33 of the Most Memorable Things Teachers Did to Keep Students Paying Attention

‘At the end of the week my history teacher raps about what we learned’
33 of the Most Memorable Things Teachers Did to Keep Students Paying Attention
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Teaching is a tough job, and I can’t applaud enough the people that do it. You’ve got to post up every day in front of twin trebuchets alternately hurling insults and indifference, and tank it. Even if there’s enough left of you to get through another chapter of The Great Gatsby? You’ve got to buy your own chalk.

So it’s even more laudable that there are teachers who not only continue on, but still have a passion for connecting with their students. Of course, if you manage to crack the facade of a class full of jaded teenagers, the payoff is that they’ll likely remember you forever. 

Below, Redditors share some of their favorite teachers that found a way to make some lessons stick.

shadowayla 13y ago We had a substitute teacher in high school who was a sweet, well intentioned middle aged man. I think he may have had a stroke at some point, he walked with a limp and held his hand clenched in a fist. Looked kind of like 'The Master of Disguise' but with ginger hair. At the end of class, if he thought the students were well behaved, he would sing us a song. Unfortunately he was not overly gifted singer and his favourite song to perform was 'Rubber Duckie' which he sang in a very serious tone, hands
. 13y ago Edited 13y ago At the end of class, one of my teachers will say something along the lines of Alright guys, have a great weekend, i'll see you Monday., but 99% of the time he says that on days that aren't Friday. Edit: Не is my history teacher, and possibly the greatest teacher in my school.
tynosaur 13y ago When I was a senior in high school, | had an English teacher that taught strictly for the sake of teaching. Не was in his sixties and ridiculously rich, as he'd been a diamond broker before he decided to enter education. Не had lived a full, exciting life, and was one of the best storytellers I'd ever met. Sometimes when we had free time at the end of class, he'd have a sort of Q&A session with the class, where we were allowed to ask him anything we wanted to about his past, so long as it
t0k1Wartooth 13y ago Edited 13y ago I had a physics teacher who would explain everything with cats. Centrifugal force - swinging a cat by its tail, Doppler effect - cat whining as you swung it, static electricity - doing a burnout with a rubber tyre on a cat, momentum - dropping cat off building, acceleration - throwing cat off building, terminal velocity - really tall building, and so on. Edit: For all the people asking, he teaches in Australia.
13y ago When I was in high school we had a history teacher stop the class and sprint out into the hall screaming HEY! HEY! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!. We sat there in stunned silence for about thirty seconds before he returned wearing a student's chains and jewellery. Не cocked his chest out and strutted between the rows of desks, saying Look, guys, guys look, I'm wearing BLING! I'm wearing ICE! Another time I saw him produce two slices of bread, put them on his desk, add condiments and lunch meat, then eat a sandwich. I went up under the guise of
fullyautomaticapple . 13y ago Edited 13y ago Prof here. When I have to take attendance (which I hate having to do, btw), I always try to make up awesome stories about why a certain student is absent. Is Jim here? No? Ah right, Jim is off plundering Spanish ships at sea today. Sometimes, if students are absent for consecutive days, I keep the story going and it occasionally turns into a saga. The seniors really like it.
. 13y ago We had a teacher that had a get to know me Q and A. Somebody asked him when he lost his virginity... Не responds with 17. Then the follow up question came. Was it good? Slyest grin ever!
. 13y ago At the end of the week my history teacher raps about what we learned.
Fzchk E 13y ago Edited 13y ago A lecturer of mine was very fond of slamming his fist down on tables ans shouting abominations! I found this made class discussion of issues like abortion, genetic engineering and eugenics particularly entertaining.
reddallaboutit ® 13y ago I had a math professor who would send a fancy (but small) square of chocolate via snail mail to any student who noticed a mistake in class. Anything he said, wrote on the board, or handed out in note-form was fair game. To this day I edit with the eyes of a hawk, assuming hawks enjoy chocolate. (Or should I say cHAWKlate, amirite?)
Wicksy92 . 1 13y ago We had a science teacher when I was 14 who brought in liquid nitrogen all the time and bought in loads of items to dip and destroy. Не did it once with a bunch of flowers, and it shattered like glass! Не did it with inner tubes, a kid's ruler, those lessons were so fun!
kingsquidget . 1 13y ago I haven't seen it, but my math teacher supposedly squirts sleepers with a spray bottle.
TheGallagher 13y ago When my old Sociology teacher was explaining crime and deviance he stood on his desk and started jumping around the class from desk to desk explaining that what he was doing wasn't a crime but it would be deviant behaviour if the students suddenly starting doing the same thing. We also had another teacher who when giving punishment essays would give them weird titles. Rather than the usual 300 words on the importance of behaviour in class etc this guy gave essays such as 300 words on how life would be different if you lived inside a
Tom_m_ 13y ago Edited 13y ago My french teacher in high school always taught us swear words. Не was a boxer and once challenged everyone to hit him in the stomach as hard as possible. All the tough guys tried but he didn't even blink. Truly badass teacher!
