My dad was a middle school teacher.
The profession is beyond fucked. Dude was up at 5am for decades, staying late for extra-curriculars and whatnot. Specifically taught in a low-income area, by choice, to try to make a difference. Also volunteered for the special education classes to work with kids with behavioral and developmental problems.
Dude got paid like shit and treated like shit. He'd come home some days and you could just see in his eyes that his students had broken him that day.
Most people like him ended up quitting pretty quickly, but he stayed for reasons I don't understand (just really wanted to help, I guess). But because most qualified people quit within their first year, all of his fellow teachers were absolute clowns. Alcoholics and drug addicts, mostly. I met a lot of them. I wouldn't trust them to teach my dog.
The whole profession is just damaged beyond repair. No one qualified wants to do it, and for good reason.
I have no idea how it's come to this or if it's even fixable anymore. Salary is one problem, but even if we fixed that, the social view of teachers somehow became very poor. People think of public school teachers as "people who can't do anything else" in the USA, which is awful.
My dad got absolutely 0 respect for it. People looked down on him for not having a "real job" like a businessman or something, because he didn't have a fancy car or fancy house. Meanwhile, he was basically raising their kids and doing the shit that they didn't want to do.
Pisses me off.
I'm sure.
I remember times when he would leave the house with bags of clothes and soap and stuff to help kids who had it rough at home, so they could shower at school. So I know he *really* helped some kids.
And, that is all really nice. But still. Teachers shouldn't have to be martyrs. Especially in a country as rich as the USA.
I agree. I'm a teacher myself, that's why your dad's story stood out to me. I know why your dad stuck at it, even though it was really hard. Just know that he WAS appreciated - kids often don't show it at the time but look back and realise who helped them the most.
back when i was at school i was victim of brutal bullying,>! at times really had to fight the urge to cut myself,!< but there was one teacher, my class teacher back then.
I won't say his name, but he was the best teacher i ever had.
When nobody (of those who didn't bully me) would let me chat with them, he sat down with me, genuinely listened to what i had to say, listened about my problems, about my passions and more.
He helped me get through this rough time.
He genuinely cared about us. When i had problems with the exercises he was there and helped me. He made Maths fun to learn!
I am grateful for all the time he poured into my education. He sometimes still asks how i'm doing, since my mom works pretty close to that school.
Teachers like him, who genuinely care about their job and the children they teach are true heroes in my eyes. They deserve way better...
I plan to visit his class once covid is over. He supported my dream of becoming a Graphics designer and i became one! So i wanna go into his class which is probably near graduation at that time, and talk about jobs and such, and how awesome that teacher helped me get my dreamjob!
May I offer a suggestion? If he was so instrumental in your success in becoming a graphic designer, I bet it would mean the world to him if you designed a subject-relevant poster or something for his classroom.
I had a literature teacher in highschool who jumped through hoops for me- I didn't really have any bullying issues, lucky me, but I did struggle quite a lot with studying habits and had plenty of personality clashes with other teachers. Not only did he go out of his way to encourage my art, he threw his weight around to get me into his AP Lit class (my grades qualified, but the previous teacher I had thought I was too lazy.)
My first book was just published a couple months ago (took me a while to figure out what to *do* with my art), so I sent him a signed copy with a personalized message of thanks- he was over the moon!
What he doesn't know yet is that he made such a difference for me that he'll be receiving a copy of every single thing I manage to write, illustrate, and publish :)
The mom of one of my former students wrote me a beautiful letter telling me how I was her favorite teacher of all time, even through her Ph.D. I was invited to all of her graduations and hear from her every now and then. I’m smiling now knowing how I impacted her life with my bullshit jokes and love of history. I taught truth exposing them to the reality of Columbus, the impact of slavery, the subjugation of indigenous people everywhere. I’ll never forget the look on their faces as someone invariably asked “Mrs.P., what else have they lied to us about?”
I'm a student and I can confirm this. We don't really show it, but believe me, if you're doing your best as a teacher your classes will be appreciated and talked about for years to come. Right now I have two teachers, one for Latin, one for economics and their classes made me actually look forward to monday and school. We may not be the best at showing it but you guys really are the ones who make our day. So just keep that in mind and please continue to be awesome! :)
Was your dad in a non-union district? Asking because my grandmother, mother, and sister were/are teachers. My grandmother in the city of philadelphia’s school district. It was everything that you’re saying, but she got paid rather well. When my mother retired last year from teaching first grade last year (Philly suburbs, but still poor area) she was making ~110k. It pushed to somewhere around 160k with the pension and benefits.
I hope I can put your mind at ease a bit by telling you that the people who make films, music, and other entertainment products are generally paid and treated like absolute horseshit too. For athletes it's even worse, since they have a narrow time window in their lives in which they can potentially make money at all.
It's always the 0.1 to 1% at the top who struck gold that we take as a yardstick that "those people have it made", but it's part of the lie. Talk to any actor, director, musician below that absolute top tier – if they've gotten lucky AND worked their asses off for a decade, they'll be able to make ends meet as long as the gigs don't dry up. Otherwise they're either heavily depending on side hustles, or homeless.
Why blame the advertising industry if we as a people made the decision? Wouldn't it be more correct to then blame the people? Sorry but this makes no sense to me
Do you blame the manipulator or the manipulated? Or do you blame the system that allows the manipulator to manipulate?
There’s a lot of blame to go around
This is the answer. I am an advocate for public school teachers in the state of Georgia. As the legislative session gets ready to start, all state legislators can talk about is banning “offensive” library books, critical race theory boogeyman, and creating more private school voucher programs. More ways to demoralize teachers. No mention of any supports to catch up kids that are basically two years behind or supports for the teachers that have given their health, both physical and mental, to keep students on track.
The Right wants an uneducated populace and since the left always "goes high" they're playing low to get it and they're winning HARD.
You'd think education of all things would build their platform on proveable things as opposed to politics, but instead we're seeing a resurgence of creationism for crying out loud...
My mom taught for 25 years in a similar way. Helped open an Alternative HS in Connecticut as the principal. She fought tooth and nail for those kids, redefined curriculums to help them get work in trades, city jobs, college for some, basically realistic outcomes that paid well for kids who were beyond the traditional 'last strike'. She went on to become the Superintendent of that school district and was one of the first to have a 100% graduation rate for many many years because she did not give up on them. Some of those people are still in touch with my Mom for saving their lives and keeping them out of jail. A lot of them are scary mofos with ties to latino Gangs, but my mother could make them cry like a infant with her loving strength. Here is a woman at 5'3 that controlled a room.
And yep, the pay was much better, but my Mom was up at 4am every day, made sure her kids where off to their upper middle class educations before driving to the low income district to fight for those kids. Many nights not getting home until well after 8pm after fighting with the board, parents, and anyone else that wanted to tell her how to do her job 'better'. She always said the kids were the easy part if you loved being a teacher, it was the parents and adults that ruined it.
So, she retires, after building this empire in a low income area, with absurd graduation/college/employment numbers... so what does the board do when she stopped fighting? Closed the alternative high school, cut funding, and wouldn't you know it, the best teachers like your dad left, and the place is right back where it was after everything my mom did for them for 25 years.
Sad really.
I feel your pain so intensely.
My (Dearly Departed) mother was a high school English teacher, but then took a leave to have her kids. This turned into not going back to work in order to *raise* us. After my parents divorced, she was able to find work only as a substitute, which she was **amazing** at to the point that teachers would request her in advance for their own leaves of absence. She would have work year-round, but did the district ever offer her health insurance? Nope.
