‘The students were on their feet, cheering': High school teacher's assignment backfires when one student uses it to break the rules

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Sep 20, 2023 8:00 PM EDT

High school memories arise from time to time, evoking mixed feelings, and causing me to wonder, why does anyone ever say that they are the best years of your life? The teachers never liked me all that much, being the hyper kid I was, who despised homework and could not focus for one minute in class, and the other students kind of bored me. Maybe it was the school itself, who knows? Perhaps others have had better luck.

In any case, I can remember that when students broke the rules, the rest of the class would look at them in total awe. Again, maybe I was in a 'goody-two-shoes' type of place, but that is what I recall it feeling like. In this story, u/Mac_Mex described herself as the kind of 17 year old girl who liked to follow the rules. She didn't cause any trouble, and her English teacher vibed with her.

One day, this teacher gave everyone an assignment. The class had to make a memory box of their high school experience, then present them to the class. They also needed to choose one quote from a book they had read in English class that year. Well, OP decided to use this project to take a step out of her 'goody' position, and do what everyone else was afraid to do… break the rules.

Next, check out this factory lawyer who got back at the new company's attorneys big time, due to his patience.

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    Joint
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  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/Mac_Mex 7 hours ago Any quote? From any book we've read? You got it ma'am! L OC ş This happened about 5 years ago but the memory came back to me as I was driving to work. I (17f at the time) was in my senior year of high school. I was an "AP kid" meaning that I took nearly all AP classes (college level courses for high schoolers) during my last 2 years of high school. I really didn't want to be
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  • 03
    Font - drowning in homework though so I opted to take general English in 11th and 12th grade, despite the many pleas of my teachers. I did take honors English 9th and 10th grade though. I just didn't care enough about the subject to do all that extra work even though I was smart enough to do it. That being said, my 12th grade English teacher really liked me because I was respectful but not a kiss a 5 and I actually did the work and didn't do the bare
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  • 04
    Font - minimum. She was cool, albeit a bit quirky (like neon yellow and teal split dye hair on a 52yr old woman) but she had a rule of no swearing. Mostly because of the whole "if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile" mindset all teens have. I wasn't bothered by it because I didn't swear much but she made it a big deal; remember that for later.
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  • 05
    Font - Now let's get to the actual malicious compliance. As a final project of sorts for the class, we had to make a memory box of our high school experience and then we would all present our boxes to the class. We had to write letters to our past selves, have trinkets that represent each year, projects we were proud of, etc. One of the things we needed was a quote from a book we've
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  • 06
    Font - read in our English classes that remind us of each year. Remember how I said I took honor English in the 10th grade? Well that year that honors students (and only honors students) read my favorite book, Catcher in the Rye (I love the writing style, I know Holden is insufferable).
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  • 07
    Font - If you don't know the book, the main character has an existential crisis over the corruption of the youth and purity and other stuff. In one scene he sees "f k you" written in a school stairwell in a kid's hand writing and he freaks out. Admittedly, I was struggling with my mental health a lot in high school, specifically in the 11th grade. So I thought a quote where the character has life throw a big "f <you" in your face was an appropriate summary.
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  • 08
    Font - I checked with my teacher, not once, not twice, but three times to make sure any book we read in our English classes was fine. She was definitely suspicious and knew I was gonna do SOMETHING. I'm sure she thought I'd do a call out on my peers or something that was a bit of a controversy in its commentary. But I was a goody 1 shoe (not fully a 2 shoes kind of person but I definitely was not breaking rules) so she wasn't worried.
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  • 09
    Font - The rest of story should be pretty clear now. When it was my turn to present, I showed off my trinkets and letters and monologue and then it got to the quotes. I did my 9th and 10th grade quotes and then I paused. I was worried if I should back out. But then I thought about when the next time I'd be able to boldly say those two words in front of a group of people with undivided attention again. So I took my moment and read my
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    Font - quote. It felt like one of those "and everybody clapped" moments. The class went CRAZY. Like the kids that never did a single assignment were on their feet cheering, the track and field kids were laughing and sharing "oh my god's with each other, everyone was definitely paying attention now and there was so much commotion that it took quite a few minutes to calm down. Keep in mind, for everyone else, the smart good
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  • 11
    Font - girl just broke the teachers' biggest rule in a hyper public way, this was a jaw dropping moment for 17yr olds. I quickly finished my last quote and hurried back to my seat. A couple kids dapped me up on my short walk but the teacher looked P ). I don't remember what happened afterwards, I'm pretty sure she said something disapproving and moved on.
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  • 12
    Font - After class I knew I had to apologize to the teacher and she did say she was disappointed but that she also couldn't do anything about it because I was just doing the assignment and I did ask several times before hand. She kind of gave me a smirk when she said it as she realized how deviously calculated it was while still adhering to the rubric. I didn't get in any trouble and got full points on the assignment. It made me smile remembering this story, hope you do too!
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  • 13
    Font - Lucky_Farmer_793 · 5 hr. ago My go-to quote was from Macbeth: Out out, d n spot! Wha??? I'm quoting Shakespeare! Vote Reply
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    Font - $6²1 TinyNiceWolf 6 hr. ago Well, technically.... Hamlet: Lady, shall I lie in your lap? Ophelia: No, my lord. Hamlet: I mean, my head upon your lap? Ophelia: Ay, my lord. Hamlet: Do you think I meant country matters?
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    Font - - Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2 Vote ♡ Reply Sha TheUnquenchable19 6 hr. ago Well played! Vote ↓ Reply
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    Font - TomDestry - 3 hr. ago She probably looked p d because she was genuinely excited to see which quotes inspired and excited her students and you basically said 'f k you for the fun of saying it and also 'f k you' to her hopes for the assignment. I mean, that's teenagers for you. I was the same. I don't know how teachers do it. Vote Reply Share
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    Font - Pan-Pan90 4 hr. ago She was also probably impressed you remembered it was in the book, which meant you actually read it XD. Vote Reply Share fatDaddy21 4 hr. ago Insufferable, you say? Vote Reply Share
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    Font - Captain BaoBao 58 min. ago Do you suggest that coconuts migrate? is my favorite monty pythons quote. Vote Reply Share
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class english teacher classroom teacher high school rules end of the year cheering assignment senior backfires books quote malicious compliance reddit
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