grade level or higher, when most of them are at a third grade level or lower. I handle this by looking for lower level texts to teach the standards and working in small groups all the time. And I love this. I think that Marine is doing everything she can to bridge these gaps. And we’re actually going to be talking about small groups in my interview on Friday with Sara Marye, so be sure to check that out.

Debbie says I teach in a very small rural area, we have less than 250 students and are only K – six building with two sections per grade level. We have a large level of free and reduced families and we have a lot of community support for those in need. We have seen a drastic downward of math scores behavior and attendance. Last year was the worst year for disrespectful behavior. I’ve never seen so many detention suspensions and police visits in the 30 plus years I’ve taught here. Our staff were so stressed out exhausted and didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, our district came together and we had a week long paid summer training to align our math curriculum. We will be piloting a series this year and next year we will do the same with language arts. Our principal who was new last year poor thing got a committee together and we started PBIS this year. Most importantly our school board listened to us and they hired a full time counselor for our building. We no longer have to share with a Junior High in high school. We are still struggling with behaviors but they are more of the talking too much not sitting still type of things. And we are learning to lessen the gaps that will be there for a few more years. And I love what Debbie said at the end there. She’s like for a few more years. See how she mentioned the fact that they are going to be here. We’re not going to change this overnight. But they are making a plan they’re putting it into action and I love that Debbie is in such a supportive school for that.

Kaitlyn J says third grade teacher here I see significant phonics gaps. I have a chunk of kids barely reading and a kindergarten level decoding and coding etc. Not grasping what syllables are vowel sounds, etc.

Gwen Z says although my license is pre K through third, I’ve been fortunate enough to work in classrooms of every stage of education three year old daycare pre K elementary, middle and high school. I have witnessed firsthand the difficulties of teachers in the upper levels experience if we in early childhood do not prepare the students for learning. On the first day of school I begin with our behavior expectations. I let the children and parents know that schools for teaching but you are responsible for your learning. We have a chant we recite before each morning meeting the book I begin the first week with is Alice Walker’s Finding the Green Stone. Each child is given his or her own green stone to concentrate on during the chant. At the end of the year they get to take their stone home is not always easy with the pressure to focus on report current skills. But as many have mentioned many times in this post, many of our children are entering school deficient of many skills. Whenever possible, I will extend the learning by adding activities that I know the students would benefit from the exposure and that future teachers will appreciate not having to go backwards in their lessons.

Okay, Trisha A says I teach special education behavior classroom or it’s labeled as therapeutic learning classroom, we will start the social emotional skills next week. We also use the reading passages I love that all my students can read the same passage but on their level. So when I say we will be reading this story today, everyone feels equal. No more secretly switching out stories are students knowing that their story has to be different because they know the struggle, atmosphere in my room has changed. And Trisha is referring to our differentiated reading passages, which are an absolute favorite in our shop. So I’m going to link to those in the show notes, we have two versions, we have the original ones, which we have 36 passages, so one for every week. They include comprehension and fluency. And they aren’t like monthly themes, so you can use any of them any time of year. Then we also have our newest bundles, which if you’re listening right now, we’re still finishing up that growing bundles, so you can get a deal right now. For those we have monthly themed passages. So it’s really fun. There are generally two narrative and two informational passages each month that are themed to go along with the month. And those ones don’t include fluency, but they are still the same pattern and differentiation. So you can have the fluency in the original ones. And then you could just have some additional comprehension ones with the monthly theme. And they are differentiated for every grade. So if you grab like a third grade one, you’ll get three levels. Or if you want the full entire range, we have a bundle of all of them. And also they are in Wife Teacher Mommy club too; love those.

Okay, so Molly D, she says problem, children being pushed through yet they cannot read cannot write or think for themselves. This leads to behavior issues in class, or more students in sped trying to get extra help. How I work with students in class, let all my students know that they will succeed, all succeed at different levels and at different skills, let them know they will grow maybe not as much as their neighbor, but they will grow. And I love that thought Molly. And I think it’s the perfect one to end with.

And I hope all of you learned something from one of these amazing teachers, some sort of gold nugget you can use, or if nothing else, you’re like, I am not alone in this, like teachers everywhere are facing these educational gaps. And just remember, we cannot change that we cannot change that circumstance of what is going on with these gaps. But we can be realistic about our expectations give ourselves and the students and their parents grace. And we can do whatever we can to help our students grow. And just know that we’re doing our best we don’t have to be perfect. So for more on the podcast about differentiation, be sure to check out episode 28 with my team member Karel Dimalanta, how to differentiate instruction to meet every child, that episode we really dug into differentiation, so you’ll get even more tips there. And then Episode Seven activate and differentiate with Tory LaRue. We talked about differentiating reading and activating kids background knowledge. And we talk a lot about those passages that were mentioned in this episode too. And for those of you in the club, I hope you’re taking advantage of all the differentiation support that you have in the club, you’re already there. So remember to utilize the full range of resources for differentiation, pull out different levels, it doesn’t cost you any extra you’re saving so much money when you do that. And if you’re not in the club yet, don’t forget, we have our new special podcast code as a reward to you for being a listener, use code podcast10, which will get you 10% off your first payment. Now this is a special discount, it’s not going to be advertised anywhere else. And like I mentioned, we don’t like to discount the club, it is priced very fairly for all you get. And that’s why it’s only a one time discount to be more fair for our current members. But I know that there are a lot of you out there who have maybe been considering it, maybe you’re on the fence and a small discount is what helps you take the leap to join us and have these unlimited resources so you can differentiate. I’m all for it. And I’ll be honest, there’s nothing super urgent about the discount like I don’t I don’t see it going anywhere. But the longer you wait, the longer until you’ll be able to see the difference that pulling these resources to be able to truly differentiate how much that’ll help you how much time it’ll save you and how you’ll be able to start making progress with those educational gaps. So as soon as you join, you’ll probably wonder why you didn’t join even sooner.

Now, stay tuned for this Friday, I’m going to be talking to Sarah Marye all about small group instruction. This is a great way to meet those gaps. And now Tuesday is part two of this segment where we’re going to be talking all about the social emotional learning gaps. So if you found this episode or even any of this podcast helpful, be sure to share it with a friend so they can utilize these tips and strategies to thank you for listening. Bye.