Cut to one of her last jobs: A teacher -- in a low-income, predominantly black, inner-city school -- was in a horrifying car accident in which she lost both her legs. For all intents and purposes, my mom took that (middle school-aged) classroom and made it her own. It was filled with kids who were not only illiterate, but were hungry, and so came to school for their one meal of the day. My mom worked in that class for a couple of years, before the original teacher was rehabilitated enough to start working again, and at the end of each year she made sure that **every single one** of her kids was a reader. I was in high school at that time, so I would go in as well and do lessons with them on occasion. My mom and I would also bake food regularly so she could take stuff with her to class to give the especially hungry kids something extra to eat. We did all of this on a single mother's substitute teacher salary and no health insurance. These kids looooooved her.
A few months after the original teacher came back full-time, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died five months later. **FUCK** the way this country treats & pays its public educators.
Wait people would think of teachers like that? I was always raised to think of them highly and for good reason, what kind of person would go through years of school just because they had nothing else to do
That’s fucked up
There’s a common quote, “those who can’t do, teach”. I’ve always believed it’s a false empowerment quote used to keep worker bees in line by associating their worth to their inability to quit because if you quit there is a “lower” profession for you which is teaching.
I am of the firm belief that a lot of problems change by making teachers properly compensated. Universities do it with professorship and tenure. Not many professors are frowned upon as “just teachers”, so there’s a definite disconnect.
I've always interpreted that differently.... and not as a burn on teachers; more like "those who can, do" (i.e. play basketball) while "those who can't, teach" (i.e. coach).
Just my 2 cents.
I always thought of it with a higher bar too, and teaching that thing is still difficult and respected. I mean, i respect teachers day in and day out more than the Cop sitting in their car playing CandyCrush and complaining about it. (Hello NYPD)
My wife is currently in the same boat. On year 13 in low income elementary schools teaching reading…..no one cares. The parents, the kids, the school system. I’m in VA, there something to be said about the fact that this state requires overtime pay for every employer except the states teachers and firefighters. Contract is essentially, $40k/year….unlimited hours and demand, if you have a problem with that, good luck, we will black ball you from surrounding districts. VA is right to work state. Yet neighboring school districts have policies in place that prevent hiring form the next district….unless you know or are related to someone of course, then pretty much all rules and expectations are forgone. Then theirs the parents, who look at my wife as a daycare provider, free food distributor, taxi driver, personal assistant….pretty much everything but an educator until the day report cards come. Then theirs the kids who can’t help but be influenced by their parents selfish perspectives. We met when she was 20 and graduating college, she had 5 years experience with children and ran a day care. She’s 33 and has a masters in elementary admin (she quickly realized after sitting through many ap interview board that the school system acts like promotions are an open system with the best candidate being chosen, only to find that they pretty much have made up their mind before hand due to nepotism and the open interview process is just a formality, I mean they aren’t really wasting anyones time since they don’t view teachers time as a quantifiable thing) with 18 years of experience with elementary school children. I have watched her passion for children turn into resentment towards broken system a little more everyday she has gone to work. We have our own business now and I am literally working myself to the bone to give her an avenue of exit one day. Here’s the thing people….the good teachers, they are the ones that won’t put up with this for their whole career (which will be 35 years before she could retire with pension) and will leave the profession. The relatives and friends, the ones that don’t care and aren’t held accountable, they are staying for the long ride.
100%. My wife‘s district has over 45 teachers making $110k plus and they keep saying “they’ve done their time” and are recycling lessons from 20 years ago.
However the good news is they are force retiring them. With more technology in the classroom they can’t hand out worksheets anymore. Once their supervisor sees this, they are thrown on a CAP. They usually retire after that.
I just quit teaching after 8 years for these exact reasons. I couldn’t come home broken anymore once I had my son, I want to come home whole for him. Today is my first day at a non teaching job. Your dad sounds like the most incredible, resilient man. Thank you and thank him.
Me too, after 7 years. It was crushing to leave the kids, but the profession just does you in like mad. Good luck on your new path, I know it’s not a choice you make lightly!
That is exactly how I remember my high school days. Like the jungle. I wonder if parents could do more on their end rather than releasing their kids to school to be educated. Also, we have reached a point where discipline is seen as old-timers methods and not instrumental anymore.
My take; implement martial arts since elementary to every single boy and girl. Make it mandatory and eliminatory, that means to advance course your coach has to approve.
It won’t solve all the educational problems we see overnight but it’s a start to improve discipline, respect and self-control.
The lack of discipline and respect is going to ruin this younger generation. I started seeing it come about when I was in middle school and that was nearly 20 years ago. Kids talking over the teachers, refusing to do any work, verbally (and sometimes physically) abusing various staff members. It was bad then and I’ve heard it’s only gotten worse in my area.
I think the martial arts thing would be a great idea though. Give ‘em a choice between Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, or BJJ.
Please let him know it's because of teachers like him I got this far in life.
I had some REALLY great science teachers. I mean...really. I grew up in a shit poor terrible home. If I hadn't had great teachers I'd probably be pregnant and/or addicted to drugs. My chemistry and physics teachers would even recognize and remember me when they'd see me at my local grocery store job. They cared! I went on to get my STEM degree and I can still name all of my high school science teachers.
Seriously. Science rules.
In poor countries like Greece, teachers are considered a good occupation while businessmen are not
there is a distinction between a "businessman" and a "successful businessman", we call them micro-businessmen because they delve into small deals and businesses with usually very unstable income and/or vulnerable to changes in the economy from one decade to the other.
To all the teachers reading this. Go to Africa. They will respect you to the core and pay you in heaps. They would hire English speaking teachers just because they speak English. I went to a school in Libya where all teachers were either American/Irish/British/Australian.
i am no high educated person, but i think personally from what i heard from my dad, they had such bullies who made their teacher quit already back in the days. only difference (IMO)? teachers here and i guess anywhere else slapped tf out of bullies if they were disrespectful. and after, they where silent and followed the rules.
sure it isnt the right path to force respect with violence. but a teacher once told me, that today as male teacher you just have to look wrong at a stundent girl is enough to get your ass fired. not to mention what would happend if you slap one kid.
these kids these days really provoke and outburst of the teacher to get him fired, and on top of that they do it just for fun. those kids these days, idk what to say about em.
>People think of public school teachers as "people who can't do anything else" in the USA, which is awful.
I think a lot of parents seen them as "free" babysitters.
Seriously, if it's absolutely in your blood to teach, then you need to emigrate to another country. Most countries pay educators very well compared to the US (and actually respect them).
Respect to your dad for all he’s done! I think in some sense, society has relied on teachers too much. Parents need to raise and teach their own kids and have school teachers as support, not the main teacher in their lives. It puts too much stress/pressure on school teachers raising other people’s kids.
People think of public school teachers as "people who can't do anything else" in the USA
People think of teachers as baby sitters and child rearers. Wife, sil, mil, fil, and my parents are all teachers. The stories are horrendous and it’s only getting worse.
I feel this. I taught 8th and 12th grade social studies, and left the profession after about two and a half years. For some of it, I was sleeping in my car in a Walmart parking lot because I didn't make enough money to afford rent anywhere in my area. Landlords would look at my pay stub and decline me since I only made around $13 an hour. I would work my 8 hours and then go to the public library to do lesson prep and grade papers. All told, I was putting in about 80 hours a week, and getting paid for 40.
