We teachers spend a lot of time moaning at our pupils for doing these things but can we admit we can be just as bad! Teachers and pupils are way more similar than we’d like to admit. Here are some examples of the teacher-student relationship and ways we are exactly like our pupils.
1. Whispering to our mates during staff meetings
There’s nothing more infuriating than having pupils slyly whispering to each other while we’re teaching. But somehow we have no recollection of this when it comes to chatting to our teacher mates during staff meetings. Let’s be real, are they even worth going to if we can’t chat?
2. Procrastinating
Pupils are often lambasted by teachers for leaving work till the last minute and reminded how “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. But can we take a minute and remove the proverbial plank out of our eyes? Remember that marking you said you’d do later or that phone call you said you’d make “tomorrow” or that exercise plan you said you’d start on “Monday”? Yep – you procrastinate too.
3. Gossiping None Stop
We often punish our pupils for discussing the latest drama (especially after break and lunch) but let’s be honest we all love a cheeky dose of drama. When we receive an outrageous email or phone call from a parent, find out about a secret rendezvous between two teachers or have an eye-roll inducing encounter with that frenemy teacher – we have to spill the tea! What else would we be whispering about in staff meetings!
4. Moaning about work
The ultimate teacher-student relationship! Teachers always say things like ‘it’s your time you’re wasting, not mine’ and ‘I’ve already got my GCSEs’ when pupils are moaning about doing work. But aren’t we the same people who moan about work all-the-time! Can you even call yourself a teacher if you don’t detail your extensive to-do list in every other conversation! If only we could get a qualification in complaining.
5. Making inappropriate jokes
Teenagers are obsessed with inappropriate jokes and so are we. Though we can never admit it in front of our pupils but we’ve all got a little Jimmy Carr inside us. We try to limit the off-task joking during class and stop ourselves from laughing but we can’t help but crack a few naughty jokes with our teacher friends!
6. We get moody too
Even though we are highly intelligent adults and like to think we have complete emotional mastery we too fall victim to a little (or a lot of) moodiness. We get snappy. We get grumpy. At times we have zero patience. Does that remind you of anyone?
7. Dozing off
Every teacher knows it’s hugely disrespectful for a pupil to fall asleep in your lesson. You’ve taken your sweet time to create this colour coded powerpoint with all these interesting tasks and cool transitions and they dared to sleep? Are you not entertained?!
We constantly tell teenagers to sleep early so you can wake up energised and feel well-rested but do we even take the advice ourselves? We find ourselves dozing off while we are reading, marking and even in a meeting! Don’t worry, your secret is with us, we know you’re just “resting your eyes”. You’re still allowed to tell your pupils off for it!
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