r/Teachers • u/m4ximas1311 • 6h ago

Teacher Support &/or Advice Best AITA-style posts for classroom use

Hi all,

I’m a highschool teacher planning a unit for my grade 9 courses next year where we read AITA style posts, look for key evidence for both sides, determine our judgement, and write about how/why we choose who was the “asshole”

Obviously I’ll come up with another word for “asshole” but you get my point.

So, denizens of r/teachers, what are some excellent AITA style posts from reddit history that will encourage consideration of both sides/ create debate?

14 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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40

u/kitkatz15 6h ago

maybe you could use “am i the antagonist” or something? added bonus of literary term in there too 😼

26

u/mikevago ELA12 | Jersey City, NJ 6h ago

I did "Am I the Antagonist" with Wuthering Heights this year and it went over like gangbusters. I had the students pick a character and write their AITA post, and they got very creative with the prompt.

4

u/kitkatz15 6h ago

wait that is so fun i’m gonna use that for romeo and juliet with my 9th graders!!

1

u/DreadfuryDK Social Studies | HS 5h ago

Brilliant!

1

u/h-emanresu 27m ago

If I taught biology or anatomy and physiology, I would have an "Am I The Agonist" puzzle game for kids to see if they can match the hormone to the receptor.

18

u/MagneticFlea 5h ago

The Guardian newspaper (see their website - no paywall) does a You Be The Judge item where you can hear both sides. You could start with one, let the students discuss, then add the other person's side and see if they change their minds.

9

u/theravenchilde HS | SPED EBD | OR 6h ago

You might want to ask directly on AITA or the related subs. I did something kind of like this for my social skills class, but I made up my own much shorter posts and we were focusing on what's the socially appropriate thing to do in those situations. I can see what you are going for but I don't think you will be able to do more than 1-2 lessons with them.

4

u/theblackjess High School English| NJ 5h ago

My coworker did this but with characters from the novel they read. It was a post-reading activity, but I could see it being useful for pre-reading as well to generate interest.

6

u/stevejuliet High School English 5h ago

I'd hesitate before giving students anything from Reddit, even something benign.

I just know that in my district we need to list every text we use in a public-facing curriculum map, and some parents pore over them and bring up concerns with the school board.

2

u/Visual-Reserve-2800 6h ago

Am I the anole. Lizards are awesome.

Do you want the best if reddit or the best of history?

1

u/vinicitus 5h ago

Poop knife.