Whether you teach pre-K in Oregon or U.S. history in Massachusetts, one thing is a guarantee: You will hear some absolutely gut-busting quotes from students. Their earnest questions, honest misunderstandings, and accidentally brutal observations can make a wonderful addition to our teaching stories. Recently, our teacher audience responded to this post of funny things students have said with their own experiences, and as you might predict, the comment section was absolute gold.
âAn older French teacher at my school ate a small can of tuna every day for lunch.â
âA student asked her why, and she said it was to keep herself young. He replied, âItâs not working.'â
âBelinda S.
âI had a little boy in my pre-K class that apparently had been around a lot of colorful language.â
âOne day, while working at the table, a sweet little girl asked, âMrs. Moore, what is a ice hole?â âWhy do you ask?â I said. âIsaac said I was a ice hole.â Isaac had a very thick Southern drawl. I knew EXACTLY what he said, but instead I said I wasnât sure what he meant. For the next ten minutes the children at the table tried to decide what an âice holeâ was. They came to the unanimous decision that an ice hole was when fishermen cut holes in the ice to fish. Isaacâs confused expression almost sent me over the edge.â
âKaren M.
âOne of my middle school students was wearing a T-shirt with Grumpy the Dwarf on it.â
âI told her he was my favorite dwarf and she said, âWell, that makes sense.'â
âJanice P.
âMy favorite thing a high schooler has ever said to me was, âI forgot my AirPods today, and Iâm going to make it everyone elseâs problem.'â
âCarolyn W.
âOne of my small groups of first graders was playing a word game.â
âI was prompting them toward the answer âtea.â âItâs something your mom might drink in the morning,â I said. âBeer!â one of them called out earnestly. Oh dear âŠâ
âEllen O.
âI jokingly said I was âallergic to everythingâ once during a sneezing fit.â
âOne of my precious sixth graders asked me, âOh wow, so are you going to die soon? Because thereâs a lot of everything just, like, laying around.'â
âVee M.
âOne of my eighth graders asked how old I was (at the time, loooong ago). I replied, âIâm 23.'â
âShocked, she mumbled, âI sure hope Iâm married by the time Iâm 23.'â
âLisa G.
âI was doing an exercise with my grade 4 students, matching definitions to words.â
âI asked them to find a word on their list that means âto have an argument.â One kid immediately calls out, âMarriage!'â
âRobert B.
âWhile working on letter sounds in my 1st grade class, I asked students to name something that starts with the letter O.â
âA student replies, âOcean.â Another student proceeds to say, âOooh, youâre not supposed to say that. Itâs a bad word.â I said, âNo, ocean is not a bad word.â Then the student says, âOh, I thought she said, âOh, shââ Needless to say, I cut him off before he could finish the word. LOL ⊠life of a first grade teacher.â
âJacqueline H.
âWe took the ITBS, or Iowa Test of Basic Skills, each year.â
âStephanie had her head down on her desk, crying. I asked her what was wrong. She said, âWhy do I have to take this test? I donât even know anybody in Iowa!'â
âPat P.
âOne of my first graders asked me where I worked.â
âAnother first grader once told me, âI donât got no think brain.'â
âTricia L.
âMy first graders told me I look like a crazy dead clown when I wear makeup.â
âBlair M.
âMy mother taught kindergarten.â
âI was observing one day when a little boy hugged her and told her she smelled good. âJust like my grandma when she puts powder down her bra!â She thanked him, but I donât know how she kept a straight face!â
âSuzan L.
âWhen I was teaching art in China, I had a kindergarten student say to me, âI love the smell of crayons in the morning.'â
âRobert B.
âMiddle school: âDid you know you canât step on your own eyebrows?'â
âCheryl K.
âI had a 6th grader ask me if they paid me to come to school.â
âThat same day another 6th grader asked me if I could drive.â
âJacque H.
âWhen I was teaching 4th grade, we were learning about our state.â
âI asked if anyone could tell me the capital of Nevada. You guessed it, a student told me âN.'â
âDesie B.
âI had second grade child go home and tell her parents that I lived at school because I had two pairs of shoes under my desk.â
âI wore my tennis shoes to school and changed when I got there. The others were another choice to wear.â
âKaren N.
âI had a fifth grade student ask me if it was really boring back before color was invented.â
âThe student thought that color didnât exist before there were color photos and thatâs why the old photos were black and white. Another student in the same class asked me how old I was when I was her age.â
âDiane W.