Category: education

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Teachers Share Which Former Students Surprised Them the Most Later in Life

You never really know where people are headed in life…

Which, when I think about it, is probably part of the fun for teachers because it’s all kind of a crapshoot.

Teachers, which former students surprised you the most later in life?

Here’s how people responded on AskReddit.

1. The big time!

“I ran a program for kids grades 4-7 for a local newspaper. I would reach them the fundamentals of journalism, and they would write stories for a weekly kids page.

One of my students got a degree in journalism and was a television broadcaster for a little while. Another went into public relations and works for a university, last I heard. Another runs a really cool vlog and has been getting some notice as an influencer.

And another got a degree in journalism, earned an Emmy just a few years out of college, and now hosts a national television show and interviews famous people on the red carpet.”

2. Drove you crazy.

“I had a class of 8th graders one year that I SWORE we’d someday see one of their pictures on the front page of the paper because they were arrested for something (small town). That class drove me crazy.

The one that drove me the craziest was hyper, wouldn’t do his work, copied on tests so openly that I had to pass out 3 different tests every time…the list was endless. He ended up on the front page of our paper, though.

He was a top adviser in the Bush administration!”

3. Big turnaround.

“I retired from teaching after 36 years of working with special education students of varying exceptionalities. There was one female student that I worked with for several years that displayed a keen aptitude in math but also initially had a phobia for math.

Interesting. I would always approach her with math by using the words, “Okay, we’re going to play with some math.” The shift in her approach to math along with the elimination of anxiety associated with the subject was truly amazing to witness.

Within a half a year I mainstreamed her into a regular education math class and she was out performing other students. She went onto the University of WA and was awarded scholarships for her work in math.”

4. On to better things.

“Product Design teacher here.

Can’t tell you how immensely proud I am of an ex student who got out of the small time town, emigrated to Denmark, came out and has become a designer for Lego.”

5. Elite athletes.

“Two former students ended up playing in the NFL.

I reached out to both and let them know I was proud of them for their dedication and following through on their dreams. Both took time to respond and thank me for making a difference in their lives.

I have so many former students who keep in touch, and I love getting to see how they are doing!”

6. Cool!

“One of my kids would only play with Legos and h**ed school because he figured things out far more quickly than anyone else.

He was one of the founders of MakerBot.”

7. From a veteran teacher.

“I teach, and have always taught, in a Title I school. Lots of bad situations, very poor families, lots of things we can not fix or even help.

One of my third-grade boys, many, many years ago, was ANGRY. I mean, not the “pick fights” kind, but the “I h**e everyone, you all suck, there’s no point” kind of angry and far too weary of the world for a 9-year old. He was BRILLIANT. Such a smart kid, and he would work for me, but his fourth and fifth grade teachers could get him to do almost nothing, he did just enough to pass.

They thought I was crazy when I talked about how smart he was. On the standardized test for fifth grade, he basically maxed out the math portion, and won some kind of national award. I wept. Ugly cried. I was so proud for him! He had a rough time in middle school, but by high school, he was doing a bit better. Still angry, still unmotivated, but managing, I guess.

Three years ago, I was in my classroom in the afternoon, and got a call from the office. I had a visitor. I went down, and there he was. With his wife, and the fattest, sweetest baby on the planet. He is in the army, and y’all, he was SO HAPPY, and had a job he loved, and a woman he loved, and a baby. He is still best friends with another boy that was in our class that year. He just radiated happiness and well-being. My heart!

Things could have turned out so much differently for him. Given his circumstances, they should have. I am so thankful he beat the odds.”

8. A real shock.

“The former student of mine who d**d by s**cide this year.

It was a complete shock to all of us who’d taught her in elementary school. She had really been one of those kids with a constant ear-to-ear smile – not just full of joy, but radiating joy; not only was she well-liked by all, but she really seemed to genuinely like everybody.

When my students leave at the end of each year, they go off to middle school, so every year’s end (though always desperately needed) has that bittersweet, vaguely funereal bite to it. This’ll sound strange, but to me it feels sort of like when a parent’s first child gets married – there’s happiness and excitement aplenty, but there’s also a sense of something ending that naturally brings back a flood of childhood memories, and with them usually some tears.

All of that is to say that I was already familiar with the devastation memory can precipitate when I heard the news. But death really does hit different.

The best I can do to describe it is this: there’s no hierarchy in the memories that come after a person d**s. None of them are insignificant. The first thing I remembered when I heard was that her line number was 11 (that is, that when our class lined up, her spot was 11th from the front – in the days before digital assessment or camera-scanning, there was a real time-saving advantage to having students always hand in assignments in alphabetical order as they walked out the door).

Over the next couple of weeks, other such memories were constantly percolating, to the point where at one point one of my current students asked me why I kept randomly pausing in the middle of my sentences.