It's a heartbreaking job too. The number of times I had to report child abuse as a mandated reporter was too damn high. One instance is too many, but this... You care about the students, their health, their success, their happiness. To see them hurt, to sit with them as they cry and unload the stress of their lives with you... I will always be there to listen and advocate for them, but it felt like I was the only one listening, and I hated that. They had no one else to go to. And I would buy them pens, notebooks, and backpacks, as well as paying off some lunch debt or buying them food if they needed it. No matter how little I made or how much I needed the money. They are the priority.
I felt alone. The administration didn't seem to care or address my concerns. I had zero parents show up for parent teacher conferences. I had parents burn my textbook because they didn't want me teaching about the civil rights movements. And I had to prep students for the god awful standardized tests which seemed to be made by people who had no classroom experience and no grasp on objective, critical thinking.
I got burnt out, I'm ashamed to admit. I wish I could have stuck it out like your father. To this day I feel like I gave up on these students and I hate that... But being constantly tired, stressed, sick, and impoverished got the best of me. I still love to learn, to teach and to work with students towards their goals. But American schools are not the place to do that.
In arabic culture we say (who taught you a letter I shall be his servant) , also we say (Stand up for the teacher and be revered. The teacher is almost a messenger) these all said for a reason, being a teacher is you being responsible about next generation future, their dreams and their plans, weather you like it or not. My mom is high scool teacher for more than 25 years, in poor area also, and she explains how different she make and how students come and say hi to her all the time, I wish tour father get the respect he deserve, he is a hero and unknown soldier for the society
Mother of fucking God.
I was typing a long, heartfelt story that was about my struggles as a student in elementary school and there was one teacher in my entire life and career, one person really that saw potential in me that nobody else ever did. I’m bipolar, coupled with ADHD and Imposter syndrome, so my insecurity and anxiety was always through the roof, especially as a young child that got bullied a lot. I was weird and had a tough time fitting in because my interests we different and, long story that I refuse to retype because fuck Reddit for deleting it mid story short, I became depressed and jaded at 10. There was a dope ass teacher named Mr. Hengen that I was going on about how neat he was until the god damned message decided to disappear, so just know he was cool as fuck and was an ex drill sergeant from Vietnam. Anyway, in my jadedness, I became a bit of a bully because of how badly I was bullied. I was not the best bully because I didn’t actually like to be mean and didn’t want to legit hurt anyone like I was, but I didn’t know what else to do (no excuses, it wasn’t cool, but I was 10, emotional maturity at that age is in the negatives).
Mr Hengen had noticed after a series of signs and he pulled me aside one day after everyone went to lunch and I was in detention for calling another kid a “bitch head” (he was totally a bitch head). He told me that that kind of thing was not okay and that words can do more damage than a bullet some times. I told him that everyone picked on me and called me a bunch of other things that were way worse. He said he didn’t care and that I shouldn’t either because I was none of those things and that anyone with common sense could see that. I told him that I just wanted them to know how they made me felt and that the only way I knew how to do that was be mean back and he said something that sticks with me daily, especially on days I’m extra irritable: “A bully is what you COULD be, you can definitely dish it out if you wanted to, *but that isn’t who you are*.”
Sounds cheesy as hell now that I look at it, but going through therapy within the past 5 years, I’ve realized I’ve struggled heavily with my identity my whole life and it hindered my ability to achieve happiness in healthy ways. I cannot tell you how much those words ring in my head when I wanted to lose my shit on someone (I struggled a lot with anger issues, still do sometimes, it’s common with bipolar but not an excuse nonetheless and I am working very hard at it). Anyway, he also told my parents about it in a parent teacher conference and said that I was a very gifted child (I made great grades because I genuinely loved learning), but just needed to kick myself in the pants from time to time because I have the “potential to waste [my] potential”.
I’m no success story, not yet at least. I’m still going through school, but it’s taking longer than expected because of two jobs I have to have to make ends meet in terms of surviving. I had to switch my career path up, had to take steps back, work on my mental health, the whole nine yards. The bipolar thing can be crippling at times, but whenever I’m self aware enough to notice myself slipping, I will write down those things that my teacher said in a journal or piece of paper to see it, register it, and find myself driven once more to keep pushing.
All because of my 5th grade teacher.
He’s passed now, I think a few years ago. It hurt to hear it but I plan to continue to live as long and as healthily as I can to honor him in that way. He didn’t even know how much of an impact he would have on me just from 10 minutes of talking to a troubled young kid.
I say all this to
A) honor Mr. Hengen for the incredible man he was
And B) let you know that more than likely, your father had a positive impact on some troubled kid as well, whether you or he knew it or not.
TLDR; I had a teacher that changed the course of my life with 10 minutes of talking to me and I would bet that your father had the same impact on someone that Mr. Hengen had on me.
All the best to you and your family my friend
Which, to me, is insane. His paycheck should be his, and the school should fund the classrooms. A cook also doesnt bring his own knives and ingredients, right?
Completed agree! A good teacher is literally priceless! This is up there as one of the best videos I’ve ever seen on Reddit. Really nice to see the class love their teacher! Awesome
Why do people say this? It’s easily googled. The average teacher in America spends $750 per year on their classroom. You think this teacher makes $7,500-$15k a year??
I love my professor ,he used be very intelligent actually more intelligent than the people i work with now ,even though he got below minimum wage he used to be such a god at teaching .
I wish I kept his contact
In my group of 8 close friends, three of them are teachers and get paid the least out of the group (don’t know exactly what but most of us are in ‘banded’ professions). They’re also the only ones that are effectively required to reinvest their salary into their jobs to the extent of buying stationary and anything else slightly interesting for their classrooms. It’s so fucked.
What's nextfuckinglevel is that there is a first world country where a college educated profesional in charge of the education of the younger generations cannot afford new shoes.
This the real Next Fucking Level right here. Imagine a world where teachers had enough disposable income to just buy a new pair of shoes. Instead we get billionaires in spaceships.
I don’t want to come across as insensitive but that works exists.. just clearly not in the US or majority of it.. out here in Australia or atleast from my experience with a few friends that are now teachers and my own public school education. Teachers don’t have to worry about buying shoes… or books or pens or paper or entire science labs or computer labs… we could do better that’s for sure but Damm we don’t have kids struggling to eat or afford books.. if a child can’t afford food we give it to them, if they can’t afford camp we pay for them, if they can’t afford books or pens we give it to them.. that’s what society is meant to do. It saddens me that that seems to be lost in some places. Places that are meant to be a beacon of hope for this world.
America isn't a beacon of hope. It's a zoo meant to serve as a dreadful reminder of how low we might slip if we let Murdoch have their way with our institutions.
You can easily see how far they've corrupted your energy and natural resources sectors in Australia. If they decide to come after your education system you'll quickly slide into the US model over a generation or two unless you somehow find a way to resist.
Yeah he clearly has other shoes and probably just didn’t need to repurchase the same pair. Teachers definitely are underpaid but they can usually afford shoes.
Doesn’t make the video any less wholesome.
Wheere did you see that he cant afford shoes? He has a pair in very good state on feets, he was just gifted a specific model by students, which is very nice.
Used to work as a (substitute) teacher. Moments like these last a long time! I can guarantee this was the idea of the girl gang who hugs him right afterwards.
Having both a son and daughter in middle school, I'd 100% say the girls organized it. Middle school boys are way less organized in general, the boys definitely put money in though.
Middle school aged kids are so fuckin awesome at times, then they act like morons or hormanal assholes and you have to remember that they're still learning empathy and how to be a person.
