"Kids these days," people say. But teachers deal with them every day and somehow still keep it together.
Well, mostly! Endless grading and (passive-)aggressive parent emails can test the limits of even the most patient.
To highlight what it takes to survive in the modern classroom, we compiled a list of memes created by educators about the highs and lows they experience at work.
When you're a student, you don't always appreciate the person in front of the blackboard — but later, you realize they deserve a medal for their efforts.
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Data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) echoes many of these memes. For example, its ongoing School Pulse Panel surveys public K–12 schools in the United States on various high-priority topics, and the latest results show that 31% of public school students were reported to be behind grade level at the end of the 2024–25 school year.
However, administrations across the country are trying to address the problem, and 64% of public schools that hired additional educators to provide more small-group and individual instruction reported that this strategy was “very” or “extremely” effective in supporting learning recovery during the current school year.
Funny anecdote: daughter's Geography teacher decided to (unknowingly) take the class to a nudist beach for a field trip. Mistakes were made and regrets were had.
I teach at college. When I first started I had students who were far older than I was. I was silently waiting for the moment one of them was going to say, "Who are you to tell me that?"
Additionally, 70% of public schools said that students missed too many classes because they stayed home unnecessarily for minor symptoms, even though 73% of public schools gave incentives for students to improve attendance.
When it comes to teacher absences, 50% of public schools reported that it "remained about the same" compared to the previous school year, and 45% said that the ease or difficulty of getting substitute teachers was "about the same."
"You may very well think that, I couldn't possibly comment"... saved my face more than once
I'd never agree teaching is a walk in the park. It takes a stamina I know I don't have!
Mostly because it makes all my preparation worthless and I have to do it all over again, but to suit the new (meaningless) rules. And , somewhere, someone with not enough to do is working on the next total change of direction, starting next year. Without warning.
However, 36% of public schools reported that the percentage of staff expressing concerns about themselves or their colleagues exhibiting depression, anxiety, trauma, or emotional dysregulation/disturbance has increased compared to the last school year, but only 59% said that employee assistance programs (EAPs) with a mental health component are available to their staff.
The NCES also found that 64% of public schools reported that a lack of qualified candidates was a challenge for them when filling vacant teaching positions.
A nationally representative survey released in 2024 by the RAND Corporation discovered that six in ten teachers (59%) experience frequent job-related stress — almost double the rate of the general working adult population (33%).
Teachers were also more likely to report symptoms of depression, at a rate of 19%, compared to 12% of comparable workers. Additionally, 60% of teachers indicated experiencing burnout, compared to just 33% of comparable workers.
Amelia is hilarious. Discovered Chicken Shop Date on YouTube this year and fell in love with her sense of humor.
Teachers reported working an average of 53 hours per week, compared to 43 hours per week reported by comparable workers.
However, teachers reported an average base salary of $70,000, compared to an average base pay of roughly $88,000 for their peers in other fields.
So it’s not surprising that, on average, teachers said they wanted a $16,000 increase in their pay and that teachers in all salary bands indicated that they should earn more.
I was said chatty child thank you teachers for putting up with me you guys were the only social life I had.
But in the face of all their challenges, teachers seem to be hanging on. Only 22% of them said they wanted to leave their current job, compared to 24% of adults in other sectors.
Do we thank them enough for what they do?
I was shocked to learn that middle- and high- school teachers generally accept late assignments at my child's school. When I was in school, one day late meant a zero. There are pros and cons to this arrangement!
...and as a custodian, especially during Covid years, wiping upper door frames.
I usually just go with : Hey I am glad you made it." The more welcome a kid feels the easier it is to get them to show up
Grading essays and the kid has veered off into some weird tangent and just keeps wandering.
There's a hilarious teacher on social media who makes videos of crazy parent requests. Some of them are truly unbelievable.
My daughter generally does summer school. Last year they ended up paying her $45/hr as NO one wanted it, they started at $30, and increased the offer until she COULDN'T say no. She couldn't this year as she has an outstanding opportunity to get her masters, paid for by the local Tribe.
'My' teachers were gratified during lock down(Covid). They had SO many parents realize it's not all decent pay and benefits. They actually EARN those. Shown lotsa love after that.
I have been stunned over the number of massive arguments online from parents raging about sending in school supplies. But not surprised. I mean the reason we need to ask for supplies is because they refuse to increase taxes to pay for the supplies. But they also want us to provide all the supplies.
It wouldn't be so bad if you didn't know for a fact that your end of year assessment would stress about your difficulty with class control ...
My first school was rather formal, teachers were addressed as "Sir" or "Miss". Kids invented a knight from the olden days, called "Sir Jafta..."
Parents need to know. They tell us EVERYTHING. We know every single fight you had with your SO, every gossip piece you talk about, and every thing you say around your kids. Everything.
I always took this as a complaint that the assignment was too short or too easy. I was always eager to correct my error.
It's work that has to be done. Just lucky it's being done by someone who's motivated and effective ;-)
Thankfully my school has cameras in the classrooms. It's amazing how quickly the student's tragic tale of unhelpful, demanding teachers who cruelly rebuff their desperate attempts to gain education change when their parent can see video evidence of them sitting in class after class playing on the phone and refusing to work.
... and in too many cases, the number was scary . Percentage but still singular 'number' ...
Teacher takes out mark scheme. Teacher marks assignment in front of pupil. In red. Lots of red. Teacher hands assignment back, with a spar sheet of paper for second attempt.
With the email heading " Why didn't you tell me he was failing" I'm sorry ma'am we only post the grades online for you to access any time, call and leave a message, send an email, send progress reports, request you come in for a conference, and sent you 4 letters detailing our concern over your student's grade.... how could you have possibly known he wasn't doing well?
It's OK, they're going to be a manager so they will never actually have to face a crowd of disaffected teenagers on a Friday afternoon
"So sorry, did the middle of my speech interrupt the beginning of yours?
My job is wanting me to start doing this (I'm not a teacher), but the problem is I still have to check over everything to make sure ChatGPT didn't miss something or mess it up...so instead of just doing my job first they now want me to do a second step then review it all over again. Stupid!
In a perfect world admin would understand that this is the problem I face, not the problem I create
What a shame that school policy is that nobody is allowed to leave a State test before time is up, so they'll just have to sit there - to avoid interrupting the others, of course ;-)
The ones who don't need to show up always do. And vice versa, of course.
(I'd knock over the tables , too, if someone had just dislocated both my wrists )
... and you know that , when the Principal fails abysmally to solve 'this little problem', it's going to be front and centre of your next professional assessment. Not the Principal's, yours. Because the Principal "had to step in to remedy the situation".
Well, hippos are well known for their ability to spread their excrement far and wide ...
Note - this phrase is always, without exception, used in the second or third person . There is no documented evidence of anyone ever saying (or thinking) "If I don't study, I shall not pass". Study is for nerds, apparently, and full scholarships to top Colleges are for quarterbacks - at least, in the fervently held opinion of the athletic members of the class.
"Imagine my pleasure" / "Words cannot express my feelings" / "I mustn't embarrass you by answering that question fully" / "You arrive like a streak of gold in a darkened cave" (IYKYK)
The fact that you just earned your Doctorate is, of course, totally irrelevant ...
OP missed out "Frantically persisting in the doomed search for something nice to say about so many of the class"