I wasn’t collected enough at the time to tell them the truth, so I just brushed it off, but if I could have another go at it, I think this is what I’d say:

You have no idea how much we remember of you. You have no idea how much of yourself you give to a classroom, because you would never think of things like the way you write your name, the way you sit, the way you laugh, the way you smile, the sound of your voice, your accent, the way(s) you wear your hair (or maybe the fact that I had to ask you to take your hood off three times a day).

The way you keep using the same pencil until it’s only about 2 micrometers long, the way your backpack looks like it’s eating you when you carry it, the way you find cool leaves at recess and show them to me, the way you tell me every single day about what your pet bird did the night before, the way you said “Yes!” with genuine excitement when you saw the newest Aru Shah book on your desk…simply put, the way you are – as gifts.

But they are, and I can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am to receive them.”

9. Not a happy ending.

“I was his sixth grade English teacher. He joined the class a bit late but he was a sweet kid, and eager to please. Along with a cousin, he was now being raised by his grandparents since the state had recently deemed his mother unfit.

The boy craaaaved positive attention, and at school, he found it. He worked hard, was funny as hell, and he was a freaky good athlete. But academically, he struggled. He was very open about his life and talked openly about how few resources he had at home or about times he endured with his mom. I think the other kids felt bad for him, because they’d ask if they could stay after to help him with his assignments. They’d volunteer. He was a charmer.

I was also a coach then, so I’d see him often. He started confiding in me, coming to me for advice, etc. As he was being recruited, I talked him up, “marketed him” , wrote a ton of letters on his behalf, and helped him and his grandparents complete forms, and forms and forms . His grades were a problem, so it happened later than anyone expected, but he accepted a scholarship to a college out of state.

I hadn’t seen him over the summer, but a few days before he left for college, we had lunch together. He arrived disheveled and barefooted. He didn’t eat, and frankly, he “talked crazy.” I was concerned, but wished him luck and he left for college. He was asked to leave the school less than three months later.

From what I’ve learned since, being away was less than ideal. He was a homeboy and being away scared him. He grew anxious, befuddled…couldn’t sleep. Worse, he stopped taking the antipsychotic meds he’d been on since early his senior yr of h.s. Back home, his grandparents insisted on him taking his medication, and he insisted that he wouldn’t.

He was huge and strong and these altercations grew violent and frequent before long Police would come and arrest him, but that was just a stop gap. He’d return home from a night or two in jail and nothing would change. Jail wasn’t a deterrent, because he had become schizophrenic and jail couldn’t do a thing for him or for his family.

I didn’t know a thing about his mental health issues, or that he was even home. So yes, I was surprised by that boy of promise who grew into a man, who through no fault of his own, deemed it necessary to spend several hours beating his grandparents and cousin to d**th using a pool cue and a set of forty pound dumbbells.”

10. Former gang member.

“My wife is a secondary school teacher. The school she teaches at is rough. One of the students she remembers was a gang member and was acting out in the classroom in front of his friends.

He couldn’t go home after school for family reasons so he would come to my wife after school and ask for maths tuition / time on the computer. He came daily and with the support of my wife he founded his passion and it was to work on cars.

Fast forward 5 years, he is now a mechanic (apprentice learner) for Mercedes AMG in Dubai.”

11. Great work!

“Am a college professor in India, and well, having fair skin is a pretty big issue here, with fairness equated with beauty and class. One of our first year female students was caught ingesting pills and passing out in class.

Some of the disciplinary committee was for suspension of the student, but me and my colleagues from our Department asked that she be let off with a warning, and we would personally see to her, since she always seemed like a pretty good sort to us. We had a talk with her, and she said that coming from the village to a city college, she felt ashamed of her dark skin and round figure, and she had taken those pills because some friends of hers told her that they were slimming pills and fairness pills.

We told her that she was beautiful as is, that those pills actually did her more harm than good (they were laxatives, diuretics and stomach meds). We gave her some extra attention, and besides, her classmates were also pretty nice kids, and she eventually thrived, getting into fitness and dancing, as well as academics. Fast forward a few years, she graduated with honours both from college and university, and was also the Varsity Beauty queen.

She is also the first from her village to receive a NET (National Eligibility Test for lectureship eligibility), as well as the first to be admitted to a PhD programme.”

12. Going places!

“My mom had a student in 3rd grade who was a bit of a troublemaker. She would have pretend trials sometimes in her classroom and made this kid a judge once.

Many years later he nominated her for a big teaching award just because she gave him that opportunity in the classroom, he said it made him want to grow up to be a judge.

Last I heard he was elected as a district attorney.”

Okay teachers, now we want to hear your stories!

In the comments, tell us about your former students who really surprised you later in life.

Don’t hold back now!

The post Teachers Share Which Former Students Surprised Them the Most Later in Life appeared first on UberFacts.

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What Small Ways Has Society Progressed in the Last 20 Years? Here’s How People Responded.

You blink and you’ll miss it.

An older gentleman told me that when I graduated from high school. I kind of shrugged off his words of wisdom but it turns out he was right…

And things are always moving forward, which is good news for all of us here on planet Earth.

