Which Classic TV Teacher Are You?

Ideally, the teachers we have in school are supposed to shape our minds and our lives so that we become better people in adulthood than we were as mere children. Unfortunately, not every teacher in the real world has their heart in the right place, and might just be in the education business for the paycheck. To make up for this discrepancy, the television world has been kind enough to introduce dozens of great teachers on the small screen who can fill in the gaps left by real world educators.

As with teachers in the real world, the teachers on television come in good and bad varieties, yet it’s the truly exceptional ones who have gone down in pop culture history as unforgettable. Most kids in the 1990s learned more from Mr. Feeny than any of their actual teachers, and they were probably laughing harder at Mrs. Krapappel and Mr. Garrison than their real life equivalents, as well. Older TV audiences had similar experiences with Miss Bliss in the ‘80s, Mr. Kotter in the ‘70s, or even Miss Brooks way back in the 1950s.

The extent of these fictional teachers influence on their worldwide students is such that some people might have even become inspired to become educators themselves because of something they saw on TV. Even if you haven’t gone that far and just want to think about the possibilities, take our quiz and find out which classic TV teacher you would be.

Question 1

What age range would you teach?

One of the first decisions a teacher needs to make prior to entering the profession is who exactly it is they want to teach. Are they going to give a college student’s final lessons before they enter the work force, impart important advice onto inquisitive high schoolers, or maybe just sit around and color with preschoolers? Any answer is noble, and they all say a lot about the person who gives them.

Question 2

Do you like your students?

Most teachers on TV seem to have a love-hate relationship with their students at best, happy to educate and help them become young adults, but also annoyed at the silly antics they get up to in between classes. Teachers in real life have the benefit of not being forced to pay attention to their students, making it a lot easier for their feelings to be entirely positive. Unless, of course, the kids are just jerks. Are yours?

Question 3

Do your students like you?

The flipside to whether or not a teacher likes their students is whether or not those students actually like their teacher. If clichés are to be believe, the answer is almost always no, but then again, the teachers on TV are so darn good at their jobs they break the mold anew each and every episode. Are you similarly lucky about earning your students respect?

Question 4

What’s your favorite subject to teach?

Depending on what grade a person decides to teach, they may also be pigeonholing themselves into a certain area of study. From middle school onward, kids don’t just have one teacher, they have a half dozen, each specializing in certain classes. Assuming you’d be teaching kids over the age of 10, what area of expertise would you be telling them all about?

Question 5

Where do you live?

An unfortunate reality about teaching, on TV or in the real world, is that it doesn’t pay anywhere near as much as it should. Good teachers are performing some of the hardest jobs in the world, and yet some barely receive more than minimum wage for it. This means few of them are living in big mansions or palatial resorts, but hopefully you’re a little better off than a tiny hotel room.

Question 6

Are you married or in a relationship?

Ultimately, this next question really doesn’t effect the teaching part of being a teacher that much, if at all. However, whether or not a person is in a relationship does speak volumes about their life away from the classroom, which theoretically should be about half or more of their time. Therefore, it feels entirely appropriate to ask whether or not anyone in your life is hot for teacher.

Question 7

Do you do any drugs or drink alcohol?

Hopefully, it goes without saying that this question refers to your behavior off the job, after the bell rings and everyone goes to their homes. Even if a teacher spends all day lecturing about DARE, there’s nothing wrong with an adult drinking a beer now and again, but hard drugs might be going a little bit too far. Have you ever crossed the line?

Question 8

Where would you go on vacation?

No matter how much joy a teacher gets out of spreading their wisdom to the youth of tomorrow, like people in any other profession, they happily await their every vacation. In fact, some teachers might even look more forward to summer break than their students do, unable to wait for the time to let their hair down and have a wild day away from those brats. Where would you go to get away?

Question 9

What do you do with your time off?

While teachers do get a little bit more vacation time than people in most other professions, it’s not like they aren’t doing hard work for the rest of the year. For this reason, the little breaks they get at night time and on weekends between classes can be integral to making the lifestyle possible. That said, what do you do after class when you’re by yourself?

Question 10

Do you like your students’ parents?

Whether or not a teacher likes their students or vice versa can be pretty important, but truth be told, it doesn’t really matter how the kids parents feel about the situation. The fact is, teachers can’t listen to every single parental complaint there is, because some parents are simply too concerned for their own good. Hopefully, you don’t have this sort of problem…do you?

Question 11

Have you ever done anything illegal?

