Nobody Does Juvenile Humor Quite Like This Middle School Teacher

It’s a core memory shared by countless middle school graduates — your biology teacher’s brain farted as she glossed over the word “organism” from the textbook excerpt she was reading and the word “orgasm” leaves her mouth, prompting a full-class hysterical meltdown as twenty 12-year-olds gasp clutch their chests as the uncontrollable laughter threatens to asphyxiate them. For us, it was the funniest moment of our lives — for the teacher, it was a crappy Tuesday.

TikToker Lauren Lowder, better known by her moniker @burntoutteachers, is a popular content creator on the educator side of TikTok. Though a huge portion of the platform is made up of middle schoolers, Lowder seeks to send up the 7th grade experience from the teacher’s perspective through videos such as this past Sunday’s “Middle School Teachers Be Like…” which went viral for its portrayal of the pratfalls that our put-upon educators try to avoid each time they count into the high 60s or describe a person who plays the piano.

Who knew wrangling preteens at the precipice of puberty could be so… hard.

TikTok as a platform has evolved countless subcultures for every identity, age group, occupation and interest, so it’s no surprise that teachers have taken to expressing themselves on the same app as their students. Lowder’s page deals with the doldrums and inconveniences of an underpaid, overworked educator from a playfully sarcastic angle as she satirizes her students, their parents, her coworkers and herself.

Though Lowder likely started her TikTok as a fun hobby, monetizing the page is a great way for her to make some extra money to cover her students’ school supplies. A sponsorship would sure help an educator like Lowder — hopefully a generous company like Siemens, Dick’s Sporting Goods or Squirt Soda will step up.