"Teachers of Reddit, what secrets have you found out about your students that they don't know you know?" –– This was today's burning question from Redditor thesilvacamel, who reminded us that our teachers were (and are) far more perceptive than their students might believe.
They're adults, after all. They've seen things, you know?
Teachers weighed in with some of their stories. They're on to you, fellas.
"I had a student a few years back..."
I had a student a few years back (9th grader) who lived with a classmate for a while. His mom threw him out of the house to live on the street. He didn't know all his teachers came together to get him new clothes, bedding, school supplies, etc when his friend's family took him in. Poor kid was so scared after being on the street that first night that he slept in school because he felt safer. It was so upsetting I cried In target and got him new pjs, slippers, and a fuzzy blanket for his new room, amongst other things, so he could feel cozy and safe.
We sent him on every school trip, funded every dance ticket, got him a present for the holidays and said it was an award for something. He's doing ok now and I think the family that took him in even legally got custody.
We also funded several tickets that kids "won"' to prom for kids who couldn't afford to go. A group text would go out, a whole bunch of people would chip in, and we would get these kids to prom.
My school is full of amazing staff who do this stuff a lot. I have some amazing co-workers and I'm so proud to call them my colleagues.
"I recently found out..."
I recently found out which local dropout can get them shrooms as they planned a party while standing four feet away from me.
"I tutor high school students..."
I tutor high school students in AP classes and one of my students is definitely pregnant and her mom is completely oblivious. Like her mom dropped her off the other day and knowing I'm in the process of trying to lose a pretty significant amount of weight and it's starting to pay off, asked me to talk to her about cutting down on carbs so she can get rid of her "paunchy belly". First of all, no, that's not even remotely my job as your kid's private tutor and also she's very obviously pregnant and at this point you'd have to be blind not to notice. I mean she's at least 8 months along and isn't doing all that much to hide it.
"I used to be..."
I used to be meaner about my GED students sleeping in class until for some reason one time I just said, "You look tired today." He told me that he had just worked a double shift at his fast food job (Wendy's, I think). It gave me a whole new perspective on the others I saw who were sleepy.
Here's a funny one: My co-teacher was a real gentleman to everyone. When Wanda showed up after being absent for over a week, he said to her, "My, Wanda, you look well rested." I then heard her say to her friend, "How he know I been arrested?"
"I don't know..."
I don't know about "secrets" but I'm pretty sure a lot of students don't realize how much info about them is in our grade book/attendance system. If they've been in the district, I can see all their report cards from kindergarten up and any referrals they've ever gotten. I rarely bother reading them unless I'm curious/concerned about a particular kid, but it's all there.
"We know when..."
Giphy
We know when you come to school stoned. We can't always do anything about it, but we can totally tell.
"I used to be a teaching assistant..."
I used to be a teaching assistant in a third grade classroom. One day I was asked to "grade" their poetry assignments (they all got A's) and pull the best ones to be put on display at open house. There was one poem a student had wrote about their dog that had been hit and killed by a car the previous week that left me in tears. The student had been having some problems focusing in class, and the poem explained a lot. I never would have guessed that an 8-year-old was capable of writing such a moving and articulate poem, or that their behavior problems stemmed from something so painful. It made me a lot more patient and understanding when interacting with kids, and the poem has a very special place in my heart.
"Sparky"
you did not see the car
dragged your body to the porch
laid down there
waited out there
for us to let you in
we did not hear you
you were quiet
and alone
except for the bugs
that called you home.
"I teach professional writing..."
I teach professional writing classes in college and I always give a talk about how important it is to google your name periodically so you know what shows up in your search results and so you can deal with anything that you don't want people seeing because it's common practice for potential employers to google your name. After class one day a girl came up to me and asked if it's really true that employers will google you as part of the job search process. I assured her it was and her eyes went really wide and she said "okay, thank you" and left. So naturally after she left I googled her name and the first thing that came up was her arrest record for trying to break into a warehouse while drunk.
"High school and junior high teacher in a rural town."
High school and junior high teacher in a rural town. About a year-and-a-half ago, a sixth-grade girl stays out of school for a couple days. She shows back up with long sleeves (and what I assume were bandages), and she says she was burned by "liquid fire." The newspaper ran a story the next day that said a man was arrested for throwing acid on his family when he went into a rage at the mom.
