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A teacher issued a tongue-in-cheek warning to her colleagues about leaving things on their desk.

If you believe the headlines, "kids these days" are the worst. Teachers are quitting in droves in part because the Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids are disrespectful, lazy, and downright unteachable. And that's to say nothing of systemic issues in curriculums, school budgets, politics in the classroom, and more.

But the kids, apparently, aren't making it any easier.

A story from author, mom, and educator Megan Davidhizar, shows that not everyone's having a bad experience with the younger generations. Her story begins with a tongue-in-cheek warning for her fellow teachers.

A veteran educator who teaches high school, Davidhizar shares on TikTok all about her journey as a teacher. She has a great sense of humor and seems to really understand today's students and trends. And so when she set out to warn her colleagues about a potential issue, people listened up.

"When I went to school to become a teacher, no one ever told me that I needed to be so careful about what I put out on my desk," she says in one recent video.

Davidhizar knows what the narratives are. She knows what's expected of kids today, and she knows the people watching her TikTok video are going to brace themselves for a story about kids stealing from her or ruthlessly pranking her. She plays on those expectations beautifully here.

"Some students who, after I recently got married, gave me these two cute little rubber ducks," she says, holding them up to the camera. The ducks were meant to represent Davidhizar and her husband. "So I put them out on my desk. You wanna know what my room looks like 16 years later?"

Watch to the end for the surprise ending:

@megan.davidhizar

Wait til the end. What teacher at your school has a room filled with hundreds of the same thing? (Also, I love every one I’ve been given. I write the names of who gave them to me on the bottoms) #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #teacherwarning #rubberducks #newteacher #veteranteacher #teacheradvice

Yes, after keenly observing that Mrs. Davidhizar likes rubber ducks, her students began bombarding her with more and more ducks. Her classroom is now full of them, including a drawer that contains all the ones she doesn't have room for on her desk and shelves.

All in all, it has to be hundreds of ducks and hundreds of little gifts from the students she's crossed paths with over the years.

It's adorable and absolutely incredible. The video racked up 5.7 million views and commenters couldn't help but chime in with their admiration for Davidhizar's dedication. Clearly, it said a lot about her as a teacher to receive so much love from her students.

"that says your a good teacher that your students saw that and then saw a duck for sale and thought of you and wanted to get that for you" one commenter said.

Many people had similar stories of the same phenomenon happening to teachers over the years.

"My history teacher had a flamingo, he now has thousands"

"The same thing happened to my English teacher ... Someone bought him a little owl ornament for his desk... Then it became a thing & EVERYONE bought him owls"

"I taught kindergarten and wore an apron over my clothes. through the years, moms & grandmas noticed and would make aprons for me. I have such an apron collection"

"Those kids LOVE you," one person wrote. "I love them too," Davidhizar responded.

There's no denying that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are different. Maybe not all teachers are set up to succeed in this new and challenging environment where they have to compete with social media, phones, parents who coddle, and overwhelming workloads.


@megan.davidhizar

Why else would someone become an English teacher? #elateacher #highschool #middleschool #teacherlife

Those teachers need better support: healthier budgets, better pay, and more support from the administration.

But you still have to hand it to teachers like Mrs. Davidhizar who have found a way to make it work. They've come up with creative and engaging ways to cut through the noise and connect with their students. Even though it's arguably harder than ever, teachers like Davidhizar are showing us that it's still possible to connect with the right approach.

They say teaching doesn't pay, but of course, they must not be counting all the free ducks.

Diane Tirado/Facebook

Left: Teacher Diane Tirado. Right: The note she left for students after being fired.

If you're of the mind that kids today are being coddled and not properly prepared for the real world, well, you might want to buckle up for this one. The story out of a public school in Florida has parents and teachers alike up in arms.

A Florida teacher was fired for giving her students zeros for missing assignments. Diane Tirado has been a teacher for years. Most recently, she was an eighth-grade history teacher at Westgate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Diane recently gave her students two weeks to complete an Explorer notebook project, but several students simply didn't hand it in. Since there was zero work done, Diane gave them zeros.

She got fired for it.

schools, teachers, education, grades, students, parents Michael Scott from The Office saying "What?"Giphy

The elementary school has a rule called the “no zero policy."

