Teaching is no small job—and it comes with a whole lot of responsibility. On top of making sure the curriculum is covered, teachers also have the tough task of keeping a room full of students engaged, well-behaved, and supported. Sure, there are the star students who make it all worthwhile (modest pay included). But then there are those who leave you with a whole lot more questions than answers.

You know the type: the ones who say or do something so baffling that it stops the whole class in its tracks. These moments tend to stick with you, so it’s no surprise that a Reddit thread asking teachers to share the moments that made them think, “Oh boy, that student definitely isn’t going places,” was met with some truly jaw-dropping stories.

A university freshmen turned in a paper on the Treaty of Versailles that conformed to no known formatting system I had ever seen, there didn't even seem to be paragraphs. Assuming that his computer had jumbled it up somehow when he turned it in, I went to give it back to him in class one day so he could fix it. He informed me it was intentional, the format meant the paper was to be read as a rap. Which he proceeded to do for me in the few minutes before class started, It was incredible. D+.

My 8'th grade physical science lab partner took the top off one of those oil burners, poured the oil all over our desk and then lit it on fire. Like on purpose. Did you think it would be less flammable because it's on the table now? Hilariously, even though I was the one who put the fire out and had nothing to do with lighting it, I still got suspended too. I guess the lesson I was supposed to learn was never help put out a fire.

Not a teacher but a fellow student. A guy in my class was asked by the german teacher what kind of music he listens to. Trying to make a good impression, he said he liked classical music. The teacher asked him to name his favourite composer. He answered "Piano".

One of the fellas in my university 1st year computer programming class stared at the wall, at the same spot. The whole class, Every class. He'd walk in on time, sit down, open his folder, and stare at the wall, and didn't ever take a note that I saw. At the end of the wall-staring duration of the class, he'd close his likely-still-blank folder, get up, and leave without a word. I see him from time to time at the grocery store collecting up the carts. I feel a little bad for whoever funded his education, but am pleased that he has a steady job.

I'm late to the thread, but I have a winner. The class was an applied math course for high schoolers, and we held a paper airplane design contest. The rule was that you could use anything on the table to make your airplane, and that the person who threw theirs the farthest down the hallway would win. The table had all manner of things on it, printer paper, construction paper, tape, rulers, compasses, toothpicks, duct tape, paper clips, masking tape, a stapler, and even elmer's glue. Well, the class went to work and for an hour designed some very interesting airplanes. Except for Tim. Tim sat quietly and chatted with his friends until about thirty seconds were left to build. Then he went up to the table, grabbed a few things, and sat back down to wait. When it came time to throw, it turned out that his "airplane" was a piece of paper wrapped around the stapler. While the lighter (and more complex) planes drifted to the side and landed early or hit the hallway walls, Tim's "plane" slammed straight into the door on the other end of the hall, with a satisfying clunk. Tim's ridiculous creation beat everyone else out and won the contest easily, while technically obeying the rules of the competition. I hope that guy ends up working for NASA. Edit: My other favorite student was a kid who ate a glue stick for five dollars. He figured it was edible because it said "non-toxic". Technically correct, but so, so, wrong. He had to go home, due to the uncontrollable vomiting. I'm not sure if he was ever paid the five dollars. My third favorite was a middle-schooler whose mom was dissed by another student in class. His reaction, not having any decent weapons on him, was to rip out the three-ring part of a three-ring binder and use the prongs to attack the other student's forearm. Unfortunately, that kid isn't going anywhere but juvie unless he can get help with his anger issues. Too bad, because it was an ingenious improvised weapon, and he could probably use that creativity some other way.

Not a teacher but someone in my class genuinely believed that the Great Wall of China was in Berlin. Took everyone a couple minutes to realise she was being serious...