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Growing up, one’s teachers would make or break your schooling experience. At that age, it can be easy to forget, or perhaps not even realize that these people in positions of authority are, well, just people at the end of the day. So naturally, they are also going to have a whole host of things they keep to themselves while on the job.
Someone asked “Teachers, what is a secret you don't want your students to know?” and people shared their wildest stories. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and, if you are also a teacher, add your own thoughts in the comments below.
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#1
I occasionally pray for some students not to show up to give myself half of a chance that day. Legitimate prayers.
Huddo's sister 3 weeks ago
I have done this myself. One particular kid I had last year was lovely, he had a good heart, but his ADHD and ASD meant he had a lot of triggers that he responded badly to. Since I work on my own, it was pretty challenging at times.
RELATED:
#2
I tell all my students that they could all be top students if they tried. That's totally not true. But the reality is that this lie gets a few of them to actually try, and this causes them to perform better and learn better than if they actually knew the truth. Because learning is something like 80% effort and 20% genes. So I lie. And I'm glad that little Susie is getting a B in math instead of the F she would otherwise have gotten; but please don't take math in college.
Sean R 3 weeks ago
The problem in the US is that there's more focus on getting good grades than actually learning. The standards have been lowered in order to produce those results and now we have too many undereducated people. A good student is someone who actively learns from all parts of school. It takes effort. You didn't lie to those kids.
#3
How much I actually hate my job.
When I do not having someone look over my shoulder and critiquing my every action I love what I do because I'm good at it. Sadly those times are becoming few and far between as education becomes less about having students learn and more about having them walk away with a mark.
It is a system that is destroying the creative, enabling the lazy, and encouraging the mediocre to remain so.
There are days when I truly wonder if I would have been happier as a lawyer....then one of those selfish bastards succeeds at something they have been struggling with and sincerely thank me and I'm back at work the next day.
BarfyCat 3 weeks ago
Teachers are some of the most micromanaged people in the U.S. And they get zero support for all the administrative tasks they have to do to fulfill all the unfunded mandates handed down from on high. My husband has 150+ students. 20-25% have Individualized Education Plans that he has to fill out weekly reports on. Though he technically has two planning periods, he frequently has to give them up for meetings or to sub in for absent teachers. The whole system is in a shambles.
#4
After meeting your parents, 90% of the time I think, "The apple didn't fall far from the tree." It's not necessarily good or bad, but you're probably more like your parents than you realize.
Michael Largey 3 weeks ago
The parents I didn't need to see always came to parent conferences. The ones I did, didn't.
#5
For helper tasks (taking lunch count, attendance to office, etc.), we choose badly behaved kids, not well behaved ones. Gives us a break from them, and gives them less time destroying things in the classroom.
rocketpunk:
I have a friend who was (and still is) a little adhd maniac, and her teachers would make her their "special helper" and have her run notes to other teachers several times a day. The notes just said, "pass it on", so they'd all just send her back and forth to keep her busy. It made her feel happy and special and she thought it was hilarious when she found out the truth years later.
Betsy S 3 weeks ago
It's a kindness to the kids too though. Those with difficulty sitting still etc need to feel valued and engaged and if this is what does it, that might mean everything to them. I was a "good kid". I did well in all my subjects, put my hand up constantly, tried to engage the teachers, really tried to be the model student (abused at home, typical) but because I was SO good, I never got picked to clean the chalk brushes. A few moments outside away from the chaos would have been such a gift to overwhelmed me, but I was so good at acting like a good student, I never got picked. I felt unimportant at school, just like at home.
#6
That, unfortunately yes, more than half the things I teach you you will not use in real life. But we have to teach to the exam. Sorry.
JB 3 weeks ago
What people miss with the "but we'll never use this" is that is not so much the content, but the METHOD! The HOW and WHY of learning to learn and learning to think. You're not going to remember the formula for the conservation of momentum unless you end up in physics, but that whole scientific process and backing up ideas with research and testing ideas with questions and finding possible causes of error - that is really f*****g useful!! Also, certain things are taught because they are foundational to the culture. Like, you might not particularly care that the Battle of Hastings was in 1066 and think it has no bearing on your life, but if you speak ENGLISH this is one of the foundational events that turned out language into the grammatical grab-bag that it is and it might be good to recognise that so that when you're on vacation in another country, instead of getting angry at the person for not "speaking American" in Namibia, remember your language - not theirs - is a dumpster fire.
#8
Middle school Theatre teacher here. I work in a school of the arts, and everyone is so obnoxious on how talented they think they are.
