"Mommy, I want a pony!"

We all had a teacher back in the day who claimed something was true that occasionally made you suspicious. As you have gotten older, you have learned that your skepticism was not unwarranted and that you were absolutely right to question some of the nonsense this so-called educator was spewing. Over the years, we have all collected these bizarre “facts” that we have since disproven. They're often fun anecdotes to share at a party. For instance, did you know I was taught that I was taught that I…

We should really just let kids be kids . You only get so long to have a carefree childhood. As a child, you avoid adult responsibilities and can spend all day either playing or at school (and then playing once school lets out). That's your time to frolic in the grass, make up games, play on the playground, and run around with your friends. Knowing that you only get to be a child once, some teachers and parents are still crazy strict with their little ones. People who answered the question poste…

Imagine taking a test where the factually correct answer was irrelevant and what actually mattered was saying what the majority of the class said. This might be a fun exercise. Perhaps it could be a lesson about plurality and group decision-making. However, facts should matter, and just because the majority of the students in a class may think that the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1776, that doesn't make it true. Just in case you're curious, the Constitution was devised in 1787, ratified i…

Was that really necessary?

We all remember that moment sitting in front of a final exam (usually it was math), and you're just completely stumped. You have absolutely no idea what to do or how to even pretend like you know what you're doing. You either didn't study enough and you start to regret it, or your teacher is being ridiculously unfair by putting this question on the exam and you start to resent them. Still, there's nothing you can do about it at this point. You know you're going to at least get points off on thi…

Kids these days

When you do something wrong, you should feel bad about it and accept there are going to be repercussions. This is called a consequence, and without experiencing that negative stimulus, how on earth are you going to learn not to do it again? Still, the punishment needs to fit the crime, and making a public display when a young child makes a mistake isn't really the way to go about it. Ironically, this teacher hasn't learned her own intended lesson, as evidenced by the fact that she doesn't feel…

Teachers better be careful when enforcing silly rules. As the son of a former teacher, I am sympathetic to the fear that students will just be playing games if laptops are allowed in class. That being said, wouldn't that be their loss when it's time to test them? In my experience, people will always find an excuse to zone out and not pay attention. So even if laptops are forbidden in the classroom, they will always find a way. Now, in defense of students, it is simply far easier to keep up with…

Being late occasionally is an inevitable part of life; that being said, testing your school's lateness policy can be a tricky tightrope walk. On the one hand, school administrators who are obsessed with enforcing lateness policies should have far more important things to worry about. On the other hand, students should have far more to be concerned with than finding loopholes so they can miss three hours of class each day.

This teacher just won Halloween . His interesting choice of potluck meal seems to be a legendary choice! Halloween is a fun time for lots of kids and adults who celebrate it. It's a time to think of the most fun, scary, or silly costume you can think of, as well as dressing up your kids or pets. Other people love to deck their house out with those 12-foot skeletons or put fake spider webs over every bush and tree in their yard. Not to mention the fun of going trick or treating, or staying in an…

Some points in your career give you a sudden moment of clarity.

Who knew that sometimes being suspended isn't exactly a mandatory order? Personally, I was always too much of a “goodie two shoes” to test the waters, break the rules, and potentially get myself in trouble. As I've grown older, I have become less and less content with the various systems I have found myself trapped inside of, whether that be the system of higher education, the workforce, or the existential social system of what it means to be a human. In hindsight, a little part of me wishes I…

Lazy college professors should not be allowed to be strict. Like any social contract, everything should be a two-way street: if you're expected to deliver quality, they need to do the same. Otherwise, as far as we're concerned, the social contract is null and void. I remember when my high school teacher tried to solicit her students to contribute paragraphs that she would then compile into a research essay she was required to submit. We made sure that nonsense was shut down as soon as we could.

They say that you're most likely the only person who will remember your most embarrassing moments . But you won't feel that way after reading this treasure trove of embarrassing memories that people recalled with crystal clear memory! Have you ever accidentally walked through a screen door at someone else's birthday party, slamming face-first into the ground? This happened to me when I was about eight years old at an acquaintance's party, and the memory has stuck with me for decades. I wasn't p…

You might want to skip lunch at a few of these schools . I know cafeteria workers have a tight budget, but some of the meals they create are the things of nightmares. The public school system in America has its good parts and bad. Many teachers care about their students and love to make creative lesson plans and engaging class projects. However, much like the lunchroom staff mentioned before, they're working on a shoestring budget, often using their own time, money, and resources to ensure thei…