In what small ways has society progressed in the last two decades?

AskReddit users shared their thoughts.

1. That’s nice.

“My grandfather has been blind for forty years.

He says people are way more friendly than they used to be, especially younger people are eager to help.”

2. Much more aware.

“I think the majority of the world knows a lot more about other cultures and countries.

Thanks to the internet and learning facilities and the vast possibilities of travelling, people can really get into these topics if they want to.”

3. Progress.

“Infant mortality rate in Africa is now the same as it was in Europe in the 1970s.

Absolutely amazing progress.”

4. Knowledge is power.

“Think about the public’s access to information.

Just Wikipedia is equivalent to thousands of dollars of encyclopedias and almanacs in the 1990s.

And it’s way more valuable than that because it’s constantly being updated.”

5. A good thing.

“The rapid skill increase across all forms of gaming/sports, art, leisure activities, etc.

The internet really has allowed niche-activity folks to learn the most effective practices collectively, as opposed to independent and un-structured learning.

Hobbyists can (and are) now able to quickly get really good at nearly everything, at a ridiculous rate. Poker, paintball, video editing, computer games, etc…. doesn’t matter what it is, it’s easier now to jump from “beginner” to “pretty good” in nearly anything.”

6. You can learn anything!

“The intermet has made it easier to learn almost anything.

When something in my house/car breaks or needs upgraded, I can generally diagnose it with Google and then watch how-to videos on youtube to decide if I should do it myself or just save time and contact a professional to complete the repair.”

7. Click it or ticket.

“Stressing the importance of seat belts and helmets.

Old TV shows commonly depict no helmets and seatbelts.”

8. The little things.

“I took my grandparents to my Grandpa’s sister’s funeral, on the drive back home I had to buy a Pepsi and a coffee because I was tired.

I finished the can of Pepsi, and put the can in the cup holder.

Grandpa said “you know son, 10 years ago that would have went right out the window.””

9. More opportunities.

“Giving more opportunities to people with disabilities.

And this doesn’t mean just work either, but designing more building to universal design so that people with disabilities can access more spaces unassisted.

It’s really great!”

10. You see it less and less.

“Way fewer people smoke these days.

Honestly, in my extended family it’s maybe only one of my distant cousins.”

11. No more stigma.

“Wearing glasses has all but lost the negative stereotypes surrounding it.

They often used to make kids suffer through school unable to see.”

12. Normalizing.

“We’re normalizing openly discussing miscarriages. It use to be uncouth to discuss in social settings and was more something that couples had to suffer silently to themselves.

After recently experiencing one, the outpouring of support has been amazing and such a pillar of support for us through this tough time. We were thankful to have others to mourn with us.”

13. Preservation.

“In my country several efforts have been made to save our only remaining native indigenous language from being extinct.

A decade ago less than 1,000 people could speak it, now I believe the number is closer to 10,000.”

How about you?

What progress do you think we’ve made in the last two decades?

Sound off in the comments and let us know!

The post What Small Ways Has Society Progressed in the Last 20 Years? Here’s How People Responded. appeared first on UberFacts.

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Even Smart People Mispronounce These 27 Words

It’s really easy to mispronounce words you don’t know, no matter how smart you are. If we’ve never had occasion to hear something said, after all, we can give it our best guess but never know for sure.

You’ll often hear people who read a lot, and widely, mispronounce a word on their first try because they’ve only read it, not heard it, and these 27 words are especially tough.

If you’d rather avoid the situation where you say it wrong in public, here are the correct pronunciations for some really complicated words.

27. Joust (j-oust)

Back in the 13 century, people said it “just,” but the word has evolved (maybe since no one physically jousts anymore) to be pronounced j-oust.

26. Transient (tran-zee-ent OR tran-shent)

If your’e from the United Kingdom, you probably say “tran-zee-ent”, though that’s also popular in the States.

Some Americans, though, prefer and use the two syllable “tran-shent.”

25. Either (eee-thur OR aye-thur)

You can choose here, eee-thur or aye-thur – you can even swap them out depending on your mood and the day!

Go crazy!

24. Status (stay-tus OR stah-tus)

Guess what? You’re not saying this one wrong, because both “stay-tus” and “stah-tus” are technically correct. Pick your poison, friends!

23. Quasi (kway-zi)

I was definitely saying this one wrong – “kwah-zee” – instead of the correct way, which is “kway-zi.”

22. Prelude (pray-lood OR prel-yood)

The difference is subtle, but once again, you can pick between the two choices of “prey-lood” or “prel-yood,” because both are technically correct.

21. Long-lived (long-liv d)

People used to pronounce this word “long-lyved,” but post 20th century, “long-livd” is universally accepted as correct.

20. Valet (val-it OR val-ay)

This word has evolved over the years, and was originally French and pronounced “val-it.”

In Britain, the word pronounced that way means a butler who helps you dress, while a val-ay is a person who parks your car and/or carries your bags.

