We're seeing a lot of heroes emerge from this pandemic mess and some of those most dedicated humans are teachers. Our educators have had to take a crash course in method and instruction. We know that knowledge and education is an essential for life and those dedicated to the cause are there for us. The lines of discretion though have begun to blur. There are just somethings you'd never think you'd know about a pupil. Well, buckle up people.... the secrets are pouring out.
Redditor u/Kingflares wanted all the educators out there to tell us about their students's homes lives that they can never not know going forward by asking.... Teachers who are holding online classes right now, what did you inadvertently learn about your students' home life during the classes?Cat Hang Up.
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Not a teacher, but a student in Uni. It's fun to see my classmates younger siblings coming to annoy them or ask for help with their school stuff. Also, it's amazing to see other pets and their habits, especially when a cat ends calls. NakoNii
Oh Craaaapppp!!!
A kid was watching Dragon Ball Z in English. Screamed ohhhh craaaaaaaapppp while Frieza got cut in half. Catacrew1
Dbz dub is actually better for me, Goku sounds better and there are some funny moments with the translation, "Don't shoot, he's not black." Killarusca
The Dingy....
Just how SOUTHERN one of my student's family is. She has no discernible accent (we are in N.C.) but her family sounds like rural Alabama stereotypes. Also, her grandmother said I was an idiot (to my Zoom meeting face!) because I said corn dogs weren't good for cats. So... I understand why this student is maybe a bit dingy. AreYouALavaBeaver
Seek Help.
Not a teacher, a therapist.
I've learned that as bouncy and distracted as kids are in my office, at home they are much worse.
It's fun to see where all my patients live though, and sometimes meet their families inadvertently (they invite the family over to see, Not breaching confidentiality) and the best part is getting to meet SO many puppies!! sexy_syzygy
3 Second Rule.
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My friend Audrey said a teacher told her that he saw a kid spill a Pepsi on the floor and start licking it up. gorgon277
Computer Time.
I volunteer at a group home, and the kids have very limited time on computers, so they had to excuse themselves from google classroom. They also have to be watched the entire time, so I sit there watching them scroll through whatever work they are given. I often act as a tutor, and help where I can. If you're a teacher and you're reading this, grade this stuff generously please. I'm in college and some of these homework packets would probably take me months to finish. userasdfghjk
In Need.
I teach at two NYC community colleges. I've had to make live lectures optional and set up my course with a lot of low-bandwidth options. Most of my students reported having consistent internet and computer access, but I'm trying to maximize accessibility. Even still, I'm expecting some students will need to bail out and try again next semester when things are back to normal. paleo2002
I'm off the clock!!!
That a week's downtime turns students into nocturnal wilder beasts. Seriously I had a math class planned this morning at 8. First student signed in at 1030 with 50 min left. 40% had signed into the class by 1400. And only now at 1915 does the questions start coming in on Teams.
You know what guys? Screw you, I'm off the clock! Jumbobog
Got You on Camera.
Giphy
One mom swore up and down that she didn't have a laptop for her kid to do google classroom.
Compromise: take a picture of her son completing the packet I sent home.
In the background of the picture: a brand new Mac just hanging out. Banthefrack
So Rude.
I was in a small group meeting on zoom with my college prof today. One of the guys didn't realize his mic was on and yelled super angrily at his family member "WTH are you doing?! I'm on a video call with my professor right now. Get the hell out!" A girl did a similar thing last week too. Apparently people speaking really rudely to their family is normal...? Ashamed_SkirtSuit
Radiating....
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That their parents limit computer time and yell at them about using a computer while they're in class. That and a lot of parents are still worried about radiation from using a monitor for too long. Ummm, our school laptops don't have CRTs. rudeteacher1955
Purr/Woof....
Mostly, I'm getting to see students' pets. I've seen rabbits, birds, and lizards now. FortressofTrees
Awww, I want to see cool pets. Maybe I should start using video for my live lectures after all. paleo2002
Eyes Wide Open....
I saw an article about a school in Finland that sent an email home to all the parents asking the dads to wear pants around the house - apparently a lot of them were walking around sans trousers in the background while their kids were videoconferencing with the class. gavinski91
The Right Way!
The students who show up a little sloppy to class, crank it up to 11 at home. Coloradical27
I literally did not get out of bed, alarm set for 7:55am, wake up, connect to zoom at 8:00am, nuts out (under the covers) THE RIGHT WAY TO LEARN! writingwithmovement
step 1 is realizing no one gives a care.....
step 2 is not giving a care....
step 3 is wanting to be comfortable.....
3 special steps, thats all you need.... writingwithmovement
Cereal Student.
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I just got off an online class and my teacher said she saw a student in another class eating cereal on the kitchen floor. simmigamergurl21
Same Old....
I teach preschool and we're doing daily zoom meetings... today two kids had a meltdown bc I didn't talk to them soon enough, one kid wouldn't stop singing, one kid was playing legos on the floor, and another was literally just running around outside.
Not much different than my everyday tbh 🤷♀️. l-ilac-win-e
Mute People!!
Student here but my first lecture was today and I gotta say, people don't participate in physical classes like they do online, like wow we have 10 people actively talking compared to maybe 4
That and weird stuff happens when people don't mute mics. throwaway126400963
I'm in a usual lecture of roughly 300 & today we only had about 12 online. I was actually happier with it cause I'm such a nervous person I felt like I could connect more with my professor. TheNarwhalMom
We're Listening....
Student here, my parents yell at each other an awful lot and now classmates of mine who used to be awful to me are unusually polite. My psych teacher recently told me he's always there if I need to talk. sm0ldering_heart
I was on a call with my boss as I'm working from home and my parents were having a discussion with opposing view points that got a little loud... I hope she didn't hear them, as my door was closed. on the other hand, during a team meeting someone's got kids that are loud and behave like high energy kids so that made me feel better. TorrentialKiwi
Kiddo Time.
A lot of my high schoolers have adorable small siblings. We commiserate at their siblings and my toddler interrupting our google meets and at the end of classes we let the kiddos use the screen to hang out. Lets_Call_It_Wit
Cleo.
Giphy
I've learned the names and habits of /so many/ cats and dogs. my favorite is a student's dog named Cleo. Cleo is the very best of boys, big solid lad. Hedgiwithapen
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
Wait What Wtf GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt NastyGiphy"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
just kidding jk GIFGiphy"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"
Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
venezuela empty shelves GIF by euronewsGiphySilly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
Hammer Floor GIF by VPROGiphySo that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
love him one piece GIFGiphyThe miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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