There are two kinds of teachers, and we’ve all had our fair share of both. There’s the “strict” teacher that rules with an iron fist, holds fast to classroom rules, and demands excellence. And then there’s the “cool” teacher that plays things a little looser, has fun with the kids, and finds creative ways to inspire them to learn.
At least, that’s the way it used to be. More and more, there seems to be a new kind of educator that’s able to bring together the best of both worlds when teaching Gen Z.
One such teacher is Katy Johnson, who has been sharing a behind-the-scenes look at her career as an educator for years on social media. She’s racked up nearly a million followers in the process.
High school teacher goes viral
In a recent TikTok, Johnson went viral after beginning: “Let’s talk about some things I simply do not care about as a high school teacher.”
First up? Drinking and eating in class.
“I don’t care,” she says in the video. “I do not care at all. Literally last week I had a kid eating a rotisserie chicken. Don’t care. He got his work done. Doesn’t bother me.”
Next up: “Dress code. That is not my worry.”
She adds that, unless it’s offensive, she will let almost anything go. “Girl, wear your crop top and your shorts, I don’t care.”
Being a minute or two late to class, before instruction has begun
Charging phones
Sitting in assigned seats
Talking in class
Basically, Johnson says she doesn’t get bothered by behaviors unless they interrupt the classroom. She doesn’t want kids talking while she’s speaking, but doesn’t mind if they chat with friends while finishing assignments, for example. And she’d rather have a teen’s phone plugged into the wall, charging, than for them to be using it during class.
The cool teacher? Not so fast
15 million people viewed Johnson’s TikTok and many were quick to praise her relaxed approach:
“see she gets it,” wrote one commenter
“You should teach teachers,” added another.
“Agree with this. Some teachers care so much about things that don’t matter and it ends up wasting so much time,” someone added.
Multiple people chimed in with their suspicions that Ms. Johnson is likely every kid’s “favorite.”
But lest anyone think she’s a pushover, Johnson followed up with another video. This time, she covered some eyebrow raising behaviors she’s surprisingly strict about:
“I do have some things that I actually, really care about,” she says, starting with her no-nonsense bathroom policy.
“I do not let kids leave my classroom during my lesson. No.” She adds that if it’s a true emergency, she’ll make an exception, but she’s had to repeat lessons one too many times to be any more lenient than that.
Number two: No laptops in her math class.
“I firmly believe that math is best taught with pen and paper. We do not use Chromebooks. I care about that a lot,” she says.
The next is, in a surprise twist, phone usage. She says she does not allow students to use their phones at all during class, and even locks them away during instruction time. The only exception is, of course, that she will allow students to charge their devices as long as they’re not using them.
“Oh so she is a normal teacher after all,” wrote one disappointed commenter.
The series was so popular that Johnson followed it up with a part two with more things that “doesn’t care about,” including kids listening to music with one AirPod in and turning in work late.
“If you got your work done… I do not care what the kids do as long as they stay in this room and stay respectful.”
A unique approach to teaching Gen Z
Traditionalists would probably say Ms. Johnson is far too permissive with when it comes to teaching Gen Z students. Eating messy meals? Drinking Starbucks? Straying from their assigned seats whenever they feel like it?
However, it’s the teachers who are willing to think outside the box that are seeing the best results with Gen Z. They’re a generation that spent a good chunk of their most formative years in COVID lockdown learning on laptop screens. They’re the first generation to have the kind of access to cell phones and social media that teens have today. And they’re at the bleeding edge of an age where AI can do all of your work for you even faster than a Google search.
Keeping them engaged in the learning process is key, and it’s a battle. Crucially, Johnson’s classroom rules challenge kids in the ways that really matter. Being accountable to themselves and others, finishing their work independently, and having the autonomy to succeed or fail based on their own merit.
Johnson may have left one thing off her list, however. She does care about her students, deeply. That much is obvoius.
