10 Teachers Whose Genius Tactics Changed Education Forever

Teachers have a unique ability to inspire and shape the lives of their students, often in unexpected ways. Some educators go beyond the traditional methods, using clever and creative approaches to leave a lasting impression. In this article, we’ve gathered 10 stories of teachers whose cunning methods not only made learning exciting, but also changed how their students viewed education forever.

• My colleague had a reputation for having nothing but bright students in his class. Anytime he asked a question, everyone’s hand went up without exception. Curious, I once asked him, “How do you get them all so bright, all so engaged in your class?”
  His reply: “I told the kids, ’Every time we get a visitor, you ALL raise your hands. BUT if you don’t know the answer, then raise your left hand; If you do know it, then raise your right hand. This way, I will know who to call on, and we’ll all look good.’ It worked like a charm!”

• So, as a teacher, the smartest way I “cheat” is by giving the kids a notecard and telling them they can put whatever cheat sheet stuff on there they want. It tricks them into actually studying for their math tests.
  Also, a pro tip from a math teacher; most students don’t know how to study for math and this is why they struggle. Think of studying math like practicing an instrument. You need to “learn a piece” by practicing multiple problems from a skill set. If you aren’t practicing at least 8–18 problems at least every day for two days, then you’re never going to get past the little mistakes and missteps which have probably plagued you. © Piano_Fingerb***er / Reddit

• It was an algebra/geometry class, and it was well known that Mr D re-used the same questions every year, just changed the numbers. He made a big deal about making sure we all gave our exam papers back to him after we had looked at our scores and gone over everything together to prevent cheating for the next year.
  Well, of course, some of my classmates got their hands on a complete set of tests from the previous year. Soon, everyone had a set. Before each exam, we would sit together and make sure we knew how to solve every problem on that test so we could do it on the real exam with different numbers.
  Years later, when I became a teacher myself, I saw Mr D at a funeral. I confessed to him that this is what we used to do. He smirked and said, “Who do you think leaked the test packet to get you to study?”
  Mr D had figured out that kids won’t study if the teacher suggests it, but if they think they’re getting away with something, they totally will, so he managed to get a test packet out and circulating as contraband. Blew my mind. © sarahsuebob / Reddit

• I had a biology teacher, sophomore year of high school, named Mr. Decker. He would spray students with water from a squirt bottle if they fell asleep. © Vijchti / Reddit

• I grade papers with a digital audio recorder. I open up my internal monologue and just make observations and ask questions as I go. It is easy to send them via email, and it plays right out of their email, embedded. When the students listen, everything sounds more curious and earnest rather than spiteful and mad.
  Plus, I get about 10x as many words down speaking vs. writing. It’s like an instant office conference, since I’d only be “talking to them” anyway if they came in to ask about the essay in person. © jrizos / Reddit

• I’m TAing a principles of engineering design course for middle schoolers and early high schoolers. I was giving them an introduction to drafting this past week, and one of the activities I assigned had the students drawing isometrics from 3-view drawings I put on the board.
  When it was time to show them the answers, I was struck by a burst of inspiration. Instead of drawing the isometrics on the board, I built the structures in Minecraft and positioned the camera such that the view of the structure was isometric. © laziestengineer / Reddit

• I was a tutor for calculus. I would generally start off a particular topic by doing a problem for them, explaining every step (this is what you do, and this is why you do it). Then in the next problem, I ask them to do exactly the same thing. If they get stuck, I’ll ask a question that nudges them in the correct direction. If they say something incorrect, I have a very good idea of where their thought process is getting screwed up. © SantyClause / Reddit

• This technique was used on us last semester, and it worked like magic. I’m in med school, and the class was Human Anatomy. A big part of our grade was the “lab practical” part of the class, where we worked on cadavers and had to memorize every muscle, bone, and nerve in the human body. The class was divided into small groups at the start of the year, and for the entire year, you were in the same small group.
  “Every week, there will be an in-depth quiz. The quiz will be given to one random member from each ’small group.’ That person takes the quiz on their own, then the quiz is graded, and their entire group gets that grade.”
  It was incredible how well this worked. Every single day we worked hard to not only learn the material but also to make sure everyone around us learned it as well. You had to study intensely because you didn’t want your friends to be negatively affected because of you, and at the same time, all your classmates were doing everything they could to help you succeed.
  As a result, every single one of us learned the names and functions of every bone, muscle, and nerve in the human body (in just one semester). We knew that material better than we knew our families. It was an absolutely brilliant system. © Namika / Reddit

• My high school ecology teacher had a great group work method. Usually, people would sit with their friends.
  On the first day, he asked us, “Do you trust these people to do the work that gets your group an A? Take the time to learn the skills they can bring to the table for your projects, and ask others around you. But once you pick, these are your partners for the rest of the school year, and you will be competing against the other groups and voting on projects based on quality. The winners at the end of the year skip the final with an A on it.”
  The groups totally shifted. Also, groups were allowed to vote people out whenever, and had to do projects on their own if cast out. Another group could pick them up if they wanted to, or they could appeal to their old group. This method resulted in a lot of awesome ecology projects. © gundanium / Reddit

• I created a subreddit for a small AP Biology class I taught while I was student teaching (not using my personal account.) They would post questions while they studied, and I could answer them before they came to class the next day. Students also shared useful videos/links/etc. They really enjoyed it.
  I visited the class last week and found out that they all still use Reddit. © garac / Reddit

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