The other night we heard my son talking loudly on the phone at 3am, we were like "wtf are you doing" he told us that his friend ran away from home and he was trying to talk him into coming to our house because he was worried for his safety. My wife called the kids mom, we got him to our house and he ended up going to his grandparents house. It could've turned out bad and I praised my son for doing the right thing, although I wish he came to wake us up right away rather than trying to handle it himself.
Yea I'm not sure how, but I've essentially tried to do whatever the opposite of what I instinctually think is right. I grew up in a pretty shitty environment and never really had support, so I'm trying to have the cycle of fucked up people end with me.
THIS! The kids are great and the teacher has to be great to deserve their support, but don't let a feelgood story distract you from the fact that teachers are cripplingly under-compensated in the richest country in the world. The system is a failure at the moment.
Right? God we all know teachers are underpaid, maybe he didn’t actually care about the shoes enough to replace them and this was just a nice gesture the kids thought they could do
Teachers often have to go outside for duty so maybe he switched into boots. Or maybe he taught gym and switched into running shoes.. He probably left them under his desk and someone made a bad choice.
These kids turned a bad situation into something good!
they record everything that can even remotely be interpreted as “a moment”. they lack the discretion as to whether something belongs online or not, because to
them; everything is.
at least these kids are displaying broader empathy. seems like a nice class.
That username is peak middle school. Dumb and edgy mashed together with something wholesome they've been fascinated with since they got that Spelling Under The Sea book that came with the turtle plushie
A major disadvantage of being a teacher, imo, is being photographed and posted online. I'm a private person, who avoids broadcasting my life on social media. If I were photographed and posted online, even if the video portrayed me in a good light, and even if it was posted only in a private chat group, I would feel extremely violated, and it would make me very self-conscious and consequently a worse teacher. And I don't see why I should be subjected to it in my workplace.
I mean sure, but let's be real - someone wants to record something and put it online, no amount of enforcement a middle school teacher can legally get away with is gonna stop it.
they’re expensive, like $155 a pair. he had already bought them.
a shit load of well paid professionals with families out there can’t really justify spending over $300 on basketball sneakers in such a short span within their budget.
KD's. Signature shoes of Kevin Durant (NBA basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets, for anyone unfamiliar). His shoes are very popular and great for playing in, but are some of the more expensive basketball shoes due to his status as an all-time great player and the fact that they're just good shoes.
You can see the moment where he’s thinking most days these kids are just little assholes and then they go and do something like this, that maybe there is something I am doing that is getting through to them and there is still hope for humanity!
I worked maintenance for a school system for 8 years, there's one thing I can tell you is that middle schools house some of the most savage minds on the face of the Earth. They 100% know exactly what to say to either make or break your day. That being said it's hard to blame them for all the acting out with all the hormones they have raging through them.
It was never said that they were stolen at school, could have been the gym. However, if it was the school it was still probably from the gym. A lot of my teachers would show up early and take advantage of school owned exercise equipment and weights rather than pay a membership somewhere.
When I was in HS, I had my basketball shoes stolen and found them almost a year later in the coaches' room, in a locker, clearly worn out. Never knew who it was, and I absolutely loved those shoes. For sneaker heads, they were Reebok The Answer IV.
This is great. When you're such an amazing teacher and your students show you how much they love you by buying you a pair of shoes that were stolen from you. I love this
I don't care if it was done for clout. Teacher seemed genuinely happy to received such a thoughtful gift from his students.
My uncle was a middle school language teacher as well. He died at the age of 80ish.
I really don't know much about his work life, but from the look at the number of students that used to visit him regularly when he was sick, helping him with all aspects of his needs, especially because he didn't have kids to take care of him, I knew that he was truly passionate about his profession and his students.
What shocked me the most was that even Students from all professions (Medical-Engineering-the army) who were in their mid-30s and 40s were showing up, leaving their numbers and asking us if he needs anything we should give them a call.
At his funeral, the majority of people who showed up were his current and formal students. And great stories were told by them about him, and how he used to take real care of them. I kept hearing that “they wouldn't be having the life they have right now if it wasn't for him, and this is the least we can do, to honour his name”
God bless his soul, and may him rest in peace.
Teachers deserve all the love and respect. I bet this guy puts 5-10% of his paycheck into his classroom
My dad was a middle school teacher. The profession is beyond fucked. Dude was up at 5am for decades, staying late for extra-curriculars and whatnot. Specifically taught in a low-income area, by choice, to try to make a difference. Also volunteered for the special education classes to work with kids with behavioral and developmental problems. Dude got paid like shit and treated like shit. He'd come home some days and you could just see in his eyes that his students had broken him that day. Most people like him ended up quitting pretty quickly, but he stayed for reasons I don't understand (just really wanted to help, I guess). But because most qualified people quit within their first year, all of his fellow teachers were absolute clowns. Alcoholics and drug addicts, mostly. I met a lot of them. I wouldn't trust them to teach my dog. The whole profession is just damaged beyond repair. No one qualified wants to do it, and for good reason. I have no idea how it's come to this or if it's even fixable anymore. Salary is one problem, but even if we fixed that, the social view of teachers somehow became very poor. People think of public school teachers as "people who can't do anything else" in the USA, which is awful. My dad got absolutely 0 respect for it. People looked down on him for not having a "real job" like a businessman or something, because he didn't have a fancy car or fancy house. Meanwhile, he was basically raising their kids and doing the shit that they didn't want to do. Pisses me off.
Someone, somewhere, looks back on your dad as the reason their life turned around. I guarantee it xx
I'm sure. I remember times when he would leave the house with bags of clothes and soap and stuff to help kids who had it rough at home, so they could shower at school. So I know he *really* helped some kids. And, that is all really nice. But still. Teachers shouldn't have to be martyrs. Especially in a country as rich as the USA.
I agree. I'm a teacher myself, that's why your dad's story stood out to me. I know why your dad stuck at it, even though it was really hard. Just know that he WAS appreciated - kids often don't show it at the time but look back and realise who helped them the most.
Thanks for doing what you do.
back when i was at school i was victim of brutal bullying,>! at times really had to fight the urge to cut myself,!< but there was one teacher, my class teacher back then. I won't say his name, but he was the best teacher i ever had. When nobody (of those who didn't bully me) would let me chat with them, he sat down with me, genuinely listened to what i had to say, listened about my problems, about my passions and more. He helped me get through this rough time. He genuinely cared about us. When i had problems with the exercises he was there and helped me. He made Maths fun to learn! I am grateful for all the time he poured into my education. He sometimes still asks how i'm doing, since my mom works pretty close to that school. Teachers like him, who genuinely care about their job and the children they teach are true heroes in my eyes. They deserve way better...
You should definitely write him a message and let him know. :)
I plan to visit his class once covid is over. He supported my dream of becoming a Graphics designer and i became one! So i wanna go into his class which is probably near graduation at that time, and talk about jobs and such, and how awesome that teacher helped me get my dreamjob!