On a near-daily basis, all anyone wants to do is improv. Except, everyone sucks at it. Like, badly. As in they'll stand there for a minute thinking of what to say.
Then they'll get down and be like "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Nobody really understands why I hate doing that with kids.
#9
Most of what we say, are empty threats(calling parents,going to the principle, write ups). Either the administration won't do anything, we don't want to do the paper work, or we haven't done enough paperwork to get anything done.
Huddo's sister 3 weeks ago
Very true. One thing about teaching younger kids is there are more things we can think of as consequences that the children don't realise are unlikely. Like when I say a child won't get to go outside if they aren't helping clean up. I work on my own, so I can't legally leave a child inside unsupervised, but it does usually work to get them to clean up (except I have to know which kids don't want to go outside in the first place).
#10
I'm nervous about letting my students know anything about my political views. I also don't really want them to find out I'm bi. I work in a place where information spreads very quickly, and I wouldn't want to deal with parents upset that their students are being taught by someone who actually has political and sexual ideas, lol.
Michael Largey 3 weeks ago
I might have mentioned my political views to my students if only I could have found a way to connect them with, say, the Law of Cosines or the Second Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
#11
College professor here:
When I say, "I want to get some other people into the conversation", I'm not doing it to get varied class participation and make the class more student centered...I just want the kid who never shuts the f**k up to shut the f**k up.
Seriously kid, I get it, you have opinions. Try shoving some of them up your a*s and see how that feels. This isn't your one man show, and the stakes aren't that particularly high.
#12
Soooooo many.. let me make a list. For reference, I teach 1st grade.
1) I definitely have favorites - I definitely don't dislike anyone, which is nice, but some stand out more than most.
2) I am softer on the dummies - Okay, dummies isn't a nice term, but I feel more compassion for the slower kids.
3) I do try to fix the books - By this I mean, I try to make it so that everyone wins at SOMETHING throughout the year so no one is sad.
4) I definitely care if they like me - If a kid says they don't like me, I totally try to play it cool and say I am here to teach, not to make friends. Secretly, I die a little inside and am usually thinking about it all week long.
5) I am bluffing about telling your parents - Usually tattling on your parents is a waste of time. Where do you think you got that attitude from? Its a total bluff.
Huddo's sister 3 weeks ago
I got used to number 4 before I was even fully qualified. I was a nanny to a family with three kids, the youngest had severe ADHD & ASD. There were times he yelled that he hated me, because I made him get dressed for school or clean up before watching tv etc and even times he hit me. Then after he cooled down (which sometimes wasn't until the next day) he would often make a comment about how much he liked me or something, which he didn't connect with the previous day, because when he was that heightened he couldn't remember everything that happened, so I knew it was genuine, and it made it worth it. Now I have similar experiences with kids I teach and I know that when they say they don't like me it's just that they don't like the rules and are testing the boundaries.
#13
That the kids of coaches, principals, and school board members *are* treated differently than the rest of you. Unfair, and I hate it, but it is true, at least at my school.
#14
I grade drunk all the time.
lafleurcynique:
Yyyeeeeepppp. The only way to get through all the hours after work we spend working for no pay.
Karl der Große 3 weeks ago
A pile of essays is a burden that is hard to imagine if you've never tackled one. I've never graded them drunk, and don't see why that would be any easier.
#15
At the beginning of each course, I have to memorize a lot of names in a very short period of time. Usually I do this by making notes next to each name in my attendance list. Some of said notes could probably get me fired if anyone found out. Recent examples include "Asian pit stains" and "skinny Drew Carey."
If someone (or something) doesn't remind me that I assigned homework, I probably won't remember at least half of the time.
I absolutely have favorite students, and I also have students who make me praise the heavens that I never have to see them again when they leave class for the last time. If you don't make my life and job any harder than they have to be, I'm more likely to be lenient and helpful. The reverse is true, too.
I walk in unprepared and totally wing lessons *way* more often than my students know. There is about a 90% chance that whatever fun, creative grammar game we played any given week was actually pulled out of my a*s on the drive to work that morning.
Luke Branwen 3 weeks ago
Who doesn't have favorite students? My current one is a heavily tattooed / pierced alternative girl with five cats and LOTS of opinions.
#16
That I am just as nervous on the first day of school as they are.
Karl der Große 3 weeks ago
Definitely more nervous. If things go wrong, they have a good story and you have the shame of letting it happen.
#17
I keep track of which students to make sure I am never alone with for safety concerns. There really are students out there that you know are going to hurt people, badly, one day when they're older and bigger. I teach middle school and elementary school, and am very grateful that I don't teach high school.