Since most of us only employ the second (and only on occasion), the second pronunciation is generally considered to be correct.

19. Comptroller (con-tro-ller)

This is a person who controls finances, so the “mp” becomes an “n” when you pronounce this management title.

18. Forte (fort OR fort-ay)

This one surprised me, y’all – if you’re talking about someone’s strength, the ‘e’ is silent.

You only pronounce it fort-ay if you’re using it in the musical sense.

17. Gyro (yee-roh)

This one is tough, because most of us don’t actually speak Greek, but it’s “yee-roh.”

There are too many wrong pronunciations to count!

16. Err (er OR air)

In the United states, pronouncing this to rhyme with hair or air is correct, but in the U.K., it rhymes with ‘her.”

Go figure.

15. Victual (vittle)

This outdated term for food is pronounced “vittle,” not like “ritual,” but only a really pretentious person would need to use it, I think.

14. Gala (gay-luh)

Sorry, gal-uh people, but you’re just wrong – this should always be pronounced gay-luh.

13. Espresso (es-press-o)

Unless you’re in France (where you can order an “un express”), there’s no ‘x’ in this word.

Sorry, y’all.

12. Applicable (APP-LIC-able OR A-PLIC-able)

This one is another choose your own adventure, except it’s more like choose your own emphasis.

Applicable or aplicable are both correct.

11. Bon Mot (bohn mo)

If you want to sound worldly and use this term to mean “witty remark,” you’ll want to make sure you’re saying it correctly, right?

Barely pronounce that ‘n’, get all nasally, and ditch the ‘t.’

10. Spherical (sferr-i-kal)

Another example of why English exists just to mess with us. This isn’t pronounced like the word “sphere-i-Kal,” but instead, “sferr-i-Kal.”

What.

9. Bon Appetit (bo-nap-e-tea)

In this French tern, you hit the n a little harder, but blend it straight into the ‘a.’ Also, that last ‘t’ is silent.

Bo-nap-e-tea!

8. Decrease (DE-crease or de-CREASE)

It depends on how you’re using it. If it’s a noun, it’s de-crease, but if it’s a verb, it’s de-crease.

Who has time to parse your sentence before saying it, though?

7. Macaron (mac-a-ron)

We all love to scarf these down, but can you say it?

If you’re referring to the pretty-colored sandwich cookies, it’s “mac-a-ron,” and there’s no ‘S’ even if you eat an entire box.

I like that.

If you’re eating coconut haystack cookies, those are “mac-a-roons,” and feel free to pronounce the ‘s’.

6. Caramel (kah-ruh-mull OR kar-mull)

“Kar-mull” used to be a regionally accepted Midwestern thing, but has become acceptable worldwide, as is “kah-ruh-mull.”

And don’t let anyone tell you differently.

5. Scone (skoon)

In Scotland, where these delicious pastries were invented, they pronounce it to rhyme with “cone,” but some other places in England and the like choose to rhyme it with “gone” instead.

In America, they recommend “skoon,” though I’ve personally never heard it.

So you do you, y’all.

4. Mauve (mov)

Many people think this word rhymes with stove, or use an “aw” sound to make the “au,” but “mov” is safe and actually correct.

3. Nouveau (new-vo)

The French word for “new” isn’t pronounced “no-vu,” but “new-vo.”

Just a little way to impress your friends and enemies the next time you want to insult someone at a party.

2. Regime (ray-gime)

Hold onto your hats, folks, because the first syllable is “ray.”

The second syllable is a soft g still, though.

1. Sans (sahn)

This is the French word for “without,” and despite the way you hear it most of the time, the last ‘s’ is silent.

Not only that, but the ‘a’ should be long, like in “saw,” and you should barely pronounce the ‘n,’ either.

I’m feeling better about myself already, how about you?

What word do you commonly hear mispronounced? Educate us in the comments!

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Public School Experiences That Are Strangely Universal

The public school experience: there’s really nothing like it, thank God. But we all remember it. Or most of us do, anyway, and if you spend a little time online, you’ll probably find that your memories don’t differ significantly from those of everybody else.

The true high school journey was nothing like The Disney Channel promised us it would be. The real journey was…well, it was this stuff.

13. Down and dirty

I can smell this photo and I really don’t want to.

gym class pinnies that were never washed from nostalgia

12. The ball

Legends would form around its origins. Cults would be gathered. Civilizations built.

Me?irl from me_irl

11. Getting it handled

Back in my day you didn’t even have social media to save you, you just died in there.

College student gets stuck in bathroom. Posts to "Overheard" Facebook page for help. from Wellthatsucks

10. The schedule

How can someone so good at math be so bad at time?

