Any teacher with experience—like, a week's worth of experience—knows that sometimes one of the best ways to keep law and order in the classroom is through instilling a little harmless fear. Nothing crazy or long-lasting to the psyche—just a few tricks to temporarily scare the students straight … at least until the bell rings.
My seventh-grade English teacher just loved signs, I guess. Above the door beneath the clock was: "Time passes … will YOU?" He also had a round sign hanging from one of the light fixtures that read "TOIT." His point was that everyone always says they're going to get AROUND TO IT (a round TOIT, get it?), but they never do.
– CAIT on Mr. M.
"This paper looks like you dipped a chick in ink and let it run around your paper," Mrs. K. wrote on my assignment in the fifth grade. This was right before she gave me a failing grade in penmanship. This followed Miss O., my fourth-grade teacher, who announced to the class that William would receive the monthly handwriting sample because he has the worst penmanship she had ever seen. I will not reveal my age here (though here's a hint: I'm retired), but it never got any better.
– WILLIAM
I tell every parent with a student from ninth grade and onward: "Don't go away for even a weekend for the next four years."
– SUSAN
The most memorable thing one of my teachers said to me was in kindergarten. She said, "Mind your own business." I had simply asked why there was a sixth grader sitting on a stool in a corner facing the wall in our classroom. I was stricken! I grew up to be an author, and I have always wondered if that incident had something to do with the fact that I have spent almost my entire career asking (and answering) questions.
– ERIC on Mrs. B.
My high school chemistry teacher used to tell us, "Carol never wore her safety goggles. Now, she doesn't need them." It was a joke. I think. But it sure got the point across.
– ALICIA on Mr. P.
My second-grade teacher, Mr. K., had me pegged from the start. He was constantly after me, saying, "You had better settle down and settle down FAST!"
– LEIGH on Mr. K.
I teach pre-K, and I get some kids with real potty mouths, even at that age. I'm never going to be able to eradicate it, but I try to make a dent.
"You're not allowed to say bad words unless you're eighteen," I tell them. "How old are you?"
"Four," they'll say. "Five."
"OK, no bad words, then. You can say them when you are eighteen."
"Do you say bad words?" they want to know next.
"Not when I'm with you guys," I say, reminding them, "because you're four."
– DIANA
In my years of teaching, I would tell anyone who put his or her head down on a desk that I would remove the desk if it happened again, and, "When your head hits the floor, it will be quite a mess."
– BILL
I will never forget how our tiny elementary school teacher Mrs. G. terrified us, especially when she stood on a chair in front of the class waving a ruler frantically and shouting, "I am going to annihilate you!" as her face turned beet red. Bewildered and terrified little creatures that we were, we had no idea what the meaning of "annihilate" was or what fate was destined to befall us. But we got the picture—it wasn't good! And we were good kids!
Contrast that with my kindergarten teacher, the beautiful Mrs. R., with a huge blonde pompadour, who played the piano and sang childhood favorites as we rolled out our little blankets on the floor at naptime. Inspiring? Maybe not to anyone else, but the wonderful energy of Mrs. R. and the memorable images of that sunlit room at naptime bring tears to my eyes decades later.
– LILLIAN
"Just think what you could do if you only applied yourself."
– TOO MANY TEACHERS TO COUNT to Michael