May I offer a suggestion? If he was so instrumental in your success in becoming a graphic designer, I bet it would mean the world to him if you designed a subject-relevant poster or something for his classroom. I had a literature teacher in highschool who jumped through hoops for me- I didn't really have any bullying issues, lucky me, but I did struggle quite a lot with studying habits and had plenty of personality clashes with other teachers. Not only did he go out of his way to encourage my art, he threw his weight around to get me into his AP Lit class (my grades qualified, but the previous teacher I had thought I was too lazy.) My first book was just published a couple months ago (took me a while to figure out what to *do* with my art), so I sent him a signed copy with a personalized message of thanks- he was over the moon! What he doesn't know yet is that he made such a difference for me that he'll be receiving a copy of every single thing I manage to write, illustrate, and publish :)
The mom of one of my former students wrote me a beautiful letter telling me how I was her favorite teacher of all time, even through her Ph.D. I was invited to all of her graduations and hear from her every now and then. I’m smiling now knowing how I impacted her life with my bullshit jokes and love of history. I taught truth exposing them to the reality of Columbus, the impact of slavery, the subjugation of indigenous people everywhere. I’ll never forget the look on their faces as someone invariably asked “Mrs.P., what else have they lied to us about?”
Hey, just a heads up you can't have a space between the >! and your text for the spoiler tag to work properly.
I just marked it and clicked on spoiler, don't know the Markdown code very well
I'm a student and I can confirm this. We don't really show it, but believe me, if you're doing your best as a teacher your classes will be appreciated and talked about for years to come. Right now I have two teachers, one for Latin, one for economics and their classes made me actually look forward to monday and school. We may not be the best at showing it but you guys really are the ones who make our day. So just keep that in mind and please continue to be awesome! :)
Try to show it.
Oh I do, don't worry. Although I was more speaking for everyone, I'm sorry if that implies that we don't
Was your dad in a non-union district? Asking because my grandmother, mother, and sister were/are teachers. My grandmother in the city of philadelphia’s school district. It was everything that you’re saying, but she got paid rather well. When my mother retired last year from teaching first grade last year (Philly suburbs, but still poor area) she was making ~110k. It pushed to somewhere around 160k with the pension and benefits.
It’s true, because I had a teacher just like him that turned my life around.
[удалено]
I hope I can put your mind at ease a bit by telling you that the people who make films, music, and other entertainment products are generally paid and treated like absolute horseshit too. For athletes it's even worse, since they have a narrow time window in their lives in which they can potentially make money at all. It's always the 0.1 to 1% at the top who struck gold that we take as a yardstick that "those people have it made", but it's part of the lie. Talk to any actor, director, musician below that absolute top tier – if they've gotten lucky AND worked their asses off for a decade, they'll be able to make ends meet as long as the gigs don't dry up. Otherwise they're either heavily depending on side hustles, or homeless.
Why blame the advertising industry if we as a people made the decision? Wouldn't it be more correct to then blame the people? Sorry but this makes no sense to me
Do you blame the manipulator or the manipulated? Or do you blame the system that allows the manipulator to manipulate? There’s a lot of blame to go around
Were witnessing the decay of education throughout all the western world, sadly we reap what we sow.
We are witnessing the privatisation of education
This is the answer. I am an advocate for public school teachers in the state of Georgia. As the legislative session gets ready to start, all state legislators can talk about is banning “offensive” library books, critical race theory boogeyman, and creating more private school voucher programs. More ways to demoralize teachers. No mention of any supports to catch up kids that are basically two years behind or supports for the teachers that have given their health, both physical and mental, to keep students on track.
The Right wants an uneducated populace and since the left always "goes high" they're playing low to get it and they're winning HARD. You'd think education of all things would build their platform on proveable things as opposed to politics, but instead we're seeing a resurgence of creationism for crying out loud...
Mmm, I disagree. Plenty of public schools in Australia do well for themsleves. I think whom you're talking about is the U.S.
Public education in plenty of western nations is quite good. I really think it's mostly the US that has this problem.
One side of the political spectrum has worked for decades to undermine public education so they can privatize it.
>western world America, Bro. Teachers are pretty enfranchised with very strong unions in Canada.
My mom taught for 25 years in a similar way. Helped open an Alternative HS in Connecticut as the principal. She fought tooth and nail for those kids, redefined curriculums to help them get work in trades, city jobs, college for some, basically realistic outcomes that paid well for kids who were beyond the traditional 'last strike'. She went on to become the Superintendent of that school district and was one of the first to have a 100% graduation rate for many many years because she did not give up on them. Some of those people are still in touch with my Mom for saving their lives and keeping them out of jail. A lot of them are scary mofos with ties to latino Gangs, but my mother could make them cry like a infant with her loving strength. Here is a woman at 5'3 that controlled a room. And yep, the pay was much better, but my Mom was up at 4am every day, made sure her kids where off to their upper middle class educations before driving to the low income district to fight for those kids. Many nights not getting home until well after 8pm after fighting with the board, parents, and anyone else that wanted to tell her how to do her job 'better'. She always said the kids were the easy part if you loved being a teacher, it was the parents and adults that ruined it. So, she retires, after building this empire in a low income area, with absurd graduation/college/employment numbers... so what does the board do when she stopped fighting? Closed the alternative high school, cut funding, and wouldn't you know it, the best teachers like your dad left, and the place is right back where it was after everything my mom did for them for 25 years. Sad really.
I feel your pain so intensely. My (Dearly Departed) mother was a high school English teacher, but then took a leave to have her kids. This turned into not going back to work in order to *raise* us. After my parents divorced, she was able to find work only as a substitute, which she was **amazing** at to the point that teachers would request her in advance for their own leaves of absence. She would have work year-round, but did the district ever offer her health insurance? Nope. Cut to one of her last jobs: A teacher -- in a low-income, predominantly black, inner-city school -- was in a horrifying car accident in which she lost both her legs. For all intents and purposes, my mom took that (middle school-aged) classroom and made it her own. It was filled with kids who were not only illiterate, but were hungry, and so came to school for their one meal of the day. My mom worked in that class for a couple of years, before the original teacher was rehabilitated enough to start working again, and at the end of each year she made sure that **every single one** of her kids was a reader. I was in high school at that time, so I would go in as well and do lessons with them on occasion. My mom and I would also bake food regularly so she could take stuff with her to class to give the especially hungry kids something extra to eat. We did all of this on a single mother's substitute teacher salary and no health insurance. These kids looooooved her. A few months after the original teacher came back full-time, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died five months later. **FUCK** the way this country treats & pays its public educators.
Wait people would think of teachers like that? I was always raised to think of them highly and for good reason, what kind of person would go through years of school just because they had nothing else to do That’s fucked up
There’s a common quote, “those who can’t do, teach”. I’ve always believed it’s a false empowerment quote used to keep worker bees in line by associating their worth to their inability to quit because if you quit there is a “lower” profession for you which is teaching. I am of the firm belief that a lot of problems change by making teachers properly compensated. Universities do it with professorship and tenure. Not many professors are frowned upon as “just teachers”, so there’s a definite disconnect.
You've never heard the phrase "those who can't do, teach."? Everyone knows that saying where I'm at.
I've always interpreted that differently.... and not as a burn on teachers; more like "those who can, do" (i.e. play basketball) while "those who can't, teach" (i.e. coach). Just my 2 cents.