Me_irl from me_irl

9. Science rules

BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL!

https://mhysatargaryn.tumblr.com/post/120226749117/sugarcubesaresexy-what-is-americas-obsession

8. What is…

Oh, suddenly y’all think knowing stuff is cool, huh?

https://bronzedragon.tumblr.com/post/161471364769/itsbetterthananal-the-only-thing-you-need-to

7. The moan wave

I’d like to stop thinking about this, please.

https://randomfandomteacher.tumblr.com/post/650309482797301760/man-did-anyone-else-have-those-white-boys-that

6. The rumor

This spread throughout the entire United States, if not further.

https://theredcat.tumblr.com/post/88311676495/popunklouis-remember-that-rumor-we-all-believed

5. The scream

Murder? A game? A spider? We’ll never know.

https://prettyoutcast.tumblr.com/post/79889200148/are-you-ever-in-class-and-you-hear-a-random

4. Hot takes

That’s just how it be sometimes.

https://razzledazzy.tumblr.com/post/48376306294/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-in-my-school-i-just-saw

3. Worry not

You’re just gonna have to power through.

https://battyinthegraveyard.tumblr.com/post/104260173229/me-what-are-taxes-and-how-do-i-pay-them-school

2. Look at the times

“What am I gonna do, fix a clock?”

https://pdiddytech.tumblr.com/post/617029193637740544/me-realizing-that-im-acting-weird-because-im

1. The binder dance

Ok so why do we even have the bells then?

https://yuugo.tumblr.com/post/120292358373/danisontnonfire-bell-about-to-ring-binders

Oh, the memories. Most of them bad. So long, high school. Happy to never have to deal with you again.

What was your strangest school experience?

Tell us about it in the comments.

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A Mom’s Conversation With a Teacher Shows That Online School Is Hard for Everyone

The transition to online learning has been hard for everyone – parents, teachers, students, and administration.

There has been big adjustments on every side, and this conversation between parent and teacher only solidifies that fact.

The mother heard that her son’s teacher was rude after he asked her name, and started an email exchange that, though heated at the beginning, resolved well.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

The teacher replied that she’d meant she was sad he couldn’t recall her name and hadn’t meant to be rude, which…idk, y’all.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

Mom wasn’t buying it, either.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

So, she didn’t let it go.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

As she shouldn’t have.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

She replied again, still respectful, but let the teacher know her response had not been good enough.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

The teacher’s reply was respectful, also, and contained an apology.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

Bravo.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

Everyone ended up feeling better, I hope, and the teacher really is thoughtful about where this takes her in the future.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

People on Twitter applauded her efforts and her standing up for her son when he deserved her support.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

Some people questioned whether or not the teacher didn’t need the wakeup call, so good thing it was given in such a mindful manner.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

No one should be made to feel badly for asking honest and respectful questions.

Full stop.

Image Credit: Bored Panda

Proof, if you ask me, that having an open line of communication with your child’s teacher is the best way to go – and even if you don’t want to always stand up for your child or take their side before you speak with the teacher, our kids do need to know that we have their backs when they deserve it.

Have you had a unique challenges with online school? Share them with us in the comments!

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People Share Free Resources Available to Everyone That We Should Take Advantage Of

Who doesn’t love free things?

I’m pretty sure 99.9999% of the population does…but that’s just off the top of my head…

And today we’re gonna get all kinds of great info that you might not know about.

What are some good free resources people should be taking advantage of?

Here’s what people said on AskReddit.

1. That’s awesome.

“I was stunned to find out our local library has telescopes you can check out, musical instruments, even a 3-D printer where you only pay for the printing material.”

2. Take a look.

“The Internet Arcade where you can play a lot of classic games along with the Console Living Room which is similar.

They have access to tons of old PC games too and you can even play the original Oregon Trail online. There’s a lot more in their software section too.”

3. Good to know.

“If you’re concerned about your kid’s development (speech, physical, emotional, etc) you don’t have to wait until they are school aged to get services.

Ask at you school district office to have someone come and see if you kid qualifies to have a specialist come to your house (or their daycare if you work) to help out your kiddo.

It’s through the school district, so it’s completely free.”

4. Booyah!

“FilmRise channels on YouTube.

Full length episodes of really cool documentary-style tv shows (including old-school Unsolved Mysteries).”

5. Nice!

“If you live in the United States, you can access a system of volunteer master gardeners who have been trained and certified. They are often an adjunct of the states education and agricultural systems.

They have online classes (due to COVID) and (later) in person classes. You can call help desks, send email, and visit web pages for advice on growing pretty much anything in your residential garden.

Farmers already know about the parent organizations. The master gardener groups were set up to offload residential questions from the ag experts.

Note: They cannot advise about growing cannabis, but -cough cough- whatever helps your tomatoes grow works for pot.”

6. Use it or lose it.

“The Butterball hotline on Thanksgiving for turkey-day tips and tricks.

The West Wing taught me that one.”

7. Very useful.

“PDF24 is a free, simple PDF reader and editor that is a great alternative to paid software- for most people’s needs.

Would especially recommend for students.”

8. Great!

“Free classes online!!!!

It’s so cool dude, EdX, through Harvard, MIT, I know I’m missing some other’s.

They offer online courses for free.

If you want the certificate at the end of the course, you pay $50.

