Teacher Reveals The 8 Moments That Left Her 'Speechless' During The First Week Back In School
From insect eating to calling older male teachers "cute," it surely was an interesting week back.
LightField Studios | Shutterstock It’s back-to-school for many students and teachers, and for some, it is the most stressful, exhausting, and certainly the strangest time of the year.
The students are adjusting to schoolwork after a summertime of fun, and the teachers often have trouble getting their attention back on track. That often results in some odd behavior that one teacher on TikTok described as leaving her "speechless."
8 moments that happened during the first week of school that left a teacher speechless:
Teacher, Andrea Michelle, compiled the strangest back-to-school moments from teachers across the country and shared them in a hilarious TikTok that had viewers in stitches and other educators nodding in solidarity.
1. The vape detectors were set off in the restroom
Students sneaking their vapes into the school restroom has been a growing issue over the last few years. However, according to this teacher, it happened during a new teacher orientation day before any students were even allowed on campus.
It is still unknown if a teacher or student was the culprit, but it sure does set the tone for how the first week of school will be!
2. A student was kicked out of class for calling her 65-year-old teacher ‘cutesy, mindful, and demure’
If you’re on TikTok at all — and we all know that Gen Alpha students most certainly are — you’re probably familiar with the terms “very demure” and “very mindful,” which originated from a creator’s video about how they do their makeup for work.
While the terms have integrated themselves into the everyday vocabulary of most modern-day students, their teachers are likely not familiar with them.
A student calling her much older teacher “very cutesy and demure” can easily be taken the wrong way.
The terms are appropriate to joke about among your friends, but they are not appropriate to use with your teacher in the classroom.
3. A student asked if they actually needed to learn the dates of the French Revolution or just ‘the vibes’
“Vibes” are just another term the kids are using these days. However, they were not around during the French Revolution. People back then were likely more focused on overthrowing the monarchy than they were on the vibes.
To offer a bit of possible clarity, the student most likely meant if they could learn what the atmosphere was like during the French Revolution rather than the dates (and the teacher most likely turned down the request).
4. A student threatened to hit another student with a laptop
Instead of referring to the device as a Chromebook or a laptop, the student called it a “slaptop.”
While students can certainly go haywire from being forced to sit at a desk for seven hours after a long summer, it is no excuse to threaten to hit a classmate with a computer — points for the creative name, though!
5. A high school student picked a cicada off of a tree and ate it
We'll understand if you need a moment to pause from reading to pick your jaw up off the floor. Not only is this disgusting, it is extremely unsettling that it was a teenager and not a preschool student.
Even more disturbing, the student described the insect as “crunchy on the outside, but smooth on the inside.”
The Toidi | Shutterstock
6. A student stuck her pinky finger into a pencil sharpener
After plunging her finger inside the sharpener, the student began to twist it and nearly took her entire nail off.
It sounds gruesome, but surprisingly, it's not unheard of. One school in the U.K. even banned students from bringing in their own pencil sharpeners because they couldn't use them responsibly!
Even if you believe that they do not need to be reminded, if you are a teacher, please advise your students that pencil sharpeners are for pencils, not appendages.
7. A student claimed that a classmate was ‘fingering her hole’
While the student’s claim likely alarmed teachers and other classmates, they were relieved to discover that the student simply put his hand on her backpack.
"Keep your hands to yourself" is a phrase teachers know all too well for a reason!
She may want to word that differently next time it happens.
8. A student insisted that she was a direct descendant of Mary, Queen of Scots
Considering that Mary, Queen of Scots, has been dead since 1587 and had little family, it would be impossible to determine if the student is, in fact, a direct descendant without extensive DNA testing.
lynea | Shutterstock
While it could be true, it sounds more like this student has stretched the truth of what may be a distant connection from a relative's 23 and Me results.
Back-to-school time can be an especially stressful time for students, teachers, and even their parents.
However, teacher’s feelings are often dismissed as they are doing everything they can to make the transition easier and interactive for students.
And while Andrea Michelle's video is all in good fun, the truth is, teachers are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. According to a working paper published in 2023 by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, "Perceptions of teacher prestige have fallen between 20 percent and 47 percent in the last decade to be at or near the lowest levels recorded over the last half-century. Interest in the teaching profession among high school seniors and college freshmen has fallen 50 percent since the 1990s and 38 percent since 2010, reaching the lowest level in the last 50 years."
The paper also noted, "Teachers’ job satisfaction is also at the lowest level in five decades, with the percent of teachers who feel the stress of their job is worth it dropping from 81 percent to 42 percent in the last 15 years."
Those are sad statistics. Teachers are unhappy, and there is little to no interest in the profession anymore. Something's certainly got to give when it comes to the state of education in the U.S. because teachers deserve more than just a hearty laugh at the beginning of the school year. That means getting involved in local government and school board elections and making it a point to prioritize what's going on in your district's school.
In the meantime, if you know a teacher in your life, give them a hug, a pat on the back, or take them out for a drink because they most certainly deserve it!
And while you’re at it, gift them with “No eating” signs they can place on trees to feed off students who might be looking for a cicada snack.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.