First post here (please, have mercy on me) and my inspiration came from 
I have been a teacher, too, for many years. I have worked in schools (Oh, God have mercy on me) but also in small groups of students as a tutor. (Oh, God have even more mercy on me)
I have seen and heard a lot as a teacher, but I think during the pandemic with online classes it was even more difficult to cope.
Favorite phrase of the children trying to connect to the platform for the lesson:
Madam, can you hear me?
Yes, Johnny, I can hear you , the whole class can hear you, even the aliens heard you...
Honestly if I had 0.05 Hive every time I heard that phrase, now I would greet you from my private villa in Barbados.
An even more common situation was that they couldn't connect to the platform.
(because everything runs smoothly in Greece and so is the speed of the internet connection #NOT)
You also heard phrases:
Madam, Godzilla crashed (they meant Mozilla)
Madam, you're stuck (they meant that the image froze)
You get my point, right?
But, thank God for online lessons we had a couple of fun times.
Mostly, when they forgot the microphone on.
- I had a student who, because he had just answered a question, forgot his microphone open and left a loud fart, believing that no one was listening.
Sorry, my little one. the whole class heard your fart. Fortunately, we did not smell it. (That's the advantage of online classes, yeah!)
The Greek ministry of education (please, don't get me started about it) forced us, the teachers, to host these onlines classes with the students' video screens and mics turned off. Of course, when no one can check on you or see you, class time is nap time, right? (Don't bother to make excuses, I would do the same, too).
One of my favorite pranks was to share good, powerful metal music through the app. No sleep during my lesson, sir.But one of the strangest things that has happened to me during an online class was with an adult student, whom I teach Greek as a foreign language. While the lesson was on and we are practicing dialogues, sex sounds are heard through my student's computer. His roommate with his girlfriend were very noisy during intercourse and I -honestly- do not think I have ever seen a man blush more in my life.
You might say that we were having a good time during online classes.
Yes, part of it was fine.
Because, we were in our pajamas all day (you know, formal attire for top body, pajamas underneath). Also, 2e did not have to go out in the cold to move around, as we did everything from home.
But teaching in person has another grace. It brings another level of communication between a teacher and a student. (see,
And let us not forget. Students often give presents to their teachers.
Do you want me to tell you what my student gave me now that we have started teaching in person?
Gastroenteritis!!!
Thank you for reading!
