These Students Organized the Sweetest Zoom Surprise for Their Teacher on The Last Day of Class

Photo credit: TikTok/Lauren Herrle
Photo credit: TikTok/Lauren Herrle

From House Beautiful

  • Since the Coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, many classrooms have gone virtual.

  • One virtual classroom surprised their teacher with a message of appreciation at the end of their semester.


Grab the tissues—this is the feel-good moment we all need as 2020 winds down.

As most of us know, life as we know it has drastically changed since the Coronavirus pandemic emerged in March 2020. Since then, nearly every aspect of life has gone virtual. While many working adults were somewhat used to virtual meetings before COVID-19 reared its ugly head, students weren’t as accustomed to the practice. Because of this, life in the classroom has been hit hard.

Many teachers are taking to social media to share the difficulties of virtual teaching and the seeming inability to capture their students’ undivided attention. From whichever way you look at schooling during a pandemic, one thing’s for sure: Everyone is doing the best that they can. But, during a time when so much feels uncertain, it can be hard to remember that sentiment.

Fortunately for one teacher, his students were there to show him just how much of an impact he’s making during these trying times.

On Wednesday, December 9, Tik Tok user Lauren Herrle posted a video of her class surprising their teacher on the last day of the semester. Since then, the clip has racked up nearly 30,000 comments, has been shared over 70,000 times, and has earned over one million likes—and for good reason!

In the clip, the teacher—the only person with his camera on—is talking to students, asking them if leaving their camera off during class is the cool thing to do. “I’ve heard that; I’ve heard that in some classes nobody turns their camera on, including the instructor,” he said to a virtual classroom of little black squares. The very thought made him put his hand to his head in disbelief before second-guessing if he had something to do with it. “Seriously, is it my fault you have your cameras off?” he asked the class dismayed. Before he could go on, a student piped up.

“Dr. Brown, we actually kind of wanted to do something…” they said. At that point, every student’s camera turned on but instead of their faces, Dr. Brown was flooded with messages of appreciation for a wonderful semester.

“Oh, you guys, you’re going to make me cry,” he said. As he looked around at the signs, he took off his glasses and wiped away his tears.”You guys, thank you.”

Told you you’d need tissues. Now, let this be a reminder that showing a little appreciation goes a long way—especially in 2020, and especially as this difficult year comes to a close.

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