Education & Information

A dad's viral kindergarten field trip post highlights how freaking amazing teachers are

Clint Edwards/Facebook

Anyone who has spent a day in a classroom knows that teachers—especially teachers of young kids—are superhuman superheroes. And any parent who has spent a day outside of a classroom trying to wrangle a group of young kids through a field trip would describe teachers in even stronger language than that.

That's what dad blogger Clint Edwards of No Idea What I'm Doing: A Daddy Blog discovered on a recent trip to a pumpkin patch with his daughter's kindergarten class. The father of three and author of a new book, "Silence is a Scary Sound: And Other Stories on Living Through the Terrible Twos and Threes," penned a tribute to teachers everywhere that has gone viral for the hilariously real truth it describes.

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Here's a quick and easy way to learn how to stop using filler words including 'um,' 'uh' and 'like'

via TEDxIHEParis / Flickr

Americans love using filler words such as "uh," "uhm," "like" and "y'know."

A study published in Big Think found that "uh" dominates in the Deep South, New England, Minnesota and Wisconsin. "Uhm" is the preferred filler word in Ohio and Kentucky in the east to Arizona and Wyoming out west.

The West Coast is pretty much "uh" and "uhm" neutral, although the Bay area has a soft spot for "uh" and the coast from Nor Cal to Oregon particularly loves to "uhm" its way though sentences.

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A teacher had her 8th graders write 'funny' captions under slavery-era photos. Seriously, WTF.

Darlene McCurty/Facebook

Sometimes you hear a story that's so absurd that your first response is, "No freaking way." Then you read more details, realize that the absurd thing actually did happen, and alternate between outright outrage and a resigned "Well, of course."

I've lost count of how many times that scenario has played out in recent years. It's pretty much daily at this point. I feel like every media outlet should have a WTF section. Good times, fellow humans.

So, in today's WTF news, a middle school teacher at J.W. Dodd Middle School in Freeport, NY allegedly handed out historical slavery-era photographs and asked her eighth grade students to caption them. She then implored students to make the captions "funny" because she didn't want to be bored.

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The 'legen—wait for it—dary' Neil Patrick Harris is pushing snack bars to help teachers

We just love NPH.

Courtesy of Quaker Chewy

Neil Patrick Harris is known for his diverse talents as an actor, singer, dancer, producer, emcee, writer, and even magician. Dude's got serious skills.

Off screen and offstage, he's also known for his diverse philanthropy, lending his fame and resources to various causes including cancer and AIDS research, green building initiatives, clean water access, hunger, LGBTQ support, and books for children in low-income communities.

RELATED: What Happens When A Pretend Homophobe Meets Neil Patrick Harris?

I recently spoke with Harris and asked him how he chooses what charities to support. He said that his personality doesn't really lend itself to choosing a singular cause—for him, it's more about the integrity of a charity. "I'm interested in knowing what organizations are actually giving a large percentage of what they get back to the actual charity itself," he says. "And then getting to know the people behind the charity. I'm kind of a stickler for authenticity in that way."

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