User rdonos2 on the r/badteachers subreddit complained about a teacher they refer to as Mrs. Karen who frequently brings up conservative talking points, sexist views about women in positions of authority, homophobic views, and calling everything she doesn’t agree with communism. But one particular incident really seemed to bother the student.
“I dressed as a historical figure that she would give me extra credit points and when I remarked that I was gonna be Jesus she was fine with it...until my [expletive] classmates told her I was an atheist. She responded, "sorry but you have to believe in him to get the points shrug" I was baffled...she was SUPER intolerant and it was visible.”
Everything seemed great with Caroline Melanie Lee who had just been named Teacher of the Year at Darnell-Cookman Middle/High in Jacksonville, Florida…until she was arrested, that is. Turns out, Lee was not the perfect teacher, having struck a student in the face, giving her a bloody nose. Why you ask? Well, that’s where it gets juicy.
On the Instagram post from the Duval County Public Schools Instagram account, congratulating Lee for her award, students took to the comment section to question the win. One student mentioned her use of the “n word” during instruction along which really set the teacher off. Lee asked to speak to the student privately and upon meeting, Lee punched the student repeatedly in the face.
You would think a teacher of all people would be more understanding of a student’s learning disability but it appears that’s not always the case. Reddit user WeaselTan posted in the Subreddit r/badteachers posted about one teacher who was less than understanding of their dyslexia.
Apparently, the student needed help taking notes and their friend offered to help, however, the teacher would not allow it.
“The principal then stops and looks pensive for a moment before asking, ‘But you can read right?’ Kid responds yes. ‘You can also write?’ Again kid responds yes. Then the principal goes, dead serious, ‘Then I want you to try, okay.’ Kid goes on to explain to him he can't. Eventually, principal relents and says, ‘I will allow it for today but I want you to try and practice to get over that because that's just your brain not letting you because you believe you can't and you're not trying.’
Another teacher detailed in a Reddit post from Sufficient-Lab7123 was less than tolerant of a 7-year-old student’s ADHD. The user said that when they were in the 1st grade they were “quiet and awkward” and had difficulties remembering what they did or didn’t do. The user continues his post saying:
“Well one day, She asked me, ‘did you do your time paper?’ And I thought to myself in my dumb adhd 7 year old brain, ‘well, if I don’t remember so I must’ve did it.’ So I told her yes. She had another student go through my backpack and folders and found the paper which I didn’t do. She had me stand in front of the class and scream at the top of my lungs, crying and all, ‘I am a liar.’ She wanted me to do this three times, and then she wanted me to go to the classroom beside hers and yell, ‘I am a liar.’
A few anecdotes from a teacher here and there can be a real treat for kids, when at least funny or amusing in some way. After all, who doesn’t love a good story? However, when things get a little too personal and you are getting your teacher unprofessional thoughts on every little thing – it’s a bad thing. It’s particularly bad when you teacher says something offensive without even blinking.
Reddit user Random_Furbies said, “He was a music teacher that was decent at teaching general 7th grade music, but whenever we had free time, he would tell his opinions to everyone in the class. I have no idea why. He acted like a internet troll, but in real life, and you were stuck with him for 45 minutes a day. One day he went on and on about one kid on his daughters volleyball team, that, in his words ‘is to fat to be a setter’. Another was how the weekend sports kids are snowflakes. And on and on. It got more political too, about how masks are ineffective and the government is hiding stuff from us.
When a teacher wants you to stay put, it’s generally a good idea to do so as a student, but there are certainly circumstances that call for you getting up now and then and that’s when nature calls. When you gotta, you to got to go. One Reddit user shegotskylz told about her time in the 5th grade student with her math teacher:
“There was one consecutive week where I had to go to the bathroom after lunch. She always said "why didn't you go during lunch". Because I didn't have to and I drank a lot of water during lunch/recess. She did let me go to the bathroom but she had major attitude and told me ‘if you're gone for more than 5 minutes I'm kicking out of my class.’ I didn't even know what to say at that point and I didn't even know I was suffering from a severe UTI. There was one day where she got so fed up when I asked to go to the bathroom, she sent me to the principal's office and less than 2 days later, my mother rushed me to the hospital because that UTI turned into a kidney infection. I had a fever and it was possibly the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced.
Covid rules haven’t been fun to follow by any means. Nobody really wants to wear a mask whenever they go out but we are all in this together and that means following all the mandates to prevent the spread of Covid. It’s especially important for teachers to follow the mandates to encourage kids to do the same.
Nevertheless, one Iowa teacher of Des Moines Public Schools thought the rules didn’t apply to her and was recently fired for not cooperating with the mask mandate. She along with several others blatantly defied the district’s mask policy. While there are medical exemptions allowed, the teacher only claimed it was her “God-given right” not to wear one.