Looked up the dad, and sure enough it's this kid's dad. He threw acid he cooked meth with all over his family. Again, this giant bag of smegma threw ACID on his children in a temper tantrum. She didn't know a few teachers connected the dots.
The girl was already a pretty messed up kid. She was a raging lunatic just waiting to explode over anything. She ended up getting expelled for attacking the principal, but honestly all that she had gone through changed my opinion of how bad she could have turned out, considering.
"That the reason..."
That the reason she stopped showing up to school for weeks was because her mom started using again and she had to take care of her younger siblings.
Poor girl was the absolute best student too. Straight A's great personality, and her mom was just useless. Our administration went to check on her and found out. They brought food, clothes, and did everything else they could for her. She showed up a couple more times but I think she ended up having to do online classes to graduate... I hope she's doing good now.
Of course, most of the time, it was “just a phase". And looking back, those phases are regrettable, to say the least. Here are some prime examples of that.
SirGergoyFriendman asked:
What was your biggest/most regrettable "It's not a phase, mom. It's my life." that, in fact, turned out to be just a phase and not your life?
The enthusiasm of a young person can lead to some unexpected changes that parents are just not ready for.
Hi, Wheeljack!
I was VERY into The Transformers when I was a wee lad in the 1980s. One day, I decided to change my name to the name of my favorite Autobot. My name was lame, and I wanted an awesome Transformer name. And I was VERY insistent that my parents only call me by my new name. Calling me by my 'old' name would cause a big fat tantrum on my part.
So for the better part of a week, my poor parents had to call me Wheeljack.
Very 2008.
Ariana Grande Shrug GIFGiphyMy cat-ear phase. I wore cat ears every single day. Everywhere. I had like 20 pairs of them. Now everyone thinks I'm a furry.
I find that very cute and wouldn't have thought you'd be furry. Even if you'd had cat mittens. I think my suspicions would have started if you moved a bit like a cat, displayed catlike grooming habits or got a cat mask.
Not gonna lie, that car sounds cool.
I went to a car show once as a teen, and the only newer car there was some chick's PT cruiser. It was hot glittery pink, and at the time I was obsessed. I insisted that one day I would have a hot pink car, with pink seats, pink dash, pink carpets, etc. I was pretty heavily goth at the time, so my parents just rolled their eyes.
These phases can often lead to some very strange fashion choices.
That’s commitment.
When I was a teenager (early 00s), I was waiting for my mother to pick me up and was wearing one of those sh!tty sports wristwatches. It was itching me so I took it off for a second, but then she arrived and because I was struggling to get it back on my wrist, I looped it around the equally sh!tty chain I had around my neck in a rush to get out the door.
My mom asked me about it in the car, and I told her this was my new style and I planned to wear it like that every day. She rolled her eyes.
I wore that watch on a chain around my neck every single day for 3 years or so. There are even professional family photos where I'm wearing it because I refused to take it off.
One day, the chain broke and I lost the watch. I was in high school at that point anyway and it was a major lady repellent, so... phase over.
Not everyone can be Eminem.
slim shady eminem GIFGiphyBaggy pants, being a rapper someday and being a professional skater.
When I was about 14 and Eminem was starting to blow up I bought myself a keyboard with a synthesizer. It cost like $200 which was all the money I had saved up. It finally came (this was way before amazon prime and such) and I tried rapping.
My sister told me "you're effing horrible" and I gave up right then and there.
This should be a sin.
I used to button the top buttons of polo shirts.
I must say, this is probably the worst one I've read.
Looking back at our regrettable choices, all we can do is cringe.
An optimistic look at bad tattoos.
check me out season 3 GIF by PortlandiaGiphyBeing a tattooer. Regrettable because of those poor people who have my awful doodles on their bodies.
Take heart! My favorite tattoo is the one I drunkenly got my buddy to do in his living room one year during March Madness! It's dumb and frankly mediocre? But such a good story and has such good associations I smile every time I see it.
RIP Fredro’s.
My friend and I decided we were going to open a bar in Jamaica with exotic snakes in glass cages in the walls at each booth. We convinced ourselves it would be amazing for at least two years in college. It was going to be called Fredro's.
My entire family made fun of me for it. Once we got out of college, we realized it was not feasible and joined the office grind. We're also two white guys with no ties to Jamaica.
Talk about cringey.
I wore a top hat with an anime pin on it for around a year. Met one of my current best friends while wearing it, idk how he could bear to speak to me after that.
