Back-to-school season is among us, which means that we are officially dealing with the best and worst teachers among us. Look, as the child of a teacher, I have an immense amount of sympathy for most educators. However, in every industry, there are people who are straight-up trash at their jobs. You can find these individuals in business meetings, behind the front desk of a doctor's office, and in our classrooms. Unfortunately, there is no known cure for stopping some people from being bad at t…

I'm sorry, but I'm not a psychic.

It sometimes happens in life that there's a discrepancy between your own abilities and what you imagine them to be. This overestimation can have wildly different repercussions, but sometimes, it just earns you a role in management. See, that unearned confidence seems to translate really well in interviews with people who have no idea that you don't know what you're talking about, meaning that the false bravado can land you a job you were never really cut out for. (Cue managers everywhere lookin…

Sometimes, the most rebellious folks in a school are the teachers. Here, we have one teacher who managed to successfully avoid a school tradition for over 30 years at the institution. That silly tradition involved a member of the faculty delivering a speech to the entire student body on significant historical dates. During said speech, the students were also forced to stand still in formation and in silence throughout the duration of the oration. This one teacher, whom the Redditor nicknamed Me…

Everyone has that one teacher who gave them a hard time in high school. If life were a movie, there would be some sort of inspirational and emotional arc to that teacher where the two of you come to understand, appreciate, and respect one another. However, in reality, there usually isn't much of an arc at all. Most of the time, the two of you end the year still resenting one another. The only real ending is one of you leaving the school and no longer being a part of one another's lives. This th…

Teachers already have to put up with so much nonsense at school. Giving them a hard time about what shoes they can wear is certainly crossing a boundary. This school's superintendent decided that the most important aspect of his job was enforcing the student and faculty dress code policy. For the faculty, that meant only dress shoes and boots unless there was a proven medical emergency. This teacher decided enough was enough and used some feet pain as his “medical emergency” and justification f…

If a teacher is unwilling to give their student feedback, why should the student have to put in any effort? Clearly, this terrible educator had it out for this student despite the fact that he had been completing all of his assignments on time and to the best of his ability. When he received his essay back, he got a D with absolutely no explanation. Meanwhile, every other student in the class was given specific comments and instructions for their required revisions. The student even asked his t…

Some people consider their high school years to be some of the best they have ever experienced, while others detest the memory of those years and everyone who contributed to making them so challenging to endure. The story down below is an account of a frustrated lawyer. The original poster (OP), who is a lawyer, recently took on an estate matter that piqued his interest. The case was going well at first, and the OP was largely happy with the direction it was going. But as soon as OP discovered…

Every school has its unique quirk within the curriculum that makes absolutely no sense. If there is one universal truth to education that extends from pre-K age through senior year of high school, it's that at any given moment, you are likely to encounter a head-scratching methodology to the way a certain subject is taught. Health class is always common fodder. Ensuring that everyone knows how to square dance is another bizarre lesson. I'm sure when students reach adulthood and are trying to wr…

Who didn't dream of seeing their least favorite teacher get their comeuppance? You may be 12 years old or you may be 42, but the truth of the matter is that no one forgets that one unnecessarily cruel teacher. This, of course, would be the so-called “educator” who didn't seem to enjoy any aspect of their job with the exception of disciplining children and asserting their power over their students. This would be that teacher who pre-judged you on Day One and who never let you prove yourself as a…

This epic mode of payback has people divided over whether or not this teacher is a brilliant mastermind or entirely out-of-line. Truth be told, it's a very tough call. On the one hand, we love when students who think they can get away with manipulating their teachers get their well-deserved comeuppance. On the other, it's clear from this teacher's first-person account of the whole debacle that they got a lot of joy out of radically affecting the future of these kids, particularly when it came t…

Field trips almost never go as planned. There is always some unexpected mishap, be it big or small, that gets in the way of the event and often makes our teachers extremely annoyed. Sometimes, it's their fault too. I mean, who in their right minds would think a group of 12-year-olds would enjoy a trip to the museum of work to learn about the joys of the eight hour work day? And who in their right minds would think that a camping trip in November in frigid Canada would be a good idea? As someone…

This teacher took to the internet for sympathy after talking about a coworker behind his back with their microphone still on, but she failed to mention that the person with whom she was gossiping was a literal child. Let's take a moment to break down the various levels of unprofessionalism that are embedded in this story. First, there's talking smack about coworkers. Look, this behavior is unfortunately inevitable in many workplaces, but if you're going to do it, you should speak privately with…

There will always be those who believe we are gifted and capable of achieving success in life, and there will always be others who think we will never amount to anything worthwhile. The secret to success is to never give up and to never allow someone to bring you down. The story that follows is from a frustrated student. OP has been studying to teach art. As part of his training, he must work as an assistant to a senior faculty art teacher for six months. Although OP was ecstatic to have the op…

It should come as no surprise that the comments teachers make can haunt you forever. Sure, there are the words of encouragement that can empower you to pursue a particular path, but there are also the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle insults that can damage someone’s self-esteem. The only positive outcome that can arise from dealing with these unfortunate comments is if they become a motivator for you as you continue to do what you want and be who you are despite what a silly authority figure…

Generally speaking, teachers deserve respect; that is, unless they are completely out of line. In this case, we are dealing with a combination of both of these issues. Any substitute teacher knows that it is particularly difficult to get the undivided attention of your students when their real teacher is not present. Kids will be kids, so we have empathy for a frustrated substitute who is simply trying to get through a lesson plan. Still, shouting at a group of kids is never going to gain their…