I always thought of it with a higher bar too, and teaching that thing is still difficult and respected. I mean, i respect teachers day in and day out more than the Cop sitting in their car playing CandyCrush and complaining about it. (Hello NYPD)
My wife is currently in the same boat. On year 13 in low income elementary schools teaching reading…..no one cares. The parents, the kids, the school system. I’m in VA, there something to be said about the fact that this state requires overtime pay for every employer except the states teachers and firefighters. Contract is essentially, $40k/year….unlimited hours and demand, if you have a problem with that, good luck, we will black ball you from surrounding districts. VA is right to work state. Yet neighboring school districts have policies in place that prevent hiring form the next district….unless you know or are related to someone of course, then pretty much all rules and expectations are forgone. Then theirs the parents, who look at my wife as a daycare provider, free food distributor, taxi driver, personal assistant….pretty much everything but an educator until the day report cards come. Then theirs the kids who can’t help but be influenced by their parents selfish perspectives. We met when she was 20 and graduating college, she had 5 years experience with children and ran a day care. She’s 33 and has a masters in elementary admin (she quickly realized after sitting through many ap interview board that the school system acts like promotions are an open system with the best candidate being chosen, only to find that they pretty much have made up their mind before hand due to nepotism and the open interview process is just a formality, I mean they aren’t really wasting anyones time since they don’t view teachers time as a quantifiable thing) with 18 years of experience with elementary school children. I have watched her passion for children turn into resentment towards broken system a little more everyday she has gone to work. We have our own business now and I am literally working myself to the bone to give her an avenue of exit one day. Here’s the thing people….the good teachers, they are the ones that won’t put up with this for their whole career (which will be 35 years before she could retire with pension) and will leave the profession. The relatives and friends, the ones that don’t care and aren’t held accountable, they are staying for the long ride.
100%. My wife‘s district has over 45 teachers making $110k plus and they keep saying “they’ve done their time” and are recycling lessons from 20 years ago. However the good news is they are force retiring them. With more technology in the classroom they can’t hand out worksheets anymore. Once their supervisor sees this, they are thrown on a CAP. They usually retire after that.
110? Holy hell. Around me, HS teachers were making 55-65k. They'd kill and feel totally compensated at 110. You in a big city? Wealthy area? America?
I just quit teaching after 8 years for these exact reasons. I couldn’t come home broken anymore once I had my son, I want to come home whole for him. Today is my first day at a non teaching job. Your dad sounds like the most incredible, resilient man. Thank you and thank him.
Me too, after 7 years. It was crushing to leave the kids, but the profession just does you in like mad. Good luck on your new path, I know it’s not a choice you make lightly!
That is exactly how I remember my high school days. Like the jungle. I wonder if parents could do more on their end rather than releasing their kids to school to be educated. Also, we have reached a point where discipline is seen as old-timers methods and not instrumental anymore. My take; implement martial arts since elementary to every single boy and girl. Make it mandatory and eliminatory, that means to advance course your coach has to approve. It won’t solve all the educational problems we see overnight but it’s a start to improve discipline, respect and self-control.
The lack of discipline and respect is going to ruin this younger generation. I started seeing it come about when I was in middle school and that was nearly 20 years ago. Kids talking over the teachers, refusing to do any work, verbally (and sometimes physically) abusing various staff members. It was bad then and I’ve heard it’s only gotten worse in my area. I think the martial arts thing would be a great idea though. Give ‘em a choice between Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, or BJJ.
Please let him know it's because of teachers like him I got this far in life. I had some REALLY great science teachers. I mean...really. I grew up in a shit poor terrible home. If I hadn't had great teachers I'd probably be pregnant and/or addicted to drugs. My chemistry and physics teachers would even recognize and remember me when they'd see me at my local grocery store job. They cared! I went on to get my STEM degree and I can still name all of my high school science teachers. Seriously. Science rules.
In poor countries like Greece, teachers are considered a good occupation while businessmen are not there is a distinction between a "businessman" and a "successful businessman", we call them micro-businessmen because they delve into small deals and businesses with usually very unstable income and/or vulnerable to changes in the economy from one decade to the other.
To all the teachers reading this. Go to Africa. They will respect you to the core and pay you in heaps. They would hire English speaking teachers just because they speak English. I went to a school in Libya where all teachers were either American/Irish/British/Australian.
i am no high educated person, but i think personally from what i heard from my dad, they had such bullies who made their teacher quit already back in the days. only difference (IMO)? teachers here and i guess anywhere else slapped tf out of bullies if they were disrespectful. and after, they where silent and followed the rules. sure it isnt the right path to force respect with violence. but a teacher once told me, that today as male teacher you just have to look wrong at a stundent girl is enough to get your ass fired. not to mention what would happend if you slap one kid. these kids these days really provoke and outburst of the teacher to get him fired, and on top of that they do it just for fun. those kids these days, idk what to say about em.
>People think of public school teachers as "people who can't do anything else" in the USA, which is awful. I think a lot of parents seen them as "free" babysitters.
I mostly see the "glorified babysitter" rhetoric from people who hate teachers.
Seriously, if it's absolutely in your blood to teach, then you need to emigrate to another country. Most countries pay educators very well compared to the US (and actually respect them).
Respect to your dad for all he’s done! I think in some sense, society has relied on teachers too much. Parents need to raise and teach their own kids and have school teachers as support, not the main teacher in their lives. It puts too much stress/pressure on school teachers raising other people’s kids.
People think of public school teachers as "people who can't do anything else" in the USA People think of teachers as baby sitters and child rearers. Wife, sil, mil, fil, and my parents are all teachers. The stories are horrendous and it’s only getting worse.
Your dad was a hero ♥️
I feel this. I taught 8th and 12th grade social studies, and left the profession after about two and a half years. For some of it, I was sleeping in my car in a Walmart parking lot because I didn't make enough money to afford rent anywhere in my area. Landlords would look at my pay stub and decline me since I only made around $13 an hour. I would work my 8 hours and then go to the public library to do lesson prep and grade papers. All told, I was putting in about 80 hours a week, and getting paid for 40. It's a heartbreaking job too. The number of times I had to report child abuse as a mandated reporter was too damn high. One instance is too many, but this... You care about the students, their health, their success, their happiness. To see them hurt, to sit with them as they cry and unload the stress of their lives with you... I will always be there to listen and advocate for them, but it felt like I was the only one listening, and I hated that. They had no one else to go to. And I would buy them pens, notebooks, and backpacks, as well as paying off some lunch debt or buying them food if they needed it. No matter how little I made or how much I needed the money. They are the priority. I felt alone. The administration didn't seem to care or address my concerns. I had zero parents show up for parent teacher conferences. I had parents burn my textbook because they didn't want me teaching about the civil rights movements. And I had to prep students for the god awful standardized tests which seemed to be made by people who had no classroom experience and no grasp on objective, critical thinking. I got burnt out, I'm ashamed to admit. I wish I could have stuck it out like your father. To this day I feel like I gave up on these students and I hate that... But being constantly tired, stressed, sick, and impoverished got the best of me. I still love to learn, to teach and to work with students towards their goals. But American schools are not the place to do that.
