How to Annoy Your Teacher

Imitate your teacher's behavior. This is considered the simplest way to irritate your teacher. Most teachers have distinct ways of speaking, such as pronouncing certain words differently, using noticeable gestures, or making specific facial expressions, and mimicking them in front of them is a clever way to make them uncomfortable. The best way to start is to act convincingly when imitating your teacher, so it takes them a moment to realize what's happening; however, your classmates will quickly catch on and start laughing.

• When the teacher gets angry, play dumb. Just say, "What? What did I do?" and shrug. Use body language.

Create funny noises. There are plenty of attention-grabbing sounds you can make to stir up the classroom — you can fake a fart, drag your shoes on the floor, repeatedly click a pen, clear your throat every few seconds, or drum your hands on the desk. If these noises make your classmates burst into laughter, even better. If you prefer something more subtle, repetitive sounds can also annoy your teacher. Here are some suggestions:

• Tear a piece of paper about 3cm at a time. Only do this when the teacher is facing the board.
• Scratch your nails on the desk.
• Make continuous slurping sounds when the teacher isn’t looking.
• Click a pen or tap a pencil.
• Drop objects on the floor.
• Sniffle repeatedly without blowing your nose or coughing.
• Scratch your leg noisily.
• Whine inappropriately.
• Hum without opening your mouth.
• Slap your leg loudly. Try to get your friends to join in.
• Sharpen your pencil continuously and frequently.
• Drop your pencil multiple times.
• Wipe everything around you as if you’ll get a reward.
• Whisper and repeat what the teacher says while taking notes.

Mess with the teacher’s teaching tools. If your teacher is absent-minded, this works even better. If the class is watching a documentary or using a projector, see if you can hide the remote when they’re not looking — this works best if you leave a fake remote that doesn’t match the current one. Then, when the teacher is distracted, turn off or pause the TV, or change the projector settings. This will surely irritate the teacher and disrupt the lesson — but don’t expect to get away without some trouble!

• You can use the remote openly to make your classmates laugh, or hide it under your desk so no one knows it was you.

Doze off in class. This works best if you sit at the back or if the class is watching a documentary; all you need to do is put your head down and close your eyes. Nothing is more disrespectful than falling asleep while the teacher is lecturing. If you can’t actually fall asleep, pretend to be asleep.

• You can rest your arms on the desk and smile or snore, making the nap look so appealing that others might want to join you.
• Another way to annoy the teacher is to pretend to nap briefly, then wake up and ask a series of questions the teacher already answered while you were "asleep."

Throw objects at other students. Another way to annoy your teacher is to throw things at your classmates when the teacher isn’t looking. Start with small items like erasers, crumpled paper, pencils, or chalk. You can escalate the mischief by throwing small books, apples, tennis balls, or even shoes if you really want to make the teacher furious. Do this when the teacher turns away and act innocent when questioned. Remember, depending on what you throw, you could face suspension or even assault charges. The victim might also seek revenge.

• To make this prank effective, recruit a close friend to join in — someone who will throw objects back and forth with you in class. Otherwise, you’ll quickly run out of things to throw.

Shoot paper bullets. (Remove the ink tube from a pen, roll up small pieces of paper, load them into the "barrel," and blow.)

Doodle aimlessly. If you want to drive your teacher crazy, start drawing something while they’re lecturing. Make it obvious that you’re doodling — this works best if you’re sitting at the front of the class and the teacher notices what you’re doing. It’s even more effective if they realize you’re doodling, but you act like you’re genuinely interested in what they’re saying and pretend to take notes, while you’re just sketching away.

• If you really want to annoy the teacher, bring a set of highlighters or colored pens and use them all. Try creating a masterpiece in 30 minutes.
• You can also showcase your artistic skills to other classmates to make it clear to the teacher that you’re not paying attention.

Pass notes around. Another way to irritate your teacher is by passing notes to your classmates. You can hand the note to a friend or anyone in the class. Make it obvious that you’re writing something by scribbling on a notebook on your lap, then fold the paper into a square or circle and toss it to a classmate. If you’re the one reading the note, hold it up and laugh, acting like something far more interesting than the lesson has caught your attention.

• You’ll annoy the teacher even more if you flash a mischievous smile while they’re teaching, letting them know you’re writing something funny.