I learned about John Snow, and the Cholera epidemic of 1854, a psych corse, and currently thinking about starting another.

You get to watch lectures from their professors, you have assignments due at certain times, quizzes, and then the final.”

9. A great resource.

“The Library of Congress, specifically the searchable newspaper archives

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

The amount of info in there is staggering.”

10. Academia.

“Outline.com to read articles that are behind a paywall.

And if you read scholarly journals and want to read someone’s paper that’s behind a paywall, you may be able to get it from the author by contacting them directly.”

11. Helpful.

“If you receive SNAP or EBT benefits, many states have programs to pay for you to take one certification course/trade at a local community College.

Just look up the program for your state.”

12. Get ‘er done!

“The Los Angeles Public Library has a free high school diploma program for anyone who is looking to receive their high school diploma.”

13. Serving the community.

“Food banks besides the “official” ones or the Salvation Army.

CHURCHES. Serious, a ton of churches of all denominations have food banks where you can go.

At some, you not only get frozen meats and canned goods but donated local produce like fruits and veggies or chain/small business donations of bread/sweets.

Since COVID, a lot of places might be running dry but just open the phone book and call around and ask.

Also “Mission” services, they don’t always just help the homeless – if you’re down your luck you can score free meals and other essentials like diapers, formula, etc.”

14. FYI.

“Dial 2-1-1 for essential community services anywhere in America.

Basic Human Needs Resources – including food and clothing banks, shelters, rent assistance, and utility assistance.

Physical and Mental Health Resources – including health insurance programs, Medicaid and Medicare, maternal health resources, health insurance programs for children, medical information lines, crisis intervention services, support groups, counseling, and drug and alcohol intervention and rehabilitation.

Work Support – including financial assistance, job training, transportation assistance and education programs.

Access to Services in Non-English Languages – including language translation and interpretation services to help non-English-speaking people find public resources (Foreign language services vary by location.)

Support for Older Americans and Persons with Disabilities – including adult day care, community meals, respite care, home health care, transportation and homemaker services.

Children, Youth and Family Support – including child care, after-school programs, educational programs for low-income families, family resource centers, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring and protective services.

Do you know of any great free resources that we should all be using?

Please tell us about them in the comments.

We’d really appreciate it!

The post People Share Free Resources Available to Everyone That We Should Take Advantage Of appeared first on UberFacts.

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Was a Wheelchair-Bound Student Wrong For Asking Their Teacher To Stop Pointing Out Her Disability?

For people who don’t have much firsthand experience being around or working with people with disabilities, there can definitely be a learning curve while figuring out the appropriate way to navigate the day-to-day.

How can we learn, though, if the people who are living their lives with disabilities feel as if it’s rude to speak up and correct us when we’re wrong?

Of course, not everyone is up for learning a better way, and perhaps that’s why this wheelchair-bound student felt like they might have been in the wrong after correcting a teacher who continually made comments about her wheelchair.

OP (Original Poster) is a wheelchair user and has had the same chair for 7 years. She’s currently saving up to buy a new chair, but in the meantime, she’s been made aware (often and repeatedly) by an English teacher that hers is beat up and makes a “distracting” noise in class.

I’m 18f, have a pretty messed up pair of legs, have had since birth, I can walk but am an ambulatory wheelchair user. I’m currently due an upgrade for my chair, I’ve had it close to 7 years and it’s a bit messed up. It’s gotten pretty uncomfortable and it makes noise but like I said, I’ve had it 7 years and I’ve grown rather attached to it. We’re saving to pay for the new one at the moment.

I have one teacher, my English teacher, who constantly makes comments about how banged up looking it is, and gets pretty pissed any time I dare move and it makes noise. She says it’s distracting. The comments about the appearance of the chair annoy me a lot because it’s hardly going to look brand new after 7 years of constant use.

OP lost her cool finally and told the teacher that if it bothered her so much, perhaps she’d like to pony up the dough for a new one.

The teacher seemed slightly chastised.

She made a comment this morning along the lines of “You know, you should really get a new one, that one looks like it’s about to collapse under you”.

I got really mad about this and I said, “You know what, if you think I should get a new chair so bad, you can pay the nearly 4 grand it’s gonna cost or you can stop making nasty comments about something that literally doesn’t affect you.”

A boy in her class, though, thought she didn’t need to be that rude – not everyone knows how these processes work, right?

She didn’t really look at me until the end of the class but the boy who sits besides me said it was slightly a**holish as she probably didn’t realize how difficult the process was.

AITA?

Reddit’s getting ready to weigh in on whether or not this young lady was in the wrong, so let’s see what they had to say!

They pointed out that a teacher commenting on a student’s lacking in any physical area really points to a lack of training and empathy in the first place.

Image Credit: Reddit

Most agreed the teacher was in the wrong, and needed to be educated.

Image Credit: Reddit

No one likes distracting noises, but it’s the adult’s job to realize what’s in a kid’s control and what is not.