My weirdest phase was probably when I insisted on wearing knee-high rainbow socks to school every day. But honestly, I don't regret it. I rocked those socks, and I wish I still have a pair.
To all the people out there cringing over their past selves, remember that you were just a kid, and to be easy on yourselves. After all, we've all been there
Yet, too often, manufacturers who oversell their products fail to deliver what is promised and are inevitably left with angry customers who want their money back.
Whether the merchandise was defective or ridiculously overpriced, strangers online shared some of their worst purchases when Redditor BooksMcGee asked:
"What is the worst product you ever paid money for?"
Short Life Span
"This NERF gun that's supposed to shoot tennis balls for your dog. I bought it cause I thought you could load 3 at a time and shoot them far, but it's just one and it's super loud and the gun broke after like 4 shots (reading reviews later, this was a common issue)."
Lame Pets
"There were these toys called squiggles when I was a kid and the commercials made it seem like the toy was alive. It looked like you would get this crazy little fuzzy worms as pets that would follow you around an so sick tricks and listen to your every command. It was really just a piece of fluffy string tied to another piece of string with googly eyes on it. People may say that it was supposed to be a magic trick but they should also explain that to a 5 year old who really wanted a pet."
Card Value
"Not their fault, but I paid $70 for a Yugioh card hours before it was limited to one copy. Probably dropped to $20 by the end of the day."
These purchases were bad for your bum.
"A bicycle that literally fell apart before I made it out of the parking lot."
Not Worth Sitting On
"Joybird brand couch. Was so terrible, we returned it. Still hard to believe, we returned a freaking couch."
Going Nowhere Fast
"A 2000 VW Beetle (used)."
"Biggest piece of sh*t that literally had to have just about everything replaced before 100k miles and would still break down every time you left the driveway to the point where the tow-truck driver knew us on a first-name basis."
Expensive Lemon
"An Oldsmobile Achieva from one of those buy here pay here places. I should have known better, but I was young and thought I was getting a good deal. I had the thing for about 5 months, I drove it for maybe 3 weeks. The rest of the time it was either in the shop, or in my driveway waiting until pay day so I could afford to fix whatever broke on it this week. Eventually told the dealer just take it, I'm not paying for it any more. He said nope, and I will make sure your credit is ruined. I said well you sold me a lemon, do you really want to go this route? He came and took it. Never reported anything to credit. I heard he got sued by several other people who sold sh**ty cars too and eventually went out of business."
"Always amazes me when I see them driving around still, I can only assume there's enthusiasts who just love repairing horribly designed cars."
– zerbey
These Redditors were not convinced what they ingested was edible.
Bad Cereal
"A box of plain Cheerios. Thought they were honey nut, poured a bowl, was very disappointed."
"If I wanted to taste cardboard, I'd just eat the box."
– gor8884
Space Pizza
"A burnt frozen pizza at the air and space museum cafe in DC. I Don't wish that experience on anyone. There are some amazing restaurants in DC, don't settle."
– Alseids
The following electronics just gave off a bad charge.
"Asus Transformer Pad TF700"
"This was one of those early 'high end' Android tablets that was grossly underpowered, and it showed. Thing was slow as sh!t in no time flat. Rookie mistake investing into shiny new tech while they were still working all the bugs out. Think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $350-400 for it..."
– Luke5119
Bad Apple
"macbook pro 2018 13" touchbar. 2 years old and dead (battery). they're asking $300-$400 to change the battery. malfunctioning keyboard with double presses and missing presses. that's a lot of money for bad design."
Chilly Reception
"Past winter my old room heater broke down and I had to buy a new one. Went to a store nearby and somehow got convinced to buy a very costly heating device.. It's also my fault, since there were some sligthly cheaper options around, but nope. I wanted the expensive one thinking it will make my small room a volcano with little to no effort/cost (that's also what the seller told me). Long story short the device wasn't doing ANYTHING. No significant temperature changes, too much space, a weird noise, and was doubling my previous device in utility cost. I still gloom over those 80 euros.."
Some of my disappointing purchases was clothing, but only because I purchased them online. Unless they are a brand I'm familiar with, I'm usually fine with buying new jeans off of their websites.
But when it comes to graphic tees only available on specialty shops, an M-size shirt is not necessarily the same size as those found in other reputable stores.
I bought a medium sized T-shirt from a boutique store online because I loved the look of the design. But when it arrived, the supposed medium fit me like an XL.
At least I gained a fierce cleaning rag from this impulsive purchase.