A Texas high school teacher was reduced to tears and broke down in front of his class when he realized the seniors he was teaching couldn\u2019t complete a writing exercise.<\/p>\n
Darius Williams, a teacher for Houston Independent School District\u2019s Wheatley High School, said he couldn\u2019t get through the first class of the second day of school before his students\u2019 poor literacy skills were too much for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just finished a three-hour class, and I literally broke down in the middle of class,\u201d Williams said in an Instagram video<\/a> during his lunch break on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Houston high school teacher Darius Williams broke down during his lunch break after finding out his students couldn\u2019t write on Aug. 11, 2026. Instagram\/dariuscooks<\/p>\n Williams, a New Education System (NES) Career and Technical Education (CTE) staffer, said he gave his class full of seniors two paragraphs to read and asked them to complete another sentence he had practically filled out for them, but was left stunned when they couldn\u2019t finish the task.<\/p>\n \u201cI basically completed the sentence for them, he said. \u201cThese are 17- and 18-year-old kids, and they couldn\u2019t fill in four words. Four words!\u201d exclaimed Williams. <\/p>\n \u201cI gave them the scenario, we annotated together. I gave them the answers before we even had the problem and they couldn\u2019t do it. I don\u2019t know I simply don\u2019t know where the problem is,\u201d he said frustratingly.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is only day two, and I have seniors who simply cannot read and seniors who cannot write. They cannot write,\u201d Williams cried out.<\/p>\n Williams said he couldn\u2019t get through the first class of the second day of school before his students\u2019 poor literacy skills were too much for him. Instagram\/dariuscooks<\/p>\n The broken-down teacher, who had red eyes and tears streaming down his face, said his students can talk, reason and defend their reasoning, but can\u2019t apply those skills to written text.<\/p>\n \u201cOur young black men, our young brown men, our young black girls, and our young brown girls,\u201d Williams said as he began to sob before ending the video.<\/p>\n Williams faced backlash after posting the video as critics called out the teacher\u2019s qualifications to be able to speak about his students\u2019 literacy troubles.<\/p>\n The teacher and part-time cooking influencer showed off his second bachelor\u2019s degree earned from Berklee College of Music back in April, then claimed he was enrolled in a master\u2019s program at the American College of Education where he is studying for Curriculum and Instruction.<\/p>\n He also listed the numerous certifications that he holds, including with the state of Texas and the Texas Education Agency.<\/p>\n The broken-down teacher, who had red eyes and tears streaming down his face, said his students can talk, reason and defend their reasoning, but can\u2019t apply those skills to written text. Instagram\/dariuscooks<\/p>\n Williams faced backlash after posting the video as critics called out the teacher\u2019s qualifications to be able to speak about his students\u2019 literacy troubles. Instagram\/dariuscooks<\/p>\n \u201cI have all of my certifications lined up,\u201d Williams shared in a follow-up video.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFor those of you who may have an issue or problem with me teaching young adults, take the charge, you do it. You get certified walk into these high schools, you get a classroom, you stand in front of 22 kids each period and let me see how well you do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 breakdown in the middle of class came days after it was revealed that a majority of New York City students<\/a> between third and fifth grades failed their English Language Arts tests last school year.<\/p>\n