Teacher Shares 3rd Graders' 'Tattle Forms' and They Do Not Disappoint

May 2024 · 3 minute read

An elementary-school teacher has taken the internet by storm after she shared the "tattle forms" submitted by her students.

Designed to give young students a platform to express their feelings and tell the teacher about any arguments or upsets, the "tattle box" is packed with hilarious messages.

"The tattle box started around December 2022. At this time, I was having the students use sticky notes to write down what they were feeling or what happened," Jillian Magee, who lives in Greater Washington, told Newsweek.

Just like Magee, there are many teachers who take to the internet to share their experiences with the job—but not all experiences are as positive.

In February, a survey by the National Education Association (NEA) revealed that 55 percent of educators were preparing to quit their jobs earlier than planned.

Magee said of the tattle forms: "I started using them as a positive form of communication. It's a great tool for conflict resolution and relationship building within the classroom.

"It is also really beneficial to the students who are too shy to tell me in person," Magee added. "It helps build their confidence with speaking up. It also keeps the students from coming up to me 100 times a day and stops them from interrupting my lessons to tell me something."

On the TikTok account tattler00, Magee shares the contents of the tattle forms written by her third-grade class. Some of the videos have received more than 28 million views.

The forms give the students a space to note their name, date and the person they're "tattling" on.

One read: "I hit her by mistake and she said 'b**** don't touch me,' and I said sorry." Another tattle form said: "She keeps on getting in people's business."

"Called my shoes ugly," read another report, while another simply said: "Is chewing loud."

Magee explained that she gets anywhere from five to 15 tattles a day from the students, aged 8 and 9.

In thousands of comments, TikTok users shared their reactions to the hilarious tattle forms. One posted: "This is smart and indeed funny."

Another commenter wrote: "I'm sensing a storyline."

"Honestly I would be writing a tattle form every five minutes," joked another reply.

On TikTok, teachers have been using the hashtag #teacherquittok to share the things that drove them out of their jobs.

However, Magee hopes that sharing a positive and amusing part of her job could shine a light on a different side of teaching.

"I started sharing them online because some of them are very funny. It also allows others to get a sense of what life is like as a teacher," Magee said. "I think the viral reaction is great. I was really shocked to see it went viral but have been overwhelmed with the positivity and appreciation for them.

"My favorite tattles are when they complain of loud chewing or annoying noises. I think adults can really relate to those," Magee added.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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