This whole virtual learning thing has been an uphill battle for students, teachers, and parents alike. We’ve all had to figure out the best way to be present, to get our work done, and yes, how not to embarrass ourselves and everyone else in the process.

Most everyone has had a fail or two along the way, and thankfully we have the internet now, so these 14 people can share their very best stories with the rest of us.

14. He probably learned his lesson.

One of my 5th graders took the whole class to the bathroom.

Video off microphone on.

13. What is happening?!

Someone in my class turned on their mic, coughed loudly for 20ish seconds, and turned it off.

Calamity ensued.

12. I’m sure they’ve heard worse.

I have a 7 year old in virtual classes. The worst of this was the time I dropped an F-bomb since I work right next to him.

11. Blame the cat.

We were in a zoom session with my daughter’s therapist and our foster cat stepped on the power button and turned the laptop off mid conversation.

When we rejoined he said he figured something was up because he saw a cat body go by then we disappeared.

10. Going to be tough to recover from that.

i sneezed AND A HUGE BOOGER FLEW OUT. THEY SAW. SOME OF IT GOT ON MY HAND. SOME OF IT GOT ON THE CAMERA.

9. A teachable moment.

I was in biology and we were listening to my professor as he explained the theories on why some apes developed larger penises than others.

My roommate and I were jokingly discussing the topic and he goes, “Humans don’t walk on all fours because our shlongs would drag on the ground”.

I was unmuted and my professor just goes, “No… that’s not right at all”.

8. He won’t be dating anyone in that class.

Not me but this kid in my friends class got caught digging for gold in his nose

7. Ah, family.

Yelling down to my mother “YES, RUSSIA IS IN ASIA,” during physics.

Bonus round: cussing out a fighting game during a rough match while my dad was, unbeknownst to me, in a meeting, unmuted, nearby.

6. Classic Dad move.

A girl I know had her camera and mic on for answering some question.

Her dad didn’t know that she was attending classes and he farted out loud!

We saw her die on the inside.

5. Don’t want it to go to waste.

I had a Socratic Seminar, so it was mandatory to keep our cameras on.

I forgot about it and thoroughly licked a yogurt container I has just finished.

I still don’t know if anyone noticed.

4. No soup for you!

Not in a class and just with friends, but I accidentally left my mic on while eating soup once.

When I put my headphones back on everyone was laughing hysterically at what they thought was weird s^x noises.

3. That’s part of the job description.

I’ve been told I killed my 11 y/o’s social life by yelling “Enjoy the diarrhea” at her younger sister when I saw she had eaten an entire box of ice cream bars at once.

I was in another room and had no idea my voice carried.

2. No one wants to see that (in a Zoom).

During a one-on-one, my coworker was screen sharing on zoom so we could both see and discuss the changes to a document in real-time.

After an hour, we decided to take a ten minute break.

I went to the washroom and came back to my computer seeing he still had his screen share on and navigated to a NSFW website.

I waited until he returned from his ‘break’, and I didn’t mention anything.

Hey, we all make mistakes, and in these trying times, why take away any pleasure or make an interaction uncomfortable?

1. Well that’s awkward.

My husband is a chemistry professor.

He was teaching a class via Zoom and overheard a female student say she’d like to punch him in the face…..

hahaha

I’m dying, and I’m so glad none of this has happened to me (yet).

What’s your best story in this category? We know you’ve got them, so drop it in the comments!