Jason — Teacher

October 7 2073 – My First Month of the New School Year

Dear Diary,

The first month of teaching my grade 6 class this year on TikTok has certainly been a different experience. I need to express my thoughts as well as emotions in my diary because they are becoming too overwhelming and I am not even allowed to interact with others. In this diary, I will just write about the very few positive things about the year so far and talk about the various challenges on another day. With regards to the very few positive aspects of the school year thus far, I find that the students are really engaged with the TikTok videos I have been posting for them to watch from home. TikTok has taken over the lives of my students and they spend most of their days navigating the platform. I can see that each student in my class has watched every video that has been posted which is very encouraging. However, I wonder if the students are actually learning as much online compared to being in school. They could simply just be watching each of my videos on TikTok without being fully engaged in the material. This is why I wish the government would just allow us to teach in the schools because I believe this is best for student learning.

October 17 2073 – The Difficulties and Struggles I Have Experienced

Dear Diary,

In terms of the challenges of the school year so far, there is a countless number of them. I have found it extremely difficult to post my videos on TikTok as I am not very comfortable using technology and social media platforms. I keep wishing that the government would maybe provide us with resources to teach us how to use TikTok, but this is simply not the case. The government has just provided us with the guidelines that we are obligated to follow without any support whatsoever. Additionally, the government has told us that we are not allowed to give students any tests. This is very problematic because there is actually not a way for me to assess where my students are in their learning and how well they are learning the material being taught to them through the videos. Also, the government has limited the subjects we teach our students to basic math, English and science. The education system places limitations on our students. This is just ridiculous and there must be changes made to the system immediately!

October 29 2073 – I Will Not Follow All the Guidelines

Dear Diary,

I do not even know how to express my feelings about the restrictions placed by the government on differentiated instruction and accommodations. I still cannot believe that the government has told us there will be “severe consequences” for teachers who provide any form of accommodations or differentiated instruction to any of their students. Although this is the case, I have still provided accommodations and differentiated instruction to the students in my class who require it. I believe that the captions, pictures and audio I have added to each of my online videos supports the students in my classroom, but this is still not helpful enough for all of my students. I will continue to do what is best for my students and provide accommodations and differentiated instruction to those who require it. I refuse to comply with all of the guidelines created by the government and will make decisions that allow my students to learn and be successful.

November 21 2073 – How Do I Help My Students?

Dear Diary,

Personally, I still cannot believe that the government added the required test for grade 6 students that places limitations on their futures. The test places so much pressure on students to pass, and if they are unsuccessful, they cannot pursue certain career paths. I truly believe this is harmful to our students. I cannot even imagine the physical, cognitive and emotional impact this is having on my students at home. I want to help them so much, but do not even know where to start. The government is able to see everything I do online, but I still need to find a way to help these students. I feel so bad for my students that they are experiencing this and wish I could just give them the support they require.

December 5 2073 – My Students Do Not Have Any Social Interactions

Dear Diary,

There are certainly negative impacts of learning from home on the social lives of the students. They have absolutely no interactions with their peers and simply spend majority of their day indoors. One of the main reasons why students enjoy coming to school so much is because they interact and play with their peers. However, this has been taken away from my students and I am sure they would love to meet and talk to their friends. In fact, I am going to make sure that my students meet each other next week. I will create an online forum on TikTok where all students can speak to each other and thus experience some of the social aspects of in-person schooling. Students develop their social skills in school and thus I must ensure my students are provided with the opportunity to do so. Although it may be harder to do so online, I am confident this will still be beneficial for my students. As I have stated before, I will continue to do what is best for my students and not worry about the “severe consequences” that I may face for doing so.