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Teachers Explain Which Generation Of Students They Liked Teaching The Most

There is always a favorite.

Teachers Explain Which Generation Of Students They Liked Teaching The Most
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

In the end teachers are just like parents... there is always a favorite. The truth stings but the truth is real. Some kids (humans) are just easier than others, or some are smarter, ad infinitum. I have a ton of friends, great friends, best friends.... and I love everyone but there is a hierarchy. it's just always best to learn how to not show it or not be so blatant.

Redditor u/stock_rocket_value wanted to hear from educators about which students left the best impressions by asking... Teachers of reddit, What generation did you like teaching most? (80s, 90s, 00s) Why?

Teachers who have been in the business for the long haul have witnessed worlds collide and societies change, at rapid pace. And how each group of students adapt will always leave an impression. And some impressions standout more than others. Case in point...

Adults Suck

amy poehler pictures GIFGiphy

My mom has been teaching for about 25 years. She says students haven't changed. Parents have.

MatloxES

For the Kids

My girlfriends mom is a middle school teacher and she mentioned that kids are way more compassionate today, but they drastically lack social skills.

jfl5058

That makes sense, I tend to think that happens because the students spend so much time listening to people talking to their phone about their fears and insecurities but are accustomed to students volunteering that information.

TezzMuffins

For the Hungry

I can't offer what my favorite science teacher told us in regards to why he chose to keep teaching for so long. He was in his 70s and had been teaching since he was in his 20s.

(I'll quote him as best as I can remember) "The kids change, the clothes change, the attitudes change. The science changes.

I lived through times when women couldn't learn science like men and when people refused to teach people because of the colour of their skin."

The one thing that doesn't change is the hunger for knowledge. I get new children every year who I truly enjoy teaching. Some kids don't want to learn but there are always the special few that find wonder in science.

I continue teaching for those kids. The ones who find the wonder and joy behind science. There are more and more of you each year and it truly fills me with joy"

So I'm guessing his favourites were the kids in his last teaching year 2008 when he died.

In the case of our food tech teacher she hated all children equally.

Queen_Omega

Kids Today

Yeet GIF by memecandyGiphy

I'm still a new teacher, but what I've really enjoyed so far is using slang around students. Saying "Yeet" gets a completely different reaction from 10th graders (eye rolls) and 5th graders (glee) and I love either one.

lastwillandtentacle

At Last... Evil!

University Prof here - when I started teaching in the early 00's, students still got even my most obscure Simpsons and 80's film references. By the late 00's, I had nothing left to reference. By the early 2010's my kid had reached adolescence, so I had new material, but it really wasn't mine, and the culture had splintered so much that my Rick and Morty references only hit about 30% of the class. Lately I just stopped trying, and became that old, out-of-touch Prof; I lived long enough to become the villain.

drkesi88

Sometimes it's all about the small details, and often it's about the parents. So maybe some adults reading this chain should take some notes. Those educators are giving free advice... take it. Let's hear some more.

Great Graphics

My wife teaches Graphic Design which has become nearly completely a digital pursuit over the past 25 years. She has remarked that 10 years ago her students would instantly catch on and often be teaching her things about how the [fairly specialized/data hog] software she uses in class works [key board shortcuts/architecture understanding].

In the past couple of years she increasingly sees students who have near zero computer experience and are afraid of having to learn/use software.

She has come to realize there are many students whose "computer" experience is using their phone for social media.

upstateduck

In Northern Alberta...

I taught in the late 70s, early 80s in northern Alberta. The nice part about being that early in my career, plus in northern Alberta, was that you could pretty much do whatever you wanted. My kids found an injured duck on the playground and we brought it into the classroom and spent weeks nursing that duck back to health. As the duck grew stronger, he would do these practice flights in our classroom to the point where he would do a couple of laps around the room and my kids wouldn't even get excited about it.

Later in that same year we grew hydroponic tomato plants that went from floor to ceiling and were able to harvest tomatoes in the middle of winter. Man, that was a great year! Pretty sure you couldn't do most of that in a grade one classroom these days.

Naroller

Oh Millennials...

Giphy

Devices and helicopter parenting, which doesn't mean parents who are intensely concerned about their children's futures, but parents who never leave their damn kids alone.

Zeroph

I'm a millennial and have only taught Zoomers but yes, sooooo many helicopter parents. They text their kids in the middle of class, call them, everything. It drives me nuts.

acceptablemadness

Good Hearts

In my mind kids have always been good at heart, but society and their upbringing is what ultimately shapes or corrupts them. Unfortunately, I think more kids nowadays have mental health issues since they unconsciously compare themselves to their peers. The difference is 20+ years ago kids only compared themselves to the few hundred kids in their school. Nowadays, they are comparing themselves to the millions of kids they see online.

