Today, we're teaming up with a bunch of our teacher friends to bring you a fun time of commiseration as we share our teacher pet peeves. So enjoy reading this blog, watching the YouTube video, and sharing your own comments down in the community comment section. And, of course, share it with your friends! Keep on being awesome!
Please don�t ask me for a letter of recommendation for that super-important summer internship/scholarship/college app the day before it�s due. I mean, you want a nice letter where I gush about your razor-sharp intellect, inborn leadership qualities, and maturity beyond your years, right? Right. You certainly wouldn�t want me to mention the time I caught you texting in class or discuss your habit of waiting until the last possible moment to get your work done. That�s what I thought. I�m gonna need at least a week. Sincerely,
Please don't put your head down on your desk during the middle of my instruction! As a beginning teacher there was nothing that would push my buttons more than a student's head resting on his or her desk. I took it as a major insult. Then, one day as one student's head dropped to his desk I had a major epiphany. That single gesture was actually an incredible instructional cue. He was telling me that my lesson was just not that engaging. That's an important thing to know as a teacher! These days I use a head-on-the-desk as a signal for some instructional shake-ups. When a head goes down, I've been known to do the following...
- Hold an impromptu debate about what I'm teaching. Pose a question, have students take a stand, and host a pop-up debate.
- Have students stand up for a quick stretch break.
- Get out a ball. Have students sit on their desks and toss it around as I ask question or share information.
- Sing my lesson (off-key) which is a sure way to perk up some students.
- Quickly partner up students and have them share 2 things that they've learned thus far and 1 question that they still have before continuing my lesson.
- Pass out some colored pencils and instruct students to complete the rest of their work in as many colors as possible.
- Ask students to pack up their stuff and move to a new seat just for a new view.
- Plan future lessons that have students moving and transitioning learning activities several times during a single lesson.
Sincerely,
I love everything that you do, but please don't continue to talk when I give you the �you shouldn�t be talking right now look." I love how you look away for a few seconds and then look back at me to see if my facial expression has changed. As you already know, it didn�t change.
I also love when I give you �the look�, and you smile while still trying to talk to your friend like a ventriloquist. This pet peeve is something that I will never, ever, forget about you.
And I'm fairly sure your feelings are mutual toward me.
Sincerely,
Please just don�t unpack your folders and leave your book bag and jacket strewn about the cubby area for everyone to step on. While I don�t mind if you call me �Mom� once in a while, and I do love you and the other 21 students in our room, I am not your mom and I will not pick up after you. Our classroom is a community and we need to do our part to keep it clean for everyone. Please remember to look at all of the steps of our morning routine and put you coat and book bag away�completely�as in not half hanging out of the cubby for others to step on. And while you�re at it, remember to check your folder for notes and choose your lunch! Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Please just don't ask me to repeat the directions, AGAIN. We know the pencil sharpener was "oh so dreamy" while you stared at it when we went over the directions for how to complete today's lab. And we know that note you traced through the sky as it arrived via "air mail" was soaring high with your daydreams of after school fun times on the bus with so-and-so, which is WAY cooler than the reality of the demonstration of how to prepare a wet mount slide we did in front of the room. We know it seems like a burdensome request to ask you to pay attention to us talking about microscope safety rather than draw a picture of a flower on your lab desk with your eraser... BUT, it really drives us bananas when you ask us to give you a brief two minute synopsis of the lesson we just spent the last twenty minutes explaining in detail to the entire class. Trust us, we know middle school science is lackluster compared to your social life. Believe it or not, we were middle school science students once, too - we totally get it. It's just that, well, we REALLY LOVE science, and we love it so much we want to inspire YOU to be scientists like us. So, c'mon, join us in the class discussion, ask questions about the exploration today, make insightful inquiries about the world around you, and have fun WITH us. We promise to be less grouchy when you have a question about the lab, if at the very least, you look like you're listening when we tell you all about it. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Your Always Nerdy teachers,
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
It never fails. This is the opportunity for you kiddos of mine to bring out your �inner-teacher.� I know this because at the start of the next class, I am updating my bell ringer on the dry erase board, and there it is. I don�t know what it�s called. Let�s say they are doodles. I consider them terms of endearment. In my ten years of teaching, I am lucky. I haven�t received anything inappropriate. Your white board doodles are usually flowers, someone�s first name, our school�s name/mascot, or my name, �Mrs. Knight.�
Why does this bother me? I�m not sure. I remind you consistently, �No writing on the dry erase board.� I think it�s because I wouldn�t have thought of writing on a teacher�s board without permission. Am I worried that you will take my hard-to-get dry erase marker? All teachers know they disappear. Or maybe I am scared you will write something to raise eyebrows.
Sincerely,
Please don't just cram that paper into your schoolbag. It's important. That's why I gave it to you. You'll need it tonight for homework or tomorrow in class, and maybe the day after that too. But now when you need it, you won't be able to find it. Or if you find it, you won't recognize it in its crumpled state. You'll ask for another copy. You'll tell me you never got one or that you left it at home. I, your teacher, may make you empty out your backpack to look for it, and five minutes later, you may find it jammed beneath notebooks, other papers, and the leftovers of yesterday's lunch (gross!). But to avoid wasting time, it's more likely that I will sigh and begrudgingly give you another copy even if it means yet another trip to the copy room for me. Wouldn't it just be easier to put that paper where it belongs now, safely tucked away in a folder or the correct section of your binder? Please save us both from the wasted time and frustration of yet another paper disappearing into the abyss of your bookbag. Sincerely,
Sincerely,
So here's the scenario:
Student: "Can I go to the bathroom?"
Me: "Well...I certainly hope so. I will pray for you."
Student, trying again: "Is it possible for me to go to the bathroom?"
Me: I look down. Close my eyes. Sigh. "No. There is. No. Way."
I breathe deeply: "Legend has it there was once a way to go to the bathroom. Long ago, there was a teacher who knew the secrets of the bathroom. But that teacher went far away to a strange, ancient land called Boca, never to return. She took with her...the secret of the bathroom..."
There you have it. Your macaroni and cheese is safe. You're welcome.
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
STORE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Created-For-Learning
Watch the video over on YouTube!
Watch the video over on YouTube!