This week my high school alma mater starts back for the 2018-2019 school year. As I watch students hastily shopping for school supplies and beginning the readings they've had all summer to finish, I can't help but be taken back to my old school days before graduating and going to college. My high school experience wasn't phenomenal but there was something that helped me make it through: my teachers. After years of instructing, our teachers are bound to repeat themselves every once in a while. Being a future educator myself, I know I've caught myself being guilty of the same.
I'm sure everyone can remember some of your favorite teachers' famous utterances. Here's just a few that will be stuck in my mind forever:
1. "The bell does not dismiss you. I do"
2. "What you don't finish in class, you can finish for homework."
AKA expect to have homework.
3. "Push your chairs in."
4. "I'll wait."
My math teacher was guilty of saying this every single time someone would talk while he was talking.
5. "If that happens, you're SOL. If you don't know what that means, look it up."
The same math teacher was famous for this line, as well.
6. "Umm... today is just going to be a catch-up day."
Basically, your teacher doesn't feel like teaching today or they're behind on stuff themselves.
7. "No running in the hallway!"
8. "I'm trying to prepare you for the real world."
Every single time a student complained about an assignment being too hard, teachers never fail to say this in response.
9. "I don't want to hear any excuses."
10. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you."
11. "Did I take attendance today?"
12. "Clap once if you can hear me."
13. "Can anyone tell me what I just said?"
14. "I'm just going to start calling on people randomly."
15. "This is individual work."
Therefore, you have no excuse to talk to anyone else."
16. "Why do I hear talking?"
17. "Why are you packing up? We still have one minute left."
18. "When I'm talking, you're not."
19. "When in doubt, leave it out."
This is actually a cute grammar rule that helps me a lot. The 'it' in question is a comma. When you're unsure whether or not to include a comma in your writing, just leave it out.
20. "When in doubt, Charlie out."
While it sounds similar to the last quote, this is actually a test-taking strategy. When you're faced with a multiple choice question and you have absolutely no idea what the answer could be, choose "C." According to the phonetic alphabet, 'Charlie' is "C." Therefore, "when in doubt, Charlie out."
21. "College isn't going to be as easy as high school."
22. "Remember, others around you are working whether you choose to or not."
23. "All four legs of your chair need to be on the floor."
24. "If you finish early, we'll go outside."
25. "I'm not just talking for my own health."
Quotes like these and the teachers who said them made our primary and secondary education days memorable. While I hope that I'll forget at least some of these along with all of my bad high school memories, I know there are some that'll I keep in my memory until I die.