Noshotskill

"out of date"

robin williams thank you GIFGiphy

Teaching in university has been interesting. On one hand, I enjoyed the 90s because there was still not a ton of technology. Sure there was more manual work but I enjoyed it.

As for students, one of the things I've noticed is that my cultural references have absolutely tanked. I was teaching a Philosophy Ethics 100 course and literally NO ONE got my reference to the Matrix or Pulp Fiction or well... anything. It was the first time I felt that internal twinge of being "out of date" and realizing I was teaching 17-18 year olds who were being BORN when that movie came out.

I still love the job though. :)

ZeroG34R

In the Family

I'm not a teacher, but both my mother and sister are.

They stated two big differences.

  1. Social Media changed how kids behave. A lot. Way more bullying is done online now and less of it is physically violent.
  2. Certain trends don't really exist anymore. The punk/emo stuff from the 2000's isn't present today, but there is a stronger group of Gamer/Internet kids that play Fortnight and use TikTok. Also, there are way more outspokenly gay students. howmydictate

Be OK! 

I worked with kids for a few years in the mid 2010s and there was a big push for gay acceptance and pride.

Well, one day, the whole group of 10 year-old boys came out as gay. All of them.

My boss was genuinely considering an "It's OK to be straight" campaign, with the best intentions.

BadgerSituation

All the Years

97 - sarcastic, grungy, smoking more cigarettes, more clique-y and edgy.

07 - petty, attention starved, overwhelmed, but much nicer.

17 - under so many layers of irony and memes they don't even know who they are anymore or care. there's no point in being creative or devolving a personality, anything you could think of has already been done.

TerronDaShawn

Oh Society

the law smh GIF by PoweradeGiphy

A newish teacher- think anything before the 90s was less detrimental to teachers. I teach now, and there is virtually no student or parent accountability. Many (not all, but many) expect the school system to raise their children for them these days. Not sure where society went wrong.

Complete_Ad_5075

All the Colors

Started teaching first grade in 1999. I loved teaching till about 2006. Students were so eager to learn kept me on my toes. They were respectful and the parents were supportive. Little by little things started changing. Complaining about colors of napkins, words like angels, witches, It kept getting worse. The amount of paperwork and meetings no time to teach. The testing got in the way took time away from teaching and what was important which is the children. Little by little it took most of my energy. Stopped teaching after only 13 years.

Dot1red

ALL THE TIME

Started teaching at university in the 00s. Kids were really cliquey (into what sub-culture or tribe they were in and didn't mix) and intolerant of difference (of any kind). Was 10 years older than them, most had no idea how to save a file on the computer into different formats. Had to tell kids not to describe things they didn't like as 'gay' ALL THE TIME. 10s they started being better at technology, but worse at fixing it when it went wrong, getting more tolerant, more likely to mix. 20s kids are really tolerant, kinder, but much, much sadder.

notthrowingshade

Becoming a Veteran

Started teaching in 1985, retired in 2015. I enjoyed teaching in all of those years and enjoyed knowing almost all of my students. I feel that any observations I might make would be so prejudiced by my own reactions to the era and my own ageing that it's a bit of a ridiculous question. I do think that more people need to commit to better parenting, as I was appalled by how scarred many students were by sheer parental neglect and abuse, regardless of the era.

I don't think abuse has become any more prolific, but I recognized it more and more as I became a veteran teacher.

Other than that, talking about people by generations is just another way to divide us and keep us quarrelling; otherwise we might notice that we've all become the property of corporations. And they don't want that.

Aratak

Kids are Rot

Kids don't change, but accountability is gone in my district. First half of my career (90s, 00's) students and parents were far more accountable. Today, if a student does not thrive, it is blame the teacher all day, every day. Teachers now compete with Tik Tok, Snap Chat, video games etc... and there is such a sense of entitlement, at least in my district.

The students are still great, but the adults have messed this up so bad. We have eliminated all deadlines in my district, and students can re-do an assignment over and over until they get the grade they want. Consequences can be great learning experiences, but we are no longer able to apply them.

HourGlass673

The Tools

Teachers Day Education GIF by OriginalsGiphy

I cant comment as a teacher, but as someone in educational IT, everything today is about how can we buy this latest pointless web-app for kids to use and shoehorn it in ASAP!

TheGiant1989

My hat is off to every educator. Especially those that have marched on through this pandemic. Thank you for your service. You are essential. You are important. You craft the future. And we see why.

REDDIT

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People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.