Funny Questions to Ask Students About Their Teachers
Twenty light questions to ask students about their teachers, written for a class activity, an end-of-year video or a teacher appreciation project: the catchphrase everyone can do, the classroom object nobody is allowed to touch, the theme song, and the award the class would invent.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What's the funniest thing your teacher has said in class this year?
Why ask it
Starting with something the teacher said, rather than something they did, keeps the answers affectionate. Expect several students to name the same line, which tells you it has already become class folklore.
What's your teacher's most predictable catchphrase?
Why ask it
Every class can do at least one impression, and performing it is the fun part. If nobody can name a phrase, ask what the teacher says when the bell goes instead.
If your teacher were an animal, which one, and what's your evidence?
Why ask it
Asking for evidence turns a lazy answer into an argument the students have to justify. It also keeps them describing behaviour rather than appearance, which is where this question can go wrong.
What does your teacher do that tells you the class has gone too far?
Why ask it
Students read these signals precisely, and hearing them listed is usually funnier for the teacher than for anyone else. Answers are specific: the pause, the chair, the particular way they say a name.
What's your teacher's most impressive skill that has nothing to do with their subject?
Why ask it
This is the question that produces genuine admiration rather than jokes. Answers range from throwing a board pen across the room to remembering ninety names in a week.
If your teacher had a theme song that played whenever they walked in, what would it be?
Why ask it
Casting a song forces one judgment about energy and mood, and the class will argue about it. A very old song is usually a joke about the teacher's age, so ask them to justify the choice.
What's the strangest thing your teacher has had to explain to the class?
Why ask it
These stories are almost always about the class rather than the teacher, which is why they are safe to tell. The best ones involve a question somebody asked in complete sincerity.
What's the best excuse anyone has tried on your teacher, and did it work?
Why ask it
The verdict matters more than the excuse: whether it worked tells you what kind of teacher they are. Keep the student who tried it anonymous unless they volunteer themselves.
If your teacher wrote a book, what would it be called?
Why ask it
A title has to summarise a whole person in a few words, so it gets more thought than a longer answer would. Expect at least one title that sounds like a warning.
What's the most unexpected thing you've found out about your teacher's life outside school?
Why ask it
Students collect these details and repeat them for years, usually with the facts slightly wrong. Stick to things the teacher has said themselves, not anything anyone has looked up.
What object in your classroom is your teacher weirdly protective of?
Why ask it
Every classroom has one: a stapler, a mug, a particular chair. It is a small detail that makes a video feel like it was made by people who were actually in the room.
What's your teacher's reaction when it's obvious nobody has done the reading?
Why ask it
This lets students describe a moment they are all implicated in, so the joke is shared. The silence, the sigh, and the deeply patient question all come up repeatedly.
If your teacher could teach any subject other than their own, what would they pick?
Why ask it
Students usually know the answer because the teacher has mentioned it, which makes this a test of who has been listening. It also gives the teacher an easy thing to respond to on camera.
What's the funniest thing that's happened in your classroom this year that had nothing to do with the lesson?
Why ask it
The wasp, the fire drill, the projector, the mystery smell. These are the memories that actually last, and everyone in the room can confirm the details.
What superpower would this class vote to give your teacher?
Why ask it
Making it a class vote rather than an individual pick produces an answer about what the teacher needs, not what they want. Most classes land on more time or infinite patience, and mean both.
What's a rule in your classroom that only makes sense once you know the story behind it?
Why ask it
Every long-standing rule started with an incident, and students love telling the incident. If nobody knows the story, that is a good thing to ask the teacher on camera.
If your teacher ran the whole school for a day, what would they change first?
Why ask it
Students answer this by repeating complaints they have heard their teacher make, often word for word. The answers tend to be about timetables, lunch, or the heating.
What's something your teacher does that you'll probably still remember in twenty years?
Why ask it
This shifts the tone from jokes to something worth keeping, without getting sentimental. Answers are usually a small habit rather than a big moment, which is the point.
If this class invented the award categories, what award would your teacher win?
Why ask it
An invented category is funnier and more accurate than a real one, and it gives you a line for a certificate. Ask for the acceptance speech as a follow-up.
What's something you'd want your teacher to know that nobody has said out loud?
Why ask it
This closes the set by turning the jokes into something the teacher can actually receive. Collect these in writing rather than out loud, because the honest answers are the quiet ones.
Running this as a class activity or a video
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Setting it up
Tell the teacher what you are making
If the answers are going into a video, a slideshow, or a leaving card, say so before you collect them. A student will always give a braver answer than they would have if they had known where it was going.
Written first, then spoken
Hand out the questions and let students write for five minutes before anyone answers aloud. The first spoken answer sets the tone for the whole room, and a quiet student's written answer is usually the best one you get.
Ask for the evidence
Almost every question here improves with a follow-up asking when it happened or who else saw it. Without that, you collect twenty versions of the same joke about the animal question.
Where the line is
Nothing about how the teacher looks
Clothes, hair, age, and body are all off the list, however affectionately meant. Redirect those answers to something the teacher does or says instead.
No named students in the stories
Excuses, mistakes, and classroom incidents are funny in general and cruel with a name attached. Keep the story and drop the name.
Do not publish anything the teacher has not seen
Show them the compiled answers before the assembly, the video, or the newsletter. They may be entirely happy with it, but they get the say, especially about anything from their life outside school.
Watch for the answer that is really a complaint
Occasionally a question about a teacher's reactions surfaces something a student is genuinely unhappy about. That belongs in a private conversation with a member of staff, not in the video.