Littlemiss 3 weeks ago
I had this recently, one child made a really nasty threat. I have told my team to not be anywhere near this child without support close by.
#18
Probably what a total f*****g mess I am sometimes. That I have so many issues and don't really feel like an adult. That I am probably under qualified to teach the specific subject that I teach. That I engage in a lot of activities that teachers are supposed to advise their students not to. That I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend.
#19
It's not movie day, it's hangover day. So shut up and watch the movie while we sit quietly in the dark for the next hour.
#20
There are horrible teachers at every school. The entire staff knows it and we feel bad for the kids and parents. Unfortunately, we can't straight out tell parents to avoid certain teachers.
#21
I reeeaally don't want them knowing I still live with my Mum. Some of my students have already moved out of their parents place, I'd lose all sense of authority if they knew.
#22
I get really nervous at the beginning of class. I'll start off the lesson by turning off the lights and putting on videos for them to watch so i can calm my nerves and get my s**t together.
Then I fake confidence and take charge. Then the students just follow my lead.
#23
Most of the decisions I make aren't truly my own, and are simply made by the board of ed. Most of the time I hate the way I have to teach and want them to know we are on the same page that this sucks.
x6rkq946s6 2 weeks ago
I think if you let the students know that, they might be a little easier on you about it. They would know it isn’t your fault
#24
My grades were s**t and I failed most of my GCSE exams. Luckily, US colleges don't care about your grades in your first two years of high school. I now teach GCSE Economics. I never even took GCSE Economics. Fake it till you make!!!
Huddo's sister 3 weeks ago
In Australia we have a saying 'Ps (passes) get degrees'. It doesn't matter what your grades are for your uni degree subjects, as long as you get enough to pass. I got mostly Credits or Passes for the units in my teaching degree. It never impacted me getting teaching jobs because all they want to see is your degree. Actually my current job did ask for my transcript but I still got the job, the only one who commented on my marks was a coworker who was studying for her teaching degree at the time and getting higher marks.
#25
Teachers gossip about each other AND the students way more than the students do about themselves. It's basically a form of free entertainment.
Jonas Fisher 3 weeks ago
I've been teaching for 20 years. This is perhaps true for this particular individual, but it has never been true in my experience. Most teachers interact with other teachers only occasionally (the whole "break room gossip" thing that shows up in movies and TV is wildly rare...teachers often have no more than one free period in a day). When it comes to talking about students, I'd say that 70% of it is job-related, and 29% of it is venting. The other 1% is gossip, I guess, though again I don't have anything to do with that. I don't even know what we would gossip about.
#26
As a soccer coach, I have to hide the fact that as a former player, I was everything in the opposite of what I preach and teach. EVERYTHING.
#27
They think we don't know how to party. I prefer it stays that way. Especially when I teach grade that are old enough to go out. I don't want them to see me pretty drunk showing off my best s******r moves on a dance floor. And I don't want to see theirs.
#28
When the test is printed in two colors, it doesn't mean there are two versions of the test. We want you to think that so you are less likely to cheat.
Huddo's sister 3 weeks ago
All my teachers did to try and stop teaching was make us sit at the ends of our tables instead of next to each other.
#29
My mom's a teacher, and she has favourite students.
Edit: This is probably not a secret, but teachers don't really admit it.
Karl der Große 3 weeks ago
A single favorite is a little weird, but it would be impossible not to favor some students.
#30
I have no idea what I'm doing.
JB 3 weeks ago
I'm the opposite. I know exactly what I'm doing and it pisses me off when people think I don't. There are d**n good reasons why I put that plant there, sat those two next to each other, taught this social skills lesson, and put up those Christmas lights year round. I think through almost every single tiny decision... Do you see why it's exhausting?
Note: this post originally had 79 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Poll Question
Would knowing a teacher's secret change your perception of them?
Yes, significantly
Yes, a little
No, not really
No, not at all
What do you think ?
The_Nicest_Misanthrope 3 weeks ago (edited)
So, from this article I've learned that half the teachers out there shouldn't be, and the rest are on d***s, or clinically depressed 👍
Littlemiss 3 weeks ago
I know right?? According to my kids I sleep at work. They asked where my bed was.
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 weeks ago
I remember being about 7 when it dawned on me that my teachers didn't live in their classrooms!
The_Nicest_Misanthrope 3 weeks ago (edited)
So, from this article I've learned that half the teachers out there shouldn't be, and the rest are on d***s, or clinically depressed 👍
Littlemiss 3 weeks ago
I know right?? According to my kids I sleep at work. They asked where my bed was.
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 weeks ago
I remember being about 7 when it dawned on me that my teachers didn't live in their classrooms!
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