11.
Goose.
His nickname was Gus (pronounced Goose), and he was first in my English 1 class. Gus was receiving Special Education services, and he had generally not experienced success in English class or school.
But he was so coachable. The next year he wanted to have my English 2 class, but I only had pre-AP options. Gus requested to be placed into pre-AP, which doesn’t usually have students receiving Special Education services. Then, Gus met two young ladies who took him under their wing.
By the end of the year, Gus EXITED the Special Education program.
That’s the one and only time in my teaching career (13 years in Texas so far) I have ever seen a student exit SpEd.
[deleted]
12.
Not a teacher but in my 5th grade math class when my teacher called my name on the first day of school, she paused, lowered her glasses and asked, “are you (my uncle’s name)’s son?” I said “no”. And she gave a huge sigh of relief and said “oh thank God.” this was over 20 years after she had my uncle as a student.
I told my dad about that later that day and he laughed and said my uncle was quite a terror in elementary school.
esaks
13.
This huge 8th grader named Earl who wanted everyone to think he was a badass and he did get into quite a bit of trouble, but in reality he loved math. He took a test in class one day and begged me after to let him retake it because he didn’t think he did well. I graded it and he got 100%, so I called his mom to deliver the news and you could tell it was the first positive phone call she’d ever gotten about her son.
bethmcgary7
14.
Big Mike.
I’m a HS science teacher in an affluent suburb. We get this transfer kid in who is about 6’8”, 350, long thin Hulk Hogan mullet (not bald tho) and big glasses. Mike hailed from the hollars of Kentucky, thick southern accent, and was the most quotable kid I ever met.
“I hate books Mr. xxxxx they PISS me off.”
“My grandma made me sleep on the porch because she cooked some veggies and I told her dang it woman where’s the meat?!”
“I ain’t never seen a pencil like this. Can I keep this and show my dad?” (Talking about a regular mechanical pencil)
“They threw me out of Golden Corrall because I ate 8 of them steaks they had. I was pissed, next time I’m trying for nine.”
And we were supposed to have a fire drill at like 1:55 or some odd time, at 1:57 he went ahead and pulled it honest to god thinking he would help out whoever forgot.
wardsac
15.
I’m a professor and I had a student who was a big dude, much older than the typical college student like maybe 40, ex-military, and very stoic. We did a simulation exercise during class where students had to make a decision about whether to race a car or withdraw from the race. Most students go forward with the race for a variety of reasons, but what they don’t know is that this situation mirrors the decision that NASA made with the challenger launch (which obviously exploded).
After the exercise, the student came up to me and started crying and said it was the most impactful exercise he’s ever done and that when I have hard days I should remember that I made a difference for him. I almost started crying myself. It was a great moment in my career.
doggos_are_better
16.
The one who told me, “you really make me think.” We are friends to this day and have the best conversations. It’s the highest compliment for a teacher.
LeahaP1013
17.
This kid J-, 10 years old with a learning disability, was struggling at home (divorce/living with grandma) and at school. It was my first year teaching and he would often lash out to get attention and be purposely annoying to see if he could get a rise out of me.
Pretty soon it became clear that he was just lonely and isolated so he needed a friend. After getting to know him for a couple of weeks, I was happy to become his friend that year and he and I became so close that he would bend over backwards trying to catch up on work just so he could hang out with me. I saw him struggle pretty heavily, even with one-on-one support but apart from a couple of moments of crisis, he kept his nose to the grindstone and worked hard every day.
This isn’t a movie so he still wasn’t the best student in the class but he made so much progress compared to the beginning of the year that every time I even thought about calling out or taking it easy I though “J needs me” and he did.
BaconEggnCheese611
18.
I was still in high school myself when I joined a program to be a teacher’s assistant at a nearby kindergarten. The kids were all so lovely and loving, and I enjoyed getting to know each of them as individuals.
One day, midway through the year, we got a new little girl in the class. Serena was a quiet kid, but bright, attentive. She always ran up to hug me around the waist when I came into the classroom. At some point, the classroom teacher mentioned to me that the reason she was new to class was that she and her mom were living in the women’s shelter in town, but that was all the information I had.
A little over a month later, I came in one day and Serena didn’t hug me. She was withdrawn, by herself in a corner, and the teacher advised me that it was a “bad day” so we weren’t pressuring Serena to do any school work. At one point I did go to check on her, and Serena started crying and clinging to me, telling me that she wanted to go home to her mommy. I gave her a hug and let her cry, but I felt totally helpless. I didn’t really know what was going on, and I was only 17 myself. There wasn’t anything I could do.
The next time I came in to teach, Serena was gone, and I never saw her again. She’d be about 21 or 22 years old now.
PressureAwkward
19.
I taught GED classes in a local prison to the mens SAP program. These weren’t violent offenders, they were just addicts that got caught up.
Totally the most rewarding position I have EVER had in education. Seeing those men get their GED was incredible. One old man, he was a carny that traveled the US his entire adult life, never made it past 8th grade, got his GED right before the virus shut everything down.
He came and found me in my classroom and hugged me like a brother and thanked me. I still remember his full name, he made that much of an impression on me. He was due to get released a few weeks later, I really hope he’s doing well….
TheGoodJudgeHolden
20.
I taught 6th grade English. Had this student who was way too smart and funny for his age. He lived right by the school and he’d stay after school some days and just chill out while I was grading papers. I liked him a lot.
I kept things pretty light in the classroom. Tried to make the kids laugh when I could. One day, I start in on this joke rant about the word “chillax.”
“Can I just say something about the word, ‘chillax’ guys? It’s a ridiculous word. I like slang. I’m all for language changing over time. But chillax doesn’t solve a problem! It’s the word ‘chill” which means relax, combined with ‘relax’ which means relax, to make ‘chillax’ which ALSO MEANS RELAX! It’s pointless!”
And this kid stands up and interrupts me with, “Whoa whoa whoa, just chillax, Mr. X!”
I laughed pretty hard. It might not be that funny to you. But his timing, his tone…it was perfect. Especially for a kid his age. Hope he’s doing well.
ThingCalledLight