The lowest possible grade that teachers can give students is a 50, even if they don't turn anything in. That means that an extremely poor completed assignment is worth the same number of points as no assignment at all.

Hardly seems fair, right? Westgate is far from the only school that has such a policy, however.

whiteboard, education, classroom, teacher, middle school, 8th grade A message written on the whiteboard for her students after Diane Tirado was firedDiane Tirado/Facebook

It's a rule that Diane, unsurprisingly, does not agree with. After she was fired for disobeying, she left her students a charming goodbye message on the whiteboard.

"Bye kids. Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life. I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50 percent for not handing anything in. Love, Mrs. Tirado"

The scale, as outlined by the school, reads as follows:

A = 90 to 100
B = 80 to 89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 50-59

Diane later shared the story on Facebook, hoping to spread awareness about the school's policy.

“A grade in Mrs. Tirado's class is earned," she said.

“I'm so upset because we have a nation of kids that are expecting to get paid and live their life just for showing up and it's not real."

Diane's post has gone viral, and most commenters agree with her position – it's not fair to hand out grades for work that doesn't exist.

No zero policies are common in many schools, and teachers notoriouslyhate them. But it's at least worth considering why they exist. Some educators say it's because when a student earns a zero, it's very difficult for them to ever recover their grade in that class. In other words, it may be too harsh. Others argue that, if you don't want a zero, don't turn in nothing! Getting an earned-zero is a great way to learn to at least try.

A follow up statement from the school stated: "Ms. Tirado was released from her duties as an instructor because her performance was deemed sub-standard and her interactions with students, staff, and parents lacked professionalism and created a toxic culture on the school’s campus. ... During her brief time of employment at West Gate, the school fielded numerous student and parent complaints as well as concerns from colleagues. Based on new information shared with school administrators, an investigation of possible physical abuse is underway."

However, school representatives did not deny the existence of the no zero policy, and Tirado claims the school engaged in a smear campaign after she became a "whistleblower" on their policies. She's currently considering legal action against the district.

Still, the debate over the grading policy rages on.

“The reason I took on this fight was because it was ridiculous. Teaching should not be this hard," Diane said.

This article originally appeared 6 years ago.

@misswinans_teach/TikTok

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear a bonnet and PJs.

While we often think of test day as purely a stressful day for students, teachers definitely feel the pressure too. Just take middle school teacher Sarah Ashley Winans’ word for it.

Winans recently went viral on TikTok after sharing a video of herself entering the school she works at in the middle of the night, donning her pajamas and a sleeping bonnet. No, this wasn’t a bizarre episode of sleepwalking—Winans woke up from her pre-test day slumber and realized she had forgotten to plug in her computer charging cart that would be vital for students to take the exam.

Luckily, the crisis was somewhat easily averted. In the clip we see her hop out of her car, unlock the building, walk down the hall and into her classroom, and in two seconds flat she comes out flashing an “all is well” peace sign to the security camera. Phew.


@misswinans_teach

Test taking anxiety isn’t just for the kids. Mind you…this was at 10:15 p.m. 🫠🫠 #itsfineimfineeverythingsfine #viralvideo #teachersoftiktok #teachertok #middleschoolteacher #teacherlife #teacherhumor #middleschool #fyp #trending #sendhelp #whyamilikethis


“Test anxiety isn’t just for kids,” her caption read.

In an interview with Today, Winans shared how this test anxiety comes from a place of wanting all her students to feel at ease. "I don't really sleep the week of testing, because I want them to be OK, and I want them to feel confident, not to be nervous and worried. I know testing can really put a lot of pressure on people."

teachers, teacher of tiktok, test day, test anxiety, state testing, prepping for test, funny teachers, state exam, chromebook Sarah Ashley Winans.Courtesy of Sarah Ashley Winans

Down in the comments, people really felt for Winans’ plight.

"I just know you were stress texting your principal,” one person wrote. Another echoed, "Yall know she was (on the phone) with someone bc she was scared to death."