Image Credit: Reddit

And in case you’re wondering, this is America. Of course her wheelchair is not covered by insurance.

Image Credit: Reddit

Some things need to be discussed in private.

Image Credit: Reddit

The girl could have been more tactful, but it sounds as if her frustrations were building up to a boiling point, and just finally exploded.

Given the imbalance of power in this relationship, it’s a no-brainer that the teacher, not the kid, is the a$$hole.

What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments!

The post Was a Wheelchair-Bound Student Wrong For Asking Their Teacher To Stop Pointing Out Her Disability? appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Remember the Moment They Realized Their Favorite Teacher Was a Jerk

There’s a reason they say you should never meet your heroes, and it’s because there’s a very good chance that they’re going to disappoint you.

It could be because you realize they’re just human, but it’s also just as likely that they’re complete jerks in reality and your perception will be forever tarnished.

We can’t help but spend time with our teachers, though, and most of us at one time or another has put one of them up on a pedestal.

I would think that most of us – like these 15 people – have also watched one topple off.

15. This makes me nauseous.

When he popped up in the local paper for being a nonce.

This guy was That Teacher that everyone wanted as their teacher in primary school (up to age 10-11). He was funny, he made jokes, he wrote his own assemblies and school plays. We all thought he was such a cool teacher, not like the other stuffy teachers.

And I remember he always used to give special attention to kids in the class who were perhaps a bit poor or a bit slower academically – seat them in front of his desk and give them extra coaching and encouragement. And at the time everyone said how nice he was for doing that, but with hindsight he was picking them out and grooming them. Absolutely turns my stomach.

14. Not an uncommon tale.

When he’d shamelessly flirt with high school girls. This teacher was the girls varsity basketball coach, and every year there were rumors about him having s^x with a couple of them.

I’m sure most of those rumors are exaggerated, but one girl admitted years later that she had s^x with him on multiple occasions when she was 17/18 (this was in the late 80’s – the teacher was about 35-40 at the time and married).

13. Third graders. Oh my god.

When they bullied my friend to the point where she wanted to end her life.

We were in the third grade and she would always yell/taunt students, make fun of people with disabilities and flip out over the smallest of things. However, I assumed that this was how life was suppose to be as I had a similar childhood with my peers and home. I felt miserable, but she always helped me with my schoolwork because I was delayed as a child, so that made me like her more than my classmates. She didn’t ignore me like everyone else would, so I really liked that.

But that all changed when I was over at my friend’s home one day and she told me in secrecy that she wanted to end her life. She made a detailed plan and tried to give me something valuable of hers (a my little pony doll). At the time, she was not in a good home situation either and the teacher made her life miserable, since she would specifically target her.

My friend told me not to tell anyone, but I got my grandparents involved. They got her the help she needed and she’s still alive and my best friend to this day. She doesn’t know that I’m the one that told and I don’t even know if she remembers.

I tried bringing it up once in high school because it was relevant to the topic we were on about anyways, but she seemed totally confused. Not upset, just had no idea what I was talking about.

I am so glad that she’s alive though because she’s absolutely amazing. I hope that she actually doesn’t remember feeling that way. No one should.

12. So glad there were consequences.

At my high school a teacher/volley coach douche man was popular with the girls and a bunch of the normies thought he was cool cause he had nice cars.

He banged one of the girls who was 14. He was probably 40 and he was married. He also had a daughter who was 16 who went to the school.

This was in 2003. He got 11 years.

11. Why are there so many of these stories?

When I saw his mugshot show up on local news along with “statutory rape” and “16-year old girl”.

Doesn’t help that I was one of the only two girls in his class…

10. She’s lucky to be alive.

When he got drunk and beat the shit out of his then-girlfriend for turning down his marriage proposal

He locked her into her bedroom and ripped the phone out of the wall before leaving. Her brother found her the next day

9. Not such a cool guy.

There was a teacher at my school who everyone loved, he’d always try make lessons super fun. Well he got a new job and tons of us wanted to keep in touch with him because we all viewed him as a cool guy.

I think I was 14 at the time he left my school and every now and then we’d exchange emails but nothing much was said that’s noteworthy. When I turned 17 he emailed and I was pleasantly surprised as it had been a while since we last spoke. He mentioned he wanted to visit my hometown in the summer, I assumed to see family. Then mentioned there was someone he wanted to meet.

Eventually he said it was someone he really missed and then said that it was someone from school. He didn’t say it was me outright but I began to feel really uncomfortable and stopped replying. Eventually he wrote telling me to just forget it, he’s really sorry and tried to change the topic.

I blocked his email and never told anyone. Even now old school friends reminisce about how cool a guy he was and I keep quiet because what do I say? Anyways that’s my weird teacher story.

8. That’s pretty messed up.

I started out thinking my art teacher was all right..