Arrive late to class. Teachers often frown upon students who are habitually late. Slump into your seat most days. Look overly excited when it’s lunchtime. Show up a few minutes late with a shrug and a smug grin on your face; if you act apologetic, it might soften the teacher’s scolding, unless your apology is clearly insincere. Don’t just be late — act out of breath, drop your books, run in frantically, or take forever rummaging through your bag to find something. Alternatively, stroll in 10 minutes late as if it’s completely normal. Arriving late with a coffee in hand subtly implies you’ve been busy, which caused your tardiness.

Distract your classmates. Another way to annoy your teacher is by trying to distract other students in the class. Ask them questions, crack jokes, laugh loudly for no reason, and talk about personal matters during group work. Distracting your classmates can disrupt the entire class and will definitely irritate the teacher.

• The tricky but crucial part is ensuring your classmates like and respect you, or at least find your antics harmless, so they’ll go along with what you’re doing. If they think you’re annoying and roll their eyes every time you speak, you won’t be able to distract them.

Play games on your phone. Pull out your phone and text people, play Angry Birds, or simply glance at it occasionally and smile. You could even look things up on Wikipedia to prove the teacher wrong. The teacher might confiscate your phone temporarily, but it’ll really frustrate them if this becomes a recurring issue. You could also set an alarm to go off during class, ensuring it’s a disruptive and annoying sound.

• You can also annoy the teacher by pretending to sneakily use your phone under the desk. When the teacher catches you, they’ll be even more annoyed knowing you’re trying to hide it.

Ignore the teacher's rules. Every teacher has their own set of rules, and if you want to annoy them, disregard as many as possible without getting sent to the principal’s office. Even breaking small rules can drive them crazy. For example, format your essay incorrectly or turn in homework a day late, acting as if you were certain that was the deadline. If the teacher has a strict bathroom policy, try to break it.

• When the teacher calls you out, act surprised or say, "But that rule makes no sense..." or "That’s not how other teachers do it."

Come to class without a notebook or pencil. Teachers expect you to take notes, complete assignments, and use school supplies during most lessons, so showing up empty-handed makes it clear you don’t care. They’ll be even more annoyed if you say, "Can someone lend me a pencil?" or "I forgot my paper!" disrupting the class as you borrow what you need.

• You can also bring the wrong book and laugh it off, saying, "I brought the wrong book again!"

Cause extra trouble during teacher evaluations. If the teacher is being observed by the principal or a senior instructor, try to cause as much disruption as possible. This means going off-topic, arriving extremely late, or making the class look completely chaotic. The more you tarnish the teacher’s image, the better.

Argue over every wrong answer on a test. When you get your test back, loudly complain and debate every question you got wrong, even if you know it’s unnecessary. If the answer is multiple-choice or straightforward, like on a math test, stand your ground and insist the teacher graded it incorrectly.

• Waste the teacher’s time after class by asking them to explain every question on the test.

Finish the test early in a showy manner. If you’re taking a one-hour test, after about 10-15 minutes or so, slam your paper down or flip it over and say, "Done!" You can even add, "That was so easy!" to cause more disruption. This will make your classmates nervous as they take longer to finish, creating confusion and anxiety. Of course, be prepared for your grade to suffer — in more ways than one.

Roll your eyes at the teacher. The teacher will get furious if you pretend not to care.

Know the limits of their anger. You can annoy the teacher for about 20 minutes or an hour. Push their buttons just enough to irritate them, but not so much that you end up staying after class as punishment. You definitely don’t want to be stuck there!

Talk while the teacher is lecturing. Nothing infuriates a teacher more than talking while they’re trying to teach or explain something. You can whisper to your friends or even talk openly with classmates. Act as if you genuinely don’t care about the lesson or as if you don’t realize the teacher is there trying to share knowledge. You’ll annoy the teacher even more if you ask a question to a classmate, but the teacher ends up answering. This will definitely irritate them, but you won’t escape punishment for long! It doesn’t matter what you say — you can say anything.

• It’s especially effective if you realize the teacher’s time is limited and you’re making it harder for them to finish the lesson.

Be the know-it-all student. If you really want to annoy the teacher, act like you’re an expert on every topic they bring up — with little to no evidence to back it up. Whenever the teacher tries to explain something, act skeptical, as if you think they’ve misunderstood, even if they’re saying something basic and clear. Make a face at them until they feel compelled to ask if you have a question. Putting the teacher in this position of doubt will confuse and frustrate them.