Before COVID, there was a bit of a stigma against online education. Typically viewed as inferior, there’s a perception that it’s for the lazy or an easier alternative for the overworked. But with COVID mandates and regulations, just about every school in the country has adopted an online education model. One professor, however, hasn’t quite gotten the memo about the pandemic and seems to be punishing online students, while not even having the facts about his own course set straight.
In a post from Reddit user imploding limes on the Subreddit r/MurderedByWords, the professor in question refuses to let students choose their own groups and argues with his students about whether his class is online-only or a hybrid course. “You are wrong,” the teacher says in the message screenshot, after which a student proves the teacher wrong with a screenshot of the class description showing the course to be “hybrid,” after which his students throw his words right back in his face. No apologies from the professor of course.
Everybody has a life outside of the job they have and it’s not really fair to be judged by your personal life if it doesn’t affect how you do your job. One art teacher got punished for being a true artist with some interesting art techniques. When students found out, it was shared of course, and then they tried to clean up the mess with a protest.
Reddit user YEEEEEeEeseresrsr wasfied after the school, found out about a YouTube video in which the teacher paints with his butt. Yes, you heard that correct. Can you unhear that? Afraid no. The protest seems not to have done any good, as despite the students efforts, he was still fired.
Prizes can be a great way to motivate your students. Giving them a small toy, school supplies, or even candy can inspire students to get their work done on-time, and do a good job too. However, what you shouldn’t give as a prize is drugs, especially when you are a teacher.
One teacher in South Carolina unwittingly handed out THC gummies to here students, a knockoff Sour Patch Kids brand called Stoney Patch Kids. The gummies contained 350 milligrams of THC. While no child ended up consuming the gummies. The error was discovered by another teacher during an afterschool program and promptly reported. The teacher was fired.
Teachers, no doubt, have a lot of influence over the lives of our children. After all, they are providing students with knowledge that they will carry with them the rest of their lives – at least of what they remember. But it’s important that teachers give the facts and not their opinions and conspiracy theories.
According to the Washington Post, one history teacher in Ventura, California went on a political rant about the corona vaccine, the justice system and the 2020 presidential election. In the student’s words, the teacher had said, “I’m never getting vaccinated. I’m never getting any more shots of any kind. Did you know Trump’s still president?” The student recorded the seven-minute rant and showed it to his mother.
Another pretty big rule in the world of teaching is to avoid having sex with your students, in general, but especially if they are underage. One teacher, Heiry Calvi had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student at JC Bermudez Doral Senior High School. Students of the school had seen videos of at least one of the encounters.
The teenage boy’s phone revealed nude photos of them together and several messages on WhatsApp where they “confessed their love” for one another. The teacher who claimed to be pregnant, would not say who the father was. The teacher has been charged with several crimes, including lewd and lascivious battery, and electronic transmission harmful to minors.
When you hear about school bullying, your first thought is naturally to be thinking of kids bullying each other, but sometimes it’s the teachers too. Two elementary school teachers, Tracy Gallow and Ann Marie Shelvin at Washington Elementary School were accused of bullying an 11-year-old child over the course of several months.
According to authorities, the teachers told the child to “Go and kill yourself” and that was arguably one of the lesser offenses. The teachers had also threatened to fail students who would not fight the 11-year-old girl. School video footage even revealed a student shoving the 11-year-old into some gym bleachers. The mother contacted the sheriff to report these incidents.
If there was a list of things that a teacher shouldn’t do, surely throwing things at them would be at the top. After all, teachers don’t like it when students are throwing stuff across the room. But while you might not have been able to help yourself when it came to throwing paper planes, some teachers have a similar probably, despite the hypocrisy it presents.
In a Reddit thread posted by YEEEEEeEeseresrsr titled “What was the craziest reason a teacher at your school got fired?” - one user named ASP6 said “Threw a chair across the classroom hitting a student in the process…I think she was going through a divorce or something but it was talk of the town throughout the whole week. We never saw her again after that.”
It’s probably a good rule in general to check every email you send for mistakes so there’s no miscommunication. Whether you are misspelling words, forgetting to attach the needed files or making sure your links are correct – it’s just a good idea! Yet, not everybody does and sometimes there are consequences.
For instance, one teacher who sent the wrong link, learned this lesson the hard way. In the thread “What was the craziest reason a teacher at your school got fired?” – niiode said “sent a porn link instead of google form by email. Many students then commented on the video with a lot of great jokes, funny times.” However, we would venture to say that teacher isn’t laughing now.
