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I remember viewing my teachers during my school days as these other-worldly beings. They simply don’t exist outside of school hours. Everything changed when I became a teacher myself. There were a LOT of things that I realise other teachers and I myself did that the students have no idea about.
Now that I’m no longer a teacher, I thought it’ll be interesting to share the well kept secrets about teachers. So without further ado, here are the top 10 things your teacher is probably doing that you did not notice.
Disclaimer: Some of the things described in the list applies to myself and a few of my friends whom are teachers, and not the all Malaysian teachers.
1. We sometimes play secret match makers
You’ll be surprised how many teachers actually do this. For any of my ex-students who’s reading this, I’m not one of those teachers, I promise.
Okay, in our defense, work gets redundant sometimes, so we all need a source of entertainment. You teenagers have fun shipping real life celebrities together – we have fun shipping you guys!
So if you ever wondered how come the nice kids are always sitting next to the girl or boy of your dreams, you can thank us lah.
2. We help hide our students’ gadgets in school
Unfortunately, most traditional Malaysian public schools still do not allow the students to bring their phones. Which is kinda lame. Unless you have cool teachers (which happens to be a lot of us), we wouldn’t mind you guys bringing phones.
As long as you don’t whip out your phone in the middle of a lesson, it’s all good.
And not only that – during the dreaded spot checks, we even keep your phones for you. When I was an English teacher, I’ve probably kept like more than 10 iPhones in my handbag for safekeeping. Again, you’re welcome.
3. We try to sneak naps in the pusat sumber just like you
Like most public schools, the library is one of the few places that is air conditioned, so students tend to sneak naps in there. As teachers, we are obliged to kick students out, because the library is a place for learning, not snoozing. But when students are safely in their classes and the Principal is no where in sight, we snooze in there too.
4. We don’t always do the assigned reading
You know the novel your teacher told you to read during school break, but you totally didn’t bother to? Yeah, they probably hadn’t read it either. Let’s be honest here – the literature components that the government decides for high school students are not exactly the best. I mean come on, Rumpelstiltskin for secondary school kids? Sheesh.
So, we actually Google the story and list out the moral values and points just like the students do.
5. We get just as afraid as you when called to the principal’s office
You know when sometimes the loudspeaker would announce saying that, so and so teachers, please report to the principal’s office? Outwardly, our faces probably look chill, but internally, we actually feel something like this:
6. Sometimes, we ask students to try harder and work out a hard question by themselves because we were not sure what the real answer is either
This doesn’t always happen, but once in a blue moon, a student would really stump us with a complex question. How do we buy time and save face? We just twist the question back to them. Easy.
7. We’re not supposed to have favourites, but we totally do
Yeah, it’s bad to have favourites and I try to love all my students equally, but we’re only human right? Sometimes, you can’t help but give extra attention to some kids that are so genuinely helpful and nice. We try not to be bias, but if a student constantly helps me carry books and greets me cheerfully, you bet your bottom dollar I’m gonna be more cheerful to that kid too.
8. We intentionally have hearing problems sometimes
Listen, we totally heard you swearing nonstop. We just pretend we don’t, because frankly, we don’t care enough to write you a borang disiplin. Way too much work lah!
9. We gossip about students to other teachers and our other friends all the time
The thing is, we see our students all day every day for weeks on end. Of course were going to talk about you. We talk about how you’re like in class, your attitude, who you have a crush on, etc etc. That’s why lah sometimes your other subject teachers know what’s the scoop between you and that boy/girl. Yep, we’re the real gossip girls in the school.
10. We know when you have a crush on us
Especially when you’re in your early twenties and you’re teaching a bunch of teens that are going through their puberty, crushes are bound to happen. Of course we don’t reciprocate, but we are sure amused about it. But try not to be borderline creepy T_T
Source: Author
So yeah, there’s a lot of things you probably never knew your teacher did, but now you know that they probably did the same! Do you feel like we covered all of it, or is there more? Please share with us your thoughts in the comments.
Also read: 10 English Words Only Malaysians Will Understand