• After the teacher explains almost everything clearly, you can say, "Can you explain that again?"
• If the teacher actually indulges you and tries to elaborate on their point, you can say something like, "I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree."

Tell the teacher that others understand the subject better than they do. If being a know-it-all student isn’t enough to annoy the teacher, you can also waste their time by saying, "I talked to my dad, and he said something completely different..." You can also mention that your previous teacher or another subject teacher taught it differently. This implies that others have a better grasp of the subject than they do. This will add fuel to the fire if your teacher is young and trying to prove themselves.

• You can reference TV shows or books to claim that scientists or the education department understand the subject better than your teacher. Say things like, "I saw this on the Discovery Channel, and they said..."

Constantly ask questions. Normally, asking questions isn’t an issue, but it becomes a real nuisance if you don’t understand a math problem and ask the teacher to explain it over 10 times. This also works for unrelated questions like, "What color was George Washington’s hair?" Act serious when asking these questions so the teacher can’t tell if you’re joking; if they think you’re serious, they’ll try to answer.

• It’s especially annoying if you keep asking questions the teacher has already answered a million times. If they point this out, you can say, "Oh really? Did you mention that? I must’ve missed it..."

Interrupt the teacher; this is considered rude and disruptive. When they’re explaining something important, raise your hand and constantly bring up random points unrelated to the lesson or ask questions that only complicate things. It’s even more annoying if you raise your hand and the teacher keeps telling you to wait, making it seem like you’re trying to interrupt them "politely."

• Going off-topic, especially if you’re joking or distracting the class, will really irritate the teacher no matter the context.

Ramble on when answering a simple question. If the teacher asks a very basic question, like the capital of Florida or what 10 times 15 is, raise your hand and tell a long story about your family trip to Florida or why you think the number 10 is the most perfect number on Earth. When the teacher looks annoyed and confused, speak very slowly, showing you’ve taken up way too much of their time.

• Act innocent, as if you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.

Read ahead in a book and ask about the topic. You can annoy the teacher by reading ahead in the textbook and then asking about content you read a week earlier. Your teacher will say, "We haven’t covered that yet" or "I’ll explain it later"; however, keep asking until you’ve confused the entire class.

• This works especially well in English class if you read ahead and spoil the ending of the book before others understand what’s happening.

Call out to people in the hallway. If your friends or even strangers happen to walk past your class after the bell rings, say something like, "What’s up?" or "I’ll text you in a minute!" to show you’re not focused on the current task. This will annoy the teacher because it clearly shows you’re disregarding their rules.

Speak very slowly. Raise your hand and answer a question, but mumble incoherently, say "uh" and "um," and act like you’ve forgotten what you were going to say; basically, take as much time as possible to recall the answer. Speaking as slowly as possible will drive the teacher crazy, but don’t make it obvious you’re doing it on purpose.

• If you’re called to read aloud, try to read very slowly and stumble over some words.

• Don’t act alone. Form a group with your friends and classmates to annoy the teacher together. This makes it harder for the teacher to pinpoint and punish anyone.
• Complain or whine to the teacher about everything.
• Do the opposite of what the teacher asks; for example, if they tell you to sit down, keep standing up.
• Make sure the class is large and has many students. The chances of going unnoticed while annoying the teacher are higher.
• If your teacher is strict, only annoy them occasionally. If you tease them too often, you’ll get into trouble and earn a bad reputation.
• If your classmates are snitches, don’t let them know you’re the one annoying the teacher.
• Raise your hand to answer any question the teacher asks, but give the wrong answer.
• Ask the same question repeatedly but phrase it differently each time.
• Accidentally laugh loudly or say something ridiculous at inappropriate times.
• If the teacher says, "Repeat after me," repeat everything they say for the entire class. If they warn you or seem annoyed, say, "What? You said to repeat after you."
• Use a different language in class.

• Never let anyone in the class take the blame for you (the person who will be reprimanded). If things really get out of hand, stand up and admit your mistakes.
• If you get caught, follow the teacher’s instructions. Don’t try to act stubborn or arrogant.
• If the teacher is genuinely angry, sincerely apologize for your behavior.
• Don’t let things go too far, as you could face more serious consequences. Even if you don’t let things spiral out of control, annoying the teacher will likely get you into trouble.
• Make sure your classmates are loyal and won’t reveal your name, even if the whole class faces trouble.
• Some students take their studies very seriously; you might end up being alienated by the very classmates you’re trying to impress.