Students have a lot of space to express their concerns, regarding administration and the school, but teachers rarely get the occasion to speak their mind. Many teachers are faced with daily frustrations because of their students’ poor behavior.
While the list of student grievances is long, some teachers shared a few of their pet peeves.
Ms. Bono, an art teacher and volleyball coach at WHS, shared that her biggest pet peeve this year has been students being glued to their phones. While she instructs the class and explains projects, many students don’t listen and miss her directions. Later, they ask her to repeat herself, a frustrating ask when the students themselves are at fault for missing the initial explanation.
To combat this behavior, Ms. Bono has implemented a new classroom rule: no phones allowed for the first 20 minutes of class. This way, her students are able to listen to her directions and figure out their assignments for the day without asking Ms. Bono to repeat her explanation several times. This rule also allows students to use their phones as needed later in class, as internet references are very helpful in art classes.
Science teacher Ms. Agins shares Ms. Bono’s frustration. When asked what behaviors bothered her the most, she shared that she was most frustrated by students getting distracted by their phones while she teaches, saying, “[It’s] probably my only pet peeve.”
Ms. Agins also said that she has been trying to deal with students being on their phones during class for a while now, but has yet to find a method that works for her. Students continuously find ways to rebel and she has grown tired of fighting them.
Another common frustration shared by Spanish teacher Señora Marchese is students talking while she’s talking. Not only is this behavior disrespectful, but it also gets in the way of other students learning.
Señora Marchese shared another pet peeve, one more specific to the Spanish classes: students turning in piles of work right before the end of the quarter.
Both Señora Marchese and fellow Spanish teacher Señora Cano allow students to submit a lot of their work late, setting a final deadline at the beginning of each quarter so students can pace themselves. While some students submit all their work with a week or two remaining until the end of the quarter, many wait until the last few days before the final deadline to submit their piled up assignments.
This makes it hard for Señora Marchese and Señora Cano to grade work, as they have to get through piles of old assignments while also assigning new work. The end-of-quarter deadline to hand in work is a privilege and students are encouraged to make use of it when needed, but it is frustrating when students abuse it.
Although he doesn’t have the same policy as the Señoras, English teacher Mr. Silvestri also struggles with students handing in work late. He shared that it becomes difficult to keep track of the assignments being handed at the end of the quarter and is then stressful having to grade piles of work in just a few days.
Art teacher Ms. Brown shared that while many students complete their assignments and put effort into them; some don’t follow through and turn them in. She then has to chase these students down to hand in their art pieces with completed reflections and rubrics.
Many students, whether or not they mean to do so, take advantage of more relaxed classes and forget to put in the effort to be timely and respectful.
Latin and ASL teacher Mr. Wheeler also listed students being messy as a pet peeve of his. Students often leave wrappers behind or scraps from a project on the floor, ignoring the mess and leaving garbage for teachers and custodians to pick up.
Mr. Wheeler also shared a class specific pet peeve: not making eye contact with him when he talks to students. He said that this pet peeve was more specific to his ASL class, as students can’t listen to him to replace visual cues. Although Mr. Wheeler shared this pet peeve as specific to his sign language classes, many teachers encounter the same rude behavior even when speaking to students.
Math teacher Mr. Florio shared some of his top pet peeves. One of which being students coming into class and asking if they have a test. He also shared that some students ask if he’s graded their work right after handing it in. A unique pet peeve of his is students leaving the “skiwdgees” on the side of their papers after ripping them out of their notebooks.
One pet peeve that has become more prominent over the past few years with class dismissal rules changing is students lining up at the door before class ends. For years, teachers have expressed their frustration with students packing up early and now this issue has gotten worse with students getting up and crowding at the door. Not only is this behavior disrespectful, but it also takes away from class time.
Mr. Silvestri said he also struggles with this. He said it’s like watching caged animals trying to escape from their enclosure. This behavior can lead to an awkward, uncomfortable atmosphere in the classroom and makes teachers question whether or not their class is interesting and engaging.
While there are a lot of frustrating things that students do in class, there are also behaviors that make teachers’ lives easier and enjoyable. Ms. Bono shared that she really appreciates when students put in effort and do more than the bare minimum on photography projects, moving around the objects they use for the shoots, experimenting with different compositions.
Mr. Silvestri shared that he’s always happy to see his students sharing compliments and helping each other without expecting anything in return. He also shared that the students who pull out a book to read in a few minutes of free time often end up being his top students.
While there are many student behaviors that make teachers’ lives more difficult, they are easy to counteract. Teachers are open with what they want to see from their students and often work to set them up for success.
