I really try not to get too annoyed in my daily life by what other people do. Honestly, we live in a world where far too many people choose to be offended (or triggered) by the actions of other folks. There are things that do bug me, like people who don’t move at a red light because they’re busy reading texts on their cell phones. But overall, I try to take a deep breath and move on. As my brother is so fond of saying, “Life is too short for such unpleasantries. Let us talk of better things.”
Now, when it comes to the classroom, I definitely have some pet peeves. Again, life is too short to get unhinged by these things. But these are the behaviors that, when they happen, force me to take an extra breath before moving on.
“The Question.”
Getting students to participate in discussions is hard enough, but sometimes we get a good conversation going about something we’re reading in class. Inevitably, as hands go up, I’ll see one raised by a student who rarely—if ever—participates. And it’s almost always the same question. I’ll call on them right in the middle of a spirited discussion, hoping (maybe this time!) for a thoughtful contribution, and instead I get:
“Can I please go to the bathroom?”
It’s soul-crushing. The back-and-forth derails, the momentum disappears, and for just a split second I believed this student had a great insight to share.
Q: “How would you respond if someone falsely accused you of something you didn’t do?”
A: “Can I please go to the bathroom?”
Ugh.
Being Unprepared.
Students have always forgotten pencils, paper, their copy of the class novel—you name it. But lately, the thing that blows my mind is the computer and/or charging block. Our district provides a laptop and charger to every student, and almost every day at least one student tells me, “I left it at home.”
That’s like leaving your shoes at home.
These devices have replaced textbooks. They’re used in almost every class. And yet some students still don’t have a school laptop because they never turned in last year’s… or they already lost this year’s… or they left it in the “other” bookbag… or the charger was “too heavy”… or their sibling needed it today… or—well, fill in the blank.
Again, ugh.
The Big One.
Technology is wonderful. And technology is terrible. The Internet is an incredible resource for research. It’s also an incredible resource for avoiding work entirely. Yes, “the big one” is cheating, and the Internet provides infinite ways for students to copy work they don’t know and don’t care to discover for themselves.
That was true long before the explosion of artificial intelligence. But AI has changed the landscape: many students now genuinely believe they don’t need to research or write. Worse, they think an AI-generated answer counts as their own because technically they asked the question.
Sadly, even the threat of failing grades or disciplinary referrals hasn’t slowed the attempts. It’s just made them sneakier. And of all my classroom pet peeves, this isn’t just one of them—it is the pet peeve. The one that brings out my most ruthless teacher instincts. The others are mere annoyances by comparison.
Copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt.
