Educators are our everyday heroes.
They deserve more respect than is given for having inspired generations of students who have carved out various paths of successes in their lives.
But did you ever think about how students have mutually inspired teachers?
In some cases, impressionable young pupils have done or said something to their teachers that invoked long-lasting emotional responses.
Redditor seesnawsnappy asked:
"Teachers who cried due to a student(s) actions, what happened?"
Not all of the responses were heartwarming scenarios. Some experiences reflected the emotional toll the stresses of the job can have.
"Mistake"
"I work with preschoolers. I had a little girl who had been in foster care, pulled from her home at a year old, because her parents were addicts, and really really f'ked up caring for her. She had really big trust issues. Her foster family were amazing folks, but she'd only known them a few months when she started in my class. It took months for her to get used to coming to school."
"Every time she'd have a visit with her mom (absolutely supervised, etc), she be a hot disaster afterwards, pushing all our buttons and just being the biggest challenge a two year old can be. One day I was having a really hard time at home, and when she started that, I lost my cool, and while I didn't yell or anything, I was clearly very angry. She got this look on her face, like now the world made sense, and my heart broke."
"I immediately apologized to her. I told her I was sorry, and that I would like to start over, and asked if we could maybe sing a song together. She came over, hugged me, and told me ' 's okay. Mistake.' And that's when I lost it."
"I was so proud of her for her empathy, and so amazed that with all her background she could forgive me."
"She's in kindergarten now, and her foster family adopted her. She's still a little messed up in the head, but getting her stuff together bit by bit."
Mother's Day Cards
"I made my kindergarten teacher cry when we were supposed to draw a picture of our moms for Mother's Day cards but my moms not alive so i drew the teacher because i had to draw something."
Gas Station Concert
"We sang to our chorus teacher in a gas station one time and she started crying."
"She had recently told us that she was leaving to go teach music to elementary schoolers because as much as she loved us, she was just too tired to keep doing high school chorus."
"We called her Momma 'Mullens' (fake name but her last name started with an M) because we loved her a lot. We were on a chorus trip—one of those where you go sing in a front of judges and they grade you but you don't compete against other schools. The gas station was our last stop on the way home, and we all decided that when Momma Mullens came out the bathroom we were gonna all start singing our best song (there was ~30 of us I think)."
"It was really something. We warned the employees beforehand, and they loved the performance. One even teared up when she saw Mullens crying. Then we all went into this big group hug and cried together."
"It's one of my favorite memories of high school. That teacher changed my high-school life and gave me the confidence to overcome stage-fright. She really loved all of us and you could tell. Most of my happy high school memories come from chorus."
Sticking Up For Marvin
"I teach PE to mostly 9th graders (14-15 year olds) . In my class I had a kid who we will call Marvin who had been home schooled up until now. He is very socially awkward, uncoordinated, and I suspect somewhere on the spectrum. Despite all of this Marvin is outgoing and tried his hardest at absolutely everything we did even though he looked like a newborn giraffe with skates on. The kids in my class were so awesome with him and always encouraging. One particular day I had another class of mostly juniors and seniors with my class and they were all playing basketball together. At one point a couple of the older kids who were known for being turds started picking on Marvin.
Before I could say anything one of the big football players (starting defensive tackle) runs up to the older kids and in a very strong southern drawl says to them 'listen here, yall gon' knock it off right now or imma start busting some a**.' Let me tell you that was the last word any of the turds said to Marvin for the rest of the year. It was an awesome moment and I am not ashamed to admit that I got choked up when I saw it. Right after class I went to the head football coach and got choked up again telling him about it and how proud I was for him doing it. Our athletic department periodically recognizes a student and gives out an award for various things like community service, athletic achievements, academics, etc... The very next award went to that kid who stuck up for Marvin. I was beaming with pride and have been his biggest fan ever since."
– EyDogEy
Concern For Our Kids
"I'm a teacher and have been crying a lot lately. I work with K-5th graders and primarily focus on social-emotional support. I am hearing kids as young as 7 say they hate themselves, 2nd/3rd/4th graders who talk about wanting to die, kids with so much anxiety they become catatonic when stressed... it's so hard to see. And with remote learning, it's not like I can hug them. I had a mom have a panic attack during a quick virtual meeting today because she's so worried about her 7 year-old son and his severe anxiety. I'm not a therapist and feel emotionally drained every day. I am so worried about this generation of kids."
– MiJohan
A Note Of Appreciation Goes A Long Way
"Just two days ago I had a 12th grade student write me a note and tell me she appreciated my concern for her. I told her the next day how special she made me feel and I cried in front of her. I have the best job in the world."
– KPerks72
Extra Set Of Eyes
"I had a teacher who accepted late work. She ended up getting bombarded with assignments a few days before grades were due, and a friend and I stayed with her (since we were her 'top students') to help her grade papers. At first she cried because she was overwhelmed, but when we were almost finished, she cried and said she really appreciated us helping out. Needless to say, 3 years later, she isn't accepting late work anymore."
Feeling Defeated
"not one, but three kids made me cry."
"when i was 23 and a brand new ESL teacher, i had to help a 7 year old calm down from a meltdown while he tried to hurl the biggest rocks and branches he could at me. one of the branches hit the door behind me and made a huge dent on it."
"during that same class period two other kids had meltdowns as well, one of them bit me and kicked me while i restrained him as carefully as i could because he was trying to throw desks at his peers (and honestly the synced breathing works), the other girl just. ran away from the room screaming bloody murder. i could do nothing at that point."
"then the principal called me to her office because a kid had escaped my class. she was Not Nice about it."
"after that, i curled up on a toilet and cried my eyes out before going home."
Effects Of Bullying
"I was called into a parent meeting (just to inform me of the situation and steps that were being taken to help the student) because one of my students who was in grade 5 told her mom that she didn't want to 'be here anymore, the world would be better without her.' She had dealt with bullying and had learning needs. I was a first year teacher and pregnant with my first child. I cried a lot that day."
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