After my first year as a teacher, my husband and I needed to establish new boundaries after school. I was constantly making decisions for my students throughout the day and working with 110% energy. By the time I got home at 3:15, all I wanted to do was put on my headphones, go for a run, and listen to some music. Even after the run, my brain struggled to recover. I was so tired that I would snap at little things like dinner plans and evening activities. This conflict made perfect sense when I discovered @lessonplansandvans’ TikTok recording how many times a day her students asked her questions or called her name. Curiously, I needed to know the numbers that explain the after-school fatigue that plagues me and many other teachers I know.
Ms. Vera used a thumb clicker counter to track how many questions were asked each day. How many questions do you think she asked in total?
Armed only with her wits and a clicker counter, this kindergarten teacher begins an experiment. Her mission is to tally up every time someone calls her name or asks her a question throughout her never-ending school life.
“It’s been less than an hour, and it’s already been over 100 hours.”
Before the morning bell had finished ringing, Miss Vera clicked the counter in quick succession. It’s been spring since the beginning. She reported the current amount, and there was a hint of disbelief in her tone, combined with a steely determination that only a kindergarten teacher could muster. In the first part of the day, it’s very difficult to predict what questions your students will ask, right?
“Okay, I’ll go to lunch. I’ll be at 196 at 10:20 a.m.”
By 10:20 a.m., she had checked in with a whopping 196. She sighed as she tucked the clicker back into her pocket (a dueling Wild West song was playing in the background – haha!).
“I dropped the kids off at the 12:15 p.m. special and the count is 338.”
There is no respite for the specials after lunch. That number jumped to 338 by 12:15 p.m. Did you guess this number?
“At the end of the day, the final count was 627!”
The school day is over, but our kind teacher, Bella, still has the brightest smile on her face. she says: “It was a really good day, but even good days just last for a long time.” That’s right, students asked for her attention 627 times in just one day of class.
Students ask their teachers for attention more than 600 times a day.
In the comments on her TikTok video, her fellow teachers have chimed in. “This is why teachers have the right to drink coffee and all that,” @Teachermom123 wrote. @daycarechronicles added: “That’s a quiet day!” The community knows that when teachers say they are tired, they are not just excuses, but battle scars worn with pride. But this experiment wasn’t just about the physical and mental strain of hundreds of queries. Mr. Vera pried open a window into the nitty-gritty marathon of education. The next time you see your teacher, say thank you (or a spa day). Because, as this teacher demonstrated, teaching requires attention every day.