Indeed, Winans did call her administrator before making her adventure to the school (luckily only a five minute drive away), and that was actually how she got this hilarious footage. "She let me look at it, and then I said, 'I have to record it,'" Winans told the outlet

Viewers who were not feeling secondhand anxiety just chimed in with pure appreciation.

“This is so Janine coded,” one person wrote, referencing Quinta Brunson's character in Abbott Elementary.

teachers, tests, testing, abbott elementary, gif Janine from Abbott Elementary. media.giphy.com

“Not all heroes wear capes, they’re in bonnets plugging in the chromebook cart at 10pm,” quipped another.

Still another said, “Just so you know, you’re an amazing teacher because WHO would go late at night when you’re already in your jammies? You’re awesome.”

Following the huge response to her video, Winans told Today, that she hopes it humanizes teachers a bit and reminds folks they aren’t perfect, but still do everything they can to provide for their students.

"This is just something we do. Teachers, you make mistakes, and you forget to do things and, I mean, you just do what you have to do to make sure your kids are successful. And I was just doing my job."

So, in addition to providing education, therapy, and mentorship, teachers also have to do a little recovery missions from time to time. That’s just reason #509 that they deserve more.

This article originally appeared in May.

Joy

Middle schoolers in New Hampshire create adorable mini boat that sails all the way to Norway

The project was part of a very unique program designed to "connect students around the world." Mission accomplished.

The Rye Riptide washed up on the shores of Norway.

This story brings a whole new meaning to the word friendshipship.

In October 2020, the middle schoolers of Rye Junior High, in Rye, New Hampshire, bid a bon voyage to their handmade mini-boat, which set sail off the coast of New Hampshire to who-knows-where.

Measuring only 5.5 feet, the “Rye Riptides” was indeed a small ship. It ran crewless, but carried a bountiful cargo of colorful artwork made by students, along with a GPS tracking device that reported the boat’s location … sometimes.

Cut to 462 days and 8,300 miles later, and what started out as a simple science project became a surprise discovery for some Norwegian sixth graders, and a fun new connection across the Atlantic.

Rye Junior High had partnered with Educational Passages, a nonprofit organization that aims to connect students around the world to the ocean and each other. Once the kit arrived, the kids started building while learning about ocean currents, science and math. However, science teacher Sheila Adams shares that the more artistic, right-brained activities equally found their way into the curriculum. “The students needed to use their writing skills to inform others about their mini-boat project, describe our school and town to people of other languages, just in case, and write requests to get the boat deployed,” she said in a release.

educational passages, norway, message in a bottle, education programs, school, middle school, positive news Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. scontent-lga3-3.xx.fbcdn.net

COVID-19 nearly threatened to knock the Rye Riptides off its course. The boat had been constructed, but not yet decorated, when students were moved to taking class online. Then, there was the matter of launching the boat. Which Cassie Stymiest, director of Educational Passages, noted was “challenging with all the restrictions in place.”

Luckily, creativity, resourcefulness and a little technology saved the day. Working remotely, each piece of art was done at home, then scanned, printed and made into a collage. Then, Ms. Stymiest connected with the Sea Education Association (SEA), which set the Rye Riptides on its journey.

Would the boat make it to Europe? Rye student Solstice Reed wasn’t so sure. “Honestly, I thought it would sink,” she admitted to the Portsmouth Herald. Considering the boat was cruising the ocean waters during hurricane season, the skepticism was well-founded. During the more tumultuous periods, the GPS signal only came in intermittently. And for a long while, there was nothing but radio silence.

But then, at long last, on the small Norwegian island of Smøla, the Rye Riptides successfully made it to dry land. Sure, it was a bit dismantled and covered in barnacles, but inside, all the adorable trinkets remained intact. The Smøla students peered with wonder into their bounty of photos, signed facemasks, fall leaves, acorns and state quarters, gifts sent out almost two years ago.

Isn't your inner child just squealing with delight right now?

The voyage of the small boat went viral in a big way, sailing across social media, and making headlines.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Human connection found its way across the sea in the most wholesome and magical way. It’s really cool to see that educational programs like this exist, impacting both the hearts and minds of young students. Mission, successful.

To help support Educational Passages on even more wholesome adventures just like this one, consider donating here.

This article originally appeared three years ago.