Kyle Schwartz is a third-grade teacher at Doull Elementary in Denver. After finding out that 92 percent of her students qualify for free and reduced lunches, she knew she needed to find a way to help her students—but how? “I struggled to understand the reality of my students’ lives and how to best support them,” she told ABC news. “I just felt like there was something I didn’t know about my students.”

So she asked her students to write down one thing they wish she knew. The responses were full of hope and heartbreak:

Some students used the exercise as a way to share their secrets.

The movement has shaken the Internet, with many teachers launching the project in their own classrooms. Schwartz posted some of the responses on Twitter using the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew. She says the responses have been a “reality check.”

This tweet sums up this project best.

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