Gen Alpha and the youngest Gen Zers are not like the generations before them. They were practically born with iPads in their hands and their faces plastered across social media, in a world where streaming and short-form video had almost completely taken over traditional media.
Teachers say they can be difficult to work with, but they’re a product of their environment. The really, really good teachers—often those who grew up facing similar circumstances and challenges—have developed some unique ways to reach them…and keep them in line.
23-year-old teacher shares unorthodox classroom techniques he wishes he “knew sooner”
David Jahn is a young high school teacher in Texas and a wildly popular social media creator. He has nearly one million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, where he shares funny classroom moments and tips on how he keeps up with today’s students.
In a recent viral video, Jahn shared some of his top-secret and admittedly “unhinged” techniques for keeping his sometimes rowdy freshmen classes under control.
Handing out gold stars
“Starting off so unbelievably strong, gold stars,” he says while holding up a pad of gold star stickers.
You wouldn’t think giving out stickers to teenagers would be very effective. But Jahn would beg to differ.
“Gold star straight to the forehead. You would not believe what a gold star does for a 14 or 15-year-old. I mean, freaking straight dopamine.”
Soda tab rewards
Similarly, he’s discovered another strange little knickknack his kids just can’t get enough of: the pop tabs from his favorite Monster Energy drinks. This one won’t surprise many parents, but it’s extremely intuitive for a teacher to notice and turn these tokens into a little reward for good behavior.
“So many of the kids want the [White Monster] tabs. I collect the tabs so they can’t steal them, and I’ve just got goodies, and I will give them to specific kids who want the tabs if they do things correctly. Some kids just have necklaces of them, or making bracelets out of them.”
The intentional water bottle drop
Jahn says it can be tough to get the kids’ attention when they’re working in the science lab, so he’s stumbled upon a unique trick: dropping his water bottle.
The smack of a heavy Stanley or Yeti steel water bottle on the linoleum floor is sure to pull focus.
“It won’t hurt the floor, I promise, and those kids will stop talking and look at you.”
Delivering on consequences
Some of his tips were a little tongue-in-cheek for teachers and parents who may find themselves leaning toward the permissive side of things:
“I’m also doing this thing where, if positive reinforcement hasn’t worked and they continue to exhibit negative behaviors, I do this thing where I tell them the consequence if they continue this negative behavior… and then I actually do the consequence.” He mimes his head exploding. “Crazy how effective that is. Who would have thought?’
Fellow teachers weigh in with their generation-specific classroom hacks
Jahn’s video racked up hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram, and over a million on YouTube. Dozens of teachers weighed in; they, too, have had to develop a few new tricks to keep up with a whip-smart but easily distracted generation of students.
Stamps and stickers
Jahn isn’t the only teacher who has noticed how well stamps and stickers go over with even high schoolers.
“Freshmen go craaaaazy for a stamp. The wildest thing ever! They’ll be like ‘miss!!! Stamp my forehead pleeeeease!’” one said.
“I use scratch and sniff stickers. One set if for the students that are following expectations that smell like strawberries and bananas. The other set is for those that aren’t following expectations….they smell like onions and garlic. It works so well,” another devious teacher added.
The fake phone call technique
Parents know that sometimes talking directly to kids falls on deaf ears, but kids suddenly perk up when they know they’re not supposed to hear something.
“Pretend to get a phone call from someone when the kids are all talking and off task – I say hello then have a dramatic reaction like ‘what happened??’ The kids all get quiet and look at me every time. Then I call them nosy and get back to the lesson”
Aura tracking
Some teachers have turned Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s unique slang against them. They say it works.
“I started writing ‘AURA/NO AURA’ at the beginning of class. You’re on task and behaving. Awesome. Your name goes under aura. You’re being distracting and getting off task. BOOM NO AURA. they love/hate it. ‘Ms. Please. I want my aura back’ okay, do your work?!”
Middle and high school students today are fully immersed in the digital world. They’re equipped with powerful learning and informational tools, but they’re also well-versed in memes, brain rot, and AI slop. This unique blend makes them challenging to teach, especially for educators with a more traditional approach.
But, we do love to see teachers who have the energy to try to out-alpha the Alphas, even more so when it actually works.