Theoretically, committing a serious crime often ensures a person will never get hired as a teacher. Then again, everyone makes mistakes, and maybe having accidentally stolen a Snickers bar from a convenient store when you were six shouldn’t necessarily preclude you from lecturing on science. That said, if you’re committing serious offenses like dealing meth on your time off, maybe you should get out of the teaching profession.

Question 12

What kind of music do you like?

Being a universal language that speaks across generations, music can often serve an integral role in making connections between students and their teachers. For this reason, the sort of music a given teacher listens to can go a long way in what their students think about them. That goes double if they use their musical interests in lessons, which is definitely suggested. Don’t try to rap to the kids unless you know how, though.

Question 13

Were you a good student?

Believe it or not, the mere fact a person decided to become a teacher hardly means they were necessarily a great student themselves. In fact, some teachers may have been inspired to enter the profession exactly because they struggled so hard when they were in school, having wished someone would have recognized their difficulty and let them know they could get past it. Is that why you teach, or are you just a natural when it comes to learning?

Question 14

How is your romantic life?

This quiz already asked if you were married or in a relationship, but as many married people will tell you, that doesn’t necessarily say anything about your romantic life. The same can be true of long term relationships that haven’t stepped over that threshold, although they’re hardly the kind of partnerships anyone actually looks for. Are you stuck in that sort of rut, or does your love life always active the second class is over?

Question 15

Do you have any children of your own?

To many teachers, there’s no need for them to have children of their own, because the hundreds of students that pass through their class rooms over the years are more than enough. Of course, this doesn’t mean some educators don’t inevitably feel the itch that can only be scratched by producing their own offspring, and it just might change the way they make their lesson plans if they act on it.

Question 16

How can the teacher’s pet win you over?

For whatever reason, some students feel the need to go the extra mile in always making their teachers have the best day possible. Obviously, educators greatly appreciate this, but the other kids will probably mockingly deride them as teachers pets for daring care about your day. Even if the rest of the class hates them for it, how could your students become the teacher’s pet?

Question 17

What are your political beliefs?

Technically speaking, teachers aren’t exactly allowed to tell their students who they should vote for when they get older, but let’s face it, some educators come pretty darn close to doing just that. Especially if they happen to be teaching history, civics, or some sort of social studies, a teacher’s political views can heavily guide their lesson plan, intentionally or not. If yours did, which side of the debate would your students land on?

Question 18

How do you punish your unruly students?

Even the best teacher in the world is bound to experience at least one student who simply refuses to sit down, pay attention, and let the other kids around him or her learn. When this happens, the only recourse is some sort of punishment, yet not all teachers choose the same means of discipline. Literal detention might be letting the kid get off easy, so how would you ensure they learned their lesson?

Question 19

What are your plans for retirement?

No matter what career path a person enters, they all end at the same place: sweet, sweet retirement. That fateful day when enough money has finally been saved and there’s no longer any point to go to work. For teachers, this means being free at last from the annoying and ungrateful kids…unless of course you loved the job, in which case it means saying goodbye to the wonderful students you’ll never forget. Either way, what would come next for you?

Question 20

What’s your favorite decade of television?

While teachers have been on television practically since the medium was invented, the profession has obviously evolved from the days of Miss Brooks and her middle school English class in numerous ways. One thing that’s remained strangely constant is that teachers are almost always comedians of some variety, with their senses of humor getting darker each decade. With that in mind, which decade produced your favorite small screen educators?

Question 21

Who is your favorite pop culture scientist?

Teachers everywhere should be rejoicing at the current surge in science related TV shows on the air today. Then again, the practice isn’t entirely new, as PBS has been airing documentaries about knowledge for decades now, and they aren’t alone. Still, the work of men like Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson is almost making science, and by extension school, cooler than it has ever been before. Who amongst them is making it the absolute coolest in your eyes?

Question 22

Do you follow school sports?

Regardless of how they feel about the school football team, every teacher will inevitably need to sit through a pep rally or two. Luckily, there’s no way for the principal to then force them to then attend the actual game, yet some educators might actually choose to do this voluntarily. After all, attending sporting events is just another way to connect with and understand their students, so following the games could even be considered part of the job.

Question 23

What’s your favorite movie about teaching?

In addition to the great many TV shows that have been made either about or featuring teachers, Hollywood has matched the trend with dozens of incredible feature films with similar themes and characters. Many of the teachers on the silver screen have been just as memorable as the ones on TV, despite the fact audiences spend considerably less time with them over all. Maybe you still prefer the TV versions, but which of the teaching movies do you like most?

