A California teacher thought she’d have a little fun with her class by playing a game. But what happened next left her feeling shocked. Instead of jumping at the chance to take a break, her middle school students told her they would rather continue working. What they said next made the moment even more meaningful.
Karma (@karmateaches) is a middle school teacher in California with five years of experience. She says she originally started recording to show how she introduces and explains games to her students. Instead, she received a “negative response,” with the children begging her to let them continue working rather than stop for the game.
Karma then explains their homework so they can keep working. Then, one student raises their hand and tells her, “You should be happy for yourself that we want to work. You should be proud of yourself.”
“I know. I’m so blessed,” Karma tells the class as she puts her hand to her heart.
The student continues, “Technically, you’re the one that made us want to [finish our work].” That’s when Karma tells the class they’re going to make her cry.
Commenters immediately flooded Karma’s comment section with their opinions on what unfolded in her classroom. One commenter shared, “I hated playing games in school. I personally preferred to sit in silence or with a movie on and just do the worksheets.” Another commenter added, “I loved working independently in class! I loved the teachers that would play music and let us work.”
Other commenters, however, did not find the video to be as heartwarming. One commenter mentioned, “They aren’t willing to try something new. It takes hours to plan and prepare lessons/games that they beg to do. And then when you actually start them they have the worst attitudes.”
Another commenter states, “We need to continue to do things in the classroom, though, that students don’t prefer. Like discussions, read-alouds, games, things that promote social interaction.” Commenters couldn’t agree on whether students should always get to choose work over classroom games. However, Karma’s students made their own reason for wanting to keep working pretty clear.
Instead of simply turning down their teacher’s game, one student gave Karma some of the best feedback a teacher could probably hear: “You’re the one that made us want to [finish our work].”
