It can be about you, it can be something a teacher said to you about another student, something you overheard a teacher say about a student, etc. I can recall a math teacher whisper to the second teacher that one student was an idiot, and another time I heard a teacher tell a couple students say that one of her students is “actually really smart”.
Warning- it’s really bad. I was a new special ed teacher and was trying to wrap up an initial assessment that the parent had refused to sign. Part of that was checking in with his teacher from his previous year. She said, “Don’t try to help that kid. You know his mom’s a prostitute, right? His sisters are pretty so they will end up being prostitutes. He’s going to be a homeless guy who breaks into your house.” Long story short, I finally got the mom to meet with me, and she told me flat out that she and her family had experienced discriminatory treatment at the school. She said, “I know everyone at this school thinks we’re ratchet but my mother is a child psychologist.” It took me a while to win her over enough to even get her to sit down with me. I apologized to her wholeheartedly. I got the admin to reach out to her as well. And that teacher went on my Do Not Like List.
My high school biology teacher called me and a group member “the scum of the class” because she didn’t realize she okayed adding another member to our group. She tore up our lab and I had to miss work to make it up THAT afternoon. She made us fish the torn pages of data from the trash can 
For context: I have had mental health issues all of my life, undiagnosed until my mid-20s, which reflected in my grades. I found that incredibly frustrating, because I really love to learn, and did well on standardized testing. In 8th grade my teacher introduced me to a mentor of hers, in passing. The mentor complimented me on how I carried myself, the way I spoke. She asked if I was in the advanced placement class but, before I could respond, my teacher chimed in “Nope, we refused to accept her. She’s brilliant, but she’s LAZY.” With such disdain. I cannot describe how devastating and humiliating that was to me. Until that point, I really looked up to that teacher, and thought she respected me.
@irmah
Im so sorry. That’s awful. I know how it feels, I heard so many comments like this growing up in the 90s and 00s… Turns out I had ADHD the whole time, didn’t find out til I was 35. 
Brighton said:
@irmah
Im so sorry. That’s awful. I know how it feels, I heard so many comments like this growing up in the 90s and 00s… Turns out I had ADHD the whole time, didn’t find out til I was 35.
Oof, while I’m glad you’ve been diagnosed, I’m sorry you had to shoulder all that misdirected blame and judgement of your character. Here’s to helping to end these cycles 
CurriculumDesigner3 said:
My 11th grade ELA teacher threatened to punch us if we asked to repeat herself. (Which I had to often due to my ADHD causing memory issues)
sad.
Back in the 1990s, in 6th grade, I had a teacher that hated my mom… She took it upon herself to drag me out of class one day, and into the hall, to tell 11yr old me that if it was up to her she’d have me permanently kicked out of her class. Then she left me crying in the hallway to go back to teaching her lessons. Her aide used to say similar comments to me too. Later on, when I was in 8th grade I overheard that same teacher telling my 8th grade teacher how much she hated my mom, and it must be awful having me in her class, and she felt so sorry for her. I just can’t believe she held a grudge on me, a child, for two full years. Much to my relief, that 8th grade teacher said that I had been nothing but lovely, and she had no issues with us. Then 6th grade teacher got to be embarrassed when she turned around to see me standing right behind her. I have no idea why she hated my mom so much, other than my mom had asked her to stop making me skip recess and stay after school for hours, just for missing some homework. Idk if the conflicts were more than that… if they were it was probably something due to my undiagnosed ADHD… Lol I worked in education for nearly ten yrs, and I simply can’t ever imagine taking my frustration with a parent out on a child. It really left a lasting impression on me, and to this day I cringe when I see that, now very old, woman around town.
keny said:
@Brighton
It was abuse. I am sorry that teacher treated you so horribly.
Thanks. I like to think it helped show me how not to be, even though it definitely affected my mental health for a long time.
I worked with young children for a while—toddlers. The chick in charge of the class was a mean girl type. While the kids (again, toddlers) were eating one day, she went on about how disgusting one of them was. She was the type to kiss all the right ass, and a complete asshole to people who weren’t in charge. Parents loved her, so did the boss. I knew my word against hers—I would just look petty or jealous or something, and not taken seriously. I bit my tongue, but it pissed me off so bad.
On my high school track team, I was (falsely) accused of accosting an athlete from another school and stealing their equipment. I also once went to the beach with my friends when I had told my mother I was going to a track meet (it.was one of those invitation-only meets and I wasn’t good enough to get an invite). Later that season, the track coach introduced me as “This is Real_Marko_Polo, a liar and a thief.” Wherever you are Coach Hans, fuck you for that.
Anything that plays into the soft bigotry of low expectations. Falsely building self-esteem with effusive praise. Lowering the bar. “He can’t help it, his mother is single and works all the time…” Even if that’s true, it’s not up to the teacher to make up for it by excusing substandard behavior.
I had a colleague who ranked (some) students on a scale that ran from “window licker” to “everyday moron” with, e.g., “knuckle dragger” and “mouth breather” as two of the intermediate stops.
NemwelSamuel2 said:
I had a colleague who ranked (some) students on a scale that ran from “window licker” to “everyday moron” with, e.g., “knuckle dragger” and “mouth breather” as two of the intermediate stops.
Smh
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bernarddeacon said:
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When I was student teaching another teacher told me something similar about a student. That student definitely wasn’t my favorite, but he was still only 12, and was going through some shit. Everyone, especially kids have redeemable qualities.
bernarddeacon said:
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That teacher may have no redeemable qualities… smh at that teacher. How do you expect to help a student learn if you have such low expectations for the student and do not the positive traits or potential.