Then I drew something and he started laughing really hard and exclaimed to me really loudly so the whole class could hear: “this looks like something a five year old drew”

7. This was always a slap in the face.

When I asked for an academic reference after leaving school. For 8 years she was my head of year and history teacher for 4 of those. Called me a star pupil, we had in jokes, I gave her gifts at the end of each academic year. But suddenly 3 years after I left, she “didn’t know me well enough” to write one. I was really disappointed and tbh a little heartbroken.

I complained to some school friends who mostly weren’t surprised and said they’d all found her two faced and didn’t like her back then. I was the only one who thought she was amazing and inspiring.

Later in life I’ve had university lecturers happily give me references without batting an eyelid, 5 years after completing their modules.

6. I am also mad now.

I was in beginning pottery my freshman year of high school, and the task was to make a lidded pot, so I decided to make mine shaped like Yoshi, with his head/back as the lid.

I was told it was childish and he wouldn’t put it in the kiln.

I had to start from scratch and didn’t have enough time to finish before it was due, so I got an F.

I still finished the class with an A, but I’m also still kinda peeved by the whole interaction.

5. Just reading this makes me feel gross.

I developed a very close bond with them similar to what you said. He’d call on me in class a lot and joked that he knew I already knew the answers. He let me go beyond time limits on presentations. We’d talk a lot before and after class, outside of school have long discussions at the library, etc.

He seemed really intelligent and wise.

It took me a while to understand why a lot of other students didn’t like him and resented me for our close bond. Also didn’t understand why after my dad met him and they talked for half an hour he asked me not to be alone with him.

Long story short, I later found out he had been singling out and befriending black kids in his class and that he had very radical political and religious views that he was trying to groom them into. I didn’t really believe it at first but he’s very open about it on social media, like really messed up stuff I wouldn’t otherwise know existed.

4. What was he getting paid for?

I basically didn’t have history class in 10th grade because the teacher was so lazy and apathetic.

The students loved that we had “free days” every other day, and most of the “class” when it wasn’t a free day was him putting a random movie on while he sat on his computer.

3. How is he not fired?

I had a teacher in grade 5 that I thought was really cool,I met him again in high school…he kept getting transferred from one school to another because if he got angry at a student he would hurt them (I’ve seen him pick up a student and desk and throw them).

Rumor has it that in the previous school he broke a student’s collar bone.

2. Sad is definitely one word for it.

When my history teacher cheated on his wife, who was a teacher at the same school, with another teacher and took her and her kids secretly to Disney world before ever taking his original family there. Sad.

1. Makes you wonder how he got the job.

Everyone loved one of my high school music teachers. Well…I should say all the students loved him. A lot of the rest of the department would put on a brave face, but then stories started circulating about how he’d fuck over his coworkers without giving it a second thought. But when you’re a student, you don’t really know the ins and outs of faculty politics. (Or at least students shouldn’t.)

Fast forward a number of years. A couple years after graduating from college, I wind up back in my hometown as a music teacher. The popular high school teacher had gotten his administration degree and was now the principal of the building I was assigned to work in. And he was terrible. TERRIBLE. Completely incompetent. Rude and unpleasant. Tried to use his physical size to intimidate people (in a building mostly staffed by women). I have stories.

Someone who was vaguely aware of the history but not the specifics once said to me, “Oh, isn’t it so nice that you’re working with one of your favorite teachers now!” I told her the truth – every good memory I had of being one of his students was erased by what a horrible principal he was.

We want to believe the best of the people who claim to care about us, but it’s just not true that they’ll never let us down.

What story would you add to this list? Tell us about it in the comments!

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Wholesome Posts That Prove Teachers Sure Are Lovable

In all professions, there are people who are in it for the wrong reasons. Bad apples, as they say.

That said, most of the people who get into teaching do it because they love children, and they see teaching those children is akin to shaping the future of our world.

If you want to be reminded that this fact is so, so true, then you need these 14 wholesome posts in your life – get ready to smile.

14. This made everyone involved smile.

And now it’s made us smile, too.

13. Sometimes we just need to hear that it’s possible.

Especially if there are people in our lives who tell us differently.

12. What a brilliant and kind man.

And they learned something in the process.

11. She’s just doing her job.

Above and beyond, but still her job.

10. Sweets are awesome motivation.

Everyone knows that.

9. Good teachers really believe in us.

They want us to succeed.

8. She must be doing something right.

Bless her heart.

7. This is about the purest thing I’ve ever read.

I want to give this man a hug. Once he gets away from the anthill.

6. Teachers like encouragement, too.

They don’t need it, but they like it.

5. They never know where their students might go.

But they prepare them all for good things.

4. This makes my insides hurt.

Alllll of the feelings.

3. Oh, my heart.

This teacher surely burst into tears.

2. This meme is A+.

I’d never seen it before!

1. They’ll go to great lengths to support us.

Always with a smile.

I just can’t wipe the grin off my face, y’all.

If you’ve got a sweet story about a teacher, share it with us in the comments!

The post Wholesome Posts That Prove Teachers Sure Are Lovable appeared first on UberFacts.