More Entries from our "Funniest Classroom Moments" Contest

  • A few years ago I was teaching a Pre-K class in the public schools. Because I still had a pretty large collection of turntable style records, I still used them for sing alongs. The first time I pulled one out and put it on the record player to play a song, one of my students yelled out, "Wow! That"s the biggest CD I have ever seen."

    Angela Fanney, North Carolina


  • Early in my teaching career I knew the value of using film in the classroom. I ordered a Leonardo film and another about King Tut from the National Gallery film services.
    I prefaced the screening of the Tut film, by explaining to the class that I never visited the Tut exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum since I was apprehensive about the curse, and those who were associated with the opening of the Tomb suffered dire consequences or met an untimely demise.
    When the lights went out, I turned on the projector lamp. At that exact moment a student arrived late in the darkened class room and tripped on the projector cord, pulling the cord from the socket. The projector lamp flashed on for a brief moment and then darkness. A gasp filled the room.
    When returning both films to the National Gallery, the Tut movie was lost in the mail.
    Years later, I showed a video containing Tut chanting to all five of my classes. On the final showing, the VCR, on its own volition, dropped to the floor in slow motion. Although I was only inches away from the VCR at the time, I was unable to stop its fall. The VCR was completely destroyed.
    The myth of the curse had been manifest!
    For further information about the curse, please visit the web site we created at John F. Kennedy High School, The Curse of King Tut Fact or Myth?

    Steve Feld


  • This happened at the ESL school where I used to work. The Beginner teacher had explained her students that she was a vegetarian, and what vegetarianism meant. She was sure that although the students were truly beginners, they had managed to grasp the concept. Later that very same day, as I she and I were having coffee in the teachers' room, one of her students approached us and told me "My teacher is a vegetable!!!" Needless to say, the poor guy didn't understand what all the ensuing laughter was about!
    This happened three years ago and I still can't help it but grin when I hear the word "vegetarian".

    Maria Silvia Reolin- Head Teacher- Pronounce International College


  • My son Connor was reciting a history lesson which included the date. I asked my son, "Do you know what 'B.C.' stands for?"
    "Of course," he replied.
    "Can you tell me?" I asked.
    "Before computers," he proudly announced!

    Linda Bebb


  • Looking back at my teaching career, I'm amazed that I haven't embarrassed myself more often or more thoroughly. Several years ago I was teaching and coaching and sponsoring yearbook in Farmington, New Mexico. I was, as usual, too busy. I began the school day in my English classroom, changed into my gym clothes for athletics, and changed clothes again for my afternoon classes. (So professional!)
    One afternoon following my quick-change routine, I was helping students in my computer applications class. As I moved from kid to kid, I noticed one shy boy watching me-no, not just watching, but studying me. I worried for half a second about unbuttoned buttons or zippers unzipped, but I was quickly reassured when I realized I was wearing my Lands' End T-shirt dress with the self-belt, patch pocket, and perfectly matched stripes (navy and white, of course).
    Even though after twenty years of teaching I am used to all eyes being on me, this guy was starting to annoy me. Finally, I saw him lean over to whisper to one of the girls on my basketball team. They spoke briefly, quietly. She was not shy. She strode up to me and tugged at the "perfectly matched" dress pocket on my back and said, "Ms. Wells, your dress is on backwards!"

    Terry Wells, Mancos, CO