As much as we love our colleagues and completely rely on their support to make it through the day, sometimes … they bug us. And every one of us has “teacher icks,” things other teachers do that bug us.
I see you there, Ms. Toxic Sunshine. Admit it.
What’s a teacher ick?
An “ick” is used to describe a feeling of mild repulsion toward another person. In a romantic context, it’s used to describe the sudden loss of attraction, usually upon learning an undesirable habit or trait. “I got the ick after he was rude to the waiter.” “She called six times in one day—instant ick.”
For teachers, these are low-stakes traits or habits that other teachers find distasteful or unpleasant. A colleague always leaving coffee mug rings on stacks of papers. Your department chair saying “Um” before every sentence. The teacher down the hall defrosting salmon in the shared microwave every day.
Yep. You’ve found your ick.
How does a teacher ick develop?
Schools bring out the quirks. Big time.
Not only are we working in very close quarters in a notably stressful job, but the nature of school lends itself to learning each others’ idiosyncrasies very quickly. Trying to keep an excitable group of children engaged and learning for eight hours a day requires something, and someone, special.
If you aren’t a little weird, you probably aren’t doing it right.
Do all teachers have icks?
We all do things that give other teachers the ick. And we all have our icks about other teachers! Even the most positive teacher in your building could, with a little encouragement, drum up a list of colleagues’ traits that give them the ick.
You could even ask every teacher in your building to report their icks.
Enter @kylie.enloe.
The TikTok starts in an unassuming way where @kylie.enloe asks a colleague, “What’s your ‘teacher ick’?”
Innocent enough, right?
Wrong.
This teacher’s answer starts a hilarious chain of colleagues ribbing each other for tiny workplace irritations.
Forget teacher icks, these teachers have beef. With their school neighbors.
And we are here for it!
Insert the teacher who uses her best handwriting on anchor charts …
And on they go roasting each other, right down the hallway.
This teacher is annoyed by the older teacher who is constantly complaining about her room temp. Side note: One day all of you will be this teacher, friend. And the young people will be poking fun at you.
And this teacher carries a personal fan with her, because her classroom is so dang hot. I mean how can she even teach in these conditions? Although the fan does give her a supermodel vibe.
Here’s a little nugget that @kylie.enloe slipped into the comments—she set up each teacher against another. In other words, they had no idea that they were someone else’s ick.
Can’t you just imagine them spitting out their coffee when they first saw the whole thing?
That @kylie.enloe is a crafty one.
Why everyone is loving this TikTok
There is a reason why this TikTok has over 5 million likes. It hits upon a universal truth.
Only in the best relationships can we tease each other without taking offense.
Why? Because we understand each other’s sense of humor and, most importantly, there are clearly established boundaries.
One thing is for sure, these teachers are tight!
Here is to the moments when we laugh so hard that we forget the everyday challenges that teaching brings and to the honest camaraderie that makes this work truly joyful!
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