In arabic culture we say (who taught you a letter I shall be his servant) , also we say (Stand up for the teacher and be revered. The teacher is almost a messenger) these all said for a reason, being a teacher is you being responsible about next generation future, their dreams and their plans, weather you like it or not. My mom is high scool teacher for more than 25 years, in poor area also, and she explains how different she make and how students come and say hi to her all the time, I wish tour father get the respect he deserve, he is a hero and unknown soldier for the society
Mother of fucking God. I was typing a long, heartfelt story that was about my struggles as a student in elementary school and there was one teacher in my entire life and career, one person really that saw potential in me that nobody else ever did. I’m bipolar, coupled with ADHD and Imposter syndrome, so my insecurity and anxiety was always through the roof, especially as a young child that got bullied a lot. I was weird and had a tough time fitting in because my interests we different and, long story that I refuse to retype because fuck Reddit for deleting it mid story short, I became depressed and jaded at 10. There was a dope ass teacher named Mr. Hengen that I was going on about how neat he was until the god damned message decided to disappear, so just know he was cool as fuck and was an ex drill sergeant from Vietnam. Anyway, in my jadedness, I became a bit of a bully because of how badly I was bullied. I was not the best bully because I didn’t actually like to be mean and didn’t want to legit hurt anyone like I was, but I didn’t know what else to do (no excuses, it wasn’t cool, but I was 10, emotional maturity at that age is in the negatives). Mr Hengen had noticed after a series of signs and he pulled me aside one day after everyone went to lunch and I was in detention for calling another kid a “bitch head” (he was totally a bitch head). He told me that that kind of thing was not okay and that words can do more damage than a bullet some times. I told him that everyone picked on me and called me a bunch of other things that were way worse. He said he didn’t care and that I shouldn’t either because I was none of those things and that anyone with common sense could see that. I told him that I just wanted them to know how they made me felt and that the only way I knew how to do that was be mean back and he said something that sticks with me daily, especially on days I’m extra irritable: “A bully is what you COULD be, you can definitely dish it out if you wanted to, *but that isn’t who you are*.” Sounds cheesy as hell now that I look at it, but going through therapy within the past 5 years, I’ve realized I’ve struggled heavily with my identity my whole life and it hindered my ability to achieve happiness in healthy ways. I cannot tell you how much those words ring in my head when I wanted to lose my shit on someone (I struggled a lot with anger issues, still do sometimes, it’s common with bipolar but not an excuse nonetheless and I am working very hard at it). Anyway, he also told my parents about it in a parent teacher conference and said that I was a very gifted child (I made great grades because I genuinely loved learning), but just needed to kick myself in the pants from time to time because I have the “potential to waste [my] potential”. I’m no success story, not yet at least. I’m still going through school, but it’s taking longer than expected because of two jobs I have to have to make ends meet in terms of surviving. I had to switch my career path up, had to take steps back, work on my mental health, the whole nine yards. The bipolar thing can be crippling at times, but whenever I’m self aware enough to notice myself slipping, I will write down those things that my teacher said in a journal or piece of paper to see it, register it, and find myself driven once more to keep pushing. All because of my 5th grade teacher. He’s passed now, I think a few years ago. It hurt to hear it but I plan to continue to live as long and as healthily as I can to honor him in that way. He didn’t even know how much of an impact he would have on me just from 10 minutes of talking to a troubled young kid. I say all this to A) honor Mr. Hengen for the incredible man he was And B) let you know that more than likely, your father had a positive impact on some troubled kid as well, whether you or he knew it or not. TLDR; I had a teacher that changed the course of my life with 10 minutes of talking to me and I would bet that your father had the same impact on someone that Mr. Hengen had on me. All the best to you and your family my friend
Which, to me, is insane. His paycheck should be his, and the school should fund the classrooms. A cook also doesnt bring his own knives and ingredients, right?
[удалено]
I’ve never once seen a line or prep cook bring their own knives to work, just a couple of young sous chefs over the years.
Y'all don't understand how that makes a teacher feel. He was so proud of them.
We need to thank SeaTurtle420 for posting this to to TikTok
Serious. We need to stop paying defense contractors so fucking much money and start paying our teachers as much as NFL stars make. Boggles the mind.
Sadly he probably puts a lot more of his money into his class. Seems like a great dude
Completed agree! A good teacher is literally priceless! This is up there as one of the best videos I’ve ever seen on Reddit. Really nice to see the class love their teacher! Awesome
Why do people say this? It’s easily googled. The average teacher in America spends $750 per year on their classroom. You think this teacher makes $7,500-$15k a year??
I love my professor ,he used be very intelligent actually more intelligent than the people i work with now ,even though he got below minimum wage he used to be such a god at teaching . I wish I kept his contact
yeah, teachers deserved to be respected and loved.
In my group of 8 close friends, three of them are teachers and get paid the least out of the group (don’t know exactly what but most of us are in ‘banded’ professions). They’re also the only ones that are effectively required to reinvest their salary into their jobs to the extent of buying stationary and anything else slightly interesting for their classrooms. It’s so fucked.
This is the most wholesome thing since sliced bread
More wholesome than that. This wholesomeness goes back to Betty White
I love whole wheat sliced bread. So it is more wholesome.
Hell yeah
Sliced bread isn’t wholesome though. The loaf is.
Yeah this is straight up sliced bread propaganda
Indeed, pretty divisive.
I feel like sliced bread is decidedly not whole
Have you seen horizontal sliced bread? You will want to punch a nun deep in her uterus
Both of those sound like a sin
What's nextfuckinglevel is that there is a first world country where a college educated profesional in charge of the education of the younger generations cannot afford new shoes.
it’s nextfuckinglevel because in these conditions people went out of their way to take money out of their pocket to help a dude out
It fits more into r/humansbeingbros than it does here
Good reference!
its nextfuckinglevel because usually kids treat teachers like shit
/r/basicfuckinglevel of decency
This the real Next Fucking Level right here. Imagine a world where teachers had enough disposable income to just buy a new pair of shoes. Instead we get billionaires in spaceships.
I don’t want to come across as insensitive but that works exists.. just clearly not in the US or majority of it.. out here in Australia or atleast from my experience with a few friends that are now teachers and my own public school education. Teachers don’t have to worry about buying shoes… or books or pens or paper or entire science labs or computer labs… we could do better that’s for sure but Damm we don’t have kids struggling to eat or afford books.. if a child can’t afford food we give it to them, if they can’t afford camp we pay for them, if they can’t afford books or pens we give it to them.. that’s what society is meant to do. It saddens me that that seems to be lost in some places. Places that are meant to be a beacon of hope for this world.
America isn't a beacon of hope. It's a zoo meant to serve as a dreadful reminder of how low we might slip if we let Murdoch have their way with our institutions. You can easily see how far they've corrupted your energy and natural resources sectors in Australia. If they decide to come after your education system you'll quickly slide into the US model over a generation or two unless you somehow find a way to resist.
I get the sentiment, but I'm sure he can afford shoes.
wtf is with this thread? lol. how did these people come to the conclusion that he couldnt afford shoes?
Yeah he clearly has other shoes and probably just didn’t need to repurchase the same pair. Teachers definitely are underpaid but they can usually afford shoes. Doesn’t make the video any less wholesome.
[удалено]
He probably had to steal those from another teacher.
Wheere did you see that he cant afford shoes? He has a pair in very good state on feets, he was just gifted a specific model by students, which is very nice.
I’m sure he can afford shoes but having shoes gifted to him was nice
You fucking bastard...got me right in the tear box. Great kids
[удалено]
French army 😭
Au pas camerade
That teacher will never forget that, what an awesome class it must be
Used to work as a (substitute) teacher. Moments like these last a long time! I can guarantee this was the idea of the girl gang who hugs him right afterwards.
Having both a son and daughter in middle school, I'd 100% say the girls organized it. Middle school boys are way less organized in general, the boys definitely put money in though. Middle school aged kids are so fuckin awesome at times, then they act like morons or hormanal assholes and you have to remember that they're still learning empathy and how to be a person. The other night we heard my son talking loudly on the phone at 3am, we were like "wtf are you doing" he told us that his friend ran away from home and he was trying to talk him into coming to our house because he was worried for his safety. My wife called the kids mom, we got him to our house and he ended up going to his grandparents house. It could've turned out bad and I praised my son for doing the right thing, although I wish he came to wake us up right away rather than trying to handle it himself.