Question 24

What field do you hope your students enter?

Try though you may to warp their minds in one way or another, ultimately, teachers don’t get to decide what sort of work their students go on to perform in life. The best they can hope for is that they kids will find out what’s best for them personally, without any prodding from their educators. Of course, this doesn’t mean teachers can’t cross their fingers and hope the kids become something important. Which of these gigs would make you proudest?

Question 25

Do you ever chaperone school dances?

To some teachers, the absolute worst part of the job is getting roped in to chaperoning dances, proms, or other excuses for children to creep out their elders by getting uncomfortably close to one another. Other teachers are somehow able to look past the weirdness of being an adult at such an event and enjoy the fact the kids are having fun. Then of course others still are there just to ensure no fun happens at all. Which are you?

Question 26

Do you like going to teacher’s conferences?

Aside from chaperoning the prom, the last thing most teacher’s want to do is go to some sort of educational assembly on how kids aren’t responding well to red pens grading their papers anymore. Once more, however, there are bizarrely some teachers who live for exactly these sorts of semantic studies, taking what they learn at them and immediately applying it to the old lesson plan. How do you feel on the matter?

Question 27

Have you ever dated a coworker?

Although you certainly can refer exclusively to your educational experience with this question, dating a coworker can be a controversial subject in just about any profession. Especially if there’s an issue of uneven power at the work place, dating someone you work with can be an extremely messy situation with ramifications all over your life, which is why most employers are generally against it. Have you ever tried mixing business with pleasure, or do you agree the idea is questionable?

Question 28

What’s your favorite film genre?

It’s nice that there are a bunch of movies about teaching out there to inspire people into joining the profession, but it’s not like being a teacher means you’re only allowed to films where dudes stand on their desk and scream words of encouragement at Robin Williams. For all your students know, you’d prefer to watch Bruce Willis blow people up, or maybe something else entirely. Ease the confusion by telling us your favorite genre.

Question 29

Are you skilled with modern technology?

Unless it directly relates to the class you teach, whether or not you’re well versed with modern technology doesn’t necessarily effect your skills as an educator. That said, it can certainly help to know your way around a computer no matter what it is you teach, as technology offers countless ways to better connect with your students and fellow teachers. Do you understand how, or is Java a foreign language to you?

Question 30

What’s your favorite holiday?

Whether a teacher or student happens to celebrate them or not, everyone in school can appreciate any public holiday that means they don’t have to go to class. Still, it’s the ones we actually celebrate with us that resonate the most deeply. Some teachers might even love the holidays so much they decorate their classrooms with the appropriate accouterments for weeks leading up to the big day. Do any inspire that devotion from you?

Question 31

Do you like to read?

A common misconception about teachers is that every last one of them spends every waking hour with their nose firmly stuck in a book. Sure, English teachers may indeed have a close personal relationship with William Shakespeare, but for what reason does a math teacher need to read the latest Jonathan Franzen novel? None, so it’s perfectly possible that a teacher would have no interest in traditional books. Do you?

Question 32

Do you get along with other teachers?

Teaching is a pretty unique profession in how it handles the concept of “coworkers.” Technically, all educators working for the same school fall under this handle, but aside from PTA meetings, they may never actually meet or interact in a meaningful way that impacts either party’s job. Because of this, it can be easy for a given teacher to forget other teachers in their school even exist. Unless, of course, they have strong opinions on them.

Question 33

How do you dress after class?

By and large, most teachers on TV and in the real world tend to dress the same way. Muted colors, very simple outfits, nothing flashy, always on the cusp of professional if not an outright suit and tie for some of the guys. However, once class is over and it’s time to go home, teachers can choose to redress themselves in whatever manner they please, so what do you wear after the bell rings?

Question 34

Are you good at your job?

Forget about whether you like your students, they like you, or how anyone’s parents feel on the matter, because opinions and emotions unfortunately aren’t the real point of teaching. What actually matters is whether or not a teacher is any good at their job, that being imparting knowledge and information to the younger generation. Even if the kids don’t like you, everyone graduating and leading normal lives should be reward enough.

Question 35

Do you like being a teacher?

After having answered 34 questions about being a teacher, hopefully you have a pretty good grasp on how you feel about the profession. Obviously, we assume that a good portion of the people taking this quiz aren’t actually teachers at all, and just did a little bit of fun roleplaying to find out what life would be like if they were. Whether that’s the case or if you’re a real educator, how do you like the job?

See Your Result
Questions Left