happydaize 13y ago Edited 13y ago Ah I have many entertaining stories from my year 11/12 Modern History teacher but I think I'll tell of one in particular. When studying about the Vietnam War in year 11, he brought in nerf guns for half the class. We rearranged the desks to look like the Vietnamese country side and some of us were peasants and some were soldiers. We spent about 5 mins reenacting the guerilla military tactics of the Vietnam War and the other 70 mins of the lesson running around the school having a massive nerf war ~ whilst everyone else
agoia 13y ago Freshman college professor always urged us to put good/amusing titles on our papers. Boring titles would go to the bottom of the stack and get graded last. Interesting titles got you interested in writing them, and likewise for the reader's point of view. Often got comments on my titles from many professors in later/ non lit classes at different places, and lemme tell you, it paid off.
13y ago When I was in secondary School, we had a geography teacher from Africa (not sure which specific country), with a very strong accent. Не would introduce himself to everyone as Mr Muranda from Mars, emphasising his non- English pronunciation, and pretend that his teachings were things he'd learned during his time on earth. I never was sure if he was genuinely nuts, or just fun.
thestrider251 . 13y ago My 2nd grade teacher used puppets. FOR FUCKING EVERYTHING AND NOBODY LIKED HER
FrenchMyToast 13y ago My AP History teacher my senior year would play the West Wing every Friday. We rarely missed a week, and some weeks we watched more than once. It was cool because it was educational, and also badass and fun.
patatopatato 13y ago My math teacher says all the time i love myself. and he proceeds to hug himself. And he also asks student what is in it for me? when they ask him something. One student came to his classroom to pick up books for a sick student who had left the class earlier and has she entered she asked if she could do so. My teacher then asked what is in it for me? so the girl then began to freak out because she didn't know what to say.
MalarzPrawdy 13y ago my physics teacher is fluent in korean, and lived in korea for a number of years, he makes us play korean toddler games, just to torture us. Last week we spent an hour playing a game that consisted only of pointing, and the phrases 'shh' 'don' dodong' dododong and 'pujiji'
joshua_carver . 13y ago my grade 10 science teacher would let anyone who finished their homework come into his class at lunch to watch South Park.
Hauvegdieschisse . 13y ago In my high school World History class, we took our test on communism as a group.
JackBread . 13y ago My sister's French teacher taught her students swear words in French after class.
jesus_fn_christ . 13y ago My 9th grade English teacher taught us Huck Finn as we all sat on our desks pushed together into a raft in the middle of the room.
Narwhals4Lyf 13y ago Edited 13y ago My algebra II/pre calc teacher told us hilarious stories everyday. A few good ones were his Sleep Apnia and The Jehovah Witness and the Roof stories. I'll post them if asked. My chem teacher did extreme demos for us in class. Не also told stories of his 'game show in Sweden.' I highly doubt he had a game show.
March1989 . 13y ago My criminal justice and sociology teacher in high school told a joke before class every day. Here is my favorite. The chicken and egg are laying in bed, and the chicken starts to smoke a cigarette. The egg mutters, I guess we answered THAT question.
LNMagic 13y ago Edited 13y ago H I had a teacher who used a cattle prod to wake up a sleeping student. Не had told her multiple times if she kept falling asleep in his class, something bad would happen. Не has a reputation for pulling pranks like this on his students, but he was the best teacher in the school. He's not Christian, but made sure special needs kids in the area always had Christmas presents. When we had fundraisers for charity, his students always gave the most. Не taught physics in high school better than some teachers I've
13y ago Edited 13y ago I had an English teacher who was in charge of the border line students. It was his job to take the lazy students and basically try and kick their ass into getting a С and not a D. Strange then that he was the most easy going guy that I've ever met. Не had a brilliant sense of humour. There was one time an OFSTED inspector came in to assess him. Не walked into the class and said to one of the problem students YOU! Stand on the table and sing 'Amirillo by Tony
Luckyducky13 a 13y ago I had a stand-in teacher once who would do any accent we requested, made fun of students, made fun of his own name (Mr. Dickson), held up a lesson for five minutes while he was teaching me the proper way to shoot a rubber band, and told funny anecdotes about himself (For example, the time when he went on a charity run and by the end of it, both his nipples were bleeding from the abrasive action of his t-shirt.) Не was a little immature.
harryhighpants 13y ago My grade 4 teacher would do something similar. Не read a book 'Smokey the fish eating cat' and every time the bell would ring he would, on the spot, invent new ways for Smokey to die. '...and that is how Smokey the fish eating cat hid under a semi trailer only to be brutally crushed by all 18 wheels only five minutes later'
Derpy_Duckie 13y ago I used to have a substitute teacher back in primary school (elementary school) who would hold daily raffles for the class to participate in. Each day would be a different theme- witty answers, funny jokes, most diligent, teacher's pet etc. Getting into the raffle was really challenging and everyone was pretty much focusing on the lessons and my class went from the rowdiest class in the school to the most behaved. The prizes were pretty cool too, whole packets of lollies, chips, ice cream and even homemade food.
Leigh93 . 13y ago . Edited 13y ago | had a science teacher who started our first ever lesson with him by doing a sketch, which the whole class thought was real. Не basically acted like he was about to do a mundane experiment, which started with a massive bang that lead to his lab coat setting on fire, to him using loads of other science stuff to make it carry on for a good five minutes. I've loved science ever since.

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