Embarrassing moments — they happen to everyone. Whether it’s a clumsy mistake like walking into a pole, or blurting out something inappropriate in class, everyone has their story to tell … even teachers. Three teachers share their most embarrassing moments in front of their students.

Steve Cochran
Math teacher Steve Cochran embarrassed himself in front of one of his math classes with a simple act of forgetfulness.

“I had scheduled the students to take a chapter test, and somehow I got mixed up and started reviewing,” Cochran said.

According to Cochran, the students in his class didn’t say anything about their scheduled test until the very end of the class.

“Near the end of the period, one student asked if this meant that the test was postponed,” Cochran said. “Oops — I then realized that I had read the schedule for the wrong day. I was actually quite embarrassed.”

But despite his embarrassment, Cochran was able to make a joke out of it and learn from this lesson.

“We all had a good laugh and I don’t think it will happen again,” Cochran said.

Seth Donnelly
History teacher Seth Donnelly humiliated himself in front of a group of students at his previous school. During a school picnic event, he adventurously attempted to climb a tree, but the result was not so graceful. Donnelly wound up falling out of the tree and breaking his leg in front of many of his Middle College students.

Although his students helped him up after his fall, Donnelly was quite humiliated.

“Initially I was in serious pain, but when the pain wore off, I was embarrassed,” Donnelly said. “I realized I wasn’t Chuck Norris.”

Donnelly had to continue dealing with his embarrassment for months after his fall as he “hobbled around on crutches.”

“I’ve stayed out of trees ever since,” Donnelly said.

Lisa Bonanno
English teacher Lisa Bonanno experienced her most embarrassing moment when she was teaching a class at her previous school. Bonanno was in front of her classroom giving a lesson on comma usage when she mixed up her own words.

“I was going over when and when not to use commas, and I said to the class, ‘Don’t use condoms when … “ Bonanno said.

Bonanno immediately stopped what she was saying because the entire classroom was laughing.

“It was an all-girls school and they were just laughing hysterically, and I was bright red,” Bonanno said.

According to Bonanno, she had a hard time composing the rest of class, and she remembers the incident vividly to this day.

“I have no idea why it came out, but it did,” Bonanno said.

In Conclusion
As can be seen from these experience, embarrassing moments happen to everyone. But if people learn to laugh at themselves and move on, pure humiliation can become a funny memory to reflect on later on in life.