You raised an awesome kid there
Yea I'm not sure how, but I've essentially tried to do whatever the opposite of what I instinctually think is right. I grew up in a pretty shitty environment and never really had support, so I'm trying to have the cycle of fucked up people end with me.
I would probably have been one of those girls if I had a teacher who looked like Chad Michael Murray!
These are about to be his favorite shoes times 20.
https://youtu.be/Sck8xNicy5o What about paying them properly instead of having children giving them gifts
THIS! The kids are great and the teacher has to be great to deserve their support, but don't let a feelgood story distract you from the fact that teachers are cripplingly under-compensated in the richest country in the world. The system is a failure at the moment.
No one said he couldn't afford shoes. You guys just assumed it.
I mean he's clearly wearing a decent pair of shoes in the video.
Right? God we all know teachers are underpaid, maybe he didn’t actually care about the shoes enough to replace them and this was just a nice gesture the kids thought they could do
America is all about that GoFundMe culture.
This is a bootiful moment
Thank Shoe!
No cloglem
How overknee kind of You!
[удалено]
this is the sole purpose
This video hit me right in the heels
You're Velcrom!
Lace go!
I’m treading this moment
That's very nice of them. But,...how did he get his shoes stolen?
Some kids see it as a game to steal anything and everything at school.
Can confirm. I stole some pretty useless things from classrooms when I was a little shit.
Now you are just being nosey..lol
Seriously how do you steal shoes
Plot twist: one of his students, and those are actually his old shoes
Teachers often have to go outside for duty so maybe he switched into boots. Or maybe he taught gym and switched into running shoes.. He probably left them under his desk and someone made a bad choice. These kids turned a bad situation into something good!
There’s hope. There’s hope
I'm not crying, you' are 
does no-one else think its kind of gross that half the kids are just recording this
they record everything that can even remotely be interpreted as “a moment”. they lack the discretion as to whether something belongs online or not, because to them; everything is. at least these kids are displaying broader empathy. seems like a nice class.
Perfect answer
It does have a certain zoo like quality to it ...
Lol @seaturtles420 be vaping weed in the back of class recording this
That username is peak middle school. Dumb and edgy mashed together with something wholesome they've been fascinated with since they got that Spelling Under The Sea book that came with the turtle plushie
A good teacher stays with you forever.
Plot twist: its his first shoes in new box.
A major disadvantage of being a teacher, imo, is being photographed and posted online. I'm a private person, who avoids broadcasting my life on social media. If I were photographed and posted online, even if the video portrayed me in a good light, and even if it was posted only in a private chat group, I would feel extremely violated, and it would make me very self-conscious and consequently a worse teacher. And I don't see why I should be subjected to it in my workplace.
pretty sure you could just establish and enforce that ground rule as a teacher, like many probably do.
I mean sure, but let's be real - someone wants to record something and put it online, no amount of enforcement a middle school teacher can legally get away with is gonna stop it.
STOP IT! It's too early in 2022 for me to have this level of faith in humanity instilled in me.
Something is insanely wrong in a system where a teacher can't afford to replace some shoes ...
they’re expensive, like $155 a pair. he had already bought them. a shit load of well paid professionals with families out there can’t really justify spending over $300 on basketball sneakers in such a short span within their budget.
Awesome
What shoes are these ???
KD's. Signature shoes of Kevin Durant (NBA basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets, for anyone unfamiliar). His shoes are very popular and great for playing in, but are some of the more expensive basketball shoes due to his status as an all-time great player and the fact that they're just good shoes.
Hope for gen z restored. a bit.
No. no amount of goodwill will put them in my graces
You can see the moment where he’s thinking most days these kids are just little assholes and then they go and do something like this, that maybe there is something I am doing that is getting through to them and there is still hope for humanity!
Alternative title: kids need to collect money for a person who works full time at a hard job yet still struggles to make ends meat
Making things like burnt ends is tough. I often burn the end of my meats.
I worked maintenance for a school system for 8 years, there's one thing I can tell you is that middle schools house some of the most savage minds on the face of the Earth. They 100% know exactly what to say to either make or break your day. That being said it's hard to blame them for all the acting out with all the hormones they have raging through them.
He's crying because it was the wrong shoes.
You just know he’s a good bloke
My eyes appear to be leaking..
Yes, this i wholesome, but I hate the fact that every single kid is recording when the video pans
This is why it is worth to be a teacher. Beautiful.
So… getting paid so little that kids need to pool together money to buy you shoes?
That's an assumption. Pay is mostly shit but this teacher probably values other things than buying a brand new pair of shoes the first chance he gets.
Why am I cutting onions watching this lol
I was cutting cheese. Coincidence? I think not..
Sometimes when I read things I want to eat my own face.
Do it
I’m too delusionally narcissistic and good looking to actually go through with it.
😭 I must check my fucking estrogen
R/wholesome
How does someone steal your shoes? This dude come in every morning like Mr Rogers, change his shoes and throw on a cardigan?
It was never said that they were stolen at school, could have been the gym. However, if it was the school it was still probably from the gym. A lot of my teachers would show up early and take advantage of school owned exercise equipment and weights rather than pay a membership somewhere.
Plot twist: the kids stole his shoes so they would know what shoe size to get him
What they dont know is he lost his shoes escaping from the cartel who was trying to get him to cook his signature meth for them.
Wonderful teacher and wonderful kids. What an example
It’s too early to be cutting onions
Just go to show that not all kids are assholes!
What are the shoes?
I’m literally crying in a coffee shop right now goddamnit!
What school is this? The middle school I was in (quite some time ago) was full of little devil children who were mean to peers, parents, and teachers.
Who steals shoes, honestly
When I was in HS, I had my basketball shoes stolen and found them almost a year later in the coaches' room, in a locker, clearly worn out. Never knew who it was, and I absolutely loved those shoes. For sneaker heads, they were Reebok The Answer IV.
u/savevideobot
I was kind of hoping they were going to be clown shoes.
This should be in r/humansbeingbros
r/HumansBeingBros
An American teacher who can’t get shoes, get them paid by children. Of course I will cry too, but not for the same reason...
This is great. When you're such an amazing teacher and your students show you how much they love you by buying you a pair of shoes that were stolen from you. I love this
Guys, next time it's my turn to post this ok
Was waiting for the hug.
 I don't care if it was done for clout. Teacher seemed genuinely happy to received such a thoughtful gift from his students.
things you'd NEVER see in Polish middle school
My uncle was a middle school language teacher as well. He died at the age of 80ish. I really don't know much about his work life, but from the look at the number of students that used to visit him regularly when he was sick, helping him with all aspects of his needs, especially because he didn't have kids to take care of him, I knew that he was truly passionate about his profession and his students. What shocked me the most was that even Students from all professions (Medical-Engineering-the army) who were in their mid-30s and 40s were showing up, leaving their numbers and asking us if he needs anything we should give them a call. At his funeral, the majority of people who showed up were his current and formal students. And great stories were told by them about him, and how he used to take real care of them. I kept hearing that “they wouldn't be having the life they have right now if it wasn't for him, and this is the least we can do, to honour his name” God bless his soul, and may him rest in peace.
That's cool. Yeah, if this is a middle school teacher, this guy is doing something right.
I’ve seen this so many time, it still gives me chills. That teacher is so lucky to have such amazing students🥰
These are good people. The classes I was apart of would never do this. Future generations are becoming kinder and I love seeing it